Trail Reports?
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Darrin, you are adding up some pretty decent miles given the current conditions.
I wish I had more time to ride this past weekend but I had some commitments. Normally I do an early Sunday morning ride before heading home but that wasn’t in the cards either this time. Usually the groomers have hit most trails and Sunday morning traffic is typically light, so it can be some of the best weekend conditions.
It’s going to be another short season so I think I’m going to make riding a priority for the next month or so. I’m still a weekend rider, but only a few more years until I retire and can enjoy the luxury of weekday riding.
I’m still a weekend rider, but only a few more years until I retire and can enjoy the luxury of weekday riding.
You won’t regret retirement and mid-week riding.
Darrin
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but maybe I can get thru to some who want to listen. SLOW DOWN JUST A LITTLE.
Saw on my weekly Ranger Report this past Thursday a guy hit a tree in Perkins breaking his femur going to fast to negotiate a curve. Had to get rescued and transported to Nathan Littaure in Gloversville. Plus the one who hit something on Mason Lake early in this season and had to get air lifted to Albany Med.
Heard that one of the deaths was a guy plowing into the side of a truck on one of the roads up in Tug Hill some where. Also I heard that the death count for snowmobile accidents so far this year is up to 4 or 5. Not good news for us old timers just getting into our 2022 season.
Ron.Rode out to Ohio on Saturday. Tried posting a trail report from my phone on Saturday but that didn’t work so I’ll give a quick summary of what I saw.
We definitely got a decent dump of snow on Friday, to the point that you have to be careful in open areas and lakes so you don’t get stuck (ask me how I know). Plenty of snow all the way from Lake Pleasant to Ohio, including the edge of road trails which can sometimes be skanky. Be careful on the lakes – the snow is deep and there is a fair amount of slush to watch out for. It was cold enough Sat that slush spots from the previous night were frozen over and very rough riding. Some trails were not groomed yet on Saturday, but overall very good riding conditions. By Saturday evening the typical high use trails were absolutely hammered and a brutal ride. I was not able to go out on Sunday, but betting the groomers did their thing and there should be plenty of snow to work with.This week would be a great week to ride mid-week if only that four letter word (work) didn’t get in the way.
@Freestylebackcountry – not sure if you are watching this forum still, but I noticed that Wagoner Loop trail was not broken as of Saturday. I thought about giving it a run, but was alone and on a trail sled so thought better of that. You might have some fun on that one if no one has gotten to it yet.We rode the same way this past Saturday and found the trails all the way to the Alamo in Newport great but a little chewed up on the way back to Piseco. I’ve seen it worse where you could knock your liver loose. Once you get into Morehouse you will find the trails quite a bit better.
Sunday the trails around the Oxbow were great -just groomed. Lunch at the Bow and back down Piseco and home.
Ps Ranger and Sheriff on Piseco Lake checking for registrations. One of our riders had tried to register but with a back log in stickers had had only his paper copy. Lucky one of the Sheriff boys had the same problem. One deputy asked my wife for her insurance card which I carry for both of us. He accepted the fact that we were insured.
Pete– As of Sunday on the way home on Rt 10 it did’nt looked open yet either. I know it was cut out but no tracks on it.
RonRode out to Powley Road from Lake Pleasant yesterday – good run. Page Street getting a groom in the AM. Sacandaga to Oxbow trail in reasonable shape on the way out – getting beat up on the way home – a fair number of riders out for a Tuesday. Oxbow to Powley was in good shape – groomers getting it done. Powley had not been groomed recently but groomer was getting ready to go when we went by in the morning. Regardless, Powley was in good shape. Until you get to the end where it is typically plowed. Which it is not. And the groomer is not running down that section. Sooooooo – its a total mess. We turned around and headed back. Clockmill was great – looked like someone took a small drag down there and the trail was a pleasure to ride – real throwback. Throttle blippers should stay off this. We headed back to Powley on wagonner loop – a couple sleds had been up there but it was still pretty rugged. Still an interesting ride – worth it if you have someone with you and can keep yourself from getting jammed up in the deep snow. All lakes have an increasing amount of slush, so just beware and wear boots that are waterproof. Fair number of deer out – both on the trail and along edge of lakes.
Rode out to Fawn Lake and then up into Perkins yesterday. Fawn Lake trail was great as well as Fish Mountain Trail. Ran up to check out the two miles from hell – not worth running out to Indian Lake as no recent grooming. A groomer had not been anywhere in Perkins for some time, either. Both machines parked on the side of Route 30/south end of Perkins going nowhere. Don’t know what the game plan is here but its not grooming. Took Hatchery Brook trail up over to Elm Lake Road – not bad running there. No grooming being done on Elm Lake Road. Back to town – no grooming on the business trail or river trail. Fire house parking lot probably 3/4-full. I think the DRAG groomer was heading down 30 in the late afternoon.
Generally unclear what the grooming plan is for the town. It looks like the program is once a week – which seems kind of lame. No accountability for what’s being done. If I owned a business up here that was trying to stay open mid-week, I’d have my foot up someone’s keister.
