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Yes, it seems the number of weekend reckless/high/drunk riders has been getting worse. I’d love to say I won’t ride on weekends, but for me as an out of state rider working full time if I didn’t ride weekends I wouldn’t ride at all. I usually try to ride where I think the crowds won’t be. Most of the time I avoid problem riders this way, but it seems once or twice a year I get run off the side of the trail to avoid someone coming at me on my side out of control.
In a few years I will retire and, if we still have winters with snow, and I’m still physically able to ride, I will become a weekday only rider.
I don’t like this bypass much either, but my bigger concern now is when will the season start and how short will it be this year? With the season not starting until the beginning of February and being over at the end of February lately it is getting tougher and tougher to justify owning snowmobiles. For a weekend rider like me, it can be a very short season.
I still love riding, so I’ll take what I can get, but sure long for the winters of the past sometimes…Seems like everyone comes out for the few good weekends we get in a year like last year and it can get crazy and trails are trash by noon. In past years when the season started in early January and often stayed until the end of March the weekends did not seem so crazy.
Thanks for the warning, Ron. Evergreen was about the only lake in the area that I didn’t ride over the weekend and looks like that was a good choice…
Rode pretty much everything in the Spec area over the weekend. On Saturday the lakes were slushy, but passable without much trouble. By Sunday the slush had frozen hard and a couple inches of fresh snow hid the frozen ruts and ridges somewhat. You wouldn’t want to hit some of them with any kind of speed. Trails were good overall, but definitely took a beating by the end of the day on Saturday.
The snowpack is thick in the woods, but I was surprised how thin some trails were in the sunny sections and by road crossings. Also, lots of places where running water cuts across the trail leaving ruts so be aware and ready for changing trail conditions. Hopefully things hold up a bit longer. I’d like to sneak one more ride in before it is over but I have a feeling it’s going to end quickly…
If anyone gets a chance to ride around the Spec/Perkins area after the big storm I’d appreciate any update.
Spec area trails were very good over the weekend. Lakes were fine – no slush issues. Best riding of this season for me…I like to get out early in the morning and usually I don’t see much traffic. Maybe with this storm I’ll have one more shot this weekend.
Worked my way to Morehouse trails from Powley rd on Sunday. Trail from Powley to Piseco was pretty rough, but passable. As usual once I hit the Morehouse trail system all was good. Only wish I had more time to spend out that way before I had to head back. I am rarely disappointed when I hit Morehouse trails…
Rode Saturday and Sunday. Found conditions overall much better than I expected, but plenty of rough stuff out there. Darrin gave a good report for many areas I rode, so not much to add. Everything I rode was passable, but on the woods trails always be ready for a rough spot here and there. Nothing I found made me turn around and most water holes were frozen over, but I encountered quite a few hazards that you wouldn’t want to hit with any speed.
As for lakes, always use your own judgement, but I rode Sacandaga, Lake Pleasant, Oxbow, Spy Lake, Evergreen and Piseco and had no issues. I followed the main dragstrips and did not run into any slush, open areas or pressure ridges. Of course conditions can change fast so be careful.
With the snow that is coming early this week the groomers should have decent material to work with conditions should get even better. It could all fall apart in the blink of an eye, so get it while you can.
I rode around the area on Saturday and found conditions similar to what E.Emil described. Woods trails are thin with lots of mudholes, so if you decide to ride before we get more snow just be careful and expect a mudhole or other obstacle at any time. A good dump of snow would fix things up, but doesn’t look like any is coming for a while. At least the cold snap coming later in the week will preserve what little we have and maybe tighten up the water/mud and add some thickness to the lake ice.
Sure looks like another short season…at best…
Ron, thanks for posting regularly. Your posts and Darrin’s trail reports are about all I get for trail information since I am not a Facebook guy. I try to do my part posting as well when I am able to get up and ride but with the short season this year and some family and work issues I didn’t get out near as much as I had hoped.
I wish I was able to come up this past weekend for one last shot and even thought about taking today off, but life and work had other plans. Looking at the temps coming later this week I’d say my season is over. It was another short one this year…hoping for better next year.
Ron – 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…
The 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.
