Indian Lake Village trails were hard in the morning. C8/Sabael trail was in good shape for the first 2+ miles, then brutally rough for the next mile until I got to Furnell’s Field due to the fact the groomer can’t pass through there anymore with the washouts. Trail from Route 30 down to Indian Lake was getting bare at the bottom.
Indian Lake and Lewey Lake were amazingly fast crossings. The campsites were the usual washboard hell.
2 Miles from Hell had several thin spots and a skanky stretch at the bottom. But was a nice run at the top.
Perkins Clearing Road was great from top to bottom. Perkins Clearing southern bypass was awful and should probably be closed. Believe it or not, this wasn’t the worst of it:
C4/LP3 into Speculator was holding up pretty well aside from several bald spots on the southern exposures. Was bumpy in places, but a serviceable pathway into the village.
LP4 to Mountain Market and BAT trails were still ride-able, but were painful near road crossings. Lake Pleasant and Sacandaga Lake were amazingly fast crossings.
This was Sacandaga Lake from Moffitt Beach:
LP1/Page Street trail was getting very tired with lots of skank up by Route 8. It’s starting to get painful coming off the lake through the trailer park.
C4/Fawn Lake trail was a pretty good ride. The only serious blemishes were baked mud coming off Sacandaga Lake and dirty corners near Fawn Lake.
C4/C8 Big Brook trail was not as smooth as Fawn Lake trail, but wasn’t bad. There were some southern exposures ground down to dirt. But much of the transit looked like this:
Perkins Playground
Once I got back into Perkins Clearing, I was sure to run that around like I owned it! I did the counterclockwise loop via Carpenter Hill Road, LP9/Nichol Vly trail, Perkins Clearing Road and Jessup River Road back to HM115 intersection.
Then I ran Carpenter Road to Mossy Vly and back twice! After I sufficiently thrashed that, I ran to HM6 intersection at the east end of Jessup River Road and then ran back and forth to Sled Harbor. A lot of Perkins Clearing was like riding in Canada! The only significant blemishes were some dirt spots on LP9/Nichol Vly and a dirt spot way toward the back of Jessup River Road.
You can see the March sun doing its dirty work on the southern exposures off LP9:
Back to Indian Lake
After I made it back to town, I met Darrin Jr for lunch at the Indian Lake Restaurant. Then I did an S84 run up toward Lake Durant. After bowling over the several swaths of skank, it got really nice once I got over the top:
I didn’t bother with 538/Newcomb trail, because it still looked awfully rough. Once I got back to town I ran S87/42nd and Broadway over to Adirondack Lake, which I zipped back and forth twice for the rush factor. 🙂
Here was 42nd and Broadway along the Cedar River before I called it an afternoon with 125 miles:
Weekend Outlook
You’re not limited to Powley Road, Perkins Clearing, Moose River Plains or The Speculator Tree Farm, although those are your best riding options. The lakes have been spectacular riding this week on the drag strips, but you need to assess the risk for yourself. I think cool temperatures will hold the lake riding into the weekend before true spring warmth turns it all to slush and water next week.
In Lake Pleasant, you’ll need to be mindful that C4/Fish Mountain to Oxbow trail is CLOSED.
The main arteries into town are degrading more each day with no new snow to replenish them:
If you’re itching for one last ride here, this weekend would be the time for it. The sooner you do it, the better. You’ll find the great, the good, the bad and the downright ugly! But at least you’ll be out snowmobiling one more time.
ps. While I’ve still got your attention, I want to THANK YOU for another great season of ilsnow.com! Yes, I put out all of the information. But if you didn’t care about what I do here, my website would go nowhere. I also THANK MY ADVERTISERS who believe in ilsnow.com enough to support it. You can find them here.
Although I didn’t bag that 300-miler, I did five 200-mile rides, which sets a new record for me. I hope you enjoyed your snowmobile rides as much as I did with mine. 🙂
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Pilot Knob Marina in Lake George. Just get off Northway I-87 Exit 20, then follow NY Route 149 East until you hit the junction of NY Route 149 and Bay Road. Pilot Knob Marina features a wide selection of new and pre-owned Arctic Cat snowmobiles & ATVs. If you see Nick Barber, tell him that Darrin @ ilsnow.com sent ya!
