E. Emil
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Rode from the Salt Barn parking lot down Powley on Sunday. Wasn’t bad but definitely not great. Does not look like they’d been grooming. Only a handful of spots with dirt showing – overall, good coverage. Probably the last ride this year.
BTW, the trail out the back of the salt barn parking lot wasn’t bad. A real goat path but no danger of sinking any sleds like before. Just need to go slow.
So, with the end of Sacandaga closed off, we now have over a half-mile of pavement riding to get to the cemetary trail – verified this weekend. Bad pavement riding – as in, you’re lucky to have one ski on the snow. No attempt to shelf it or anything. Which means a lot of that traffic will likely head out to Fawn Lake and the outhouse, overwhelming that trail. Which has now happened. Blame it on the weather – probably part of it. I’m sure it didn’t help having additional sled traffic getting pushed out there. Really sucks when some riders have to be a holes and push a landowner to the point of closing off trails. That closure will hurt the business owners (think Oxbow Inn) more than the riders.
Didn’t stop some knuckledragger from ripping down the lake (solo) at 10 pm last night. Trying to be a member of the Darwin club I guess.
Didn’t stop some knuckledragger from ripping down the lake (solo) at 10 pm last night. Trying to be a member of the Darwin club I guess.
Lake Pleasant has 5” of soft frozen slush over 3” of clear ice. Snow fluff over top of that is 2” or 3”.
Ron – I agree with you. Nothing else we can do but stop complaining and do it ourselves. The Governor seems only interested in NYC while our favorite Congresswoman is only interested in ivy league schools that aren’t even located in our state.
One day the bridge over Cotter Brook will be back in place. And it won’t be because our glorious government got off its duff.
Unrelated, do you know if the Salt Shed Trail from the parking lot on Route 10 over to Powley Road has been maintained/still exists? I tried following that a number of years ago and nearly sunk a couple of sleds. True swamp at the time and could prolly not be traversed absent an old-school cold snap. I was going to check it out last year when we were running the Wagoner Loop but ran out of time.
Thanks
You have to wonder, after that many years, whether its intentional and that someone simply doesn’t want that specific trail – in that specific location – functional. Think about it ……. Never underestimate the power of money/wealth in the functioning of our government.
If you want to see another abandoned trail that someone STILL gets money for, take a look at the section of C4 that runs south from Route 8 below Griffin Gorge (east side of Route 30 between Speculator and Wells). I’ve taken a sled up there a couple of times and rugged would be an understatement – don’t go in there unless you’ve got a young buck with you. Plus, there’s a bridge out over Cotter Brook that’s been out forever and a day. On a “corridor” trail no less!!! I took my kids up in there a few summers ago to do some maintenance / fix some of the minor bridges – we were on foot and I don’t think even a 4-wheeler could get through some of the boulder sections. That portion of C4 was one of the trails slated for elimination with the new proposed trail re-alignment plan – you know, the one that got overruled in court?! Maybe if the new community connector trails aren’t going to be built, the State should start using our registration monies to actually fix the existing trails!! NYSDEC falls over themselves scrambling to fix any hiking trails that get washed out – but snowmobile trails? Of course not!
Last season my son and I were headed eastbound onto Sacandaga and encountered a group of about 2 dozen sleds parked at that lake access point. Even with our helmets on and being outdoors, you could still smell the weed being smoked by those riders. I can’t say I’m surprised that the property owners have put an end to that action. For their part, the riders were clearly not worried about any ECO/LEO rolling up on them. Not a good feeling knowing that the people you’re encountering on the trails are high/drunk. Add that to my list of why not to ride on the weekends.
