The “Back 9” is what I call the remainder of snowmobiling season after Presidents’ Week. There are a number of people who are done snowmobiling for the year, no matter how good the conditions may be.
That can work well for the rest of us who ride until the final bell. March has been a time for some of my very best rides!
With the few inches of snow we got in Indian Lake Sunday afternoon, Town of Indian Lake ran a groomer into S84 out toward Blue Mountain Lake Monday morning.
I didn’t see groomer marks on the other avenues exiting town. But I’m hoping this week’s cold weather and additional snow will have groomers hitting all the trails over the course of this week.
About Indian Lake
This was a weekend shot where C8/Sabael trail dumps onto Indian Lake.
I’m certain there is questionable ice near the Campsite at the south end of Indian Lake where the river dumps in from Lewey Lake.
The lake rising over 4 feet since February 17th has weakened the ice near shore. But the trend is starting to level off. Hopefully, the lake level will begin to recede this week and cold weather will button up the edges so we can skate over it, instead of water skip over it. But, we need to remain cautious whenever entering and leaving lakes.
Outlook
I’m not promising greatness everywhere your ride. But I can tell you that riding conditions should improve over the course of the week. I think we’ll hold serve into Saturday. Be careful of icy corners and hills under the new snow.
Unfortunately, we’re probably in line for a warm surge for Sunday and Monday before the next cold reload. Not sure how bad it would be yet. But we don’t have much buffer either.
Even so… There may be opportunity for recovery into mid-March with strong East Pacific Oscillation (EPO-) induced cross-polar flow pumping Arctic cold into Canada around the Polar Vortex (PV). If the southern jet-stream branch gets active, we could get an opportunity for a significant over-running snow event to emerge from the weeds.
It’s never over until it’s OVER here in ilsnow land. But we’re entering the time of year when climatology starts to work against us. Normal high for Indian Lake on March 1st is 32*F. That rises to 40*F by the spring equinox, which means we need to score some meaningful snow events to keep it rolling for a few more weeks.
RIDE NOW while we have it and let tomorrow take care of itself when it gets here.
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.
