Well it has certainly been a late start to winter this year, and while we all would like to have some more snow the time has come!
Yesterdays ride from our shop found flat, hard and fast conditions. We made it through the weekend storm with more sleet than rain, with some fresh snow on the top and more to come before and during the upcoming holiday weekend. We are expecting another 2"-4" of before Friday, with a weekend storm providing another 8-10". Our groomer is scheduled to go out Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening even through the storm so our trails should be even better than they are now!
Knowing the powerline leaving town on ITS 87 north was pretty thin, I decided to head down the railbed whch was completely covered with no icy spots showing. I turned on ITS 84 east and found the first 2 or 3 miles to be the thinnest in open areas with a few loose rocks in one spot the drag kicked up. But again everything was covered up. Once hitting Mahoney Hill and turning right down the hill, everything was again covered and in great shape. I then took a left across the Heart of Gold Trail also known as the upper Lake Rd to the ATV community that goes by the first 11 windtowers which was again flat and fast. Once getting down by Whithee Pond the trail was a little uneven, but completely covered and not rough.
At the next intersection where you can take a right to the rest of the windmills or Iron Gate Rd, I took the left on the T Rd that heads to Rt 16 where it crosses over to the Town Line Rd. Town Line Rd is again this year being plowed, and we have only been granted shared access for the 1 mi from Rt 16 and less than a mile on the Dead Water side. Taking the left off Town Line Rd is what's known as the Sunshine trail that leads you back into ITS 87, allowing for a nice bypass during low snow conditions.
Once hitting ITS 87, the condtions are great all the way across the Austin Stream Bridge off the Dead Water road, to the gravel pit where we turn left on the Ripple Rd. Please be advised that we are only going about a half a mile up Ripple Rd to the powerline where you will take a right at our new kiosk. The poweline section is passable with a few small water bars to be mindful of. It is a little rough and slow going, but once hitting the Heald Pond road on the other side, conditions turn back around for several miles all the way and a few miles beyond where we meet Northern Outdoors on the Chase Pond Rd.
About 7 mi up the Chase Pond Rd ends intersecting with the Carney Brook Rd. At this point you will notice a pickup truck plowed in past the Chase Pond Rd about a mile, then took a right up a dead end and left a snow bank in the middle of the trail so be very careful. We are hoping to work toegther for the upcoming weekend and get that section cleaned up due to Northern not being able to connect thus far due to lack of snow near Deer Bog and the turn for the Sterling Inn. So after leaving that plowed section you will travel about 2.5 mi to get to the Deer Bog bridge which is where you will find the thinnest conditions and ruts from folks that just had to ride Sunday before things had a chance to freeze up.
After crossing the Deer Bog bridge you will have another couple of miles of groomed/frozen ruts on a road system to get to Pleasant Pond intersection. We have been told that the Forks system is about the and they are anticipating moving groomers Thursday.
So all and all we need some more snow but its on its way, and the trails are in good shape considering the year we have been having. What bad sections there are, are short lived and typically in and our of the towns, but everything is passable.
We did received permission from the Harmony Club and the state to groom the Iron Gate Rd this winter to help out Harmony, seens how we have lost several miles of trail we normally maintain, provding a nice extended loop. We have also groomed the lower connector of Mahoney Hill Rd that meets ITS 87 above the powerline and before crossing Rt 16 and it is in great shape. When taking this trail, just keep in mind it is very thin and rough on the powerline when attempting to come back to town. When heading north on ITS 87, everything is covered including the ledges on the other side of Rt 16 before the intersection off town line road, but it is somewhat bumpy due to a lack of depth of snow, and there is one passable washout, just befoer the bridge.
*Please note the upper Windmill section and Palmer Pond Rd will be closed all season due to active logging, so please do not attempt to travel those areas. We will be grooming past the building up to tower 22, but will be turning around before the last Rt 16 crossing as soon as we get a little more snow. The trail is closed at the top of Mayfield Hill on the Quarry Rd, but folks can unload there if they would like and travel back towards ITS 87.
Ride right, ride safe, and think snow!