|
Wednesday Early AM 10-March-2010
Dad and I were able to pick our way through the inner village trails and Sabael trail Tuesday afternoon; I would say it's diehard now. Lots of places baked down to dirt in the exposed spots. Getting on and off Indian Lake from the Route 30 road crossing was painful. The REV-XP's overheat warning light came on after climbing the hill off Indian Lake and the tunnel felt toasty! But all was well once I got back onto the slushy snow.
The lake isn't so beautiful anymore. The majority of it has melted down to glare ice which does get a little wet during the afternoon. The east side had marginal snowcover, an inch at most. But it was enough to get us down to Johnny Mack Bay which still had several inches of snow. Good thing we waited until afternoon or else the snow/ice would have been too hard to provide lube/cooling.
Not a lot of miles (only 22 mi), but it was a lot of smiles and a great father and son time. I always get a kick out of Dad telling me about stuff he used to do back in the good ole days. The views of the Snowy Mountain range from Johnny Mack Bay were magnificent.
Safe to say that was my last foray onto Indian Lake for this winter. I might have one more local spin this week before the trails become too skanky for me to ride.
Monday Early AM 8-March-2010
I took a quick spin around the village Sunday afternoon. The sun and wind really did a number on the exposed high traffic trails. The first third of the trail between Crow Hill Road and Adirondack One Stop was bare; there was just enough snow on the sides to make it through. The shelf along Crow Hill Road is holding on. . . . barely. The stretch of trail from the cattail swamp until the Route 28 crossing and down behind the sewer plant was skanky to bare. The shady parts still had a solid icy base with water and/or slushy snow.
The Sabael trail was in decent shape, but the skanky/bare spots increased enroute to Sabael. Thankfully, you can maneuver to avoid or minimize the majority of the nasty stretches. The trail leading down to Indian Lake from Route 30 is bare at the bottom with unavoidable ouch.
The north end of Indian Lake was beautiful with 1-2 inches of slushy snow in the middle and about 3-5 inches of granular snow near the shores. People are removing their ice shanties, so beware of cinder or wood blocks frozen in the ice. Hitting one of those at high speed would ruin your day!
BOTTOM LINE/RIDING OPTIONS: We are on the cusp of die-hard season with no cold or snowy weather in sight. Until we get rain, the lakes remain in play. But you need to keep a lookout for weak ice/open water near inlets and outlets. At some point this week, the inner village trails will be essentially shot.
If you want to hit S84 out to Lake Durant/Blue Mountain, you should turn right onto Pelon Road just past the school, then take the left fork and drive your truck to the end of the road and ride your snowmobile from there. You could also choose to make a run to C8/Cedar River Headquarters from that spot with minimal road riding. Expect to dodge skank until you get a couple of miles past the Deer Valley parking lot.
Parking at the Brown Farm lot to access Moose River Plains is not a viable option, unless you’re willing to ride diagonal-slantwise against a dirty snow bank for a half mile. Not fun in my book.
Sunday AM 7-March-2010
Darrin Jr and I took a ride out to Lake Durant today via S84 Saturday afternoon. The part from Benton Road to Rock Lake was studdery and fairly bumpy. From Rock Lake to Lake Durant Campsite, it was a much better ride. Lake Durant was really fun to ride; lots of soft snow, but no slush. Due to time constraints, we couldn’t hit the Old Stage Trail, but I would bet that is great riding too.
The inner village trails were remarkably flat mid-Saturday afternoon. But the exposed areas and road crossings were getting baked to grass and dirt. From the Swamp to the Route 28 crossing was getting skanky. The shelf along Crow Hill Road was single sled-width, still enough there to make the connection for gas and food. We didn’t ride the Sabael trail, so I don’t have a report on that.
Snowpack was 6-18 inches around town; shady deep woods spots north/west of town still hold up to 2 feet of snowpack. Exposed hillsides and roadsides are thinning out with bare areas growing daily.
If your snowmobile is prone to overheating, let the strong March sun soften the trails before you go riding. The trails have been freezing up hard at night.
OUTLOOK FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK: As long as temperatures fall below 32F quickly at night and we can avoid rain, the lower traffic/shady trails will hold on to their snow. But the high traffic/sunny trails leading into the village will continue to lose their snow. Unless we get snow later this week, it will be tough to ride around town by next weekend.
Wednesday PM 3-March-2010
I was able to blow off work today and ride. After a botched attempt at Salisbury via Speculator (Thanks 2 Miles from Hell!) I decided to make a run out to Moose River Plains.
