When I want an easy mileage ride and trail report, I truck it to Tupper Lake. Just have everything ready the night before, fire up the ilsnow mobile command center the next morning and unload at Washington Street parking lot within an hour of leaving Indian Lake.
From Tupper Lake, I headed north on C7 with a couple of inches of fresh snow on top.
Riding was great from the get-go!
Aside from a few odd long wave rollers, there was nothing worse than slight studder-ripple though Floodwood. Really smooth riding through Lake Clear neighborhood.
There were several thin/scratchy spots, mostly on wind/sun exposed causeways. Lake Colby causeway was the longest such stretch, but not bad enough for me to drop onto the lake to avoid it.
C7B through metro Saranac Lake was thin and brownish, but groomed well for enjoyable passage.
Continuing C7B to Lake Placid was a blast! Again, several thin/scratchy spots but easy and fun. Gotta love the view…
After reaching Lake Placid, turned around and headed back to Lake Clear. I didn’t mind repeating the fun.
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Northward from Charlie’s Inn
C7 started with occasional long wave rollers the first few miles. Approaching cinders and ashes on the exposed causeway.
Then it was on to C7 Pole Dancing. OHHHH YEAH!!!!
There were periodic scratchy/pebbly stretches, but the trail had been groomed FLAT! I found the most pebbly riding on the bluff exposed to sun and wind along Loon Lake.
At FRAN6 I turned my skis onto C8A/Wolf Pond Road. That was a silky smooth ride through Doll House.
After that, trail became scratchy and pebbly. Eventually the skis were kicking far more rocks than I cared for. T’was time to turn back!
C7/Parallel trail from FRAN6 was a plush ride, but I had to dodge a few floating rocks. More thin/pebbly stretches on C7 through Mountain View. Passing though Owls Head was close to being helmet-whipping booty call!
New snow on C7/north of Owls Head was hardly tracked, open invitation to continue!
Shortly after passing Titus Mountain exit ramp, skis were kicking rocks. So, I turned tail.
Lunch!
S78 was paved smooth for the approach to Trailside Bar and Restaurant. Cold was getting to me a bit and I had been riding for hours at that point. I was glad to give it a try!
Started with a delicious bowl of chowder. My chicken parm dinner was so big, it was served to me in a big metal bowl.
The challenge was ON! But it was no match for the Terminator…
BEFORE
AFTER
No problem! Knew I had a smooth ride to the truck awaiting me.
Before heading back outside, I encountered the most interesting urinal I’ve seen. Don’t think I’d drink anything out of this keg!
Heading back to Tupper Lake
With cold weather holding trails firm, conditions hadn’t deteriorated much since the morning even with decent snowmobiling traffic. Sun splashed views were astonishing!
Before loading onto the truck, I rolled around Tupper Lake for a bit. T’was bony and rocky near the rail depot. But main artery into the village was smooth riding with icy spots.
Made it to Waterfront Park just a few minutes too late to catch the sunset. But breathtaking nevertheless!
Ride map
Click here to see ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover!
Forgot to click on the ride tracker until 3 miles north of Washington Street parking lot at start of today’s ride. But you’ve got most of it.
Bottom line
No boulder gardens, no twisty goat paths. Just easy riding for 162 miles from 11am until sundown! Just what the good doctor ordered.
Good thing it’s cold because snow is NOT deep! Probably 6-12+ inch snowpack through most of my travels. I’d love to have more snow before I’d head back there again. But I was happy to ride on this beautiful mid-winter day!
Closer to home
Town of Indian Lake groomers were out Friday, making their dent in the universe.
Fresh marks extended through C8A/Old S84 out toward Blue Mountain Lake Friday morning.
C8 heading out to Headquarters didn’t look bad from the road, so I’m assuming that’s been worked on this week.
I see reports that groomers have restored Moose River Plains from holiday weekend carnage. Can’t tell you how that’ll be Saturday afternoon. But early risers could do well in the morning.
If you come here with modest expectations, you can have a good enough time. Better to be pleasantly surprised than modestly disappointed. Best I can say for now!
With a bit more snow, I’ll start banging out local rides from the compound next week!
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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