Hearing that the trails held up well (in most places) over the weekend gave me encouragement for some good ole fashioned mid-week riding.
I’ve hit Old Forge a couple times already. Speculator wasn’t readily available in my playbook due to the C8/Sabael Trail closure.
So I decided to run the Indian Lake, Newcomb, Long Lake, Raquette Lake, Eagle Bay, Inlet, Moose River Plains and Indian Lake loop today.
Didn’t get my tail on the trail until after 9am. As I left the compound, I was greeted by some freshly groomed goodness:
Fresh groomer tracks continued out of town on S84 out toward Lake Durant. Aside from several thin spots and icy corners, it was a really nice ride.
At the junction with the Newcomb trail, I saw this advertisement of the logging up ahead:
The 4 mile long plowed section had a good icy base, adequate snow coverage to get by and was fairly smooth. Plenty of signage to remind of logging.
538/Newcomb Trail
Once I got off the plowed section, the remainder of the trail up to the Essex County Line was freshly groomed and a pretty good ride.
Northward, after where the Newcomb groomer took over, 538 was a great ride up to the Newcomb T-intersection as you can see here:
Joseph Mountain had a few soft water spots, but nothing bad.
On to Long Lake
Sections of C7B from Newcomb over to Long Lake needed more snow and the trail could have used a comb-over with the groomer, but it was a half-way decent passage.
There was a several mile section of C7B plowed for logging as I got closer to Long Lake. It had good ice base and adequate snow to get by, but was a bit rough in places.
After I traversed along the snowy banks of Tarbell Road, I dropped onto Long Lake and ripped it across to hit C7B on the other side.
Aside from several thin and/or pebbly stretches due to previous washouts, C7B was a terrific ride all the way up past Grampus Lake. And I got to enjoy this beautiful wintry canopy along the way:
One I got to the Route 30 highway crossing, I turned tail and headed back toward Long Lake.
On the way back, I crossed the highway to run S86 loop around Lake Eaton. Many sections of that trail sorely needed more snow. But the groomer did make it a passable run.
I got dumped onto Long Lake so I grabbed a good handful of throttle and ripped it up to Jennings Pond and made the gas stop over to Stewarts.
After that, a stop over to the Owls Head Pub for lunch. Or so I thought. They were still serving breakfast. So I ordered up a western omelette, hash browns, sour dough toast and a short stack of French toast:
That was every bit as good as it looked! Especially since it was approaching mid-afternoon and it was the first thing I ate today.
On to Raquette Lake
After that great meal, I hopped back onto Long Lake and ran it down to Long View Lodge. I did encounter some frozen slush along the way.
S80/Powerlines trail down to North Point Road was half-way decent. Some icy corners, icy hills and bumps.
North Point Road had a nice shelved bank and plentiful snow on the road, so I ran that all the way down to Raquette Lake. I didn’t want anything to do with Forked Lake with the swirling wind and the blowing snow, not to mention some questionable ice.
I did stop at Buttermilk Falls, because it’s a crime not to take a look when you’re passing by:
Dust storm on Raquette Lake
My real brush with danger on today’s ride was crossing Raquette Lake as soon as I entered this dust storm that was looming in the distance:
Once I got in there, the drag strip disappeared in a swirling cloud of snow dust from the wind whipping across the exposed northern section of Raquette Lake.
I’ve only ridden that lake several times, so I don’t have much mental “muscle memory” of it.
I was starting to regret the choice I made to run Raquette Lake. So I pulled over the the nearest shoreline I could find and mounted the phone with GPS onto the handlebar. As I kept going along, I saw Blue Mountain in the distance which gave me an additional sense of the correct direction I should head in.
Finally, as I approached the southern end of Raquette Lake, the wind died down somewhat and I could see ice shanties and other snowmobilers making their way down the lake.
In the end, I did make it across safely. But I’m really glad I didn’t try that crossing at night or in heavy snowfall.
On to Eagle Bay/Inlet
Browns Tract Road was SWEET!!!! Uncas Road had great snow/ice coverage most of the way. The final couple of miles were more snirty but still good coverage.
Eagle Bay to Inlet was a plush snirt highway and I did catch the groomer working on it.
Between Gilbert Road to Ole Barn sorely needed more snow. This picture I snapped was the best of it:
Further in was a choppy, snirty carbide clank-a-thon.
Moose River Plains
Off Limekiln Road, the first few miles of Moose River Plains were really thin and snirty. Conditions improved dramatically once I got further in.
Some icy corners and thin spots to the Big-T flats, but a pretty good ride over all. Snow cover got deeper as I headed to Silver Run.
Indian Lake side from Silver Run to Headquarters had more in the way of small-studder bumps but had been obviously groomed since the weekend for a decent ride through.
Home Stretch to Indian Lake
C8 from Headquarters back to Indian Lake was great for the first two miles. The remaining 14 or so miles had some small bumps and worn spots here and there, but was a pretty good ride back to town. The large water hole is GONE!
The trails around Indian Lake were in great shape when I got back home so I banged out the Victory Loop twice to pad the miles. S85/Ski Hut, S86/Little Canada and S87/42nd and Broadway were freshly groomed with a fresh skiff of snow on top: SIMPLY AMAZING!! Adirondack Lake was its usual cheap thrill, packed down by last weekend’s traffic.
Here’s a quick pic, just before rolling back into the compound with 156 miles for the day:
So there you have it, a solidly good day at the office for Mr. ilsnow! There was much more good than bad on this ride. 🙂
Snow pack around Indian Lake ranged from several inches in the thin areas to 12-18+ inches. Most places I rode today picked up an inch or two of new snow.
C8/Sabael Trail Update
As of Wednesday evening, C8/Sabael trail is still CLOSED. Fingers crossed we get it back real soon!!
Saturday Night & Sunday Storm?
As I mentioned on ilsnow Facebook this morning, the upcoming weekend snowstorm may show shades of the Valentine Day 2007 Blizzard and the March 14, 2017 Blockbuster:
In those two cases, snowfall in the central Adirondacks and large swaths of Upstate New York was measured by multiples of feet. At this point, a major snowstorm appears to be a near-certainly. So we’ll keep watching it and see what develops.
My forecast updates can be found here: https://www.ilsnow.com/weather/
Keep doing the snowdance! We maybe on to something special here….
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Steet Ponte Auto Group. Many of the vehicles here in Indian Lake are bought from the Steet Ponte. Co-owner Joe Steet is a huge fan and booster of ilsnow.com. If you’re looking for a new truck, give Steet Ponte a good look.
