Greetings and welcome!
Last weekend was a really great one. I got to see hundreds of snowmobilers and a lot of them were web site visitors. Thank you all for your support. I really appreciate it.
Looking around Saturday everyone was having a good time. The trails were good, the weather was moderate, and a lot of people were out for a day of riding. It was great to see everyone having fun.
The number one question over the weekend was will we get next weekend in with good trails? I am pretty firmly on the yes side of that.
Sunday got up into the 34-35º range and the trails were taking it pretty well. Sunday night got down to -2F and froze everything right back up. My trip to the gas station Monday at about dark found the trails dealing with Monday’s 34º day very well. The only bad spots that I saw were along the road where the plow had thrown some road salt onto the trail. One spot was a little slushy, the other was a little discolored. Other than that the trails along C looked great as of sunset Monday.
I don’t see a lot of catastrophic melting ahead this week. Looking at the TV weather channel 2-2 out of Green Bay I am seeing mid 30s or less for highs, and that is in Green Bay. The storm that is to our west will keep us cloudy tomorrow and keep the sun at bay.
Later Wednesday and Thursday will bring some clearing skies, so the sun will be out. That looks like the biggest threat before the weekend. It could take down plowed roads a little more and the occasional sunny spot, but I don’t see widespread melting from it unless we get surprised.
For the past week it seems like about the time that the melting gets started, the sun sets and temperatures drop. Rather than damaging the trails it actually seems to harden them a little. This week we are expecting overnight lows mostly in the teens, and in the 20s for Fri, Sat, and Sunday.
The biggest challenge that I see is that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are all expected to be in the upper 3os. There is a minor storm expected for about Saturday, so hopefully it will keep the sun hidden behind the clouds through at least the Saturday part of the warm stretch. As far as precip, the NWS is calling it a 30% chance of light rain or snow Saturday.
I am a little nervous about the weekend warmth, but I am pretty confident that we will have good trails when it gets here. Looking at the GFS model the weekend warmth doesn’t look too out of hand, so I really like our chances for another good weekend.
I just looked at the latest GFS model run and I am a little surprised. It is showing a big push of very cold air behind the Saturday storm, and it is shown lasting all week next week. If that plays out, there is even a fair chance of riding the 16 & 17th.
I am not so sure on that weekend. The sun starts getting pretty ugly by then, and even with high temps in the low 20s, we can see some sunburn. It is also a 12 or 13 day forecast, and I wouldn’t have tremendous confidence in a storm that far out in the models, so I shouldn’t have it for the cold weather. I like what it says though.
The storm to our west right now is not expected to bring much snow to our area. The TV says that Lakewood could see 0.2″, and it ramps up to 0.8 for Antigo, Rhinelander, and Shawano. The storm is trying to get here, but we are in some very dry air and it just evaporates before it makes snow. It is one of those close calls though, where if the precip field shifts 100-200 miles east it could make a big difference and bring meaningful snow. It isn’t looking good, but I am up for a pleasant surprise.
Last week was a busy week. I worked a lot, but I was also a little hard on stuff. I broke the truck, the snowplow, the snowblower, and now the little Indy Trail needs some attention with a noisy track/final drive. It was a good week LOL. The truck is almost done and needs about another half hour of work. Th snowblower should take 10 minutes now that I have the parts.
The Indy I am not sure what I will find. It seems to make a lot of running noise out of the track. I know that the track is a little tight, but I want to check wheels and shaft bearings too.
That sled came with a very low profile track, almost a slick. It is fun at times but not great in the powder. I have a good track for it, and I am tempted to go right for the track swap. That would give me a chance to service anything the suspension needs while it is out, put on slides if it needs them, and get a good close look at the shaft bearings. It will cut into my trail time a little, but I’ll be very surprised if I am not back on the trail by sunset.
Before I go here are a couple of more pictures from Sunday. The couple are Paul and Krystal who run the Pines Supper Club in Crooked Lake. I met them on the vintage ride and they paid me a visit when they were out riding. It was great to see them. The other picture is of the Mccaslin Mountain Crew. They have been regulars with a picture on the Big Snow Page for quite a few years now. It is always good to see you guys!
I want to finish by saying thank you to all of the people who made it such a fun weekend. Like the rest of the people that I met this season, I am very humbled by your support, generosity and enthusiasm, and I am really very grateful for it. Thank you all very much.
Have a good Tuesday and thank you for visiting!
RJB