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Huntsville area conditions


craigofudd

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Several buddies have reservations starting on Saturday in Huntsville. looking at the Interactive Trail Guide, it appears there is allot of trails marked yellow and some still in the red (lakes i'm sure).

 

i think our options into and out of our hotel are pretty limited, and i'm wondering if the yellow trails are "bad" or what conditon they are in?

 

i'm not sure if i should join them and make the trip or pass on this one

 

any input is appreciated

 

thanx!   

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I would trailer a bit north to the almaguin trail system, they are working on them to be green for the weekend

 

ADSC trail and snow condition Up-Date Jan. 14th 2014 7;00 pm
Groomers running lots of base and trails are coming up great, few trees down few washouts other than that we will be green on Thursday

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Or go east to Dorset and Tall Pines. Trails are supposed to great by the weekend. I assume Huntsville area will be green by the weekend as well. They turned yellow and red to try and keep people of trails  I would suspect

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where in Huntsville?    

 

 

If it were me and you have a choice I would wait another week, right now we have lots of hard ice conditions since the meltdown and rain and have not yet received any fluff for lube or cooling.   Now it is supposed to get better with a series of clippers coming thru but each one will only drop small accumulations they are saying.   

 

The only good thing to come of the meltdown is now the deep snow on lakes has slushed up and froze, so the lakes will be slush free, but at this typing are also SNOW free with basically glare ice conditions, great for radar running today with a "skiff" of windblown flakes coming down butnot enough for real lube IMO.

 

the trails from gravenhurst to dorset up to sand lake IMO will all be rather similar in this area, its the ones outside of this snow belt region that had less snowpack that will have more bare spots.

 

Lube and cooling will be the biggest issue along with BARE road runs....fingers crossed for a few inches of fluff on the next clipper coming thru late thursday into friday AM....this one that came thru today is barely just flurries unfortunately.

 

 

Dan

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Dan, I agree totally with your assessment. We need some snow.

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We are riding Kearney in the morn , parking at info center on Hwy 11, almaguin always does a great job , will post a report when we get back tomorrow night to let you know on the conditions Craig , you can go north from Huntsville to all these trails 

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We might see u tommorrow heading towards edgewater bud..

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we will be dining at edgwater i think , waiting for my last minute buds to get permission from their wifes.so it could be just me or 4 guys , red vector ,probably a Rush  for sure 

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thanx for the replies.

 

reservations are at Deerhurst Resort. as of now it looks like our only option is to go North out of the resort unless the lakes open up (fingers crossed for that). 

 

ice doesn't bother me as much as no snow for lube/cooling does

 

i'll probably wait to see how things change by this time 2moro

 

thanx again!! 

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Several buddies have reservations starting on Saturday in Huntsville. looking at the Interactive Trail Guide, it appears there is allot of trails marked yellow and some still in the red (lakes i'm sure).

 

i think our options into and out of our hotel are pretty limited, and i'm wondering if the yellow trails are "bad" or what conditon they are in?

 

i'm not sure if i should join them and make the trip or pass on this one

 

any input is appreciated

 

thanx!   

 

Check the interactive guide tomorrow. Thursday is update day.

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Flurries still coming down at this time....I think we should have enough lube to get out tomorrow, and even more for weekend.

 

I am gonna head out tomorrow and check out trails and my lake now that we have alittle coming down...

 

Craig, d102b north out of deerhurst is often bad even when trails are good....IMO you would be better off running over PEN(lakes will all be great) to the second bay where tally-ho is, and head up 77(alongside of limberlost rd) to 78 trail, then get onto d101b north.....this is much better way to head north toward sand lake from the resort IMO.  

 

Dan

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thanx again for the replies.

 

haha, it seems some trails have changed from yellow to green and from red to yellow since i first posted this topic.

 

Dan i see the trails you are referring to. when you say "better off running over PEN(lakes will all be great) to the second bay", is PEN the lake next to Deerhurst? that lake is not labeled on the trail guide

 

as it looks right now i am gonna go ahead and head up

 

btw, i asked Meisha to do a snow dance

 

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My buddy and I are planning a ride toward Dorset out of Baysville around 915 tomorrow morning. Trails are green on the interactive guide, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully there is enough snow to keep us going.

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thanx again for the replies.

 

haha, it seems some trails have changed from yellow to green and from red to yellow since i first posted this topic.

 

Dan i see the trails you are referring to. when you say "better off running over PEN(lakes will all be great) to the second bay", is PEN the lake next to Deerhurst? that lake is not labeled on the trail guide

 

as it looks right now i am gonna go ahead and head up

 

btw, i asked Meisha to do a snow dance

 

Craig....

