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2013 Conditions - St. Joes, Bruce Mines, Echo Bay


On My AXYS

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I posted in the 2012 but thought I should change the date

I will be heading up soon to enjoy the north country

It is great to see the Bruce Mines Club being the first to open their trails again this year

Way to go Sno-Glyders

Good snow snow up there this year too. I hope the rain does not wash it away today and tomorrow

Some one will have to let me know

Also, let me know if the Echo Bay club gets the groomers out of the garage!

It has been a few years since we got to ride on St. Joe It looks like the trails are open this year

Does anybody know the status of the water crossing? Brucce to Hilton? Richard's to Neebish?

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That area seemed to get snow yesterday morning, but like you say, what will the rain & temps do before it changes back to snow? Then the bigger question is how big will the snow end up being at the switch back to cold?

North east of Searchmont I saw more than a foot of new snow! We had a bunch at Black Creek Outfitters when we left to go back to Goulias River.

Saw new snow all the way down into the UP.

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Thanks for the comments AC+YA

What do you think of your 2012 AC 1100 Turbo?

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We just returned from the area. We rode Bruce Mines, Iron Bridge, Blind River, Elliot Lake, Spanish and back. I have to tell you....although the trails are marked as Green on the OFSC website, it was some of the most miserable riding I have done in a long time. We found 5 miles out of the 325 that we rode had been groomed. The rest of the time we were driving on 8-10" of snow, pushing and sliding through each corner.

We have traveled and spent a lot of money in the past years to ride in Ontario because of the incredible attention to the trails. I also understand that this is simply a catch 22.....not as many people traveling to Ontario, less permit money, less grooming, less volunteers, etc. The spiral is never ending, especially in those areas where the population density is low. It is sad for us because we loved to ride the area so much......

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We just returned from the area. We rode Bruce Mines, Iron Bridge, Blind River, Elliot Lake, Spanish and back. I have to tell you....although the trails are marked as Green on the OFSC website, it was some of the most miserable

riding I have done in a long time. We found 5

miles out of the 325 that we rode had been

groomed. The rest of the time we were driving

on 8-10" of snow, pushing and sliding through

each corner.

We have traveled and spent a lot of money in the past years to ride in Ontario because of the incredible attention to the trails. I also

understand that this is simply a catch 22.....not

as many people traveling to Ontario, less permit

money, less grooming, less volunteers, etc. The

spiral is never ending, especially in those areas

where the population density is low. It is sad for

us because we loved to ride the area so

much......

Sorry to hear about your experience. Alot of amercians are now heading to Quebec. They have incredible trails, lots of snow and great resorts. Give them a try next year, you won't be dissapointed. Ontario's weather hasn't been consistent. Been hard on clubs, volunteers etc. Quebec gets colder more consistient weather. I highly recommend going there next time. I am heading there hopefully in march.

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Thanks Hardwareguy for the post,

One of the things that makes that area so beautiful is the remoteness

As a result the local clubs do not raise as much money as some of the other areas.

I know last year the snow was very minimal but Bruce Mines in particular had done an amazing job with what they had

Maybe you just got some bad luck and missed the groomers

We are heading up in two weeks. Maybe they will have the groomers out by then

Also I hope the water crossings are staked as well

Even if they are not, a bad day on the trails is way better than a good day in the office!

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Hello All

There is a recent post in the Main Clubhouse section of this forum that says Bruce Mines, Thessalon, Ironbridge southern portions are now groomed and smooth

The Wharncliffe area is still not smooth at last report

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Unfortunately, our regional clubs don't have the funds to run the groomers around the clock. Permit sales are way down, resulting in lost revenue.

Sorry to hear about your riding experience. You must have arrived shortly after last week's big storm.

Trails looked a lot better on Saturday compared to Friday. We rode both days in this area.

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it was some of the most miserable riding I have done in a long time. We found 5 miles out of the 325 that we rode had been groomed. The rest of the time we were driving on 8-10" of snow, pushing and sliding through each corner.

