Dancing in the rain and wet snow

Woke up Thursday morning to an inch of new snow, weighted down by freezing rain.

To be honest, I wasn’t pumped to ride snowmobile today. The older I get, the more I HATE getting wet!

But Darrin Jr was off work and wanted to ride. So, I figured why not?

Decided on wearing a full rain suit under my snowmobiling gear. It was a game changer! Almost enjoyed being out there.

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Heading out

A little mess on Bear Trap Swamp to start this ride.

Indian Lake main artery trails were bumpy and rough in all directions.

C8 heading out of town toward Headquarters was studder-bump hell for the first half-mile after crossing Route 28&30. Much of the remainder of that avenue had low bumps, but soft and tolerable. The worst part was a half-mile of whopping moguls after the trail left Cedar River. Final 2 miles to Headquarters was pretty good.

Moose River Plains to Inlet

Moose River Plains was worth the cover charge of getting out there. Not completely smooth, but nothing worse than soft and low studder-ripple. Fairly consistent ride from end to end, although snirty in spots on Inlet side.

Inlet loop trails with their usual good to excellent ride.

Through Moose River Plains and entering Inlet, we got plastered with huge snow flakes that splattered on contact.

Ole Barn into downtown Inlet was brown, but groomed recently. Was nice to have groomed shelf along Gilbert Road to keep us off the road.

Inlet to Old Forge

4th Lake was wet in places, but we didn’t sink into slush on the main drag strip.

Trail 5 from Daikers to the pit was brown, but plush and comfortable riding. Was nice to have a groomed shelf along Rondaxe Road to keep us off the road about half the time.

Old Forge

Did Trail 9 into Old Forge and entered a lot of good to excellent riding!

Had a particularly nice ride on what I believe is Trail 17.

Trail 7 was chattery on the skis whilst awaiting its next groom. But rain and fog had lifted to permit a surprisingly good view from Elise’s Lookout, given the weather.

Turned back to Old Forge and found a fresh groom on Trail 3A.

Eventually followed the fresh groom through Trail 5 into Old Forge. Enchanted Forest Water Safari through Info Center was studder chop, thankfully soft. Tobie Trail through town to Fastrac was like riding through Splash Mountain. By this time, it was raining pretty hard!

Big Moose Run then Daikers

Ran Pipeline, Trail 1 and 2 to Big Moose Station. Saw groomers on 1 & 2.

I usually stay off the tracks, but C7/Railroad from Big Moose to Old Forge had plenty of snow and was a beautiful ride. Was snowing in Big Moose at the time we passed through.

Made our exit from Old Forge via Trail 9 & 5 to hit Daikers for late lunch. Was nice to get inside and peel off the wet mittens and soaked-through jacket so I could dab them as dry as I could.

Had the Stackhouse burger, a fine way to stack calories on such a drab and damp day. Cheddar cheese, bacon and onion rings for the WIN.

Back to Indian Lake

Most trails had deteriorated somewhat from the day’s traffic. Yes, others were out riding!

Got pelted with a mixture of rain and wet snow for the ride home.

Shelf along Gilbert Road in Inlet was studderchop-ville. Inlet loop trails were holding up well.

Moose River Plains had turned to studder-bumps and some low rollers by late afternoon. Hit Red River-T and Big-T deadenders to pad happy fun miles.

C8 from Headquarters back to Indian Lake was a bump-n-grind. Was happy when that ordeal was OVER!

Had a little drama with a large fallen tree by Cedar River.

Was able to nurse Jr’s sled over the fallen tree, utilizing the stick ramp another rider had devised. But we needed to further build the stick ramp and shovel on snow to get my 900 ACE Turbo Tank over the hump.

Main arteries in Indian Lake were… NOT FUN!

After a refuel at One Stop, I parted ways with Jr and headed back to the compound. Rolled velvet smooth S85/Ski Hut trail back-n-forth three times to make the evening go down a little better.

Bottom line

SHITTY weather for a ride. But I spun off 168 miles and spent quality time with my kid. Far better than sweating my stones off all #summersucks!

Upon returning home, I promptly peeled off my riding gear and threw them in the dryer.

Oh, what a feeling!

Ride map

Click here for ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover!

Weekend outlook

I hope (pray!) the return of cold and snow will induce grooming around Indian Lake by this weekend, because trails are ROUGH here at the moment.

Consult with ALL of your sources to determine your best plan of attack. With stronger pain likely middle of next week, I’d definitely cheat toward getting here sooner, rather than later.

For the ilsnow nation,

Darrin