That fresh two inches of powder-puff snow that I woke up to Tuesday morning made it look like a snow globe. It made me want to go riding!
I saw fresh groomer tracks on C8 going out to Cedar River Headquarters. I’m sure it’s ride-able, but I just felt like trucking to the Brown’s Farm near the end of Cedar River Road and start from there. It was sure nice to zip back to the truck at the end of the ride instead of mashing my way through the 16 mile herd path at night.
Heading into Moose River Plains
The end of Cedar River Road had enough snow coverage to scoot by. I was greeted with fresh groomer marks at the trail head.
The riding was great all the way to Cedar River Headquarters. After that, it ranged from smooth to slight ripple over to Silver Run. There were some thin spots. But over all, it was a quality ride. I encountered the Town of Indian Lake groomer making its return run.
Inlet side was similar to Indian Lake side, but maybe a bit more worn. After I encountered the Town of Inlet groomer at Big-T intersection, the riding became nearly smooth most of the way to Inlet. But those last couple of miles to Limekiln Gate were thin with carbide scraping and clanking.
On to Inlet and Old Forge
I ran snowbank most of the way up Limekiln Road. Ole Barn to Gilbert Road was a thin and snirty carbide clank-a-thon.
Once in downtown Inlet, I stopped at the Information Center to get my Town of Webb/Old Forge Permit. Was late on that, waiting for my new ride.
Ripping 4th Lake over to Daikers was an excellent call: That was fast and flat! Trail 5 from Daikers over to Rondaxe Road was cinders and ashes, but it got the job done.
Trail 9 was sweet as always! Here is my favorite spot on that trail.
From Trail 9, I ran Trail 1 up to Stillwater Road. It was pretty beat up in places with carbide clank and a few decent sized rocks. I stopped to remove a few of the floaters.
Up to Beaver River
Stillwater Road had good snow coverage, so I ran it until hitting that path that dumps onto the south bay of Stillwater Reservoir. The lake was really low, so I navigated through the path between the rocks. Once I got to the main lake body, I followed the Christmas Tree farm for a really nice rip.
The trail off Stillwater Reservoir into Beaver River was in nice shape. Then, I followed alongside C7/Railroad for about a mile north of the Norridgewock because it’s really pretty that way. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough packed snow to cover the rails, despite ambient snow cover that approaches 15-18 inches there. It was tedious to turn around because the skis and track would go right down to the rails.
Back to Old Forge
After my dance with the devil on the railroad, I turned tail and ripped back across Stillwater Reservoir. Then I ran Stillwater Road down to Big Moose Station. Trail 2 was in good shape, for the most part. After re-running some Trail 1 hash, I ran the smooth Pipeline trail and eventually got over to Trail 7 to make my run to Elise’s Lookout.
After that, I looped down to Trail 7a. That avenue was rather chewed up with pebbles showing. Ran back up Trail 7 and cut over to Trail 1, which was enjoying a fresh groom into Old Forge.
From the Old Forge Information Center I ran over to Fastrac to refuel for the trip home.
Back to Indian Lake
I spun myself silly on the Old Forge inner loop trails before ending up on Trail 5 via Trail 8. Can’t tell you my exact route, but most of that was smooth and fun riding.
By late afternoon, I was chilled from riding nearly continuously for at least several hours. Made the call to stop at Screamen Eagle for dinner and to warm up! This time I chose the sweet and sour wings. It was a ten napkin job to finish off this pile of goodness.
The return voyage across Moose River Plains was pretty good all the way across, aside from the usual thin spots. Indian Lake side between Silver Run and Cedar River Headquarters had small bumps in places. The dash back to the truck was a nice way to end the ride.
Like I said before, it was nice to load the snowmobile onto the trailer at Brown’s Farm and enjoy a warm ride home in the truck. Once we get another dump of snow to fully cover the rocks, I’ll feel better about riding out C8 from the compound to hit Moose River Plains.
Bottom line
I rolled for 153 miles in relative comfort and ease on Tuesday. No doubt we need more snow, but I was very happy to get this ride in. Most people who are coming to ride here are glad that they did. Even in a s#itty winter, ilsnow land and the surrounding Adirondacks do get a snowmobile season when others don’t. That’s why I live where I do!
Ahead?
All eyes are on the possible storm for Saturday. I’ll give it a day or two before I can get excited or just yawn. Regardless of what happens, you should ride sooner rather than later. I’m starting to see signs of trouble by February 3rd next week with a surge of mild air rolling through.
Modelology ensembles are indicating a breakdown of the cold weather pattern that we’ve been locked into for weeks. The ridge poking into the Gulf of Alaska is almost never a good look for us, because it often teleconnects with a surge of warmth over the eastern United States.
This weekend seems like more of a sure thing than the following weekend. With how winters have been lately, you gotta grab it when we got it!
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Progressive Motorsports, celebrating their 29th 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.
