Early Saturday Update: Approaching 2 inches of new snow at the ilsnow storm center in Indian Lake, NY. Good for keeping slides and heat exchangers happy! Keep in mind that trails are brick hard with icy spots under the snow. Lakes are glare ice under the pow-pow, and wind will whip that snow around into drifts and bare spots as Saturday goes on. Ride a bit slower than usual. Trees don’t get out of the way when you slide through an icy turn.
Been a long time since I’ve had to answer questions like: Is it worth traveling (fill in the blank) hours to ride here this weekend?
If your minimum standard for acceptable riding is what we’ve enjoyed for the previous 6 weeks, I’d say it’s not worth it for YOU.
If you’re a diehard and anything will do, YES there’s more than enough to give it a whirl.
For people in various places on the spectrum in-between the extremes, the answer depends on how badly you want to hit it again before the dry blow torch rolls into town next week and takes another lick.
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Present situation
Remnant brick-hard snowpack is generally 1-2+ feet through central Adirondacks, with the snow bowls probably holding around 3 feet.
As of Friday morning, lakes were marbled glare ice. Wednesday’s rain/thaw sharply increased water flow through inlets and outlets, so beware of thin ice and open water near them. Any new snow cover we achieve over the weekend would be minimal. Studs and ice scratchers might be mandatory to kick up enough matter to keep slides and heat exchangers satisfied.
For the weekend, I suspect your best places to try would be Speculator Tree Farm, Perkins Clearing, Arietta/Powley Road and Morehouse.
Main artery trails into Indian Lake were rough and bumpy before the rain/thaw. From what I could see from the roadside Friday morning, I can’t imagine they are any better now.
Your best play here might be trucking it to Northville/Lake Placid trailhead near Lake Durant on Route 28&30 and worm your way through S84 to hit Newcomb trail. You can also try hitting Moose River Plains from Brown’s Farm, but the three-quarter mile road to the trailhead may be quite unfriendly to slides and carbides. Maybe the touch of snow expected late Friday night could help a bit with that.
Keep in mind that any snowmobile trail section plowed for “shared use” will either be icy, bare or scratchy.
Bottom line
With snow coming in dribs and drabs through the weekend, studs and scratchers would be your friends. You may find some trails to be surprisingly good riding. You’ll also find unforgiving, bone-jarring rough trails. And you may find a few places that got washed out by Wednesday’s rain/thaw.
Consult ALL of your favorite sources. Then, make the right decision for YOU.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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