I was on the fence about taking a snowmobile ride today, until I got a text from Crazy Cal saying: Okay, let’s do it! My sled was still loaded onto the ilsnow.com mobile command unit from Wednesday’s ride, so Cal just loaded his sled after he got home from work.
We decided to truck the sleds to the Northville/Lake Placid Trailhead near Lake Durant and wormed our way back to the Newcomb trail along S84. Aside from a couple of knarly mud and water spots, it was groomed and in good riding shape.
538/Newcomb Trail was in EXCELLENT riding shape all the way up to the Essex County Line. The Indian Lake Snowarriors had that stretch nearly board flat and there was almost no carbide clank. You could have been fooled into believing that winter has been going well, riding through there:
Entering Newcomb
Crossing onto the Newcomb side, Trail 538 had some ripple-bumps but it was still a decent ride for the most part. The notable exception was the brutal condition over Joseph Mountain with ice and numerous water bars. The further north we pressed toward the Newcomb-T, the more carbide-clanking we encountered.
Newcomb-T eastward into Newcomb was a good ole-fashioned game of country hard ball bump-and-grind. Numerous bumps, ice patches and water bars kept us on our toes throughout.
Cal was looking for a place to eat and I had suggested the Lake Harris Lodge because it was the new place and I heard some good things about it. We made it to the Newcomb Central School building and took the trail down to Lake Harris. There was an oval plowed onto the ice, so we felt reasonably good about riding it.
But the night was black as pitch and we had no idea which direction to try since we’re not really familiar with the lake. We happened to run into a guy who was riding solo, and he guided us across the bay over to the Lake Harris Lodge. After we thanked him, he told us his name was Matthew Rozelle before taking off.
Dinner
Lake Harris Lodge Prime Rib Thursday Night did not disappoint! Cal likes to make fun of my reading glasses, so I let him take a picture so he can laugh at me all day at work:
And of course, I wiped out the dinner that was on my plate here:
The way back…
Well, with nearly no traffic at night, it was the same thing but in reverse back to the truck. We ripped off a quick 55 miles plus dinner and laughed about all kinds of stupid stuff like silly school kids. Better than anything #summersucks can offer!
Hey, if winter is going to be a bump-and-grind street fight, I can play that game too. I’ve done that many times over the years.
Other stuff…
Whilst was at the gym Thursday afternoon, I saw 12 or 14 snowmobiles pass through within 90 minutes. Also saw over a dozen sleds stopped at the Route 30 One Stop, so people are getting here from other places.
The groomers are out there, trying to make the most of what little we’ve got. You’ll encounter some brutal riding conditions, and some surprisingly good stuff. If you head into the game with realistic expectations, you can do OK for yourself. It’s marginal riding out there, best I can tell you….
This weekend…
Well, I don’t think that Saturday afternoon into Sunday is going to hurt or help that much with a mixture of rain, wet snow and temperatures peaking into the 30s. It may not be pleasant to ride in, but it beats a 50*F and 2 inch rainfall train-wreck. In a winter like this one, small victories become more important, eh?
Next week
Lot of gloom and doom predictions floating around, but I’m not ready to write off next week yet:
Yes, the Polar Vortex (PV) parked north of the Arctic Circle and strong Alaskan Vortex manifested by EPO+ absolutely sucks if you want typical winter cold anywhere in the United States, outside of Alaska. But the strong blocking signature over eastern Canada prevents this from being a true blow-torch pattern…at least in the near term.
Weather systems would tend to tunnel underneath the block, giving ilsnow land the possibility of wet snow events. With the lack of truly cold air, the lower elevation places are probably s#it-outta-luck. But the heart of the Adirondacks may end up with a pleasant surprise within 7-10 days.
Unfortunately, there is no sign of any deep arctic cold headed our way as we turn the page into February.
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.
