Hey, if you want some #summersucks stickers, click here to order!
OK, now with the report:
A couple friends of mine stayed in Old Forge Wednesday night. They wanted to hook up with me Thursday for a snowmobile ride, but had never ridden through Inlet to Moose Plains, so I just hauled my sled over to Old Forge to start off with them. Seemed like a good idea instead of riding alone across the Plains on my maiden voyage and trying to meet up somewhere.
First, I led them on a trip to Stillwater Reservoir. Besides a few thin spots, here and there, Trail 1 was a really nice ride all the way up. Stillwater Road had a hard icy base and enough snow on top to get us by.
No tracks on the lake and no way we were going to be the first ones to try!
We doubled back on Trail 1 into town to make a run at Pete’s Peak. Trail 5 was pretty worn down and snirty in places. Trail 4 became a rugged ride up to Pete’s Peak. But the view was worth it:
To Inlet and Moose River Plains
Continuing on Trail 5, the conditions were snirty and occasionally choppy, but some smooth stretches. We’ve all seen worse on 5. After a quick fuel stop at Big Moose Yamaha, we pressed on.
Eagle Bay to Inlet along Route 28 was snirt pie, but groomed flat. Gilbert Road to Ole Barn was really thin and bony in places.
Inlet Loop trails were groomed but really need more snow. I made a mistake in leading my friends over the top to hit the Moose River Plains. The descent was really washed out with loose rocks all over the place.
But the Plains, heading in from Limekiln Road was a good ride. Some thin spots for sure, but good solid riding conditions up to the Big-T intersection. We diverted on the Red River dead-ender for some really great stuff. Here’s a picture from the end, looking back:
From Big-T, the flats were AMAZING! And the great times kept on rolling up to Silver Run and beyond!
The Indian Lake side of Moose River Plains had ZERO rollers…WOW! It was a good to excellent ride all the way back to Cedar River Headquarters. This had to be one of the best snowmobile rides I’ve had from one side of the Plains to the other in a long time. 🙂
Back to Old Forge
We doubled back to Old Forge and hit a late lunch (or early dinner) at Daikers. The food was good and the fire was crackling!
After Daikers, I led my friends over to Trail 9. Unfortunately, that was plowed nearly as far back as Carter Station. After hitting Trail 1, I found the way over to Trail 7 and got to the Elise Lookout:
Trail 7 down to 6 got rugged at times with some water bars. But Trail 7A was a decent ride back up to 7.
We hit a bunch of Old Forge Inner loops trails. Didn’t know where I was half the time, but it was fun riding as the sun went down. Eventually hooked back over to Trail 1 via 3 and back down into town to finish off the ride.
Got back to the truck with 145 miles and I was feeling pretty good about that:
My friends ended up with 150+ miles. Maybe they were riding circles around me when I wasn’t looking. 😉
Bottom line
Was it mid-winter prime? Nope, some places need more snow badly.
Was it worth blowing off work today? Oh yeah! You betcha… Not much traffic to churn up what the groomers were laying down.
On my travels, it appeared that Old Forge had about a foot of snow pack. There was deeper snow up toward Stillwater Reservoir and less snow in Inlet.
Then I found this pile on a campground table not far from Silver Run in Moose River Plains:
Weekend Outlook
Doesn’t look like much rain this weekend and it doesn’t look that warm either. You should be able to steal another weekend.
If you park and ride from the Browns Farm Parking lot near the end of Cedar River Road into Moose River Plains, you’ll probably come away happy. Heck, there are even groomer tracks on Trail C8 heading out of Indian Lake toward Cedar River Headquarters. But it’d like to see more snow before I try that.
And the usual Newcomb Trail & Perkins Clearing statements until something changes: “Unfortunately, Newcomb trail is not a good option from Indian Lake because it’s plowed 4 miles in from Route 28/30. The north end of Perkins Clearing Road is no longer being plowed, but it awaits snow to make the riding more enjoyable.”
Could be much worse for mid-December. 😉
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.
