Sneaks Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Hey folks, heading to buddy's cottage tomorrow in Port Loring. Anybody been up there recently to give updated assessment of the limited conditions? Also how are the lakes holding up, anything of concern? Our plan is to go for a local ride Friday when we get there. Then we were going to trailer further north for the day Saturday for a good ride trying to hit some green. Either Sudbury or towards St Charles/Lavernge/Markstay area (any trailer parking in that area or south of sudbury as we'd rather keep drive as short as possible?) Also any trail recommendations for either way (fun/conditions) as it's all new to at least 2 of the 3 of us. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgyleRider Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Where in Port Loring is his place? Generally it's been pretty good. Trails just went yellow recently, they were all closed before that. Closed trails didn't matter as there is so much to see and do in the area, we travelled by lake and local trail/Portage. I've been up several weekends recently to my place on the Pickerel River in Loring. There was 4" of fresh snow last weekend on top of perfectly smooth lake ice, that has been between 14-24". It was absolutely gorgeous to travel on. The land trails are hard snow/ice with fresh snow on top, also perfect to travel on. I can understand why they reopened them as they looked pretty good last weekend. The lake stakes were still in last weekend, so keep in mind they have the trails now open "limited" and staked, so I assume they have inspected and deemed safe where the trails run across ice. Bear in mind that is only where the trail runs. You will see some suspicious looking ice or open water in some areas, especially near areas of moving water. Stay clear of suspicious looking and unknown areas, especially where a broad area of water flows through a narrow area. Stay in a group and be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJL Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 was up last weekend too. we are east of port loring. will pretty much agree with argylerider, other than stakes have been pulled on our lake and on the AR505. didn't explore much further than that, had the kids with us... lotsa ice on the lakes still, neighbour was driving his car on it. snow the past Friday really helped the lakes. trying to convince myself to head back up this weekend... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgyleRider Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 JJL, I'm in same boat... long to do list at home but can't waste these amazing "extra" weekends of the winter that never was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme600 Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 4 minutes ago, ArgyleRider said: JJL, I'm in same boat... long to do list at home but can't waste these amazing "extra" weekends of the winter that never was! Go man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just go. The to do list can wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgyleRider Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 45 minutes ago, extreme600 said: Go man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just go. The to do list can wait Hahah, that's the plan. The weather and conditions have been incredible! If it works out it will be 3 in a row! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneaks Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 Thanks folks, was busy all day so didn't have time to check the forum. Happy to see the answers His place is on little long lake road on the AR501, so just past the narrows to the east of Tornados. glad to hear stakes were still in, hope that's the case for the weekend. I love running lakes, but am naturally water phobic in the winter. so having stakes makes me feel more comfortable. And yeah, seeing cars on it, really helps my comfort factor Looking forward to the weekend, probably last hoorah for the season for at least me. thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR WEEZ Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 On 3/15/2018 at 10:15 AM, ArgyleRider said: Where in Port Loring is his place? Generally it's been pretty good. Trails just went yellow recently, they were all closed before that. Closed trails didn't matter as there is so much to see and do in the area, we travelled by lake and local trail/Portage. I've been up several weekends recently to my place on the Pickerel River in Loring. There was 4" of fresh snow last weekend on top of perfectly smooth lake ice, that has been between 14-24". It was absolutely gorgeous to travel on. The land trails are hard snow/ice with fresh snow on top, also perfect to travel on. I can understand why they reopened them as they looked pretty good last weekend. The lake stakes were still in last weekend, so keep in mind they have the trails now open "limited" and staked, so I assume they have inspected and deemed safe where the trails run across ice. Bear in mind that is only where the trail runs. You will see some suspicious looking ice or open water in some areas, especially near areas of moving water. Stay clear of suspicious looking and unknown areas, especially where a broad area of water flows through a narrow area. Stay in a group and be safe. We have a place in Golden Valley down river from Little River Lodge. I was thinking about headed up that way in a couple weeks just to see how the place faired over the winter. It's on an island. Do you think the ice will be safe to walk across 2-3 weeks from now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgyleRider Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 I won't be able to get away this weekend, but I should be up there next weekend to re-evaluate things. Pretty solid right now, and long term forecast looks quite positive. Not much snow, but lots of good temperatures. It appears it should be good for 2-3 weeks, but I'll post an update when I'm up next. was beautiful last weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneaks Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 Just got back from great weekend. Friday we just did ~50KM loop(AR501/AR510/AR509/AR501.) And Saturday ~160KM port loring on the (AR501/AR500/C105d) to Grundy and back. Trails were good enough that we decided not to bother trailering further, and from our perspective were rewarded with that decision. Lakes were completely solid with still nice snow on top. Trails did have a few bare spots here and there mostly where the sun beats down but 90% were absolutely great. So yes, limited is appropriate, but if they do get a dusting of snow that this week, to cover up a few of the bare spots, that would be fantastic. It was a fantastic couple days and end of season (likley) ride for us. really liek the trail to grundy. there's a logging road that was just mint. to ride. So much fun. Things to warn about: on C105d, coming towards 69 at grundy has some completely bare grassy spots in the swampy areas. There were also 2-3 downed trees to watch for. Most just on part of the trail, but one rather large one straight across, but by-passable. Stakes were off the lake dollars, but ice is totally solid. Just meant we got a bit off track, and stopped to confirm with some local cottagers who were out ice fishing which way to go (we initially headed to the Ess narrows, before figuring it out and turning around.) You can NOT get through Port loring without 100% bare road running (we obviously didn't and planned loops around that.) Just meant had to drive to Jakes/Roxies for food, rather than sled. Stakes were all in on all other lakes of our routes (AR501/AR510/AR509, etc.) there are a couple holes in the ice where river comes in, when getting onto Wilsons lake from duck lake road. Scoped it out on foot before proceeding and was nothing to worry about passing by, as i's not deep water, was marked. and there were solid paths over. Just recommend extra caution and as always, reminder conditions can change. Know before you go of course! Wasn't any grooming going on AFAIK, but it didn't seem to matter, only small chop for the most part, as I would say didn't have a lot of traffic. We saw sleds going by the lake when at the cottage, but only ran into 2 actually on trail the entire time. will the trails last another weekend? Looking at teh forecast, my non-weatherman, non-scientific, no liability guess would be I would have little concerns about the lakes, and most of the forest assuming doesn't get too much traffic. Only concern would be with the sun in the forecast, will likely create more bare spots in the fully exposed areas. Despite the off and on season, VERY happy with the rides I did get in, had a great end of season weekend, and in the end I believe I still got ~1150KM in. Happy trails folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake G Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Nice report. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgyleRider Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Looks like a great weekend! I couldn't get away, however plan to be up next weekend. I can vouch for the C105d between Loring and Grundy - one of my favourite trails to run when freshly groomed. Wide trail, banked corners. Too much fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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