Greetings and welcome!
We have an inch or two of new snow this morning. We missed out on the higher end of 2-4 or 3-5, but it is snow.
Yesterday did what late season days can do sometimes and got out of hand with the temperature. It was a pretty warm day with filtered sun and a high of about 40. There was some melting going on for sure.
My expectations that the plowed side roads would have an impenetrable base of ice were dashed by the warm day. At 40 the sand with a 0.000005% salt mix was pretty effective, and between that and the crews plowing while it was soft, the plowed roads are a lot thinner than I expected them to be.
I got out for a rare night ride last night. I took side roads down to X and Parkway and the trails back home through the flowages area, and then the trail along Caldron Falls past Fisher’s Camp. The trail base was pretty decent in most areas, but it was a little chunky in places and there were a few whoopties. It was groomed as well as could be done with what is there. It wasn’t a perfect velvet carpet, but I was riding and it wasn’t bad.
There were a couple of slippery spots. Turning right onto one trail I found out that I was on a big frozen puddle. With no studs on the track and lots of carbide up front I ended up doing a 180 and taking a left instead of a right. There was one other OSM involving an icy corner with a big tree on the far side of it. Happily the snowmobile turned at that last second just as I was about to bail. You might want to be a little careful charging into corners.
I can only report what I saw on my 30 or 40 mile ride around the neighborhood. They probably aren’t quite as nice as last weekend, but the trails are very rideable. With March two weekends away and the occasional 40 degree day already a reality, I am about to get a lot less fussy about what/when I ride. Get it while you can.
Have a good St Valentine’s Day and thank you for visiting!
RJB