Got a phone call from Cal this morning, saying that Matt and him were going into Deer Valley 11:30AM. They picked up me and the XP at the compound and trailered me over to Deer Valley. Very nice indeed! Road and parking lot was getting rather muddy, but we made it back into there with little problem.
Matt lead us through Deer Valley Club and we got back to that clearing looking at the back side of Snowy Mountain, one of my favorite spots on the planet. Snow was mashed potatoes but very few dirt spots. Very fun riding back there. After horsing around in Deer Valley for a while, we did some crazy boondocking and ended up near where the Sabael trail dumps onto Indian Lake. That final hill from Route 30 to Indian Lake was nearly baked completely bare and won’t be with us much longer without new snow.
Indian Lake and Lewey Lake had enough slushy material to splash the tunnel with copious amounts of coolant for the slides and heat exchangers. That was a blast! The Campsites were the usual torture chamber. I though Matt was going to leave a few organs on it. After that excursion through snowmobile hell, Matt informed us that he’ll be riding a Ski Doo Renegade next winter. Looks like Cal, Trevor @ Lemon Tree and I have talked Mattie back to the Bright Side. 🙂
2 Miles From Hell was nearly spent on the lower part near Lewey Lake, with intermittent bare areas surrounded by just enough ice skank to glide by. The sections closest to Route 30 were just about shot. Even some places up top closer to Mason Lake were showing dirt spots. In terms of bumpiness, it ranged from nearly smooth to mashed potato studders. The areas with good snowcover allowed for average speeds of 20-30 mph fairly comfortably.
After 2 Miles from Hell, we decided to run S82/Old Indian Lake Road down into Perkins Clearing. Aside from the usual sketchy spots near Route 30, that was a terrific ride down to HM112. We proceeded to do a loop via S41/Mud Lake. Aside from a few spots worn to dirt on the east end, it was awesome spring riding all the way through. We were shooting roosters though the smooth mashed potatoes. I took Matt and Cal through some nice side trails yielding great mountain and river views.
At HM115, we took a left on C4/C8 back to HM 116. That had plenty of rollers, but the soft mash cushioned the blows nicely. Then we doubled back to HM115 and ran Jessup River Road over the HM6. Very nice riding through there as well. I knew that the north end of Perkins Clearing Road was starting to degenerate badly from what I had seen on Thursday trip, so we opted to double dip on S82/Old Indian Lake Road to make it back up to Mason Lake.
On the way back, the skanky sections of 2 Miles of Hell had gotten bigger and the lakes were wetter. That run up Indian Lake back up to Sabael was totally fun, shooting roosters all the way! We boondocked back over to Deer Valley, then Matt lead us through some more trails around there before we called it a day. I forgot to check my trip odometer, but I think we spun off 85 miles on the day. Lots of laughs, with 3 local diehards picking off winter’s remains like vultures. AWESOME DAY! Who knows, maybe the 3 Amigos will be up for another die-hard special next weekend. 🙂
From what little we saw of the Indian Lake village trails and what we heard from a few other riders, I would say that getting around the village is getting pretty painful now. While down in Perkins Clearing, we didn’t even bother trying to ride into Speculator. We were content to stay up where the snow was.
Bottom line:
If you know where to find the snow, you’ll be able to ride around here for another week or two. “Off trail” snow in the boonies averaged 1 to 2+ feet, easily! If we happen to get an April snowstorm, all the better! It’s fun to ride when the snow is wet and slushy, but it doesn’t last for long like that.
As temperatures continue to fall below 32*F at night, the wet stuff and crust will freeze solid overnight. Unless you have ice scratchers, you’ll need to let the sun be your friend and loosen up the hard stuff so your track can throw enough wet stuff into your tunnel to keep things cool. Have fun out there! We definitely have enough snow for you to tack on the final miles to your winter, IF you hit the die-hard hangouts.
