Wednesday was yet another road trip for me. This time, I hit one of my favorite places to ride outside of ilsnow land.
Didn’t have any wing men for this one. It was a solo venture. You know I never have a problem with flying alone.
I trucked it to Seveys Point, with ample parking, at the intersection of Routes 3 and 56 and started from there. The rerouted section of C7A along Route 56 was tired, dirty and rough. But I pressed on and found an early prize once I got away from the highway.
In general, wide open sections ranged from fairly good to occasionally excellent riding. The narrow, twisty parts were tired and needed more snow.
The trail up Little Blue Mountain had continual washboard moguls. But the juice was worth the squeeze when I got to the top and had this place all to myself. The wind was HOWLING up there!
I connected with C8 and headed north, which was decent riding until I turned right at STLA 56 Intersection. Then C8 became legendary riding down the Route 56 crossing, awesome through the logged hardwoods. It rivaled prime Perkins Clearing or Powley Road.
After the highway crossing, C8 was narrow, twisty and had bumps. But it was just good enough to keep my interest.
Thought about pressing further along C8, but that looked like endless paved road riding with no shelf to ride on. So I turned onto C8D, which was a pretty good ride.
For giggles, I decided to run S86A into South Colton. At first, it was a icy, plowed road, then it became a decent ride with a fresh groom. But there were leftover divots, indicating this trail was quite rough before the groom. After the STLA 80 intersection, S86A became a twisty serpentine through the woods. Some of the really sharp turns had loose rocks floating around. But the ride was decent enough for me to keep going with it.
S86/Snell Road was essentially bare. Fortunately, I was able to hump the snowbank when needed and rolled into South Colton.
C8E/Cold Brook Road was a grubby ride, but there was enough brown slime to slither by. C8E leaving the road was thin, had bare corners and loose rocks. But it was mainly flat riding and conditions improved once I got over the top.
From STLA 67 intersection, I headed westward on C8D. There were bumps here and there, but also a lot of beautiful riding to the Rainbow Rod and Gun Club.
After the Rainbow Rod and Gun Club, C8D had plenty of wavy bumps with similar conditions through S86. The short 706 trail was an improvement in riding before I was reunited with C8D, rolling by Troopers Shed.
On to Cranberry Lake and Wanakena
Steamed through C8 southward. Some sections had light to moderate studderchop. But I also encountered the addictive, helmet-whipping snowmobiling superhighway stretches. This is NOT your Indian Lake C8!
I hit S89 for a fun rip down to Cranberry Lake and back. I didn’t run the lake, but it felt cathartic to sit on the beach for a while and feel the strong breeze.
C8 from Cooks Corners to Wanakena was an amazing ride! Aside from some worn spots on the southerly exposed hillsides, it was as good as I’ve seen it.
Ranger School Road had just enough brown slime along the margins to slither over to Black Waters Cafe & Trading Post for lunch and dessert. The hot chocolate had a small pinch of cinnamon and cayenne pepper, which gave it a warm and pleasant aftertaste – probably the best hot chocolate I’ve ever enjoyed! Lunch surely hit the spot…
Back to Seveys
I had never ridden C8 to Star Lake, so I decided to give that a shot. That experiment ended after a quarter-mile of lumps and bumps. I turned around to hit the good stuff again.
On the way back, I tried S80G, which was a nice ride aside from some worn hill spots. The sections that ran along the road side were shelved for the most part. When I got to STLA 202 intersection, S80 looked good in both directions. With my gas tank reading around quarter-full (or three-quarters-empty), I figured it would be good to turn the skis back toward Seveys. Looks like there are some exploration options in the future.
After backtracking C8, trail S88 from STLA 29 intersection had studders and worn corners. C7A/Bypass to Route 3 was tired with loose rocks and worn corners.
The ride along Route 3 to Seveys was bumpy and getting grubby by late afternoon when I rolled back to the truck. Temperatures rising into the lower 40s really did a job on that stretch….
Bottom line
I rolled off 136 miles before we take a big hit on Thursday with warmth and rain. This area rarely disappoints, definitely worth checking out if you haven’t done it already! So glad I got this ride in because I may be riding the pine for a while.
Holiday Weekend Outlook
Most modelology is indicating 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain for the central Adirondacks Thursday into Thursday night. That would be enough to open brooks and cause some flooding.
Friday’s cold shot will freeze the leftover snow pack. Strong, gusty winds may knock down trees as the cold rushes in Friday morning.
A Canadian clipper will put on a fresh application of white paint on Saturday, but won’t be anywhere near enough to overcome the damage. If you choose to ride this weekend, please be careful! Lakes will not be your friends – all that water ends up somewhere….
Tough sledding ahead…
One more thing (bad news!)
Unfortunately, Oak Mountain has closed their portion of C4 leading from Speculator Village up to Perkins Clearing. That means you’d have to ride Hatchery Brook trail into Speculator Tree Farm -OR- hit Big Brook/Fawn Lake trails from the back side of Perkins Clearing to make a run at Speculator Village if you’re riding down from Indian Lake.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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