 

Yes the lake Deerhurst resort is on is PEN lake(if you zoom in far enough on guide it will show it "peninsula lake", the other lake toward Huntsville is Fairy lake.

 

You will basically ride right down the front trail out of the resort, down past where the horse trail is, then when you get back ontop of the hill you will see tracks going to the left down to lake(easy to see)  OR you can run across the small little "pond" directly infront of deerhurst which connects to the lake.

 

Just head down to the lake as shown on the GUIDE to that second bay....this usually will have lots of tracks as you are heading toward an OFSC trail at tally ho cottages.  You will get off the lake on a public town dock at tally-ho.  Then go up tally-ho driveway, cross hwy 60 and onto the trail.   I often take this route when I head north to sand lake, rather then the CRAPPY trail 102 out of deerhurst which the first 10 miles or so just is horrible most the time.

 

BTW we got approx 1 INCH of fluff last night(not much) but this will help with cooling and slide lube, there is more to come tonight and tomorrow but not a ton, calling for maybe 2-3 INCHES or so but that should be enough for what we need.  

 

I will be heading out today to check mary lake and my local HGR "50s" trails, will probably run same trails as Blake and try to get pics.  Im betting HGR will likely stake today or tomorrow cause I do see they went YELLOW on the new culvert installation trail 102 which probably means its done.

 

Dan

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thanx for all the insight, it is very helpful.

 

what can you tell me about the "dog-leg" section of trail that is red on traill 77 just south of Dwight and comes off of hiway 60?

 

it seems as though that section being closed screws up the ability to do a "loop"

 

 

Craig.

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Flurries still coming down at this time....I think we should have enough lube to get out tomorrow, and even more for weekend.

 

I am gonna head out tomorrow and check out trails and my lake now that we have alittle coming down...

 

Craig, d102b north out of deerhurst is often bad even when trails are good....IMO you would be better off running over PEN(lakes will all be great) to the second bay where tally-ho is, and head up 77(alongside of limberlost rd) to 78 trail, then get onto d101b north.....this is much better way to head north toward sand lake from the resort IMO.  

 

Dan

DEERHURST IS A GOD DAMN SNOW CROSS TRACK! DO NOT RIDE NORTH OR SOUTH ON D102B. TAKE 77 UP TO D101B IT IS SWEEEEEEEEETTT

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Craig....

 

Yes the lake Deerhurst resort is on is PEN lake(if you zoom in far enough on guide it will show it "peninsula lake", the other lake toward Huntsville is Fairy lake.

 

You will basically ride right down the front trail out of the resort, down past where the horse trail is, then when you get back ontop of the hill you will see tracks going to the left down to lake(easy to see)  OR you can run across the small little "pond" directly infront of deerhurst which connects to the lake.

 

Just head down to the lake as shown on the GUIDE to that second bay....this usually will have lots of tracks as you are heading toward an OFSC trail at tally ho cottages.  You will get off the lake on a public town dock at tally-ho.  Then go up tally-ho driveway, cross hwy 60 and onto the trail.   I often take this route when I head north to sand lake, rather then the CRAPPY trail 102 out of deerhurst which the first 10 miles or so just is horrible most the time.

 

BTW we got approx 1 INCH of fluff last night(not much) but this will help with cooling and slide lube, there is more to come tonight and tomorrow but not a ton, calling for maybe 2-3 INCHES or so but that should be enough for what we need.  

 

I will be heading out today to check mary lake and my local HGR "50s" trails, will probably run same trails as Blake and try to get pics.  Im betting HGR will likely stake today or tomorrow cause I do see they went YELLOW on the new culvert installation trail 102 which probably means its done.

 

Dan

please report when your back dan, im very interested. Headed up tomorrow night

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My buddy and I are planning a ride toward Dorset out of Baysville around 915 tomorrow morning. Trails are green on the interactive guide, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully there is enough snow to keep us going.

Today we left at 945 and took D102B, 45, and D101B from Baysville to Dorset. Gassed up in Dorset just for fun, and had a nice lunch at the restaurant on the south side of the bridge. I think it is called the Trading Bay Dining Company. We were the only customers. The server was very pleasant. We just had soup and fries, which were quite good. On the way back we rode 63, then took 68, 64, 61 across Raven Lake, then back to Baysville.

 

Trail conditions were excellent on the way up, and very good to excellent on the way back. Lube was no problem. Although the trails were top notch today, more snow would be nice, to build up the base to handle traffic.

 

Kawagama and Raven Lakes weren't the best, but from what I could see they are better than they were during and after the thaw. Today both lake surfaces were frozen hard, with plenty of ruts where people ran in the slush a few days ago, particularly near the shore. Predominantly glare ice, but enough snowy patches to provide lube. I have no idea how thick the ice is, or whether or not it is safe.

