Trail Reports?
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Trails Closed
The Ohio Club just posed on face Book their trails are now closed due to lack of snow in some of the fields. Snow further north did absorb the rain OK but they closed all of their trails.
Stratford Club suggest that you run their Poker Run this Saturday by car and please support the club by doing so. Their trails are closed due to trees down and probably many wash outs. I know I talked to riders last week end at the Bow who came from Caroga via lower Arietta and Avery’s and said they were horrible. Avery’s north were better. They asked how to get back another way. I sent them down the Powley Rd and at the iron post bridge go left towards Pleasant Lake to stop and follow the signs at the inter sections.
I know the snow was so soft the trails got torn up just by the volume of sleds. Sounds like icicleal and Wayner got their trails back in shape but where do you go once you get to the end of their system (Nobolsboro) going south.
It does’nt sound like the trails around Spectacular are in any better shape either.
I wonder how the lake would be after the rain ? ?
RonI had all the oil settings and gas usage settings checked out by a Skidoo computer and was told all was within their proper dimentions. What blew my piston was the heat dried out the rubber intake manifold mounts and they cracked allowing the engine to lean out on that right side.
I to ride with other e-techs (that why I bought one) . They seem to run with the same temp indications on their gauge as I do and get the the same gas and oil mileage as I do.
The mech that put me back together thought that the one time I over heated (light came on) may have started the failure. Dont know but I’m due for a new sled once the price gets back to some what normal. I got 3K on this 2016.
I’m looking at that 600 EFI Skidoo now makes. Same basic e tech engine but NO power valves to have to clean each year from riding 10mph on the trails around here. My friend have one and loves it. Like him I dont need speed any more at my age.
RonAs of this morning Salisbury, Stratford and Ohio trails are still closed according to whats on face book. The pictures of the lower race track at the Salisbury Club looks more like a lake than a race track.
Chad of Stratford was going out yesterday to assess the damage and will report back.
My friends stayed off Piseco and Evergreen as Darrin warned….. They did take a ride from Evergreen to the morehouse fire co. on the upper morehouse trail ( C4 ) thru Sheriff Lake trail and said it was not that bad but came onto some kids that were stuck on a ice jam over a bridge about 1 mile west of junction C4 and C4A (43). They got thru it OK and helped the kids go back towards the Powley Rd.
I know the bridge over a small fly just before you get to the Jones Rd has to be under water. on this trail.
As Darrin said its shot for now and if it rains as predicted tomorrow as predicted, its only going to get worse. Hope that little bit of snow coming this Friday helps. I dont think the lakes will be safe from a lot of over run from the cricks dumping in them. At least from looking at Panther Mtn. stream dumping into Evergreen. It flooded out the whole east end of the lake. I would’nt go out on it.
RonThe cold temps and few inches of snow we got on Saturday made most trails around Lake Pleasant area passable and some almost good. Perkins Clearing was a decent ride in most areas as was the tree farm. It was better than I expected, but the frozen base under the new snow made some hills tough to climb without studs. Also there were washouts and other hazards to watch for. You really needed to expect a problem around every corner, but I did not encounter anything that I couldn’t carefully go around or through. I did ride a few lakes, which were patches of glare ice broken up by enough patches of snow to keep things cool and lubed. The Fish Mt trail from the cemetery to Oxbow is a mess and I don’t think groomers can do anything with it.
Not ideal conditions this past weekend, but beats sitting on the couch dreaming of riding. I’m sure the rain coming will ruin what little we have and hoping the potential snow at the end of the week will bring things back to rideable conditions.
Looking at the webcams it sure looks ugly out there.
We’ll cover up the ugly stuff on Friday. 🙂
Darrin
Ohio Trail by the Poland School and Play Ground is now closed due to idiots that cant stay within the flags and tapes. I swear it looks like these vandals do this on purpose.
