Snow pack is still 1-2 feet in the woods around Indian Lake village. But the exposed areas are getting cooked with bare spots getting a bit bigger by the day, especially on the southern exposures.
Since my XP’s engine is toast, I’m pretty much done riding for the season. However, I did a “walk in” yesterday to find out how the conditions were in the high trafficked spots. I call them the pinch points because if these places are passable, you can still make the connections into town:
I can tell you the main arteries heading in/out of Indian Lake are passable, but they are severely worn and need fresh snow BADLY! We haven’t had any significant rain, so the trails haven’t washed out yet.
A 6-12 inch snowfall would bring things back to life. Heck, even 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow would do wonders for us! Problem is, I don’t see where that kind of snow is coming from…unless we get lucky on Friday. That would be a nice hit just before the weekend. Do the snow dance!
Midweek Outlook:
You’ll have to pick and choose your spots. The best place to park and ride from Indian Lake village would be at the very end of Benton Road by the “Old Swimming Hole”. If you want an easy way to hit 538/Newcomb trail, try parking at the Northville/Lake Placid trail head on Route 28/30 near Lake Durant and worm your way back to the Newcomb trail via S84.
Moose River Plains was reported to have good snow: fairly bumpy on the Indian Lake side, smoother on the Inlet side. You’ll have the choice of riding 0.7 miles of bare road from Brown’s farm parking lot or riding 18 miles of marginal conditions on C8 from Indian Lake village to Cedar River Headquarters.
We got a bit of rain last night, which will result on larger areas of glare ice on the lakes once everything freezes back over. Expect frozen ruts, slippery ice and crusty snow on the lakes once we get back into the freeze.
With the expected cold temperatures and the lack of fresh snow, you’ll need to let the strong March sun be your friend and loosen up the overnight freeze to keep your sled from overheating.
As always, keep up with reports by local and visiting riders for the central Adirondacks on the ilsnow.com bulletin board.
The bottom line comes down to how badly you want that last ride or two. You’ll basically have these trails to yourself this week. Just keep in mind that any plowed road or parking lot will be bare or ultra-skunky.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
