After my snow removal chores, it was time to ride!
I hadn’t done a big ride this winter, so I figured that heading out to Old Forge would be the safest play for that.
You just know it’s gonna be a good day when it starts like this leaving the compound:
Fresh groomer tracks were headed up S84 and recent groomer tracks on C8 heading out toward Headquarters.
The first few miles on C8 heading toward Headquarters were pretty thin under the thick evergreen canopy that caught much of the wet snow from the weekend storm. It was really choppy by the old Arctic Cat dealer, but evolved into a pretty decent ride the further out I rode – especially past Deer Valley in the sections where the trail opened up. I overtook an Indian Lake groomer as I got within a few miles of Headquarters
Moose River Plains
The Indian Lake side had some slight ripple-bumps, but none of the big rollers I expected to see in the wake of a busy holiday weekend. I encountered an Indian Lake groomer coming back from its morning run.
It was looking really beautiful at the top of the hill:
Inlet side was bumpier, but didn’t have whoppers either. I encountered an Inlet groomer doing its battle with the bumps out there. There were some thin spots and corner scuff past the Big-T.
But, the snow was pretty deep off the beaten path:
Inlet – Eagle Bay
The trail over the top leading into the Inlet Loop trails had some bumps but wasn’t bad. The loop trails were good riding to the Ole Barn.
Ole Barn into Inlet was the usual snirts-ville with some carbide clack on the corners. Inlet to Eagle Bay was a plush snirt ride.
Onto Old Forge
Trail 5 was actually a pretty good ride over to Rondaxe Road until it got bumpy in the pits. It was brown and loose snow, so I knew that wouldn’t last long with the heavier-than-usual midweek traffic.
Trail 9 was its usual nice ride. I then took Trails 29 and 2 up to Big Moose, which was freshly groomed for a fun ride.
Stillwater Road has a good hard pack snow base. But riding a 10 mile plowed road to reach Stillwater Reservoir just doesn’t do it for me, so I turned tail and headed back down to Old Forge.
After hitting Trail 1 and Pipeline, I spun myself silly on the loop trails without really knowing where I was half the time. The riding ranged from good to excellent for most of that. The bumpiest trails I encountered were Trails 6 & 7 toward Thendara – where it appeared the groomer may not have gone through yet for the day.
For giggles and a look-see, I ran Trail 6 as far down as Okara Lakes Road. That was pretty choppy in places, so I didn’t feel compelled to press much farther.
After backtracking, I eventually found Trail 1 and ran that down into Old Forge for kicks.
Then I ran back up Trail 1 to play with some more loops before heading back to Indian Lake. How can you not love this?
The way home
Trail 5 had gotten pounded down and painful to ride by late afternoon, so I decided to cut down to 4th Lake at Daikers and rip it across. Saw DOZENS of sleds parked at Daikers. Traffic was unusually heavy for mid-week.
The lake crossing had slushy spots, wet areas and some ruts, but I made it across without incident.
After stopping for wings at Screamen Eagle and to warm-up, I continued home. Moose River Plains was a pretty consistent ride from one side to the other, in terms of having small bumps much of the way across from the day’s traffic.
C8 from Headquarters back to Indian Lake was somewhat bumpy from the day’s traffic, but was manageable.
But wait, there’s more!
I got back to town with nearly 160 miles and I was still feeling good. So I figured a trip to Newcomb would be good to push the trip odometer past 200 for the “mega-miler”.
After a pit stop at Route 30 One Stop, I used and abused S86/Little Canada for some cheap thrills before ripping across Adirondack Lake. Then it was 42nd and Broadway and Benton Road to S84.
S84 was really bumpy near million dollar Cedar River bridge. But I stuck it out and the ride got somewhat better once I got over the top. But I did have to skirt a few decent sized muck holes.
After Rock Lake marsh, the ride got bumpier with a few mud spots along the way. But I was able to tolerate it to reach the prize: 538/Newcomb trail!
The Snowarriors groomed side was nearly flawless for miles of gold star riding. Conditions weren’t quite as great after crossing the Essex County Line, but it was still plenty good enough to keep rolling with it. The only true blemishes were the water spots and bumps going over Joseph Mountain.
At the Newcomb-T, I hung a right onto C8A and continued for about 2.5 miles until I encountered where the trail was plowed for shared snowmobile and logging. I turned tail and headed back to home – knowing I’d have my 200+ mile ride in the books by the time I rolled back into the compound.
Misery…
All was great until I ran S84 to get back to Indian Lake. I’m not sure what happened, but all those bumps seemed higher and harder with the night set in.
I got completely pulverized and tenderized on that 8 mile torture run. Had to take a breather at Rock Lake Marsh, just to gather myself to make the final push.
Once I got back into town, I felt compelled to bang out a victory lap to end the ride on a high note. Made it back to the compound with nearly 218 miles clicked off for the mega-miler:
In retrospect, I should have just called it good after the fun 160 miles. But I got greedy and went for the mega-miler! It hurts just to sit here and type this report. But it all makes for a good story, right?
We’ll see if I get back out there on Thursday.
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.
