Wednesday 8AM Update: Banged out a couple inches of freshness in Indian Lake, NY last night, a nice little bounty for the opportunistic mid-weeker.
Tuesday’s ride rolled out from the compound, instead of hauling it. As much I can enjoy road trips, embarking on my snowmobile rides from the garage is twice as nice!
My first plan was to hit C8/Sabael trail and see what happens. Besides several bony spots through the swamps, much of the riding was like this. No more sled-swallowing quagmires.
As I dropped onto Indian Lake, I saw several tracks on it. With last weekend’s frigid weather, I had just enough confidence to take the leap of faith onto the lake. I encountered no slush, no water, no large ice heaves. It got me across with no problems. Glare ice patches, not much snow, but enough to keep the snowmobile’s underside cool.
Indian Lake to Lewey Lake Campsite trail was groomed for a comfortable ride. Can’t complain about that! Lewey Lake was an uneventful crossing.
C8/Two Miles from Hell was groomed for a quarter-way decent to at times half-way decent ride. Was bony in spots and had its typical array of low bumps and terrain divots. But hey, I’ve seen it much worse!
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Perkins Clearing
Umm, yeah! Well worth the cover charge of riding 2 Miles from Hell to get there.
Took a right at Perkins-T intersection and ran Jessup River Road to the back side of Perkins Clearing. There was a bit of frozen hash where Miami River had blown over its banks earlier this winter, but that was easily passable.
Sniffed C4/C8 Big Brook trail for about a half mile and found it rougher than riding 2 Miles from Hell. No thanks, bro! I turned tail to hit Carpenter Hill Road for a really nice ride. After crossing Mossy Vly. I found that we have all of Mud Lake Road back, and better than ever!
Extensive logging has opened up nice mountain views to the south. And the road seems wider in places.
Into Speculator
Perkins Clearing southern bypass trail was chewed up and bony, but was easily passable with a bit of care. There was only one flowing water bar. The groomer is trying to work it.
C4 down to Speculator was groomed for a half-way decent ride to Sparkle City. At least several bony spots and some rock-top clank. But the sled-swallowing swale hole near Oak Mountain has frozen over.
LP4 and Business Access Trail were groomed. Some bony spots, but totally rideable.
Lake Pleasant was an uneventful crossing, not much snow on it.
LP1/Page Street trail was groomed. Aside from a few divots, it was by far the best riding trail I encountered in or near the village.
Heading west
At this point, I didn’t really know how far I’d get after crossing Sacandaga Lake. I was ready to turn around at any point.
C4 Fish Mountain to Oxbow Lake trail
In order to ride C4/Fish Mountain to Oxbow Lake trail, you now need to enter it the same place you’d hit Fawn Lake trail, then turn left and follow the road for about a half mile, then rejoin the trail.
As for Tuesday’s trail report here: The road was pretty much bare, with very little snow on the margins. Snowbanks were not shelved. The trail was groomed for a pretty nice ride to the cemetery. Past the cemetery, trail was bony at times with some rock-top clank. Well enough to get by with a bit of care.
On to Powley Road
After zipping across Oxbow Lake (another uneventful crossing with little snow), I gave C8/Spy Lake trail a try. Pleasant Riders deserve a Gold Star and Purple Heart for even making this trail rideable. Very bony in sections with rock-top clank. But grooming had closed the mud holes.
You can see some of the ordeal Pleasant Riders endured on their initial grooming run on their Facebook page.
After some very careful riding, I jumped on to Spy Lake to bypass some trail. I made it to Route 10 and hit Powley Road.
Powley Road!
Ran it back and forth for 24 miles of snowmobiling bliss. The straightaways were helmet-whipping booty call!
At the south end of Powley Road, I poked my nose into C8A toward Stratford. Umm… Didn’t even get quarter-mile in before I turned tail. As unappealing as this picture looked, washouts, rocks and flowing water bars were bad a short distance further in. Not worth pressing on, for me.
Going back
On the return rip up Powley Road, looked into running S88 up to Piseco Lake. That looked bumpy and rough, so I passed!
Sniffed C4/Fawn Lake trail. That was pretty bumpy and I knew Big Brook trail sucked too. Didn’t want to bang 7 miles of continuous hard bumps back up to Perkins Clearing, so I went back to Indian Lake the same way I came down to Speculator, in reverse.
Back to Indian Lake
C8/Sabael trail was holding up well by mid afternoon.
Took my customary victory lap around Indian Lake, including a rip across Adirondack Lake. Main artery trail from C8 & S86 into town was a bit worn from the day’s snowmobiling traffic, while less traveled trails like S87/42nd and Broadway and S85/Ski Hut trail were pretty good.
Rolled it back to the compound after 148 miles, by 3pm. Not bad! I wasn’t out there alone; encountered at least several packs of snowmobilers out there.
Bottom line
Suppose I could have made a run toward Newcomb and back to sneak in 200 miles for the ride, just to say I bagged a mega-miler. But honestly, I got far more mileage out of today’s ride than I was planning for. A wise person once told me it’s better to leave a little bit on the table and walk away happy with what you got.
Basic summary: Seasonal road snowmobile trails are GREAT! Narrow woods trails are a mixed bag of treats. But last weekend’s bitter cold was exactly what the trails needed to help groomers cake over the water/mud areas.
For me, winter “gets real” when I can ride from Indian Lake to Speculator on snowmobile for the first time. There is much for winter to overcome before that happens.
Ride map
Click here to see ride stats and 3D Flyover!
Lake riding disclaimer
Lakes cannot be called “safe riding”. I only testify to conditions of lakes that I decide to cross, at my own risk. I’m trusting we can all use sound judgement to make good decisions on whether to ride any lake.
Midweek to Weekend Outlook
With the late week warm-up and rain looming, obviously THE SOONER, THE BETTER should be your approach this week.
As for the weekend, as long as Thursday and Friday combine to bring less than an inch of rainfall and temperatures don’t blow well past 40*F either day, we’ll live to ride this weekend in ilsnow land. Seasonal road snowmobile trails should hold up well. Narrow woods trails would hold early spring riding conditions, with rain and melt water trying to reopen water bars.
Modelology is playing around with a light to moderate snow event for Sunday. I’m not hanging my hat on that yet. But it’s something to keep an eye on.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
