Some friends needed a mental health day so they decided to rent a snowmobile from Village Motorsports and ride up to Indian Lake.
I was more than happy to take a run down to Speculator to meet up then show them my neck of the woods.
You just know the day is gonna be alright when it starts like this:
Indian Lake village trails were freshly groomed when I hit them this morning. A new 2 inches of snow only added to the mid-winter luster!
To Speculator!
So, down C8/Sabael trail thence Indian Lake, all great riding! Campsites were just brutally rough. Lewey Lake a nice crossing as well.
2 Miles from Hell was rough and bumpy, but at least most of the water hazards are gone. Perkins Clearing Road was sweet from end to end. The southern end past Mud Lake Road is now open for snowmobiling and has sufficient snow to ride, aside from some really icy turns.
C4/Melody Lodge had a fair amount of rollers and bumps, but not a terrible ride into Speculator. LP3/Oak Mountain trail was in nice shape.
Back to Indian Lake!
I met up with Rich and Zack Lupia at Village Motorsports, then headed straight back to Indian Lake the way I came down. I took them through all my usual haunts: S85/Ski Hut trail, S86/Little Canada and S87/42nd and Broadway…all in stellar riding shape.
Sometimes, I can be a pretty fair host. 🙂
Then I lead them up S84 as far as Rock Lake Marsh. The snow was coming down and that trail was just about PERFECT! Maybe one of the best ride’s I’ve had on that trail.
We doubled back to town to grab a quick lunch at the Route 30 One Stop. After that, back to Speculator for some more fun!
Back to Speculator!
Once in Perkins Clearing, I led us through the counterclockwise loop of Old Military Road, Carpenter Hill Road and LP9/Nichol Vly. All of that was like riding on a cloud! We were romping though a fresh 4-5 inches of snow and it was coming down HARD!
We dropped back down to Speculator via C8/Melody Lodge trail. River Trail to the Ballfield parking lot was very rough. Lake Pleasant was a velvety crossing. LP1/Page Street was very choppy through the woods. We ran out onto Sacandaga Lake for a short ways but with the snow coming down hard, and time running out on the Rich and Zack’s rental, we headed back to Village Motorsports to turn it in. Business Access Trail from Lemon Tree to Mountain Market was a nice ride.
Finally, back home!
Then it was time for me to head back to Indian Lake. It was still snowing hard in Perkins Clearing, but thankfully it let up by Mason Lake at it started to get dark. And as an added bonus, the Lake Pleasant groomer was finishing its run on the 2 Miles of Hell, which made for a much nicer ride for the return trip home.
Got back to Indian Lake and found the trails in good to great shape before rolling back to the compound with 155 miles for the day. Rich and Zack did pretty well with nearly 100 miles of their own.
Bottom line
Well? What else can I tell you? Life is good! I’ve cranked off 230 miles this week and I ain’t done yet. Got cheated last year and I’m making up for a lost winter. 😉
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Progressive Motorsports, celebrating their 24th year. They live, eat and breathe snowmobiling. Stop in today and see for yourself! Be sure to tell Karen that Darrin @ ilsnow.com sent ya.
