Yesterday’s recon ride from Indian Lake out to Cedar River Headquarters gave me plenty of ammo to make a run out to Old Forge today.
So… after we picked up another inch or two of fluff last night, I set out to ride. But I waited until mid-morning, just to give the groomers a bit of a head start.
Good strategy, eh? 😉
Fresh groomer tracks headed out toward C8/Headquarters and S84 (presumably out toward Blue Mountain Lake).
Instead of giving you the blow-by-blow with C8 out to Headquarters, I can say it was like yesterday’s ride, but better. 🙂
Moose River Plains into Inlet
Indian Lake and Inlet were grooming their respective sides of Moose River Plains. The ride ranged from smooth to occasional studder-ripple from end to end.
Plenty of snow “up top” :
Inlet side ran thin, especially the final couple miles to Limekiln Road. But it wasn’t quite the carbide-shaver I encountered last week. Limekiln Road itself had good snow coverage.
Ole Barn to Gilbert Road was thin and snirty. Not much snow through that avenue.
I had gotten a bit chilled zipping across Moose River Plains in falling temperatures so I stopped at the Inlet Information Center to warm up and chatted with Adele and her mom for a bit.
Inlet to Eagle Bay was brown and snirty, but was groomed.
I took a look at 4th Lake and the copious amounts of slush dissuaded me from trying it. No thanks, bro… I own a snowmobile, not a sub-marine:
On to Old Forge
Gotta say that Trail 5 through Rondaxe Road was actually pretty good as the snow cover increased west of Eagle Bay.
Split off onto Trail 9, which was….AMAZING!
Groomers were out doing their thing in and around Old Forge. Didn’t matter if I was on Trail 9, 7, 3, Inner Loops, whatever. It was all fantastic riding! I had fun romping through untouched powder on Bud’s Run, but had to be wary of water bars.
Ran down Trail 6 to Thendara and hit the North Country Market for a quick gas stop.
Of course, I had to stop at Elise Lookout off Trail 7:
Up to Big Moose
I ran up Pipeline, Trail 1 & 2 up to Big Moose Station. All of that could have used a comb-over with the groomer but it wasn’t the worst I’ve ridden.
Big Moose Road had great snow coverage, so I ran it down to Big Moose Inn for another warm-up stop. Since it was approaching mid-afternoon, a good meal was definitely in order!
We’ve got some amazing food on the trail in ilsnow land. Here’s a new staple on my riding menu, Big Moose Inn’s famous blackened prime-rib sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries. Simply put, it’s dynamite on a ciabatta roll:
And I ran into Big Moose Inn owner Mark Mayer, who also runs the amazing Snowmobile Trail Conditions Big Moose/Old Forge & Inlet Area Facebook group. Mark started this back in 2012, originally to let people know the snowmobiling conditions of Trail 10 leading up to Big Moose Inn. Now it has over 16,000 members! For anybody scouting trail conditions around Old Forge, I highly recommend that you join this Facebook group.
The way home
After a great lunch, it was time to bundle up and make the run back home. A rider coming into the Big Moose Inn told me that Trail 10 was “s#hitty.” So I just opted to run Big Moose Road down to Eagle Bay since it did have the good snow.
Going back through Inlet, the section from Gilbert Road to Ole Barn was really chewed up: snirty, choppy and icy. Don’t know what that trail will look like after weekend traffic, but I’m glad I won’t be around to find out.
Moose River Plains looked like it had been well ridden over the course of today. The Indian Lake side from Silver Run to Headquarters was getting fairly bumpy and rough in places. Not the worst I’ve seen it, but it makes me glad I hit that before the weekend hoards get here.
C8 from Headquarters back to Indian Lake was a nice ride, aside from the big water hole and damp spots near the vicinity of Deer Valley.
Victory Lap
It was getting dark as I got home to Indian Lake and this greeted me on S87/42nd and Broadway:
I ran S87, Adirondack Lake and S86 from Sawmill Road to Former Lone Birch in the swirling snowfall. All of that was so good, I thrashed it thrice and never completed the Victory Lap around town.
After a refuel at the Route 30 One Stop to start my next ride, I rolled back into the compound with 146 miles for the day. Crazy Cal couldn’t blow off work today so I just sent him pictures from my ride all day, just like a good friend should. I’m sure Cal hates my guts now, but he’ll get over it. 😉
Bottom Line
Between today’s ride and yesterday’s recon, I think you’ve got the picture. All signs are pointing toward a heavy snowmobiling weekend here in ilsnow land (FINALLY!). Get here Friday or early Saturday for best results, then let the chips fall where they may.
C8/Sabael Trail
As of Thursday evening, C8/Sabael Trail was still closed:
This means there is no snowmobile connection between Indian Lake and Speculator!
Update 1/11/19
Trail C8/Sabael trail will remain CLOSED THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. This means there is NO snowmobiling connection between Indian Lake and Speculator. The Town of Indian Lake expects this trail to be re-opened next week, pending the completion of some legal-ese. Please respect the trail closure. We don’t want to lose this trail forever.
C8 from Headquarters into Indian Lake is open and has been groomed into good shape (save for a big water hole and a few other damp spots). So we still have the connection to Moose River Plains and points west.
S84 from Indian Lake out to the Newcomb trail has been groomed this week, but you’ll need to beware of water hazards. Newcomb trail is still being plowed for logging about 4 miles northward from its junction with S84. Please ride the plowed section with EXTREME CAUTION and always assume oncoming vehicular traffic coming around the corner.
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.
