I visited my neighbors to the north on Tuesday, so I figured it was time to make a trek southward on Wednesday.
Heading out of town, C8/Sabael trail was a decent ride. The water bars and mud holes have been frozen and covered.
The Indian Lake Snowarriors have placed solar beacons on Indian Lake at the following locations:
C8/Sabael trail
Jerry Savarie Road cove (for the “locals”)
Boat Launch at south end
If you see the lights covered with snow, kindly wipe the snow from the top so they can charge during the day for our use at night.
FYI – Snowarriors stickers are available for $5 apiece at Pine’s Country Store and the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center at Byron Park. You can ride up to either place on snowmobile. Stickers are also available on their online shop at www.snowarriors.com/shop.php
The run down Indian Lake was slushy with frozen ruts in places. The mid-day ride down the lake wasn’t bad. But for some reason, the evening run back home seemed much more rough.
Indian Lake-Lewey Lake campsite trail had wavy rollers, but they hadn’t gotten to sno-cross proportions. The Snowarriors have obtained a BearCat WT which they will use in attempt to tame the bumps through that avenue this year. If you like the sound of that, consider joining our club as a member if you haven’t already.
Lewey Lake was a sweet crossing, but there were areas of slush off the drag strip. C8/Two Miles of Hell was actually a nice ride most of the way through!
The north end of Perkins Clearing Road had some bumps, but much of Perkins Clearing that I encountered, including Jessup River Road, Carpenter Hill Road and Mud Lake Road were nice riding.
I was one of the first set of tracks on Carpenter Hill Road after a half-foot of new snow: SWEET!
Into Speculator Tree Farm
Fresh groomer tracks into Hatchery Brook trail made the Speculator Tree Farm an easy call. There were some residual low top bumps and a bit of corner scuff, but it was a serviceable pathway.
Wolf Hill Road was freshly groomed for a great ride. Elm Lake Road and Long Level Road where nearly board flat under fresh powder, like riding a cloud.
Fly Creek Road had some bumps, but I encountered the Algonquin Sno-Blazers groomer working its magic. Old Route 30 was a pretty good ride down to the steel bridge. There is now a groomed shelf to ride on Old Route 30 where it’s plowed for shared snowmobiling and logging.
On to Wells
Saw a fresh groom on S42 down to Wells, so I followed that for a nice ride into the gorge. When this trail is in good condition, it’s as fun as any trail we have:
The short trail through the woods to Lake Algonquin was choppy, but the reward was well worth it on the other side – as the lake was an incredibly fun rip with nearly no slush or ruts. The only real slush I found was near the Route 30 bridge in town.
After a little probing I found where S44 picks up from the south end of Lake Algonquin. The signage to follow S44 along the roadside is lacking with the casual out-of-towner having nearly no chance to follow it. Best I can say is that if you somehow find Schuyler Road, ride along and hang a couple of slight right turns. Keep going as it becomes a semi-plowed roadway – then eventually a trail.
Although the trail wasn’t groomed, it gets little traffic, was fun to ride with a half-foot of fresh snow and yielded this reward at the Sacandaga Campsite:
After some more hunting and pecking, I found where S44 crossed Route 30 and dropped down to Pumpkin Hollow Road. That road was plowed down to blacktop, so I didn’t proceed any further.
It’s too bad this trail isn’t marked better, because it’s really a “hidden gem.”
The way back
After I backtracked into Wells, I elected to run the S42 goodness back to Speculator. C4B/Gilmantown trail wasn’t groomed, but there were a number of snowmobile tracks headed that way. I decided to save it for another Wells run. 🙂
The decision to run S42 was rewarded by encountering the Sno-Blazers groomer making its return trip to town. Old Route 30 was magnificent from bottom to top.
LP4A was a nice run into Speculator. The village trails were choppy and snirty – but not quite up to old school “Bumpulator” rough.
C4 passing Melody Lodge out of Speculator was a snirty and pebbly and somewhat choppy stripe up the hill – but somehow managed to be a pretty fun ride:
Then it was straight up the gut through Perkins Clearing Road and back to Indian Lake. The Town of Lake Pleasant groomers hadn’t moved today, so I’m wagering they’ll hit Perkins Clearing on Thursday.
In the biggest surprise of the ride, C8/Two Miles of Hell held up nicely to the traffic that passed over it.
C8/Sabael trail had been groomed whilst I was away, like a fresh white carpet to welcome home the conquering hero:
I banged out the victory loop after I got back into down. The main arteries had soft shredder bumps. S85/Ski Hut trail and S86/Little Canada (especially from Sawmill Road to Lone Birch) were MINT! S87/42nd and Broadway was the nicest I’d seen it this winter.
Rolled back into the compound with a cool 130 miles for the afternoon into early evening ride. Just another day of living the mid-week ridin’ dream!
Bottom line
With a snow pack in the 1-2 foot range, we have moved into typical mid-winter snow conditions. Narrow wooded trails need more snow to completely bury the rocks under trail-base, especially under the evergreens. But we’re able to ride nearly all of the trails – which is all we could hope for, especially after getting skunked out of the first month or so of snowmobiling season.
For the weekend, it’s always good to get here early and capitalize before the hoards pound and rip the trails to shreds. From last weekend, I hear varying reports ranging from great to awful – for the same trail. Seemed like it was a matter of who hit what, when and where…
Stay safe, have fun and dress for survival. The coldest air-mass of the season, to date, will usher in the weekend.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Progressive Motorsports, celebrating their 28th 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.
