UPDATE 3/28/15: We didn’t get a ton of rain this week, but the snow-cover in town took a serious hit this week. Around Indian Lake, the best bet would be to head straight to the usual die-hard hangouts and see what happens from there.
Snow cover is better to the west of Speculator. I heard the Pleasant Riders are grooming the Fish Mountain/Oxbow trail for the final time this weekend.
Got an inch of snow here last night at the ilsnow storm center last night. Makes things nice and whitey for the diehard’ers.
Report 3/23/15: I hate to say it, but the Indian Lake local trails are just about done for the season. I did see a number of snowmobiles make it into town on Saturday, but it was painful to watch them go over scads of dirt to make the connection to gas and food.
Conditions around here can be described as MARGINAL at best. I heard worse words to describe it too. Moose River Plains still offers ride-able snow, but you’ll have to endure 0.75 mile of bare road to make the connection from Brown’s farm lot, or ride 18 miles of scuddy trail C8 from the Indian Lake village.
538/Newcomb trail is probably still a quality ride. Best way to hit that would be to park at the Northville/Lake Placid trailhead on Route 28/30 near Lake Durant, then worm your way back to the Newcomb trail via S84.
Snow cover here around Indian Lake ranges from near 6 inches in the thin spots to 18+ inches in the shady woods. Take a look at the satellite-estimated snowpack from today:
The deepest snows (2 feet or more) reside in southwestern Hamilton County. So, I would expect to find the best conditions west of Speculator. Places like Perkins Clearing, Powley Road, Arietta and Morehouse should hold good riding for those who want to pick and choose their spots. Speculator Tree Farm was reported to hold good riding last weekend.
So far, we have avoided significant rain and prolonged thaws, which has kept the lakes in the game and has prevented the trails from getting washed out.
Midweek Outlook:
Tuesday should be a beautiful day for an early spring ride once you allow the sun to be your friend and soften up the hard-pack a bit to keep the slides and heat exchangers happy. Wednesday should be a pretty good day as well before the rains get here late in the day.
Thaw conditions will take a large chunk of snow Wednesday night into Thursday. But we’ll get another cold shot for the weekend. So I suspect some diehards will hit their special places for at least one more viewing of winter’s corpse.
As always, check out trail conditions on the ilsnow.com bulletin board for honest accounts from local and visiting riders. No baloney sandwich here, just good solid information on where you can ride as the clock ticks away on the final moments of this riding season.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
