I usually don’t ride weekends, much less Sunday night after the trails have been thrashed from the hordes.
But with the 9+ inches of snow we got today, I just had to take a ride after I got off work. And there is usually little traffic by Sunday night as everyone has gone home.
Indian Lake village trails were in good shape and the Bear Trap Swamp had frozen up nicely with no ruts. Aside from some icy turns and the occasional soft studder-bump, it was nearly as good as mid-week riding.
I couldn’t say the same about S84 heading out toward Blue Mountain Lake. That was bumpy with almost constant studder-bumps that were starting to get hard from the weekend traffic:
There were also a few “chuckholes” in the trail after Rock Lake. After hammering through bumpy S84 for 7-8 miles, it was a relief to hit 538/Newcomb trail and I encountered the Snowarriors laying out some amazing white ribbon:
“Beyond excellent” riding up the the Essex County Line, then 538 got fairly bumpy in places enroute to the Newcomb-T.
Joseph Mountain had some holes in the trail from running water under the snowpack. There were several other “chuckholes” along the way up to the Newcomb-T.
From the Newcomb-T over to the Newcomb House, the riding was somewhat better, aside from some holes in the trail you don’t want to hit at speed…especially this bugger:
The picture didn’t do enough justice as to how sharp that hole was. Although the snow pack is deep and the trail base is thick, make sure to keep an eye out for stuff like this.
So, I ended up with about 70 miles by the time I got back to the compound around 9pm. If anything, I got to play in the powder and reinforced my deep appreciation for midweek riding.
C8/Sabael Trail Update
No change in status: STILL CLOSED! When I hear that it’s been reopened, I’ll shout it from the roof-tops. OK?
Midweek Outlook
The needle is pointing up for sure! As the groomers make their rounds to put Humpty-Dumpty back together from the weekend traffic, they should be able to fill in most of the chuckholes.
Then we’ve got a significant snow event for Tuesday into Tuesday night to add even more material for the groomers to work with. Brutal cold will follow for Wednesday and Thursday.
Enjoy!
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Village Motorsports. Besides being a long-time snowmobile accessory & rental place and Yamaha dealer in Speculator NY, they are ilsnow land’s newest Ski Doo Dealership. Go visit today and tell them Darrin @ ilsnow.com sent ya.
