Weekend weather event was a mess, but managed to leave nearly 2 inches of snow/sleet slops in Indian Lake, NY by Sunday.
Wind was really howling Sunday morning, so I waited until noon to head out. Didn’t feel like having a tree fall onto my lap.
Heading out
Looked pretty good leaving the compound in Indian Lake, eh?
C8/Sabael trail was in good shape heading out of town. Just had to be alert to where water was eating holes into the trail.
Indian Lake was wild and windy with snow-twisters. Campsites needed a bulldozer to level the bumps on that atrocity. Lewey Lake was white velvet.
C8/Two Miles from Hell was actually decent to pretty-good riding for most of it. Was a tad bumpy at times up top past the parking lot.
Perkins Clearing hadn’t been groomed but was snowmobiling happy place.
Into Speculator Tree Farm
S41C from Perkins Clearing to Pig Rock parking lot was somewhat bumpy, then got really thin and pebbly enroute to the highway crossing. S41C from Pig Rock parking lot through Wolf Hill Road was lumpy, but managed to be a fairly enjoyable slow-paced ride with great mountain views.
Elm Lake Road was the smoothest main trail I encountered in the Tree Farm. Long Level Road and Fly Creek Road were pretty bumpy, so I didn’t stick with them for long. Did some “rabbit hole” riding to pad the fun miles in Tree Farm. C4/Cave Hill Road was decent riding but had its fair share of bumpy corners.
Up to Speculator and over to Oxbow Lake
LP4A had studders and rollers, but had enough to roll me into Sparkle City.
Got really thin and bony entering the village, but made it to Lake Pleasant for a good lake rip.
Trail through trailer park to CampStore was bumpy and thin. LP1/Page Street trail was good riding from CampStore to Moffitt Beach. Can’t bring myself to say this was bad riding, lol!
Sacandaga Lake was a pretty fast rip, smoother than what I encountered last week.
C4/Fish Mountain trail was trying to hold it together past the cemetery enroute to Oxbow Lake, but water bars were cutting into the trail in several places.
Pretty soon, it’ll be GAME OVER for hitting Oxbow Lake from the trail.
After a fast rip across Oxbow Lake, mine was the only snowmobile at Oxbow Inn mid-afternoon. PERFECT!!
I opted for the French dip and side of sweet potato tater-tots for the win.
On to Powley Road
Wasn’t sure how C8/Spy Lake trail would be holding up past Jack’s Hill. So I opted to roll C8 from Oxbow Lake to Piseco Lake. Good move! Except from several places where water had cut across the trail coming off Oxbow Lake, that trail was holding up. Riding conditions were decent with rollers and a few studders throughout.
Piseco Lake was sun-splashed and gorgeous. I was loving life here!
Piseco Lake Lodge to Powley Road was mostly good riding with areas of low rollers. But there were at least several places where water had eaten holes into the trail. Ice bridges were holding up, for now.
Powley Road was spring snowmobiling heaven! I ran that to the top, then down to the bottom.
Down at the Stratford end, snow ran thinner with low bumps in places. There were even a couple of bald spots. I hung out at the end of Powley Road to enjoy early spring sounds of birds chirping and water flowing through the culvert into East Canada Creek.
The run home
I backtracked my way back to Speculator. By late-afternoon, the strong spring sunshine had really softened the trails into mashed potatoes.
Trails in the heart of Speculator Village were getting skunky. This was the worst of it.
Business Access Trail (B.A.T) and LP4 won’t last much longer. Brown, bumpy and getting bald in places.
After a fuel stop and rest break at Mountain Market, I decided to roll it home via C4/Fawn Lake trail, which hasn’t disappointed me once this winter.
Gorgeous spring riding through that avenue!
C4/C8 Big Brook trail was mashed potatoes with some lumps, but holding together almost surprisingly well.
Perkins Clearing (including Carpenter Hill Road) was a somewhat lumpy, yet plush, ride. That actually got some traffic Sunday afternoon.
C8/2 Miles from Hell had soft studderbumps and some rollers – but holding together surprisingly well. Lewey Lake and Indian Lake had lots of white velvet riding off the main drag.
Back to Indian Lake
Aside from several water holes, C8/Sabael trail was holding up astonishingly well into early evening! Hardly anyone had ridden it all day.
Even C8/S86 main drag was holding up pretty well. S85/Ski Hut trail was still cheap thrill material, although I was sure to do a by-run first to spot the water holes.
Once it got dark, snow tightened up really quickly which caused the engine to run warm. One of the few times I’ve had to drop the scratchers down this snowmobiling season.
Rolled it back to the compound with 153 miles for the ride. Not bad for an afternoon of work, I’d say….
153 miles more than I ride most weekends.
Bottom line
It’s gonna end at some point, right? Although I had a great spring ride, water is beginning to run abundantly in the woods. Eventually, that’ll spell our doom.
Dad loved snowmobile riding into spring. Crowds were gone, sun felt great and snow was still deep in the woods. The old man knew what he was talking about.
Looks like I’ve got bonus riding this week to close out March. If I’m still feeling like a ride early April, I’m nearly 100% certain that Perkins Clearing will hold another one for me.
Yes, Johnny Couch Banger… Please stay home! Less competition for those of us who want to ride.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Willam Strauss, Farmer’s Insurance Agent. What you don’t know can hurt you. Give Bill a holler at 518-693-6897 to discuss your insurance needs, including auto, home, renters, business and SNOWMOBILE insurance.
