The day started snowy and C8/Sabael trail was a nice pathway out of town.
Indian Lake and Lewey Lake were windswept crossings and the Campsites were the usual brutal trek.
Two Miles from Hell was a good ride down to Perkins Clearing. And the groomers were out there bulldozing the bumps and laying down the white ribbon in Perkins:
I did the loop through Carpenter Hill Road and LP9/Nichol Vly trail with untouched snow. Actually some bumps through there! But you don’t say no to several inches of fresh snow.
On to the Speculator Tree Farm
Ran the Perkins Clearing Southern Bypass trail which was in good shape. Then I ran S41C/Hatchery Brook trail and LP10/Wolf Hill Road down into the Tree Farm, which was absolutely gorgeous riding.
S41D down Long Level Road and Fly Creek Road were fairly bumpy in places. Old Route 30 down C4 was freshly groomed and a fun rip down to the steel bridge.
I encountered an Algonquin Sno-Blazers groomer in a pretty good stuck to the side of the trail where the snow had gotten sticky. So I stopped by to help dig the snow away from the front of the drag. Then the machine popped right out with assist from its winch.
After I finished today’s ride, I received an email from the groomer operator who was pleased to tell he finished Old Route 30, Fly Creek Road and Long Level Road. So have fun!
Down to Wells
Followed the fresh groomer marks on S42 down to Wells, which was all very nice riding. But I can tell you the trail sections directly adjacent to Route 30 pavement were starting to get cooked.
Once I got past the DOT building, S42 became choppy down to Lake Algonquin. But that lake was the funnest rip I had on a lake all year. The sun had baked the snow into a soft crust which was a blast to run.
And, I got caught having some fun on Lake Algonquin:
Good thing I was behaving, right? 😉
Back up to Speculator
I ran C4B/Gilmantown trail back up to Speculator. It could use a pass of the groomer. But the power lines were a very fun romp:
LP4A was a great run into the village. But I had to ride bare pavement across the Route 30 bridge because there’s a steep snowbank on the bridge sidewalk.
Business-Access-Trail was in great shape over to Mountain Market where I stopped for gas and food. Their Philly uses probably the best roll I’ve encountered on a Philly:
After lunch, I ran up C4/LP3 out of Speculator, which was in fine shape. I was sure to hit S41C/Hatchery Brook and LP10/Wolf Road to double dip on the awesomeness I hit this morning. Then I hit the Whitaker Lake/Pig Rock trail back into Perkins Clearing, which was more awesome riding!
Ran the clockwise look around Perkins Clearing and found a recently groomed Carpenter Hill Road for a very sweet ride around the back!
Back to Indian Lake
2 Miles from Hell was bumpy on a few spots. I think a lot of people were up to capitalize on the great mid-week conditions.
Got treated to this view of Snowy Mountain as I dumped down onto Indian Lake:
By late-afternoon, Indian Lake was very well tracked. Visibility was very good, so I was able to grip-it-and-rip it up that lake.
Trails around town were very good when I got home. S86/Little Canada was essentially a drag strip along the power lines for an incredible rush.
I rolled back into the compound by 5:30pm with 140 miles for the day. Would have loved to ride into the sunset. But I had a brutal snow removal tour of duty waiting for me when I got home and wanted to hit while it was still light.
Hey, I’ve got one more shot at this before my “weekend” is done!
Bottom Line
Wednesday should be an amazing late-winter/early spring day. Go out and grab it! The sun is starting to do its dirty work on the southerly exposures, as this dirt road was getting bare shortly after the snow quit:
Much of Thursday should be rain-free, even as it gets really warm. Just crossing our fingers that Friday doesn’t bring a ton of rain to wash out the trails before the weekend. More than likely, we’ll lose the snow off the lakes just on how warm it will get.
Time is running out on winter. No matter how deep our snow is now, it won’t last forever…
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Progressive Motorsports, celebrating their 26th year. They live, eat and breathe snowmobiling. Stop in today and see for yourself! Be sure to tell Karen that Darrin @ ilsnow.com sent ya.
