Weekend snowmobile traffic was rather light and we didn’t get much rain, so I decided to take a Perkins Clearing run when I got off work Sunday afternoon.
Indian Lake village trails were in pretty good shape, aside from some bald spots. Trail surface was fairly hard and didn’t offer the best cooling today. C8/Sabael trail had a few spots where water is eating away at the trail. I didn’t venture into town, but people were making the connections to food and gas over the weekend.
Some slush was showing on Indian Lake and Lewey Lake, but nothing deep enough for much concern.
2-Miles-From-Hell was bumpy and rough all the way through, and getting seedy in spots. Perkins Clearing Road was loaded with small hard studder-rollers. Old Military Road was a bit better than Perkins Clearing Road, but nothing close to the delight it was last week. Carpenter Hill was still a nice ride, but some of the corners were studdery.
I got caught in a 15-20 minute ice storm in Perkins Clearing and looked like this by the time I got to Mossy Vly:
Thankfully, the freezing rain stopped shortly after I took this picture. 🙂
Then I hit LP9/Nichol Vly trail which was still in good shape, except for the several spots that are getting baked away. I looped down to Mud Lake Road, which was icy and thin with several stretches stripped down to dirt. After hitting LP9/Nichol Vly again, I turned north up Perkins Clearing Road to hit S82C/Old Indian Lake Road.
As often as I have ridden Perkins Clearing this year, it seems surprising that I hadn’t hit S82C yet. Besides from a few burnt spots and several funky hazards, it was a pretty good ride back up to Mason Lake parking lot.
Then I headed home and got back to the compound with about 65 miles. Didn’t see another sled during the time I was out. Probably the last time I’ll hit Perkins Clearing for this season. Maybe I’ll hit up the Newcomb trail if S84/Blue Mountain trail isn’t too far gone later this week.
Well, that 2 foot snow storm we got March 14th, sprung me loose for several more rides. Can’t complain about that. 😉
Midweek Outlook:
With no especially cold weather or meaningful snow in sight, we’re clearly in decay mode now. Snow cover is 6 inches or less in the exposed areas and 1-2+ feet in the woods. That’s enough for the die-hard to keep going a bit longer.
Next Weekend?
If you didn’t care to come up this weekend, don’t bother with next weekend. By then, we’ll be into April and DEC could be closing gates as snow cover dwindles.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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