Believe it or not, I hadn’t trucked it to Tupper Lake in 3 weeks. When snow finally got good enough at home, I was more than happy to roll my rides from of the compound. Over and over again!
But I had gotten the itch to ride up north. Wednesday was the day.
Leaving Tupper Lake
It was fairly busy in Washington Street parking lot by the time I got there a shade before 10am. There were at least several truck-trailer rigs there.
Fresh groom on C7 leaving the lot said, “GAME ON!” Shortly after, I saw the Tupper Lake groomer coming back from its morning run.
The first 4-5 miles had occasional thin, pebbly stretches. Here was one of the bigger ones.
There wasn’t much ski chatter, but I did encounter occasional long-wave, moderate amplitude rollers for at least several miles. Overall, it was a fast rip toward Lake Clear.
North from Charlie’s Inn
C7 actually had some wavy bumps until the powerlines and a thin, pebbly section on the open causeway. Still a pretty good ride.
C7/Powerlines? Faint ski chatter at times. Most of it was fast and fun pole dancing. The section from Mountain View through Owls Head nearly gave me whiplash. Even better than booty!
Along the way, I ran C7/Parallel trail to Sugarloaf.
THAT… WAS… PERFECT!!!
Into Malone
C7 passing Titus Mountain exit ramp thinned considerably with pebbly/bare stretches. Here was the longest one.
Was able to roll the trail skirting downtown Malone. T’was passable, but thin and scratchy. Even some bald stuff. Not sure how much longer this would remain rideable without a new dump of snow.
Although I enjoy lunch at Mo’s Pub and Grill, I wanted to try The Pines. By the time I got there, I had gotten chilled – wishing that I had put on one more layer under my jacket before riding. No wonder, I had whistled along the power lines!
I ordered Jenni’s Cuban sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries. It hit the spot! Was the perfect portion size: big enough to satisfy but not a gut-buster. I had much riding left!
Going long!
I could have doubled back to Tupper Lake and clocked out by late-afternoon with a great ride. But I had my eye on hitting C8/Meacham Lake to Deer Valley and loop via Colton, Childwold and Piercefield.
A lady who lives in Parishville struck up a conversation with me whilst I was eating lunch, with some very favorable intel on riding conditions that way. After that, I really become pumped to push this ride into a high miler.
After a fuel stop at Roberts Sports of Malone, I was on my way…
Indeed, C8 to Meacham Lake (from C7) was AWESOME!! 13 miles of steady-state, continual snowmobiling happy place. Only discernible bumps were over the “rock garden”. Long road riding section had good snow to pass me through. WOW!
Aside from the brutal bumps and road rash along Route 30, C8/Meacham Lake to Madawaska Pond had soft ski chatter in places, but still very fun and brisk riding. I did stop to enjoy the sound of Quebec Brook draining from the pond.
C8/Madawaska Pond to St.Lawrence County line had harder, firmer ski chatter. Oh wait, those are called studderbumps! Almost forgot what bumps were…
C8 into St. Lawrence County was swift riding, with ski chatter eventually disappearing into Deer Valley. There was one water hazard that can “sneak up” if you’re moving at speed and not paying attention. Other than that… Drop the mike in Deer Valley for miles of fresh white ribbon!
Love the haunted house.
After Deer Valley, the miles long section of plowed roads had enough snow along the margins to skate through.
C8/Jones Road was a 3 mile crank-fest.
S87 and C8/via Joe Indian Road & Stark Road was miles of paved road riding. Thankfully, there was marginal snow along the edges and places I could hump the snowbank.
Once C8 left Stark Road, it had been groomed for a decent ride through the twisties. After I crossed Route 56, it became a GREAT RIDE up to STLA 56 intersection.
From there, C8 was mostly a good ride, but worn down in places down to Trooper Shed.
S83 had some bumps over to STLA 54 intersection.
From there, C7A to Sevey’s Point was bumpy and rough until the perpetual water hole. Shortly after that, riding became sweet for miles!!
Along the way, I engaged in a staredown with one of the locals.
Suppose I could have rolled up Little Blue Mountain since I was there. But after riding nearly continually for hours after I left Malone, I was far more interested in getting to Sevey’s Point to warm up after a fuel stop before they closed at 6pm. Was able to warm up inside for about 20 minutes at Sevey’s Point before making the push back to the truck.
Completing the loop
C7A was good evening riding through Shurtleff and all the way over to C7C. Some studders and scalloped bumps here and there.
Along the way, I saw this heading into 720 and couldn’t pass that up. Led into miles of perfect riding throughout 717 and 718!
Instead of cutting back over to C7A directly, I retraced my path through perfection to gratuitously pad happy miles!
Pressing northward for 2 miles on C7C/Massaweppie Road was somewhat bumpy in places.
S79 through Conifer was fairly rough with studders and rollers. But I was able to skate over it without hating myself.
C7/Off railroad had studders, but carried me into Piercefield. Looked like it had been groomed recently, but experienced heavy traffic.
Mount Mutumbla trail had been groomed. Much of it was pretty good riding, but with some studdery sections from heavy traffic.
A quick rip across Little Wolf Pond and roadside riding along Little Wolf Road got me back to C7 and Washington Street parking lot.
Rolled back to the truck with 235 miles shortly before 8pm. WHAT A DAY!! One of the easiest mega-milers I have rolled!
Some Indian Lake guys who had ridden from Washington Street parking lot were back from their ride and asked me how many miles I rode. They also did over 200 miles doing a similar ride – starting earlier than I did. Might have been on their tail much of the day without knowing it!
Bottom line
Don’t over think this… Get here and RIDE! From the road, I could see that Town of Indian Lake groomed C8/toward Headquarters and Snowarriors groomed into Newcomb/Old 538 on Wednesday.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by The Oxbow Inn, where everyone is a local. Great pizza and a variety of wonderful appetizers, light fare and entrees. 91 octane ethanol free gasoline available for snowmobiles! #itsbetteratthebow