Now the only way to get to the military rd or the Alamo from the Ohio Tavern is to ride the bare Hall Rd for 2 miles towards Rt 8 . That is if you want to ride un groomed trails as the club is all through for the season grooming anything. This was just posted on face book. They only got 6 inches and the trails are pretty much shot but if you dont care about your sled go ahead and ride them.
Salisbury said its very boney down there also but there trails are still open and not to ride on the trail at the end of the lower track as it was under water and the ice may not be thick enough for a sled. To get into the club go out on Curtiss Rd and ride the last 100 feet on the edge of the road. Some of the mud holes thru Stratford might not be frozen solid so you may get into some of that black muck. They only got 6 inches also.
News from the Oxbow Inn is she has very little gas in her tank and she is not going to put any more in for this season. You had better get gas else where or carry it. I think she see’s the end is near. I hope not. Any way we stayed home this week end cause of this little bit of snow may not have helped the trails that much from what I saw after the thaw.
RonJust in from Pleasant Riders–Oxbow Lake opened up at the east end (Sacandaga Lake end) for about 6 feet. You will have to give it the gun to slide up on the hard ice if your heading to the Oxbow Inn. This is where My wife and I found our selves a few years ago only it was about 8 feet to hard ice and where Mike O sunk his sled, got soaked and had to get help to get his sled out. We took the snow fence down and went along the shore to hard ice. We probably caused some heart aches for the club and were sorry but to go back via the Fawn Lake trail which was worse in one fly was not going to happen. The bridge here was floating. We pushed it to the limit for a ride and should have put the sleds away sooner. Now we are older and smarter.
Also Piseco Lake at the east end where Fall Stream and Mill Creek cuts into the lake is open for about 50 feet. This is right where the trail dumps onto the lake.
I have a feeling there are going to be some wet rescues this week end up there.
The club did get out this week on the Spy Lake trail and video’d it. Couple of small bad spots but not to bad. I wonder it they crossed Spy Lake towards RT 10. If its safe.The Ohio Club just posted that the trail (C4) from Jerseyfield Lake Rd to Ohio is now under water in one spot. No bridge evidently. We can thank the DEC for this. They will not let the club build bridges on state land. So do not go this way. Salisbury did send out a groomer to Norway but Ohio stopped grooming for the season last week. Cant blame them for not wanting to wreck their equipment trying to groom dirt and rocks. I saw 12 sleds in the yard at the Ohio Tavern this past Sunday on their web cam. Got to be locals or desperate riders.
Its going to be 51 degrees in Albany next Monday and I think it will be in the high 40’s in these southern towns. With the sparse snow I think its over down here.
RonRon – thanks for the updates. I am unable to ride this weekend due to other commitments and hoping things hold together for another week or so, but it’s looking rather questionable. I guess I will wait and see then make a call later next week. I miss the years where you had a pretty good chance at riding all through March and sometimes it was the best riding with plenty of snow, warmer temps and longer daylight hours…
This time of year it’s a tough decision to try to find some decent riding and potentially damage equipment trying or give up for the season and have that expensive equipment sitting there. I’ve said it before, but it is tough to justify the money we spend on this sport as the equipment gets more and more expensive and the season seems to get shorter each winter. I still love to ride, so I’ll keep trying…
Boy, Do I agree on the cost of these sleds today. Some of these prices are unreal for What! At best we get maybe 9 week ends of decent riding these days, then the mud holes start to appear. Once I plow thru a mud hole with a $10,000 sled I’m done. Some times we push the envelope and try to get into the 2nd week of March and as I said my wife and I almost got into trouble trying to get onto Oxbow Lake a few years ago. So far in the last 5 years or so we have a hard time to get this far. We mainly ride out of our camp in Evergreen and almost all of the trails we ride are goat paths as Darin calls the trail from Piseco to the out house near Fawn Lake intersection. The town of Arietta did help the DEC fix most of this trail after I got the big boss in Raybrook to tell his foresters to go ahead and spend the money to bring in the lumber and do it. The trail was unsafe and it was only a matter of time that a rider would get hurt in one of the horrible mud holes here. I also got them to let the town make a couple of re routes on state land up in Sheriff Lake. And I complement the town of Morehouse also. Those boys every year try to make improvements to their trail system and you can see it when you ride them. As a snowmobilier I definitely see the climate change. In the early 90’s we would get up to 15 feet of snow for a season. Now we are lucky to get 6 or 7 feet. I envy Darin’s rides and follow his routes on the big map to see where he’s talking about. He definitely is a avid snowmobilier. Nuff said
RonI try to get my kicks in riding, lol!
