We assembled the ilsnow chain gang at Adirondack One Stop this morning at 9AM: Damion, Cal, Jake, Mattie, Steve and me.
Then we set sail. The Indian Lake village trails were groomed and in good riding shape as we left town. The Sabael trail wasn’t as good, as there are spots that simply need much more snow on them.
Indian Lake was AWESOME! There was about of foot of wind-packed powder what was super riding all the way down. The Indian Lake/Lewey Lake campsites were great! You’ll only find that early in the season before it gets permanently bumped up. Lewey Lake was another great crossing.
Here’s a beautiful shot I snapped from the south end of Indian Lake, looking at Snowy Mountain:
2 Miles of Hell was somewhat bumpy, but got better up towards the top. Perkins Clearing Road was sweet from top to bottom, WOW!
C4 down past Melody Lodge was freshly groomed flat, but very thin at times. We were clanking carbide pretty frequently and had to remove a couple of large rocks from the trail. LP3 into Speculator was thin in a few spots, but otherwise flat.
After we got some gas and food at the Mountain Market, Steve left us to go back up to Indian Lake, leaving only the Gang of Five. The original plan was to mess around Perkins Clearing and Speculator for a bit, but Damion got the wild idea of making a run to Powley Road and Salisbury. We all thought that was worth a shot, so off we went.
The River trail was in good shape. Lake Pleasant still has the ice heave out in the middle of the lake, so watch out for that. LP1/Page Street was freshly groomed and nice! The trail has been diverted through Moffit’s Beach State Park, which you can see from D.R.A.G of Speculator’s update. Just follow the signs and you’ll make it to Moffit’s Beach. Sacandaga Lake had some slush in the middle.
Fish Mountain/Oxbow trail was in good shape up to the cemetery, then it got really thin at times in the deep woods with some rocks poking through. You gotta be careful going through there. Oxbow Lake had a ton of snow on it.
Since we didn’t know how good the ice was on Piseco Lake, we decided to take Spy Lake trail to hit Powley Road. Overall, the Spy Lake trail had some bumps and some spots where the snow was worn off the trail on hills and turns. But it certainly wasn’t as bad as we’ve all seen it on a Saturday.
Here is some great powder on Spy Lake:
Powley Road wasn’t groomed yet, but it didn’t matter midday Saturday. Only a handful of sleds had been on it since the new snow. It was like riding a cloud from top to bottom! We had powder going over our hoods and there was nary a speed bump. That was fun! Trail riding like that doesn’t come often. It’s like catching the perfect surf. 🙂
The plowed end of the road was really scratchy with very little base. We could see lots of places scuffed down to dirt. C8A/C4A down into Stratford was groomed pretty flat. The narrow herd path sections showed occasional rocks (what I call the Stratford Rock Gardens). The seasonal road sections were a blast!
C4A from Case Street to the Salisbury Clubhouse was mostly in good shape. The seasonal roads were awesome, and the plowed roads had the nice shelf groomed on it. This trail has been diverted in a couple of spots along the road, but if you follow the signs and the beaten path, you’ll have no trouble finding your way. The last few miles to the Clubhouse were shredded a bit, but still not bad for a weekend.
We topped off with gas at the Salisbury Clubhouse and stayed inside for a bit to warm up and eat. We didn’t see a ton of sleds or people there, or even while we were riding. I think a lot of people chose to ride closer to home with snow everywhere.
After we ate, we headed back home. We briefly considered taking the trail up to Piseco Lodge, but that trail hadn’t even been broken yet when we passed by the first time and we really didn’t want to tackle Piseco Lake approaching dusk.
As you can expect, the ride home was rougher that the ride out. Powley Road was starting to get bumped up a bit and Spy Lake trail was getting brutal. Fish Mountain/Oxbow was OK, but the rocks were sticking out. LP1 and Speculator Village trails were holding up great. C4/Melody Lodge trail was getting really thin with pebbles getting kicked around. Perkins Clearing Road was still good, despite getting shredded a bit. 2 Mile of Hell lived up to its name, but we’ve all see much worse from that trail.
We heard that Fawn Lake/Big Brook trail was awful, so we didn’t even consider that route back up to Perkins Clearing.
Sabael trail was getting close to brutal getting back to town. The Indian Lake village trails were bumped up, even Little Canada and 42nd and Broadway. I rolled back to the compound just after 7:30PM with EXACTLY 160.0 miles clicked off for the day.
Bottom line is that we had enough good riding to make the trip worthwhile, but we sorely need a foot-deep wet snow or a couple of 6 inch wet snows to bury the rocks in the narrow woods trails. Having said that, we are off to a pretty good start. I don’t usually even consider making a run down to Salisbury until the end of January or February. Rides like today were fun, but they also make me appreciate all of the mid-week riding that I do. 😉
BONUS!!
Mattie got Damion the dyed in the wool Arctic Cat man to test ride his Renegade. No, I don’t think we’ve converted Damion over to the dark side of Ski Doo but he did enjoy the ride. If you think catching a glimpse of Team D & D in Old Forge is tough, getting evidence of Damion riding a ‘Doo is like filming a real live Yeti. So, here is my EXCLUSIVE footage, only to be found on ilsnow.com:
ONE MORE THING:
DEC Forest Rangers are on patrol. Make sure that you have your stickers on the right place AND proof of insurance. We were stopped twice today. The Forest Rangers are out there for our protection. If we carry the necessary paperwork, they won’t have to write tickets and they’ll be more free to flag down the reckless and intoxicated riders.
OK, THE LAST WORD:
I heard that Inlet has groomed their side of Moose River Plains and will be doing so tomorrow. Even so, the base will be thin approaching Inlet.
Until next time,
Darrin @ ilsnow.com