The trail up the from Indian Lake to access the Sabael trail was worn down to dirt in the middle, but there was enough snow on the sides to avoid some of the ouch. The Sabael trail was groomed and in decent shape; just a few worn corners and some water/slush spots. The inner village trails were snirty but pretty flat in the woods; watch out for water/slush spots. The exposed areas were getting cooked down to dirt in spots. The shelf along Crow Hill Road was narrow and grubby, but was able to make the connection into the village for gas and food.
C8 out to Cedar River Headquarters was groomed today. It was never totally flat, but the bumps were low enough and spaced far enough apart to permit an enjoyable ride. Some of the corners and hills were snirty, but the snow coverage was nearly 100 percent. The bumpiest section was between the river hill climb and where the trail opened into a road.
I ran the trail from Headquarters back to Cedar River Road. That was great riding! Cedar River Road was bare, so good luck with trying to access Moose River Plains from the Brown’s Farm Parking Lot. You’ll need to ride slantwise against the snowbank to grab any snow.
Then I went back to Headquarters to hit Moose River Plains. The Indian Lake section was groomed today, which knocked down the rollers but didn’t eliminate them completely. It was somewhat snirty and loose the first couple of miles after Headquarters but the snow pack increased dramatically on the hill to about 3 feet with more pristine conditions above the 2500 foot elevation. The S-Turns were snirty and loose but I didn’t bang my carbides often.
Silver Run to the Big-T was a little snirty and loose on the corners, but the flats were fast and flat. The flats leading up to the Big-T were a rush!
Big-T to Inlet was snirty and loose in places, especially on turns and hills. Some of the sharper corners were worn to dirt in a few spots. But the trail was groomed flat and I didn’t bang my carbides that often.
The Inlet loop trails were freshly groomed and great to ride! When you access the Inlet trails from Moose River Plains, do yourself a favor and take the right fork up the hill toward 7th Lake. The left fork does not get groomed! The trail got snirty and loose as I approached the Ole Barn, but was still nice and flat when I rode it.
The Ole Barn to Gilbert Road was thin and snirty with pebbles and bare spots. The groomer had gone through that today and it was pretty flat. But the snow cover was marginal and melting fast this afternoon. Barring a late season snowfall, I don’t believe this trail will be ride-able after the weekend.
The trail through the middle of Inlet was skanky, bordering on completely shot! There was just enough snow in a few places to make it through. The sidewalk trail leaving Inlet had marginal snow coverage so I decided to hop onto 4th Lake and join Trail 5 at Daikers.
4th Lake was well packed with very little slush. The trail running up to Daikers was nothing but mud so I tried to make it to Old Forge via the lakes. I ran out of snow along a road trying to connect to 3rd Lake, so I turned around to run the Inlet loop trails again.
I got down to 7th Lake and saw a drag strip heading to the other end of the lake. I had never ran 7th Lake before, so I was open to try something new. The east end of 7th Lake was stump alley, so I really took it easy through there. There was a large hump also that you don’t want to hit at speed.
The campsite between 7th Lake and 8th Lake was groomed and pretty good riding. 8th Lake was a white knuckle crossing; tons of slush and a few open water spots on either side of the drag strip.
The trail leaving 8th Lake was bumpy and nasty, so I decided to end my exploration and eat my backpack lunch at the lean-to. Looks like there had been a party there with about a dozen beer cans and a couple of emptied flasks in the lean-to. From what I could tell from GPS and maps, this trail would lead me to Raquette Lake, which is something for me to remember for next winter when I finally attempt to ride to Long Lake from my house.
After lunch, I doubled back to Inlet for gas at the EZ Mart then headed home. Due to warm temperatures, the light weekday traffic was able to shred the trails a little, but it was still an enjoyable ride back to Indian Lake. Spun off 155 miles and saw less than a dozen sleds all day. That was a lot better than going to work!
BOTTOM LINE: You better hit the trails Thursday or Friday to maximize the best riding we have. Sun baked areas will get skanky, shady wooded areas will hold on to the snow. Trails will be hard and frozen early, then soften during the day. If you can’t get up here until the weekend, the early bird gets the worm on Saturday. The weekend traffic and warm daytime temperatures will trash the trails in a hurry. If you’re headed to Inlet, you’ll need to use Inlet loop trails to reach the gas and food because Limekiln Road is BARE!
With no cold weather in sight, we could be sliding into diehard season next week. . . .
Click here for reports from ilsnow riders!
|
