My ride to Speculator happened Wednesday. I know that today’s thaw will change the conditions, but the snowmobile ride has a story worth telling and might provide a sort of “base line” for what conditions could be like over the holiday weekend.
So, here it goes!
We got 3 almost inches of snow/sleet mash Tuesday night, which included a half-inch crust. That coated the trails nicely provided some much needed traction.
When I set sail just after 8AM, I was the first one out, making new tracks all the way down Indian Lake:
By that time, temperatures were already in the middle-30s, making it feel very much like a mid-March ride. Must say that it felt better than starting at -20*F or -30*F like I have done before.
Trails were in good shape around Indian Lake and down through the Indian Lake Campsites. Two-Miles-Of-Hell on Trail C8 along Route 30 was a bit lumpy, but was a suitable passageway and only had one stream through it.
Lewey Lake yielded a spectacular view of the snow and ice encrusted Snowy Mountain:
Perkins Clearing Road was superb and the 3 inches of new material made it a magic carpet ride. As well-advertised by now, the south end of Perkins Clearing into Mud Lake Road is closed for logging until the end of January. So, I took the infamous “southern bypass” to get down to Speculator.
The “bypass” had a lot of terrain and water-induced divots. But the new snow served to cushion the ride as I was the first tracks through there. Not knowing the trail, I took it rather conservatively…and that was the right call! There was one large stream crossing that I didn’t want to mess with, so I elected to hop up onto the frozen pond to evade the stream. Worked out OK for me, but I’ll be happy when the southern Perkins logging is finally done!
Then I took C8/Melody Lodge trail down to Speculator. Not having ridden down to Speculator last winter, I was absolutely shocked by the amount of logging that has taken place and the number of detours. At any rate, the trail is wider in many places and should provide an easier groom and ride for years to come. As for the actual trail conditions, it had a fair number of roller-bumps…but the new snow cushioned it into a decent pathway down into Speculator. I noted that the Hatchery Brook Trail was closed.
The local Speculator village trails has varying degrees of bumpiness. The smoothest trail was the Business Access Trail (aka the BAT) that runs from behind Lemon Tree to Village Motorsports.
Decided to hit Trail C4 over to the Speculator Tree Farm. Once I got away the relative roughness on the River Trail, it was a good ride into the Tree Farm. Cave Hill Road was simply awesome and I was first tracks! Old Route 30 was a fun romp down to the steel bridge.
Here’s looking back on my tracks on Old Route 30:
Looking further down along Route 8 & 30, it looked like Trail S42 down toward Wells has been ridden and maintained, but DOT had pushed the scraper bank onto the trail in places. I didn’t press further south.
So, doubled back Old Route 30 to hit Fly Creek Road, which was clearly not as nice as Cave Hill Road. About a half mile in, Fly Creek Road had been plowed down to ice. Not being sure whether the road was closed and not interested in riding a plowed road, I turned tail to hit some Cave Hill Road magic again.
From there, I hit S41/Silver Hill trail as far as Elm Lake Road. That was pretty bumpy. After talking to a couple of riders enjoying the day, but a bit lost, I elected to go back to the Cave Hill Road magic for a third time.
Then I turned right on Old Route 30 to hit LP4A back to Speculator. Anything that was near the highway was destroyed by the plowed-back scraper banks and needs to be “re-stablished” but I did make it through.
After I stopped for gas at Mountain Market and the Speculator Chamber to say “Hi”, I pressed westward. Lake Pleasant and Sacandaga Lake were very nice crossings. LP1/Page Street was a decent ride through. C4/Fish Mountain-Oxbow trail was a good ride between until the cemetery, then had some thin spots through the deep woods until I hit Oxbow Lake, but nothing terrible if handled with a bit of care.
Oxbow Lake was smooth and flat. Then I had a terrific lunch at the Oxbow Inn. If you haven’t been there in a while, check it out. They have new owners and have 91 Octane Gas available for snowmobilers with check or cash. And yeah…the food was really good:
While I was eating lunch, another rider told me that C8/Spy Lake trail was comparable to Saturday conditions. So I decided to back track to Sacandaga Lake and hit up Fawn Lake/Big Brook trail up to Perkins Clearing. That proved to be a wise move as that stretch was recently groomed and a good ride up to Perkins, with almost no water hazards.
At intersection HM115 I ran the trail down to Mossy Vly thence to LP9/Nichol Vly trail. Aside from one stream crossing and some choppiness near Mossy Vly, that was a great ride. If you haven’t tried LP9/Nichol Vly trail recently, give it a shot. A lot of improvements have been made and it’s no longer the ugly step-child. Need I say more?:
Once I hit Perkins Clearing Road, I went back up to Perkins-T, took the left onto Military Road and did the loop via Mossy Vly & LP9/Nichol Vly. Much of that was freshly groomed and I was feeling the electricity when I took this short video:
Return to Indian Lake
On the way back to Indian Lake, the 2-Miles-of Hell had been groomed and was a better ride. Back in town, the Indian Lake village trails has some studderbumps, falling victim of 40*F afternoon warmth and a bunch of riders who had the same idea that I had: Get it while it’s good!
After a short meeting in town Wednesday evening, I hooked up with Crazy Cal who had been out spinning around town. So we ran S84/Blue Mountain trail and 538/Newcomb trail up to the Essex County Line. All of that was solid-good riding with just the occasional studderbump. On the way back into town, we did the customary victory lap via Trail S87/42nd and Broadway, Adirondack Lake and Trail S86/Little Canada.
Town of Indian Lake Parks and Rec deserves a gold-star in filling in virtually all of the water holes that had plagued Trail S84 earlier this winter. Rest assured, there is still water flowing under that trail in places, so be on the lookout if a water hazard opens back up.
Back to the compound after 9PM and thrashed off 165 miles for the day, easily my longest ride in two years. Some of it was bumpy, some was stellar and the scenery from the lakes were stunning. Yeah, I slept real well Wednesday night! 🙂
After not making it to Speculator at all last winter, it felt awesome to make it back:
Weekend Outlook:
48*F as of mid-day Thursday with periods of rain moving through is doing us no favors. But our snow pack of 12-18+ inches will absorb most of the melt and falling temperatures Thursday night and Friday will staunch the bleeding for the weekend. No doubt the base will stay intact, but it’s hard to tell exactly how icy the trails and lakes will be until everything unfolds.
Some of the weather modeling is playing around with a bit of snow for ilsnow land Saturday night, but I’m not expecting much out of that. So, I’m thinking that studs and ice-scratchers would probably be an asset over the Holiday Weekend.
Extended Outlook:
Not looking favorable for the next 8-14 days, but it won’t be warm all of the time either. Longer range shows some seismic shifts by the final week of January that may “re-start” winter for us. No time to panic just yet. We’ve got a whole bunch of winter left and I’ve already ridden more than last winter.
You can check out my video here:
Down but not out! ilsnow.com storm center 1/12/17
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
And appropriately enough…
This report is brought to you by Adirondacks Speculator Region Chamber of Commerce. Speculator has long been one of my favorite places to ride! There are lots of options, whether you want to ride around Speculator for the day, or launch a 250 mile mega-miler. Speculator is loaded with businesses eager to cater to snowmobilers. Look them up at the Speculator Chamber and grab a copy of their snowmobile trail map. Be sure to tell them that Darrin @ ilsnow.com sent you.
