3/14/22 Update
Winter in the morning, spring by afternoon, bordering die-hard by evening. That was a mid-March Monday for ya!
Did Indian Lake to Perkins Clearing, Speculator and Tree Farm. Won’t get into the blow-by-blow, but I can tell you this is probably my last run from the compound. Indian Lake main arteries were approaching trashed by day’s end. Somehow ended up with 104 miles, even though I didn’t get rolling until 11am. Holy cow, Indian Lake was a Warp speed fast rip on the way home!
If you didn’t get out there the past couple of days, enjoy the Facebook photo-ramma below and the report from Sunday’s ride as well.
Was pleasantly surprised to bang out 2500 miles in essentially a month-and-a-half snowmobiling season. Think of what could be possible if we ever get a December into early April thing going again.
3/13/22 Ride Report
From one side, I hear people whining about how ilsnow land got “only 7 or 8 inches” of snow instead of a foot.
From another side, I hear Johnny Couch Bangers who only ride when there are perfect trail conditions AND their zodiac sign is aligned with Jupiter and Mars AND there was a blood moon the night before.
I chose to roll on the snow that we got and have at it Sunday. No one hits home runs unless he takes that Louisville slugger, steps into the batter’s box and swings for the fences.
Heading out
I ripped off a pre-ride victory lap around town. Indian Lake main arteries were ungroomed and bumpy, with the worst of it being on the main drag from Bear Trap Swamp to Crow Hill Road.
But you can almost always count on S87/42nd and Broadway to be a good start (or end) to your ride.
Lake Adirondack was a fun rip and I was first one to break pow-pow on S86A/Little Canada between Sawmill Road and Lone Birch – which was a blast!
C8/Sabael trail was somewhat bumpy, but certainly passable. There were several water hazards along the way with the worst being this trench. At least it’s easily detected and avoided during the day.
The stream that cuts into Indian Lake where Sabael trail dumps onto the lake was frozen. But it won’t take much runoff to open it up again.
Vast majority of Indian Lake and Lewey Lake were silky smooth riding. Only encountered some low snow dunes south of Timberlock on Indian Lake.
Campsites were bumpy as…. (insert your favorite ^!^@%*&*# here)
C8/2 Miles from Hell was a bump and grind, but not quite as bad as I had feared. Was able to hit some “Trail 30” near the top. There were several chuck holes like this to negotiate.
Perkins Clearing hadn’t been groomed but was pretty good riding from end-to-end, front-to-back, and around the loop. There were a smattering of bumps here and there. And there was an large frozen washout near the Miami River Bridge that had been marked with ribbons – which was easy to negotiate. Also played in the back bowels of Perkins for a while.
Thru Speculator to Wells
DRAG of Speculator was out working magic and I first hit their groom on C4 down to Oak Mountain. It was thin on the southerly exposures with carbide clipping rock tops at times, but it did the job down to Sparkle City.
Rolled my way down to the River Trail (which was surprisingly decent after the short bump-and-grind after the pit). Then I turned my skis down LP4A behind several snowmobilers, also enjoying a fresh groom. I encountered the groomer on a return run alongside Downey Avenue. It was a tight fit, but I was able to pull off trail and let them go by. The crew recognized me and stopped for a nice chat.
Figured I’d at least take a shot at Wells since things were going well. Didn’t opt for C4B/Gilmantown trail because I figured that’d be rough.
C4/Old Route 30 was a roller-ramma, but soft enough to keep the riding enjoyable. S42 hadn’t been groomed, but that was loose and fun ditch banging along Route 30. It did get bumpy and rough when I get hemmed into the trail down the gorge. The final 2 miles into Wells were really good riding.
Made my way down to Lake Algonquin, which was the most fun I’ve had lake riding this year. After my sit-down on the bluff, I would go on to slash that lake like the Bay Harbor Butcher. Back-and-forth, around-and-round at least several times!
In between one of my rips on the lake, I ran S47 off the public beach for giggles for about a half mile until it turned onto the paved road.
Stopped for lunch at Over Rock Cafe. Sunday was breakfast only, which was great by me! I’m game for breakfast all day, any day. Good thing I came hungry, because I had to eat like a pro to clean those plates.
A couple who rode C4B/Gilmantown trail recognized me and told me the trail was bumpy with washouts. I told them they’d be better off taking the trail along Route 30 back to Speculator.
Back to Speculator
I followed my own advice and ran it back up the gut along Route 30. Hit C4/Cave Hill trail, which was pretty good riding. Even C4 through the woods to the river was close to being half-way decent. After that little choppy section after the groomer turnaround, the C4/River trail greeted me. Some wavy bumps, but we’ve all seen it worse…
Ran the Business Access Trail over to Village Motorsports and shot the bull with Rick Swift for a while. Told him I was still loving the 900 ACE Turbo! I also promised to give DRAG of Speculator a shout-out and gold-star for grooming their trails today.
In all the years (decades) I’ve ridden Speculator, I had never found Kunjamuk Cave on Cave Hill Road. Between talking to Rick and texting a friend I finally found it, after taking another run on LP4A and C4/Cave Hill Road. I felt like Indiana Jones when I got in there.
From there, I ran over to Elm Lake Road and had a nice ride through that avenue. Long Level Road was roller bumps. Didn’t bother with Fly Creek Road because that looked the same. But I did the run to the top of Upper Pine Mountain, where the view never disappoints at 2500 foot elevation.
After I came back down to earth, I doubled back to Elm Lake Road and sat at one of my favorite rest stops. How does one go by that and NOT stop?
Ran Hatchery Brook trail, which was a bumpy roller-ramma once I split off from Wolf Hill Road. But it was a scenic ride, for sure.
Ran C4/Oak Mountain trail for a half-mile look-see. It was tattered from the day’s traffic, but still quite serviceable. Perkins Clearing was groomed by the time I rolled back through late afternoon. LP9/Nichol Vly trail was MINT for the vast majority of it. So good, that I ran it back and forth because I knew there’d be nothing better on the way home.
The way home
As expected, bumps had set with the day’s traffic pounding the new snow into the trails. But, I’ve seen it much worse out there. Rolled into town before dark and finished shoveling out the walkways at Mom’s house that I had started this morning before embarking on the ride. Got back to the compound with 165 miles for the day.
Here’s a pic of S87/42nd and Broadway just after dark to finish off the ride.
I really like having that extra hour of daylight to ride into the evening. I think we should keep it that way and stop the clock-changing baloney. I don’t want an extra hour of daylight in the morning when I’m trying to max out my sleep, lol!
Bottom line
I’m guessing at least 10 people spotted me riding today and stopped to chat. NONE of them complained about getting only 7 or 8 inches of snow. Nor were they playing couch warrior. I’m sure ALL of them were just happy to ride again one more time after we got the 60*F blowtorch last weekend.
A couple paparazzi caught up to me in Perkins Clearing on my way home and posed for pics.
They were nice enough to share a video clip from their ride on Powley Road.
Well… I’m definitely riding Monday. Maybe again on Tuesday if the spirit moves me. After that, we’ll be skidding into die-hard season. It’s mid-March and time will run out before we know it.
It’s been a short snowmobiling season. And I truly hope that I’ve helped you maximize precious riding time.
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 or used truck, give Steet Ponte a good look.
