Update 1/28/17: 3 inches of fresh snow down as of Saturday morning here in Indian Lake, with much more further west.
If you want to sit the couch this weekend, that’s your business. But I think that most people who come here to snowmobile this weekend will come away happy!
I also got word that Pleasant Riders have constructed a bridge on the Spy Lake trail over the river that turned me around this week:
Spoiler alert
I didn’t make it to Salisbury, but I got a whole bunch snowmobile riding recon for ya!
Another warm start to a ride, this time in the middle-30s at 8:30am. Must say that’s more enjoyable than starting at minus 30*F.
C8/Sabael trail was in solid shape down to Indian Lake, save for the usual several water spots.
Indian Lake was a nice velvety ride from end to end, a bit slush to make it a bit more fun. Campsites were a bumpy ride to Lewey Lake.
C8/Two Miles of Hell was a battle zone of lumps, bumps and water hazards. The one particularly nasty stream crossing is still there. Best I can say is that the trail was passable with considerable care.
Perkins Clearing
But passage through the Two Miles of Hell gauntlet led me to the heaven called Perkins Clearing! Went down to the T-intersection and took a right onto Military Road. Freshly groomed and sweet, sweet, sweet all the way back!
Here’s a picture I took in Perkins Clearing today:
First attack of Salisbury via Piseco Lake
Big Brook Trail was somewhat bumpy, but I’d give it a solid C+/B- grade with no significant water holes.
C4/8 – Willis Mountain trail looked it was groomed recently with a Skandic drag, so I decided to hit it. The trail was a roller-rama but I was able to negotiate most of it comfortably at 15-20 mph. I was able to thread my way around most of the several water holes. But there was one nasty water hole I couldn’t avoid. I picked my way through, but it convinced me not to go back through that trail on my way home.
Once I passed HM7 intersection with the Fall Lake trail, the ride down to Piseco improved somewhat. To get on to Piseco Lake, I had to swing WAAAAY right of the Fall Stream inlet to avoid open water.
About a mile onto the Piseco Lake, I encountered weird small crescent shaped frozen dunes which resulted in an uncomfortable crossing. I saw fishing shanties out there, but no definitive “drag strip” to lead the way. Then about half way across, I saw some very questionable ice and perhaps a strip of open water in the middle of the lake. Not knowing Piseco Lake well, I did a quick U-turn and went back the way I came.
Second attack of Salisbury via Spy Lake Trail
I resumed C8 to Oxbow Lake. It was in reasonable riding shape, but I encountered lots of water-induced thin spots on the southerly exposures.
Then I hit C8/Spy Lake trail which was freshly groomed and quite flat. The snow was snirty/dirty throughout most of it. There were many seedy spots from Jack’s Hill through Spy Lake, some of which appeared to be covered just by the snow that was dragged through by the groomer.
Pleasant Riders deserve a ton of credit for improving the Spy Lake snowmobile trail over the past several years from a no good goat-path into something that can be made enjoyable.
Game over for Salisbury
After Spy Lake, I found a river that I was not going to cross. The picture doesn’t quite to it justice, but I wasn’t going to ford this:
So, my two attempts to make a run at Salibury were thwarted as I never made it to C8A/Powley Road. I probably could have blasted across Piseco Lake with a devil-may-care attitude, but I’m pretty conservative when it comes to questionable ice. But that’s me…
When Plans A & B fail, just wing it!
I doubled back C8/Spy Lake trail. Oxbow Lake was a fun crossing. But wow…the middle of that lake was an extreme slush pit with deep standing water. I just pinned the throttle and cranked through there so I wouldn’t get stuck.
C4/Oxbow-Fish Mountain trail was snirty and choppy and eroded by water in places until the cemetery, then become a better ride down to Sacandaga Lake. Both Sacandaga and Lake Pleasant were velvety and occasionally slushy rides across. LP1/Page Street trail was a mixture of smooth and very choppy.
Speculator Village trails had varying degrees of bumpiness. But soft bumps beats hard, frozen bumps any day of the week. C4/Cave Hill Road was a decent ride. Old Route 30 was a fairly battering jaunt down to HM700.
I took C4 down toward Griffin Gorge, but the snowmobile tracks ended after a short while before turning back. Knowing how badly that trail gets washed out, I wasn’t going to be the first tracks in. So, I just stopped and ate my bagged lunch.
Then I doubled back Old Route 30 and Cave Hill Road to hit S41/Silver Hill, which was recently groomed and a plush ride up the mountainside.
Wolf Road was a pretty nice ride. S41C/Whitaker Lake trail back up to Perkins Clearing was recently groomed for a pretty fun ride through the mashed potatoes. But there were significant stream crossings to beware of.
Perkins Clearing Loop
Once back to Perkins Clearing, I decided on a large counterclockwise loop via Perking Clearing Road, Military Road, Carpenter Hill Road and LP9/Nichol Vly trail. Was surprised how much of a beating that Perkins Clearing Road and Old Military Road had taken by Thursday afternoon, relatively speaking. The best parts of that run were Carpenter Hill Road and LP9/Nichol Vly…mainly smooth as silk!
Then it was back up to Indian Lake though the snow showers. Visibility wasn’t extremely terrible, but I was glad to make my run back home well before dark.
By late afternoon, Indian Lake village trails ranged from smooth as silk to soft chop, depending on how recently the groomer had passed through. I rolled back to the compound with 136 miles for the day.
Bottom Line
After not riding Speculator at all last winter, I think I may have overdosed on Sparkle City for now. But that’s certainly not anything to gripe about. I always have fun where and whenever I ride. A Salisbury run just wasn’t in the cards for me today. 😉
Our chief problem in most places is NOT lack of snow. There were many places I stepped off-trail at a rest stop and sunk up to my knees in wet snow. But rather, our problem is running ground water that is eating away the trails from underneath. Unless we get a good week or two of hard freeze, that issue could plague us the rest of the winter.
Cooling temperatures and fresh snow expected over the weekend should help the groomers piece the trails back together when they pass through. We’ll certainly have worthwhile riding, but expect to hit some not-so-good stuff too.
Public Service Announcement
I know I’m going to sound like an annoying prude, but slow down well in advance of the turns when the snow conditions get wet and slippery. I saw several places where snowmobiles slid off the trail due to turns “that came outta nowhere…”
The most dramatic “curve fail” I spotted was off Cave Hill Road in the Speculator Tree Farm. I doubt this guy intended to take a 15 foot digger to the creek bed below:
Hopefully, nobody got hurt there. Hey, I know the speed of these snowmobiles can be fun. But they can go slow too when need be. 😉
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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.
