I had plans to ride Saturday with friends. But those plans fell through for me.
Had a quarter in my pocket for Sunday. No way I would rot on the couch for another day! Headed up to Washington Street parking lot in Tupper Lake, NY when I got done with my morning chores.
Got there shortly after 9am and saw no other trucks in the parking lot. ZERO!!! Read that again, ZERO!!!
Didn’t have sights set for a 200 miler when I unloaded the 900 ACE Turbo. I was just happy to ride after riding the pine for a week.
Tupper Lake to Lake Placid
At the train depot, I found a fresh groom onto Local 871 main artery and followed that to Waterfront Park. That was SWEET!
C7 from Tupper Lake to Lake Clear was freshly groomed and nearly PERFECT. Couldn’t ask for a better ride through that avenue!
C7B through Metro Saranac Lake to Lake Placid was a great ride. Aside from some icy and pebbly spots through Ray Brook, it came up aces.
Trail was even comfortable riding for the old iron I spotted in Metro Saranac Lake.
Upon reaching Lake Placid, I took the Local 404/Crowne Plaza trail. Had never done that before. But it was snowing enough to grease the paved roadway section nicely.
Bulk of this trail was a bumpy single sled-width herd path. Nice little bridge crossing here.
From Crowne Plaza I could faintly see the ski jump and Mirror Lake through the falling snow. I imagine this vantage would offer a spectacular view of the High Peaks on a clear day.
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Lake Placid to points north
On the return trip through Metro Saranac Lake, I saw enough snowmobile tracks and ice fishing tents on Lake Colby to make the leap of faith and drop onto the lake. Got off the lake at Lake Colby boat launch to rejoin C7B. The lake did skip a large section of the C7B rock garden meat grinder.
After crossing NY-86, C7B was a pretty nice ride through Bloomingdale, other than several large and deep icy dips.
C7B got bumpy approaching FRAN 4 intersection. Took the right turn onto S83 and had a pretty good ride until I reached the plowed road.
Turned around and rolled it to FRAN 5 intersection to run C7/Pole line. Aside from kicking pebbles in places, it was pretty good riding.
From FRAN 6 intersection, I rolled C8A/Wolf Pond Road which was PERFECT to Doll House.
After Doll House, I encountered icy turns, floating stones and a couple rock-top clanks to Franklin/Clinton County line. But the trail was nearly board flat.
C8A into Lyon Mountain has icy stretches, a couple of water bars and some floating pebbles. But I encountered less rock-top clank than anticipated. Made it to Iron Ore Market for a fuel stop.
C8A past Lyon Mountain railroad depot was very icy. Decided to turn around and save the ride to Dannemora for another day.
On the return trip through C8A/Wolf Pond Road, I embarked on a loop on S83 and S84 from FRAN21 Intersection. Got spun around a bit, ended up rejoining C7/Pole trail by Fishhole Pond.
Encountered a very fresh groom on C7/Pole Line, then promptly passed the groomer laying down the white ribbon.
Picked up another fresh groom from an approaching groomer prior to Meacham Lake exit ramp and rode the ribbon for miles.
Got thin and pebbly in places from FRAN 6 intersection through Mountain View. Hit another fresh groom for helmet-whipping booty call through Owls Head.
Encountered thin stretches and floating stones northward from Owls Head, but the vast majority was flat and fun riding. Passing Titus Mountain exit ramp, base was really thin with large floating stones. Wasn’t worth it for me to continue, so I turned tail.
By mid-afternoon, I was chilled to be bone after riding nearly non-stop for several hours. Decided on hitting up Trailside Bar & Restaurant on S78.
First order of business was hot liquids to warm me up!
Then it was time to restoke the inner fire with a crispy chicken parm dinner and linguini. No need for me to show the “after pic”. You should know by now that I can clean a plate!
Trailside had live music in progress, which added some ambience. After dinner (and getting WARM!), it was time to make the run back to the truck.
Back to Tupper!
Aside from thin/pebbly spots, C7/Pole line held up as a pretty good ride back to Lake Clear. Certainly nothing to complain about for a Sunday afternoon.
By the time I got to Charlie’s Inn, the daily trip meter was reading a buck seventy-two. Some quick math determined that running a dog leg to Metro Saranac Lake before heading back to Tupper Lake would pad the happy fun miles to reach 200 on the day.
I don’t usually chase miles. But when the brass ring is in reach, I gotta grab it!
GAME ON!
C7 from Lake Clear to Tupper Lake was an excellent early evening rip back to the truck. Drop the mike, bro!
Got back to the truck with 204 miles around 5pm. Only one other truck at Washington Street parking lot at that time. Much better than watching the NFL Week 18 lineup of Tankathon Games.
Washington WON and screwed up its chance to move up to #5 in the 2026 draft order. My team couldn’t even tank right. No half measures. When you suck, you gotta go all in. Tank for ’26!
Bottom line
Some trail sections need a good dump of snow. But groomers were certainly out there working with what they have in the northern ADK.
Ride map
Click here for ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover
Bringing it back home
On my way out of town Sunday morning, I spotted a fresh groom on Town of Indian Lake trails S86 and C8 toward Cedar River Headquarters. Also saw that O’Neil Flow Road/Newcomb trail was groomed. Didn’t notice any grooming yet on C8A/Old S84 out to Blue Mountain Lake. I won’t promise good riding on our narrow, woodsy trails yet. But tanks are now rolling in ilsnow Capital City.
Lakes?
Yes, people are riding lakes. I trust you’ll DECIDE WISELY whether or not that is for you.
Midweek Outlook
If you can bang out a mid weeker, I’d highly recommend doing that. January Thaw is lurking on the horizon, but we should hold off damage until Friday & Saturday.
Once we get over the hump and freeze the leftovers, the prevailing weather pattern may revert back into our favor for the second half of January. More on that coming up!
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
