Darrin Jr hadn’t ridden from Tupper Lake in a while. And we hadn’t gotten together for a ride recently.
Sunday’s ride would start by trucking it to Washington Street parking lot and roll up miles from there.
I had a couple goals in mind: Jenn’s Smokin’ Hot & Frosty Lounge in Ellenburg for lunch and reach the shore of Lake Champlain.
By default, that would be a high-mile ride. But this would become an EPIC snowmobiling journey!
Heading out
C7 from Tupper Lake to Charlies Inn had been freshly groomed. Other than some long wave rollers to keep us honest, it was a white carpet ride.
C7 between Charlies Inn and Loon Lake was good pole dancing. Encountered soft studder north of Loon Lake, so we switched onto Wolf Pond Road and rode that to Sugarloaf for a good time.
C7/Mountain View through Owls Head was bumpy at times. After Titus Mountain exit ramp, trail got progressively smoother enroute to Malone, a few thin/pebbly spots along the way.
WHOOOOOSH! through Malone Junction.
C8C through Burke and Chateaugay was somewhat tattered from weekend traffic and certainly THIN in spots.
Caught a fresh groom on S87 and rolled the goodness into Ellenburg.
Almost 90 miles in the bag by the time we got into Ellenburg. After a refuel stop at Mountain Mart, it was time for lunch at Jenn’s Smokin’ Hot & Frosty Lounge.
Blazin Brisket Burger was AMAZING! Farm fresh burger topped with Pepperjack cheese, Bacon, Blazin grilled onions, Brisket and Spicy BBQ sauce.
Side of onion rings was freshly fried and delicious! That didn’t last long enough to get into the picture.
Don’t normally get dessert on the trail. But when Darrin Jr ordered a butterscotch sundae, I asked our waitress to MAKE IT TWO.
While awaiting lunch, a fellow rider named Mike recognized me and said HI. He told us that everything from Ellenburg to Mooers and beyond was being groomed. That was all the confirmation I needed to explore new to me territory.
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New ground!
From C8F, the ride through C8C through Moores into Champlain was a fun and interesting combination of wooded riding, maple sap lines and farm roads & fields, with a distant view of the Green Mountains at times.
Local 915 into Chazy featured by far the most expansive open field AND apple orchard I’ve ridden a snowmobile on, FRESHLY AND MINTLY GROOMED! Incredible experience.
From S89, we touched down on Lake Champlain for the photo op.
Not knowing the lake, we didn’t venture far from shore. We saw several ice fishermen and a few snowmobilers riding around. It was enough to say we got onto Lake Champlain. What a moment!
S84 between CLIN 29 and 30 intersections was bumpy and rough in places, but that was a short stretch.
C8 to Moores to complete the loop featured MILES of straight arrow riding along powerlines. Studder-ripply at times, but a swift and fun ride.
Heading back
With afternoon temperature near 32*F and the day’s snowmobiling traffic churning up trails, the stretch from Moores to Malone via Ellenburg late Sunday afternoon was tattered and littered with varying degree of studder ripple, studder bumps and roller bumps. The only true respite was WHOOSH on C7 through Malone Junction.
Majority of C7/Pole trail didn’t offer significant relief and was particularly bumpy and rough between Owls Head and Mountain View.
Drive for 300
While taking a breather in Mountain View around 7pm, Darrin Jr said that if we are SERIOUS snowmobilers, we should go for the 300 miler. At that point, the only thing I was serious about was blazing the shortest route possible to the truck.
We decided to see how things were going at Charlies Inn, then make the decision.
Caught a recent groom approaching Rainbow Lake and rode that sweet relief into Gabriels. While taking a break on the smooth section, Darrin Jr keeled over his snowmobile to stretch his back after the pounding we took to get there.
By the time we reached Charlies Inn with 242 miles for Sunday, I had gathered my second wind or maybe my third. I determined that rolling C7B to Lake Placid then hitting up Local 864/Floodwood trail would leave us just shy of 300 miles upon re-arrival at Washington Street parking lot. Then a jaunt on Local 871/Junction pass trail to the Golden Arches would nudge our tally over the top.
The rest of this ride would be a sheer test of will.
Game ON!
C7B from Charlies Inn to Metro Saranac Lake had soft low bumps, but certainly better than most of what we had ridden on C7/Pole trail.
Saranac Lake to Ray Brook was EXCELLENT!
Ray Brook to Lake Placid had soft bumps in some places, but certainly good riding overall.
At this point, there was no getting back to the truck with less than 300 miles of track spun. I told Darrin Jr if my sled DIED, he would be TOWING ME until his trip odometer hit 300.
C7 from Charlies Inn to Tupper Lake held up as a good ride for long stretches. But there were a handful of DEEP rolling moguls.
Local 864/Floodwood trail was MINT!
Our plan worked to perfection and we secured the 300 miler!
After we finished the ride, even the THOUGHT of loading our snowmobiles onto the ilsnow wagon and tying them down was daunting. We finally rolled out of Washington Street parking lot just after 10pm. Truck ride back to Indian Lake felt like 2 hours instead of the one hour it actually is.
WHEW!
Ride map
Here it is! Click here for ride stats, larger and 3D Flyover.
Bottom line
Covered new territory, bridge-crossed I-87 twice, got close to Canadian Border AND touched down on Lake Champlain. WHAT AT DAY! Other than several stretches of roadside rash riding, which becomes more of an issue late-winter, very fun riding into the Champlain Valley.
I’ve done numerous solo rides well over 200 miles. Always thought my first 300 miler would be a solo venture as well.
But it was INCREDIBLE to bag my first 300 miler with Darrin Jr. And truth be told, I don’t know whether I would have made that final push on this ride without him spurring me on.
If Darrin Jr wondered whether his old man still got it, he got his answer. LEAVE NO DOUBT! 👊
Having said that, my next 300 miler SHALL BE A MIDWEEKER!
Drive for 5000?
Can’t say I’ve been cheated this winter! It’ll wash #summersucks down a bit easier in 2026.
Get out there and RIDE! The end always comes sooner than we want it.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
