After riding every day this week, I wasn’t looking for an ambitious high miler. I wanted to roll it out of the compound and soak in the sun.
Snowmobile riding in March is tremendously enjoyable when we have the snow to do it. Yeah, high sun angle eats away southerly exposed thin spots. But “in the woods” snowpack is usually at its deepest in early March for ilsnow land.
Heading out
Indian Lake town trails were in good riding shape Friday morning, especially nice through Bear Trap Swamp.
C8/Sabael trail had some ski chatter but was good enough for an enjoyable ride leaving ilsnow Capital City. Indian Lake Parks and Rec Department was doing work on the stream to make it more passable for snowmobilers.
Indian Lake and Lewey Lake were fast and flat on the drag strips and white velvet off the beaten path. Magnificent riding! Campsites trail was the usual cadre of sawtooth bumps and snowcross moguls.
C8/Two Miles of Hell was the best I’ve seen it all winter. Actually enjoyable riding!
Perkins Clearing was enjoying a Friday morning groom. LP9/Nichol Vly trail was simply….
AWESOME!!
Back end of Mud Lake Road was wet ice and mud. Active logging prevented me from rolling it over to Mossy Vly. I had no problem with rolling it back through LP9!
Into Speculator
Perkins Southern Bypass and C4/Oak Mountain into Speculator was brown in spots, some southerly exposed corners were burnt. But overall, by far the best ride I’ve had through that avenue this year.
I bumped-n-grinded the River trail over to Lake Pleasant and headed west. LP1/Page Street was bumpy from the lake up to CampStore. Then it was a pretty good ride to Moffitt Beach, trying to hold its own after a recent groom.
Sacandaga Lake had slushy ruts in places. The roughest lake crossing I had today.
C4/Fish Mountain trail was turning brown’ish. Fairly brutal studder-chop from cemetary to Oxbow Lake.
After an incredibly fast rip across Oxbow Lake, it looked like Weekend Lite at Oxbow Inn, explaining why Fish Mountain trail was beaten up.
Back to Indian Lake
Took the opportunity to hit C4/Fall Lake trail. Saw the Town of Arietta gang taking a break near the trail entrance, which gave me a good feeling about the riding ahead. This is one of my favorite spots.
C4/C8 Willis Mountain trail was an enjoyable roller coaster ride through the twisties – about as good as you hope to find it.
C4/C8 Big Brook trail had soft studder bumps. No wonder, with over a dozen snowmobilers stopped at the outhouse. By early afternoon, it was full-on Weekend Lite and time for me to get outta there!!!!
Once I got back into Perkins Clearing, I took a rest stop and peeled off a layer or two. Gets pretty warm when March sun hits the black suit. Hung out for a while to enjoy this wonderful mountain view.
On the return trip, C8/Two Miles of Hell was getting soft studders, but still trying to hold its own. The usual dirt spots at the bottom had opened up again.
Tooled around Indian Lake for a bit. Went off grid and got myself into an “OMG stuck” in which it took me over an hour to extricate the snowmobile. I had my doubts about getting unstuck. But calm and patience saved the day, as it usually does.
Back to the compound
C8/Sabael trail was brown after Weekend Lite traffic and 40*F warmth did its dirty work. But it was still quite passable. This section is getting skunky, but thanks to Parks and Rec, you can roll through there now, instead of fording a stream.
Indian Lake C8/S86 main drag was brown with low soft studder bumps by late-afternoon, but holding its own.
S85/Ski Hut, S87/42nd and Broadway, S86/One Stop to Lone Birch were fun rips on the victory lap. Lake Adirondack was a helmet-whipping booty call!
Back to the compound with 90 miles on a stroll ride. Gotta love it!
I’m not into crowds whilst snowmobiling. But it was great to see so many riders out there enjoying the Adirondacks on such a gorgeous late winter’s day. I saw a lot of smiles on the trail.
Bottom line
Well… We’re nearing mid-March and time is running out on snowmobiling season. Don’t over think this! Just RIDE, bro…
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Sportline Power, recognized as one of the largest and most completely stocked retailers of Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kymco, Polaris, Sea-Doo, CFMoto, Trition and pre-owned products in the region. Whether it is a new vehicle, maintaining or customizing your current vehicle, or a need for new riding gear you will find the staff at Sportline eager to meet your needs.
