Tuesday morning didn’t start as frigid as Monday did. But -8*F was plenty COLD!
I was content to wait until 9am to embark from the compound.
Wanted to hit Speculator area this week before the dreaded warm-up hits.
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Heading out
C8/Sabael trail leaving Indian Lake holding up well. But Pashley Road crossing was baked!
Drag strip on Indian Lake was packed and tight. Didn’t encounter any frozen slush until exiting at the boat launch.
Campsite trail between the lakes had hard rollers, but tolerable at slow speed. Lewey Lake had some frozen slush at west end.
2 Miles from Hell wasn’t bad from Lewey Lake to parking lot. Studder ripple, but very few roller bumps.
Remainder of 2 Miles from Hell to north end of Perkins Clearing Road…
Perkins Clearing to Powley Road
Perkins Clearing through Perkins-T intersection and toward the back was pretty good riding with occasional studder ripple and a few rollers. Really nice to the far back end of Jessup River Road.
Didn’t expect anything other than a brief scratch and sniff on Big Brook trail before turning tail. But it had been groomed for a comfortable ride, actually was pretty good!
Followed that goodness through Fawn Lake trail.
Fawn Lake Road was painfully dry for long stretches.
Fish Mountain/Oxbow trail was brownish in spots, but groomed for a good ride.
C8/Spy Lake trail had been freshly groomed. I could not have asked for a better ride through that avenue.
Powley Road had occasional studder ripple, but was a FAST run from end to end. Lots of snow on that house!
C8A past end of Powley Road was littered with hard studder bumps. No need to press that more than 30 seconds before turning around to retrace the miles of smiles.
To Speculator
Sacandaga Lake had areas of frozen slush, not a fun crossing. LP1/Page Street trail was brown’ish but not terribly beaten.
Rolled Lake Pleasant to find Inn at Speculator for lunch.
Started with Manhattan clam chowder. Main fare was Mediterranean Provincial sandwich – Grilled Chicken, Roasted Red Peppers, Basil Pesto, Provolone, Ciabatta Roll. Hit the spot nicely!
Most Speculator Village trails were in good condition.
Met up with Darrin Jr at ballfield parking lot after he got off work at 2:30pm. Rolled C4/River trail into Speculator Tree Farm. River trail had roller bumps but wasn’t horrible.
Best riding in Tree Farm we encountered was back end of Elm Lake Road, Long Level Road, Wolf Hill Road and S41C/Pig Rock trail. C4/Cave Hill Road and some of Elm Lake Road were bumpy in places
Got into Perkins Clearing via S41C/Pig Rock trail. Really nice riding through LP9/Nichol Vly trail and Carpenter Hill Road.
Swung back to Speculator via Big Brook trail (getting tattered from traffic) and Fawn Lake trail (holding up nicely)
LP4A from Speculator Village to Tree Farm was lumpy and bumpy at times. Then we did another loop around Tree Farm before closing out the ride just before dark.
Loaded the sleds on Darrin Jr’s trailer for the trip back to Indian Lake. Was like calling for a military extraction to avoid riding 2 Miles from Hell!
Ride map
Click here for ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover
Bottom line
Taking my own advice and banging out midweekers before we get torpedoed into spring conditions.
I hope you’re getting them in too!
Got a couple inches of new snow in Indian Lake, NY thru Tuesday night. Next couple of days could be the best we have for the remainder of this snowmobiling season.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
