Tupper Lake to Malone and beyond mega miler!

February 12, 2025 Trail Conditions No Comments

Crazy Cal blew off work Wednesday and wanted to do the Tupper Lake to Malone thing.

No problem! I’m always happy to make that trip. I’ve even done that on back-to-back days!

Got to a completely empty and snow-covered Washington Street parking lot just after 9am.

I was feeling it already!

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Tupper Lake to Charlie’s Inn

Unfortunately, C7 was rough the entire way! Think old school Saturday afternoon Moose River Plains, Indian Lake side rough. It was that BAD! Whopping moguls and sawtooth bumps throughout. Was hoping and praying we’d hit reward on the other side.

Charlie’s Inn to Malone

Like somebody turned a switch! C7 pole dancing doesn’t get much better than this.

Miles and miles of smiles stacked on top of each other. What a beautiful ride in the sun!

C7 Owls Head into Malone had studder-ripple but was still a fun ride. Cal made his annual stop into Robert’s Sports of Malone, this time to buy a pair of mitts. Spur trail to Robert’s was awash in humpback moguls.

Malone Junction to The Pines needed a combover with the groomer. But there was 100% snow coverage. Graffiti mural still large and in charge.

Cal opted for a Philly cheesesteak for lunch. I started with a bowl of sweet potato and coconut curry soup, which was absolutely delicious. Main course was a Rodeo burger for a messy and fun meal. French fries were excellent!

Ellenburg run

On our way into Malone I spied a fresh groom onto C8C. I knew what we were doing after lunch.

Wow! Straight arrow sections were more addictive than crank!

From there, we played follow the fresh groom all afternoon.

Cruised through S87 to Ellenburg

Followed a fresh groom through Ellenburg to Mountain Mart for a fuel stop. Then we doubled back to C8F, to possibly make a run to Lyon Mountain and over to Dannemora.

But the fresh groom pressed through S87 eastward instead.

Thought about doing a broad loop via Altona. But the trail eventually thinned out and we started banging rocks. After about 4 miles, we turned tail.

Back to Ellenburg the commenced a loop via C8F and C8C enroute to Churubusco. Miles of freshly groomed perfection! The old railroad bed was almost an out of body experience. Words fail to fully describe it.

C8C abruptly ended as a freshly plowed road. So we opted for newly groomed and untouched S71 to complete the loop.

The return trip

Back the way we came via S87 and C8C to Malone Junction in fading daylight. We had no problem repeating that!

C7 Pole line was a bit bumpy from Malone to Owls Head, then became a nice ride from through Mountain View as darkness fell. Got rather studder-ripply from Meacham Lake exit ramp to Onchiota. Caught a fresh groom near Rainbow Lake for an amazing night ride through Gabriels to Charlie’s Inn.

We braced for the ride back to Tupper Lake. Was absolutely brutal for the first 8 miles past Lake Clear. About a mile from Floodwood, we encountered a groomer cleaning up the mess on Aisle 7. That saved our remaining ride back to Tupper Lake. Thank goodness!

Rolled back to Washington Street parking lot by 7pm with 217 miles for the ride. What an amazing day to snowmobile. I’m sure Crazy Cal didn’t regret his decision to skip work!