With shortening snowmobiling seasons, my strategy is to work less during winter so I can have more ride days. Much easier to pull off financially now with an empty household.
At some point, the cost of snowmobiling will become too high and winters too short to justify my continued expenditures in this pastime.
Then I’ll pack up my bags and move to somewhere with nice weather 24/7/365. Probably Arizona or Southern Cal.
Darrin
I try to get my kicks in riding, lol!
With shortening snowmobiling seasons, my strategy is to work less during winter so I can have more ride days. Much easier to pull off financially now with an empty household.
At some point, the cost of snowmobiling will become too high and winters too short to justify my continued expenditures in this pastime.
Then I’ll pack up my bags and move to somewhere with nice weather 24/7/365. Probably Arizona or Southern Cal.
Darrin
Ohio Club trail C4 from Jerseyfield Lake Rd to Bull Hill is definetly closed. We took it this past Saturday thru Morehouse to Mosquito Hill and on towards the Salisbury Club. Dont try it. There is a major wash out with a ice jam on it about a 1/2 mile from the bridge that the DEC was supposed to replace this past year but never did. Going on 25 years now begging them to make this a safe trail to ride. We got thru by cutting some bushes around the ice jam and made it to the top of the switch back where there at least 25 sleds taking in the view. We just got thru the jam when here come at least a dozen rider, some double going towards Ohio. I should have told them to take some pictures and send them to their local politicians. This may be the only way we will ever get this trail fixed. I really dont think Ohio care whether it fixed or not. They can blame the DEC for not being able to groom it while reaping the high snow corridor funding.. It should be closed and de funded. Maybe other people will then complain beside me and maybe if enough complain we might see some action.
After leaving the Salisbury Club we went north thru Stratford and beat our liver loose on the bumps and dodged mud holes around open mud holes . Must have been a ton of sleds cause it was tore up bad. Powley Rd was great. Deep rollers on the turns and hills though..
We are done going this way this year and we might be done for sure. It poured in Piseco till about noon Mud holes opening up.
Friends went to the Ohio Tavern thru Nobolsboro and said it was great all the way.. A little scratchy from Haskells along Rt 8 in some places.
RonArietta & Morehouse Trail
WE did not ride this past week end but here’s my friends report from yesterday. They started in Evergreen-Rode thru Sheriff Lake ( C4 & S88 )- Super Great to the Powley Rd, up and down Powley ( C8A )- Bumpy in the turns and hills, Crossed Rt 10 rode to Oxbow ( C4 )- Worn out on the hills and turns but passable. Lunch at Oxbow then to Piseco Lake via the short trail-Clipped a few rocks but passable (no problems), Fall Stream cutting way into Piseco-gave it a wide swing-not to far as Mill Creek near the Irondequoit Club beach cuts in, down Piseco back to Evergreen and on thru Morehouse ( C4A ) ( just groomed by the good ole boys of Morehouse) to the Fire Co. Took a break then back to Evergreen via ( C 4 ) Sheriff Lake area. 60 miles and worth ever inch of it.
With the temps this coming week we might get a short one in and burn some dogs of death either on the Powley Rd or Mosquito Hill or maybe not. Depends on the predicted rain for Saturday and Sunday coming up. But we will see.
Ron
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