Did the loop on Saturday – Lake Pleasant, Sacandaga, Fawn Lake, the outhouse, Red Gate, Perkins, and back down to Speculator via C4. A lot of slush on the lakes but not bad as long as you’re comfortable with the throttle. Sacandaga to the outhouse was in great condition – props to the groomers getting it done. From there up to the Red Gate was a mixed bag. All of Perkins was a mix of bumps – looked to have only been groomed once since the big storm. C4 back down to the ball park was not great but I’ve seen it worse. The trail down to the river was not blocked at the east end but WAS blocked at the ballfield parking lot with a snow bank (which included a buried sawhorse). No signage up by the power line indicating that the trail was or wasn’t closed – or directing people coming down from Perkins to turn right rather than left). Nor any indication why someone might have closed the river trail (no issues riding through there, at all – other than the snowbank at the parking lot). Maybe just a good way to get traffic running by a few of the businesses. Ballfield parking lot was pretty much dead full.
Lake Pleasant has some significant snow piles thanks to the race a couple weeks ago – if someone hits one of those at night, they’re in for a ride. Ice is still plenty thick, but the frozen slush ruts on Sunday were challenging. Did not make it down to the Kunjamuk. Trail running down Route 30 south of Speculator was positively brutal on Sunday.
Unclear at this point what is getting groomed and what isn’t – there doesn’t seem to be much communication about what’s been groomed, what’s going to be groomed, or what’s been given up on. Didn’t look like much was done on Saturday night as the temps dropped and there was an opportunity to get things set up as they froze. Don’t see anywhere online where that info is communicated. I guess that info will remain a mystery for the time being.
I think this is it absent trailering somewhere. Over and out until next year.
Ice on Lake Pleasant is still plenty thick – prolly 6-inches of white ice and another 12″ of clear ice. While the snowcross race on Lake Pleasant was interesting, it made a mess of the surface – wherever the race trail is, it’s rutted up and will throw you if you cross it at speed. Yesterday’s ride out to Sacandaga, Fawn Lake, the Outhouse, and the red gate were surprisingly good for a Sunday – this wet snow packs up tight and the groomers out there were definitely getting it done. All good up through Perkins – only bump and grind was coming back down to Speculator from the south end of Perkins. River trail is still closed – unclear why. BAT trail to get you back down to the lake is brutal to say the very least – you need to cross Trail 30 at the liquor store to get down to the lake. Didn’t make it down to the tree farm – running down 30 looked rough and didn’t need to have another crack up getting down to the Kunjamuk. Anybody have any info on the tree farm trails would be appreciated – is the juice worth the squeeze of running down 30? Peace
Speculator out to Powley via Sacandaga and Oxbow was reasonable on Saturday – most everything has frozen up at this point. Powley is in good shape. Drilled holes in Lake Pleasant – 16 inches of ice in the center of the lake. Still need to use caution around inlets and outlets – areas of reduced thickness around those features are greater than normal. Got three inches of snow on Saturday and another three inches on Sunday.
River trail from the Speculator firehouse is still closed – not entirely clear why since everything is frozen up good and solid. Sure the trail is a bit narrower than usual due to high water level but still plenty wide. Going to take the southern route/cross over the Route 30 bridge to get out to the Tree Farm next weekend – take a ride down by the Kunjamuk.
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.
Rode 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 from Lake Pleasant out to Sacandaga then Oxbow on Tuesday. Pretty much the woods trails all have thin cover – Page Street wasn’t too bad but leaving Sacandaga and coming out past the cemetery was rough. Lakes are all good with some slush here and there but nothing that gave me pause. A couple spots had some glare ice just under the fluff – that makes it interesting for sure.
Wednesday went out to Fawn Lake and then past the Outhouse and up into Perkins. All of that trail had been groomed and was decent. Definitely some thin spots and rocks here and there but a good ride overall. No issue in Perkins – the town was grooming in there yesterday. Lake Pleasant also groomed the 2 miles from hell yesterday – but it didn’t do much good. It’s pretty bad. Lewey Lake and Indian Lake were a good run. Once you come off Indian Lake into town, its been groomed but is thin. After lunch, went back down through Perkins, across Route 30 and down to Oak Mountain. Brutal. If you don’t have a trailer to get your sled up to Perkins, you should run out to Sacandaga and up the Fish Mtn Trail. Otherwise, you’re in for a pounding and your sled will be beat up as well. Need more snow for sure.
We also went down the river trail from Route 30 to see if we could make it down to old Route 30. Turned around as that trail is ungroomed and in very bad shape.