All I can say to that is "LOL!"

worthless.gif

You expect clear dry roads on your way to the snow too I s'pose?

One of the things that makes that area so beautiful is the remoteness

THAT is "remote"?

.

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It is remote compared to Parry Sound or Listowel or even Alpena

Wharancliffe is really on the way to the middle of nowhere

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Thanks for the comments AC+YA What do you think of your 2012 AC 1100 Turbo?

This is the 2nd year on the Turbo. I am much happier with the Machine this year after some of the bugs have been worked out. It can push deep snow too. It will run down an untouched lake with 20" of snow @ 90 MPH on the speedo and doing 75 to 85 real MPH. Just got back from jumping some of the lakes along the D106. Have put over 2000 miles on it this season already.IMG_1354_zps2ac966e1.jpg

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Did you get a can for it like my chumm has?

.

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Did you get a can for it like my chumm has? .

Turbo Dynamics 3" exhaust with the quieter big can and I made a baffle to tone it down close to stock, but does it go! No program changes to mess with warranty. Blueberry Flats across Hwy17 from Blueberry Hill Motel and Campgrounds. A great place to stay on the trail!IMG_1250_zps6dfa2efc.jpg

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I currently rent 600 E-Techs but I will be buying soon

It is great to hear real world experiences aroung the new machines

That AC Turbo is good option

That one picutre looks like it is around carpenter lake on the D106 - Just a guess

I am heading that way in two weeks. Those pictures are really getting me excited

Here are some pics from last year- we were able to find some great gromed trails north of Bruce Mines. Other than that the conditions last year were way less than perfect

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Has anybody been out to St. Joseph's Island. Is there any staking in progress from Neebish or Bruce Mines to the Island

we are heading up next week to ride the area and it would be nice to get onto the Island without having to trailer.

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Has anybody been out to St. Joseph's Island. Is there any staking in progress from Neebish or Bruce Mines to the Island

we are heading up next week to ride the area and it would be nice to get onto the Island without having to trailer.

Not good on the map, so I skipped going that way the last couple weeks. I wish it was open.

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Don't leave me hanging, where did you go?

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We rode the new loop over to Black Creek Outfitters and back on the D106 to searchmont and then the rest of the main loop around the Soo was in great shape!

The #12 Whitman Dam Rd. was getting bad. The #13 Domtar Rd. is excellent! The #14 Mashagama Rd. is OK except for all the brush hanging down in many spots. This makes some people freakout and bitch! It does need lots of work to make it a freindly trail to ride, but once it opens back up to the F trail it is all good down to the Ranger Lake Rd. and over the bridge. Be sure to watch the slots on the steel plates of the bridge where someone got a wearbar caught already this year and flipped the sled.

All great riding except where they are plowing a section of road on the D106. Most can be avoided on the side of the road.This is Domtar Rd. a week back.IMG_1279_zps0886a55c.jpg

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Nice,

A buddy of mine just rode from Bruce to blind river via Wharancliffe and he said the trails were 11 out of 10 he counted three bumps in 150 miles!

Here is his Quote

11 out of 10! Left Bruce to whnclf and down to IronBrdg then to BlindRvr and back to IrnBrdg south to Thessalon and back to Bruce 150mi. Maybe 2-3 bumps in trail (lol) lots of snow....will be good for us. Seen tracks from Bobbers out to lake, apparently tree line not in but guys have crossed. Best ride this season, more to come next week.

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The ice bridges are OPEN to Manitoulin and Drumond Islands. I might be taking the North Shore Trails and running out to the Islands this weekend.

All the trails are looking great with the spot exceptions due to logging, but they are few!

Try the new run from Searchmont to Black Creek, it is great and the brush hanging in the few spots on the Masigami Road has been fixed for the most part. It was real bad a few weeks back. We spent some time on that issue along with other groups using the trail and it was groomed again and very nice!

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