Update February 18, 2012 Night

Damion and his friend Mike came up to ride this weekend. They wanted me to ride with them so I didn’t pass up on that offer. We headed down Indian Lake with about an inch of snow on it this morning. It was fast and flat! The between-the-lakes campsites weren’t terribly choppy. Lewey Lake was another fast crossing.

The 2 Miles of Hell between Lewey Lake and Perkins Clearing Road was bumpy and rough! I’m hard pressed to think that trail has been groomed much, if any, this winter. Perkins Clearing Road was a nice ride from top to bottom, aside from some icy turns. There were a few corners worn down to dirt on the south end. From the Perkins Big T (HM6) back to HM115 was somewhat bumpy, then more of the same from HM115 to Mossy Vly. Once we got past the bumpy hillclimb after Mossy Vly Bridge, S41/Mud Lake Road was a nice ride with a few worn spots and icy corners. We didn’t even waste our time trying Big Brook/Fawn Lake. I would also avoid LP9/Nickel Vly trail. That trail was a watery mess 3 weeks ago and we haven’t had much snow or cold since.

C4/Melody Lodge trail was bony and thin throughout with some dirt spots showing up. The hill after Melody Lodge was a icy snirt chute worn down to dirt in places. One more rainy warmup might kill that part of the trail for good. After lunch at Melody Lodge, we headed down into the village, which was bony and icy and studdery. The river trail was flat, but really thin. Getting onto Lake Pleasant was a real challenge. The bank was bare and we had to ride along the shoreline behind a massive and long ice heave to get onto the lake. Lake Pleasant was fast and flat. Page Street/LP 1 was snirty and worn to dirt in places, looked like late March riding through there. By the time we got to Sacandaga Lake, it was starting to snow hard, so we didn’t want to mess with crossing that lake with that ice heave and open water in poor visibility.

So we doubled back to Speculator and made a run for the Tree Farm. There was almost no snow on C4 along the river. We were riding on frozen grass and a dusting of snow! C4 through the woods had some snow, but it was rough as a corn cob. But the prize at the end was worth the effort! Cave Hill Road was great riding, aside from a few sketchy spots and an icy turn you do not want to hit at high speed. Old Route 30 was the best I’ve ever seen it! We CRANKED through there without any flaw.

On our way back up to Speculator, Mike’s sled had a breakdown. The clutch was staying engaged and his sled bogged down and stopped at any attempt to take off. He called Adirondack Mountain Sports and they picked his sled up at the snowplow turnaround on the beginning of Old Route 30. Thankfully, that was a short and easy tow to get Mike’s sled to the highway. It turned out to be a stuck weight in the primary clutch and Mike probably could have driven it home once it was freed. But we played it safe and had the sled and Mike taken back to Indian Lake in the truck.

On the way back home, Damion and I did the Perkins Loop again. Mud Lake and Perkins Clearing Road were still nice, but the rest was pretty bumpy. By the time we got back up to the north end of Perkins Clearing, it was snowing really hard and the plow had pushed snow into a 6 inch deep swath on the shoulder of Route 30. So we ditched the 2 Miles of Hell and took “Trail 30” back up to Lewey Lake.

There was 2-3 inches of fresh powder at the south end of Lewey Lake and it was snowing so hard we could hardly see. But by the time we made it to the north end of Lewey Lake, the snow has let up considerably. Indian Lake was a really nice ride with 2 inches of fresh powder on it. By the end of the day, we had spun off almost 100 miles.

BOTTOM LINE: For a holiday weekend, Speculator was a relative ghost town! We never saw more than a hand-full of sleds at a time. Melody Lodge was nearly empty at lunch time and there was no waiting in line for gas at the Mountain Market. Perkins Clearing, the Tree Farm and the lakes offer the nicest riding. The narrow woods connector trails are marginal at best, downright terrible at worst. If you are smart about it, you can have a good time. You can decide whether or not that’s good enough for you. But you might not have too many more chances this winter. Unfortunately, we have a warm-up scheduled for next week.

A WORD ON LAKES: Riding the lakes is at your own risk as ice thickness is much less than mid-winter norm. With the lack of deep snow, ice heaves are a bigger problem than usual. Enlist the help of a trustworthy and knowledgeable local if you are unfamiliar with weak spots and hazards on the lakes.