There has been no sign of grooming on the Indian Lake trails this week. So I was not game for running C8 out to Headquarters or even S84 out to Blue Mountain to hit the Newcomb trail. Heard the Indian Lake side of Moose River Plains got horribly rough over the weekend, so I definitely wasn’t feeling that.
I figured that banging out 4 miles through C8/Sabael trail to make it to the lake would be my best pathway to a decent ride.
Around town…
This was how my ride started from the compound:
Crow Hill Road shelf was still there, but it could disappear before the weekend:
S86 off Crow Hill Road was looking grubby too:
All of these would look WORSE after a sun-filled 45 degree afternoon.
Down to Speculator…
C8/Sabael trail was studders and rollers all the way out with dirty corners. I just raised the ape-hangers to full height, stood up and surfed the bumps like Zac Efron, but without the 6 pack abs or millions of dollars:
Indian Lake had just enough snowcover to skate by. Some of it was rather threadbare for snow.
Campsites trail had some roller bumps but wasn’t the worse I’ve seen it.
Lewey Lake as a nice crossing with somewhat better snow coverage than Indian Lake.
C8/Two Miles of Hell was snirty with studders and some rollers all the way through.
Perkins Clearing Road was a welcome relief! Not perfectly flat, but more than good enough to make the effort to get there worth it!
Ran LP9/Nichol Vly trail and had a good time on that:
Carpenter Hill Road and the back end of Jessup River Road had more in the way of studders in places, but was still a quality ride.
On to Speculator…
Was going to only take C4/C8 Big Brook trail about a mile for a look-see. Although it had some studders, it was in decent riding shape so I rode it all the way down to the Outhouse intersection. The southern exposures are starting to get burnt though.
C4/Fawn Lake trail was in good riding shape. Really enjoyable….
Ripped across Sacandaga Lake. LP1/Page Street was groomed and the riding was good for stretches:
But it was also bumpy and grubby in the woods heading toward the Route 8 crossing.
I hit Lake Pleasant and decided to meander around the perimeter of the lake to enjoy the March sun:
From there, I decided to wanted to make a run for the Speculator Tree Farm. The river trail greeted me from the ballfield parking lot like this…UGH!
But it did get better once the trail ran along the river. Still some bumps, but not horrible like it was at the start.
Here’s a shot from near the river.
Into Speculator Tree Farm…
C4 getting off the river was HORRIBLY bumpy. But I’m glad I stuck with it, because it became a decent ride into the Tree Farm after I passed the groomer turnaround. Aside from some bald spots and occasional bumps, it was enjoyable enough to get by.
S41/Silver Hill trail was nice on the flats:
The hill climb up to Elm Lake Road had some snirt and loose bumps, but not a bad ride.
Definitely wanted to run LP10/Wolf Hill Road and that did not disappoint. S41/Long Level Road and Fly Creek Road had some low studders, but the strong afternoon sun had softened them nicely.
Along the way, I got off the grid for a while. Here’s one stop where I looked up at the blue sky through the hardwoods:
C4/Old Route 30 was a pretty nice run down to the steel bridge. The plowed section up top had enough snow to scoot by.
Down toward Wells…
Continued on C4 into Griffin Gorge which was a beautiful slow-paced ride along the river. I love this little bridge:
Not like I was going to run to C4E and hit Pine Orchard by myself anyway. But the muddy road made the decision easy to turn around and head back up to Old Route 30.
For giggles, I did run S42 down to the intersection of Route 8/30. Along the highway, it was brown with studders in places:
But down into the gorge, it was more pristine:
Once the trail ran along side the highway again, it was grubby. I didn’t press much further. If the rest of the way into Wells along the highway is still ride-able, it won’t be for much longer.
Back up to Speculator
On the way back, I ran Old Route 30 all the way up to the top. LP4A had some studders and was brown in many places, but was an enjoyable ride back up to Speculator.
Rode the brown and somewhat choppy Speculator village trails to sink my teeth into a Mountain Market Philly Cheese steak sandwich:
The way home…
I wanted to poach some more Tree Farm, so I took C4/River Trail out to S41/Silver Hill trail and looped through Elm Lake Road and Wolf Hill Road.
Hatchery Brook trail had some soft studders, but was a pretty good ride. Looked like C4 toward Melody Lodge had been recently groomed.
Perkins Clearing Road straight up the gut had a surprising amount of studderbumps. I diverted for a nice run through S82C/Old Indian Lake Road and was treated to a nice view through the hardwoods late in the afternoon:
C8/2 Miles from Hell was stutt…. stutt… stutt…. stuttery!! OK….it was bumpy as %*@#*&^!*! Good thing it hadn’t gotten cold enough yet with the setting sun to set the bumps hard, or else I might have left a piece of my snowmobile or even a piece of myself back there.
Messed around on Indian Lake for a little while as it was getting dark.
Guess I wanted to delay the inevitable torture chamber awaiting me on C8/Sabael trail. And it did not disappoint…rough as a corn cob and getting seedy in many places. Right down to dirt in spots.
Indian Lake trails were brown and bumpy when I got home. No need to bang out the victory lap on this one. I just wanted to make it back to the compound with some dignity intact.
And I did, rolling in with 154 miles for the day.
Had a great time and enjoyed the weather. But dang, the trails go downhill quick under that strong March sun.
Bottom line…
Well, I’ll be back out there on Wednesday because this will be my last shot to ride the trails from the compound before the Indian Lake trails get skunky. After that? We’ll be living on a wing and a prayer for next week.
I’m always hoping for one last dance!
Weekend Outlook?
Once temperatures rise above 32*F Wednesday morning, we’ll be melting continuously until Friday night. That will take away a lot of snow.
The only sliver lining is that I don’t expect a lot of rain, which should prevent a full washout. Die-hard hangouts like Perkins Clearing, Speculator Tree Farm, Powley Road and even 538/Newcomb trail should hold on to a ride-able snow pack.
Moose River Plains would probably remain ride-able, but getting there from Browns Farm parking lot would be brutal on the back end of Cedar River Road.
Anything else would be “at your own risk riding”. But I can say the Indian Lake inner artery trails will either be skanky or shot by the weekend.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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