Dan-Senior

Searchmont Travis, who lives up at Searchmont, said it was a good day for snow. Measuring Tape is showing 12". Nice for skiers and snowmobilers.

Black Creek Outfitters - Aubrey Falls Area Jean from Black Creek Outfitters on highway 129, gave me permission to post these fresh photos that were taken at 11 a.m this morning (Wednesday Nov. 27th). Heavy snow is continuing throughout the day. They did not receive any rain, it was all snow.

Sault Ste. Marie - Wednesday Nov 27th - 8 a.m. The storm arrived this morning. It rained from 3 a.m until 5:30 a.m, then turned to snow. Not expecting much within the City, however, places north including Searchmont and Ranger Lake areas will be looking good. I'll be prepping the sled tonight for a weekend ride 90 minutes north of the City. 8:15 a.m and 8:45 a.m images below

Great write-up OX. Sounds like you had some good times in Sault Ste. Marie. In the past 20 years or so, many old buildings along Bay Street have been torn down, making way for newer developments and extra parking. I am not sure which hotel that one could have been as there were many. Peachys restaurant used to be in that area, but has been torn down. The New American hotel still stands, and it is along Bay Street with a Tim Hortons right across the street. Thanks for sharing OX. Sounds like you spent alot time in Algoma many years ago.

Vintage Photos A few more vintage photos I dug up. My buddy Dan and I crossing Lake Huron from Spanish to Gore Bay. It was 33 kilometres across open ice, and some years the wind blows the snow and leaves a glaze only. Dan melted his sliders and overheated the engine. He too was running an XLT. Pressure cracks were and are still normal on Lake Huron and for the many years we have crossed, have always encountered at least one per trip, typically closer to the Gore Bay side. Another time I crossed at nighttime with one of my regular riding partners, Brent. He was running a beautiful Polaris 1997 XC 600 White Wedge Triple. We made it across 33 kms of ice to Gore Bay, had a late night dinner at one of the local bars, then as we prepared to leave, got caught up in a horrible blizzard in pure darkness of white fluff. We started out across Lake Huron heading north back to Spanish, as we followed the ice markers, but soon lost them and now we too were lost. It was a guessing game from that point forward. We didn't own any GPS's or cellphones back then, nor did we carry a compass. We could not see anything but whiteness of snow in all directions. We stopped, turned off the sleds, then glanced the horizon in all direction for any sign of lights from Spanish, Massey or Sagamok. It was a pretty scary situation as you don't want to be heading into open water including Little Detroit Pass. Eventually, there was a break in the clouds and in the far distance, we spotted some dim lights on the horizon. As we fired up the sleds and headed towards the lights, we lucked out and came across one of the ice stakes and then from there it was safe, but slow travel to land.

Vintage Photos Since we are waiting for snow, how about we share some vintage photos from years gone by. I was going through my collection this morning and it certainly brings back some great memories. Here's one; my 1st XLT - a 1993 580 SKS. Had great results with this sled. Triples were hot in the 90's. I even bought the matching helmet and jacket. Have no idea why I sold the sled? Looking forward to seeing other rider photos.

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.

2019-2020 Sled Insurance I renewed my sled insurance today with TD. I was actually quite pleased with how quick a representative answered the phone. For a while in recent months, TD had long delays with customer service. They must have added new staff. Wait time was less than 1 minute. $228 per sled. Basic coverage for each of my Dinosaur sleds.

Wawa - Snow Snowing in Wawa this morning. Image of the Wawa Webcam. Liive link is here.

Elliot Lake - Feb 7th-8th Weekend - Dunlop Lake Lodge Going to be in Elliot Lake on the Feb. 7th-8th weekend and staying at the Dunlop Lake Lodge. I am also sporting a new look this year but same style. Here is my cross-country ride for the 2019 / 20 season. Hope to see you in Elliot Lake. Dan

Blake, The main route crossing into the Patterson and Alvin Lake areas is 176 kms return. The 2nd route is a branch-off from the main route that heads south-east towards Tribag is 112 kms return.

Good memory OX, yes it was 67. There's more snow on 67 this season as compared to Frater.

North of Sault Ste. Marie - Sunday November 10th Video

North of Sault Ste. Marie - Photos Some additional photos I took while north of Sault Ste. Marie yesterday.

Today's Snowmobile Video Today, I had the opportunity to ride with 2 great guys and long-time riding friends; Chad and Ray. Both are fellow OC'rs and are the nicest gentlemen to know. We hit some decent powder this afternoon north of Sault Ste. Marie. Video Included below.

Live from the mountains north of Sault Ste. Marie. Anyone wants to ride, there's plenty of snow.

2019-2020 Snowmobiling Season - Officially Open - Sault Ste. Marie Ifs official, we are 4 days ahead of last year and 9 days ahead of our 10 year average. Today, we are heading for deep powder to enjoy the Algoma Beauty. Attached is my SPOT Tracker. Map goes live at 9 am. https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0zsKycc3jUyVc1rGpYHz4IG66UVQnxqOe

Way-to-Go Blake. 1st as usual every winter. Fantastic!

Sault Ste. Marie - Thursday Nov 7th Another photo of the Sault this morning. My work parking lot and my 4 x 4 that is the weekend sled hauler.

A couple of photos from Searchmont today and tonight. Travis was out with his snowmobile and is reporting 30+ cm. Marko was out skiing and reporting the same. An early start to winter this year.

Early Snow Merci, Denis. Hope all is well. The season has started 2 weeks early this year, for the Sault region. Looking at the long-range forecast, it looks like it may be here to stay until spring as I don't see any warm-ups in the next 14 days, however, that can change. Locally, in the Sault, we have minimal snow, but 10 minutes north of the city, it starts in Heyden and the further you go north and inland, the deeper it gets. 1 Hour north is where the deeper snow is. Personally, this upcoming weekend will be my 1st ride of the season. Hope to get to Hearst someday, the closest was Hornepayne years ago. Dan

My friend Joe, at his camp north of the Sault on Sunday.

Aubrey Falls Area - Potential Weekend Forecast Although a bit early in the week to solidify this upcoming potential weekend forecast, here is a projected forecast for north of Black Creek Outfitters. Although cautiously optimistic, I will watch it throughout the week to determine if a weekend ride is in the works.

Coincidentially, I was up that way yesterday doing some metal detecting along the Mississagi River. Had an awesome day. Picked up my sleds at camp on my way back to the Sault last night. The trailer is loaded and it won't be long now. Should be riding within 3 weeks, either at Aubrey Falls area or Eton. I will post updates on this site.

Nov 14th / 2018 Quick and nasty storms come off of Lake Superior dumping a good amount of snow in a short period of time, then within 3 days or so, melted until cooler temperatures move back in. This was Nov 14th last year. It is not an early start record, as we have ridden in October before. We will be riding within 30 days from now.