On my Tuesday morning snow surveys, I poked through nearly 3 feet of snow in the woods. Water content was a whopping 8-9+ inches!
Needless to say, we’ve got weeks of riding left in ilsnow land with that kind of snow cover.
Here’s a look at the bigger picture with a large swath of the Adirondacks holding over 2 feet of snowpack:
3/5/19 Ride to Speculator
After work, I met up with Cal and Matt to take a run down to Speculator.
I ran the trails around Indian Lake a bit before we hooked up at 5:30pm.
A lot of the riding looked like this:
And I did a little posing on Adirondack Lake by the iconic wind sock:
As for the trail conditions down to Speculator, not really much of a need for a blow-by-blow report with good to excellent riding all the way down into Sparkle City via C8/Sabael Trail, Lakes, 2 Miles from Hell, Perkins Clearing Loop, C4/LP3 into Speculator. The only bumpy riding was the campsites between Indian Lake and Lewey Lake. Much of Perking Clearing could be rated 10.5 out of 10. WOW!!
We had a good dinner at the Inn at Speculator, even saved room for dessert.
On the way back, we decided to take a loop through the Tree Farm. All of that needed a comb-over with the groomer. Cave Hill Road, Old Route 30, Fly Creek Road, Long Level Road and Elm Lake Road were bumpy at times.
Hatchery Brook Trail was far nicer to make the run back up to Perkins Clearing.
A little too much drama on the way back home with Cal and I experiencing icing helmets. As the temperature dropped to around 5-7 degrees, the harder packed trails became less generous with cooling and tripped the overheat lamp several times on the 4-TEC. Sometimes I was able to dip off the trail and cool it off quickly. When I couldn’t get off the trail, I had to stop the engine, stuff snow in the tunnel and wait to cool a few minutes.
So, if your sled is prone to overheating on hard trails and you have ice scratchers, just drop ’em and go! I’ve got a pair of ice scratchers ready for install and I’m going to soften the torsion spring a notch so the snow flap will run lower to the ground. I think that’ll do the trick.
Ended up with 100 miles. No track map for the ride. The cold didn’t agree with the GPS too well…
Midweek Outlook
Don’t ask me which trails are the best riding. Just GET HERE AND RIDE because this week is likely to be the “high water mark” for snow conditions here for the remainder of this snowmobiling season with deep snow cover and mid-winter-like cold.
But do keep in mind that the strong March sun will continue to cook snow off paved roads if you ride snowmobile trails that run along them.
Weekend Outlook
Assuming the groomers have been able to make sufficient rounds this week, the snowmobile trails should be in great shape to start the weekend. Saturday will be a beautiful day to ride. Get here Friday or early Saturday to maximize the good riding before heavy traffic, strong sunshine and seasonal early March temperatures take their toll on the trails.
Sunday’s system is looking like a mixed bag. But I don’t think it will get warm enough, wet enough, long enough to kill mid-week riding for next week. If you’ve got only one more snowmobiling weekend, make this one yours because the expected weather later next week is not going to help our cause for St. Patty’s Weekend.
One more thing
Almost everyone has heard about the several snowmobiling fatalities from last weekend, bringing the season total to over 20.
I have no idea what to do about this, but I know what I can do: Just speak from my gut and hope at least one person takes it to heart.
Ride safe, friends… Snowmobiling is the most fun when you live for the next ride. Believe me, I tell this to myself long before I sit on my snowmobile.
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.
