8am Sunday update: Picked up nearly 7-and-a-half inches of air fluff snow Saturday night, pushing snowpack to around 2 FEET at the ilsnow storm center in Indian Lake, NY.
RIDE! RIDE! RIDE!
After falling sick during Tuesday’s ride, I laid low this week. Thought about banging out a short ride Friday. But my energy was completely lacking, so I stuffed my eggs in the basket for Saturday’s ride. Went to bed at 8pm Friday night to max the sleep.
Woke up Saturday feeling adequate to go for it. Parked the ilsnow wagon at the end of Pelon Road and ripped it across Adirondack Lake (slushy!) into town.
S86 behind One Stop: MINT!
Scooted to Crazy Cal’s house just after 9:30am and waited for Dale and Damion to meet us there.
After they arrived, we ripped over to One Stop so Damion and Dale could gas up their sleds before the ride. While I waited, a group of riders spotted me and said HI!
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Heading out of Indian Lake
Town of Indian Lake was grooming. Riding was great from the get-go!
C8/Sabael trail was nearly mint all the way through.
Indian Lake had large swaths of slush. Main dragstrip was bumpy, but did flatten near the south end. My best play was to rip through untouched snow cover and let the 900 ACE Turbo blow though whatever slush it encountered underneath.
At the end of Indian Lake, we sunbathed for a bit and watched Indian Lake Snowarriors run a fresh groom through Campsites trail. Snowy Mountain made a beautiful background!
Lewey Lake had some slush, but not too hairy. 2 Miles from Hell was relatively tame, about as half-way decent as you can reasonably hope for mid-day Saturday.
Perkins Clearing to Oxbow Lake
Perkins Clearing was AWESOME! Did the counterclockwise loop via Jessup River Road, Carpenter Hill Road and Nichol Vly trail.
From the back of Perkins Clearing, C4/C8 Big Brook trail was mostly good riding! At the outhouse intersection, I pointed to Willis Mountain trail and asked a bunch of riders on old iron whether it was any good. They gave it the thumbs up, all we needed to hear!
Other than a few close-quarter encounters with oncoming traffic, it looked like this. Amazing for a Saturday afternoon!
Split off through C4/Fall Lake trail and stopped at the lake for a while.
Other than some bony hash before dumping onto Oxbow Lake, that was a beautiful ride!
Oxbow Lake was a slushy mess. Got to Oxbow Inn for lunch. We caught the tail end of the rush. Lots of snowmobilers, but the Inn’s Rockstars know how to keep food and people moving!
After I stacked up delicious calories with a 1/2 pound bacon burger and sweet potato tots, we went back to it!
To Speculator
Ripped slushy Oxbow Lake. C4/Fish Mountain trail was worn and bumpy in places. But honestly, wasn’t close to being horrible. Sacandaga Lake was a brutally slushy crossing. LP1/Page Street trail was pounded to PISS. Lake Pleasant was by far the best lake crossing of the day with almost no slush encountered.
Speculator Village trails were beaten and bumpy in places by heavy snowmobiling traffic, but not close to being old school Bump-ulator. Had a pit stop at Mountain Market before making the push home.
Tree Farm & Perkins Clearing to Indian Lake
C4/River trail was bumpy, but wasn’t a washboard fest. Once away from the river, C4 to Cave Hill Road thence Elm Lake Road was an enjoyable ride.
LP41C Hatchery Brook trail was lumpy at times, but far from terrible. Perkins Clearing southern bypass was brownish, but a FAR BETTER ride than I was expecting. BONUS!
Perkins Clearing Road was a fun rip from end to end! 2 Miles of Hell was rugged, but not bad enough to induce organ donation. Campsites trail was bumped up from Saturday traffic, but not horrible washboard junk.
By late afternoon, Indian Lake had gone to hell-in-a-handbasket for slush. Just cranked through it and didn’t look back.
Home stretch
After Damion and Dale split off, Crazy Cal and I milked the Victory Lap to push the odometer over 100 miles for the day. Main artery trails were shredded and brownish, but bumps were soft and low. Best riding in town was S85/Ski Hut trail and S86 behind One Stop.
Rolled back to the truck with 105 miles. Mission accomplished!
Ride map
Yes, the ride map is back! Reinstalling Polaris app worked wonders.
Click here to see ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover!
Bottom line
This was my Curt Schilling Bloody Sock Game. Had enough on my B-minus fastball to work my way through it. Was able to pick my spots and come away with the WIN!
T’was a great day on snowmobile with lifelong Indian Lake friends. Had plenty of laughs over the lunacy we witnessed.
Even though I don’t ride weekends often, it was great to bring the band back together for this one!
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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