SLUSH
And plenty of it on the lakes
Friday rode to the Salisbury Club from west of Piseco thru Sheriff Lake area on C4 and S88 to the Powley Rd. Best I ever seen Sheriff Lake trails. Powley Rd was great all the way to the end. Arietta Town Hi way Super let the big BR180 go all the way to the end, Thanks a bunch Craig Small. C8A to Stratford was a little bumpy on way down and beat on the way back. Real thin on C4 into down town but passable. The new section of C4A from the end of Ukraine Rd (old ski tow) to the next Rd was very bad due to what snow they got stayed in the spruce trees and did not hit the ground. The club did try but all they did was slide the drag over big rocks and humps till it was snirt but passable. Rest of way into the club was great but on the way back all trails were bumpy due to a lot of traffic
Saturday rode to the Bon Fire and Fire works at the Ox Bow Inn back thru Sheriff Lake, Powley Rd to RT 10 (C4) over Spy Lake to the Bow. Spy was all deep slush and you’d better have a lot of power to get across the short end. C4 over the hill from Rt 10 was beat on the corners and steep hills. I’m not sure if Peasant Riders can even get it back into shape with out some snow. Heard a guy blew a belt out in the middle of Spy and had to change it while his friends watched from shore. I guess you only need one guy to change a belt. The Bow was a mob scene. 5 deep at the bar and over a 100 sleds in the yard. Christy (owner) ran out of food at about 6:30 and dont know if she had enough to open on Sunday. We were lucky and got her small delicious Greek Pizza just before. Heard it was like this since 11 AM when the first wave hit. Also heard that Piseco Lake was deep slush from one end, 5 miles to the other end. My niece was watching the sleds on the lake from the hill at the Irondequoit Inn. They sound like motor boats plowing thru the slush. Several people asked me how to get around Piseco rather than try it after dark. When this freezes this week and it will, the lakes will be a real hazzard to run.
Now with rain predicted for this Thursday it may turn out to be a real treat to try to run these trails again. I sure hope we are not done for the season.
RonRon is right about the lakes being a slushy mess on Saturday, but I rode all around on Sunday and can report that all the lakes I rode were very passable with slush frozen solid. They were better than I expected, but there are many frozen ruts that you don’t want to hit with any speed. Most of the lakes had good stretches with occasional rough spots, so if you are riding a smooth section don’t get too comfortable and be prepared for a frozen bumpy section. I rode Oxbow Lake, Spy Lake, Piseco Lake, Evergreen, Sacandaga and Lake Pleasant on Sunday.
Perkins Clearing and Tree Farm trails held up well and were good rides. Some of the woods trails are getting thin, but everything I rode was passable. Lets hope the warmup and rain that is coming doesn’t do too much damage.
500ss
I saw where you rode on Sunday and was wondering if you had enough lube and cooling. We left camp for home Sunday about 9AM (Superbowl Party) It was about 12 degrees and my 1/4 mile drive way was froze solid. I chipped out the scratchers as a precaution but I only had a short distance to the car. How did you make out
RonI had no issues with lube or cooling. There was enough loose snow on the trails and even more on the lakes if you stayed out of the ice ruts.
Just hoping Thursday doesn’t wipe us out.
Thats great but I dont trust these e- tec engines. They run so lean that they run hot and it seems most of the time. I found that I need a minimum of 1 to 2 inches to keep my heat in the safe range. I’m running 2 ice scrapers on mine. When I first got it I took a ride on Evergreen (Had about 1 inch loose snow) and down the trail towards Morehouse. Next thing I know my high temp light went on so I stopped and put snow on the heat exchanger. This might have been the start of my downward spiral to causing the rubber intake manifold mounts to develop cracks and lean the engine out more to where I ate a piston on Piseco. Cost me $1700 to get going again.
With this rain coming and no snow for cooling and the temp for Friday nite to be almost in the single digits I might be done for this week end. I might just get out my 1970 Skidoo with boogie wheels and a fan to take a ride.
Ron
PS If you did,nt make the bon fire and fire works at the Ox Bow you missed a great time. Tons of people. Been going there since 1973 when I first came to the Piseco area. Wife and I have dinner there almost evry Friday nite.Ro &500ss
Wayne and I did our trails Tues. & yesterday. Holding up well but extremely hard. We we’re stopping pretty regularly to shovel snow into the track s for lub, and cooling. Lots of spots where sleds burned holes in the sides of the trails Makes it hard on us when they do that. Ohio came through from Buck Pt. to Mosq. Hill on Mon. or tues. and trail looked real good. Waiting out today and hope we don’t get too much rain. We’ll try it tomorrow , weather permitting . Could be aa busy weekend with the pancake breakfast at the rec hall and harryville at the hill Maybe catch up with you this weekendSnowmobile Deaths
From my weekly Ranger report this one happened on top of Prospect Mountain in Lake George. (No Details) This brings the death count to I think 5 or 6 this season. Hate to be the bearer of this kind of news but usually its speed and or alcohol involved. SLOW DOWN OUT THERE AND LIVE LONGER.
Two guys went into Long Lake at the south end. They were both rescued and warmed up by the Long Lake Fire Company. This sounds like the same location where my friend went in about 5 years ago and was in the water for about an hour before the Long Lake Fire Company air boat got him out.
Rangers were alerted to a abandon sled crashed into a tree in the Moose River Plains. The owner appeared with a recovery team only to be issued two tickets for leaving the scene of a accident and no registration.
Another accident near Oak Mountain in Spectacular. Rangers and ECo responded. Rider was OK.
Rangers, Sheriffs, Troopers and ECOs are all out there this year watching and looking for violations.
RonRon, I wonder if something is wrong with your etec that is making it overheat too easily. I have two etecs and sometimes ride with a couple others who have them. 600’s and 850’s of several different years and none are overheating as easily as it sounds like you are seeing.
Icicleal, thanks for the trail updates. Sure hoping today’s weather doesn’t destroy everything.
Always sad to hear about accidents and deaths in the sport. People drive too damn fast a lot of the time, then add booze and it gets worse. It seems over the past few years it’s more and more often that someone is coming at me on my side of the trail and I have to run off the edge of the trail to avoid them.
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