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Today we left at 945 and took D102B, 45, and D101B from Baysville to Dorset. Gassed up in Dorset just for fun, and had a nice lunch at the restaurant on the south side of the bridge. I think it is called the Trading Bay Dining Company. We were the only customers. The server was very pleasant. We just had soup and fries, which were quite good. On the way back we went up Kawagama a bit on 63, then took 68, 64, 61 across Raven Lake, then back to Baysville.

 

Trail conditions were excellent on the way up, and very good to excellent on the way back. Lube was no problem. Although the trails were top notch today, more snow would be nice, to build up the base to handle traffic.

 

Kawagama and Raven Lakes weren't the best, but better than they were during and after the thaw. Today both lake surfaces were frozen hard, with plenty of ruts where people ran in the slush a few days ago, particularly near the shore. Predominantly glare ice, but enough snowy patches to provide lube.

YIPEE!!!!! Tall Pines and Happy Wanderers are INCREDIBLE snowmobile clubs. Thanks so much for report Blake and glad to hear you enjoyed the Baysville express (my avatar is baysville express). Did any mention or think of riding LOB? 

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DEERHURST IS A GOD DAMN SNOW CROSS TRACK! DO NOT RIDE NORTH OR SOUTH ON D102B. TAKE 77 UP TO D101B IT IS SWEEEEEEEEETTT

Totally agree with aar0n on this one.   Further away D102B can be good (Hill & Gully trails) but the 77 to D101B just rocks.

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I still have no idea whether any of these lakes are safe. I only know what they look like at the surface. The only part of LOB that we saw was the open water right at Baysville.

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I still have no idea whether any of these lakes are safe. I only know what they look like at the surface. The only part of LOB that we saw was the open water right at Baysville.

yeah I don't think anybody does

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thanx for all the insight, it is very helpful.

 

what can you tell me about the "dog-leg" section of trail that is red on traill 77 just south of Dwight and comes off of hiway 60?

 

it seems as though that section being closed screws up the ability to do a "loop"

 

 

Craig.

 

 

That is just along the rd in dwight....i have not been there yet not sure why its red.

 

But you would not go that way, take 77 to 78 north to kearny  or sand lake.  But if you loop back the other way you have alot of billie bare rd to run coming back into dwight on 101.

 

Dan

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Just got back myself....was out all day and started out similar to Blakes ride.  

 

 

First off I drilled my lake infront of my place here at north end of mary lake...elec drill died ofcourse, I got down 11 inches and still did not break thru when battery died, so its at least a foot thick, which is plenty in my book.   All the lakes I road today were all rock hard, like skating rinks with the inch new snow all around in patches which blew off with the breeze we had in area, but along shorelines was better for lube and cooling, My sled ran one bar hotter then normal all day on the gauge but never overheated or threw a light.  Sliders were fine too.  Lakes were very fast!  My brand new 800 etec ran up to 109mph on my GPS and showed 118 max speed on speedo(way off these doos!) and it only has 300 miles on the ODO at this typing and shows 34% breakin left on the chip...so i was impressed!   the ice attack track i installed worked well on todays ice, where Bobs UNSTUDDED ACE600 touring was hard to hold straight.  I highly recommend studs for these lakes as they are now!  keep slow without them!

 

We ran down mary lake, checked the "lake trail" at port sydney, not yet staked and all the tracks from when snow was deep are frozen ruts still, not as bad as before the melt down but still rough as hell....so we road WIDE around the old tracks to stay on the nice and smooth areas.

 

We headed off the east side of mary lake, down past HGR groomer shack, then down toward baysville on d103b.  We went left onto d102b to see the new wood bridge just before the TEE at the outhouse of 51/d102b.  We continued on d102b down to brittannia rd, as I wanted to see the new culvert!  You cross britannia rd then only need to ride in about 1 or 2 KM max to the new culvert, the trail from rd into culvert is really bad, basically gravel as of today.  But after the culvert the trail is great again.  All the trails were groomed, hard and will catch your skis for major darting, more traffic will help loosen then base up for sure.  It was really much better then expected though with enough snow for lube and cooling.

 

We then ran down 54 down onto lake of bays....south portage marine where gas pumps are, now has  a BUBBLER!!!!      I took some pics and will try to load here...It is marked off but be aware if you have got gas here in past, its WIDE open water with boats sitting there.,.rather bizzarre from any other season where we usually gas up!  

 

We headed down toward dorset, across the peninsula (where all the deer are) across port cunnington rd, down ramp and ran down to dorset....lake is solid, hard....no slush, very slick, very fast with some wind blow snow, just enough for sliders and cooling...again ride way wide of all the old tracks which are really rough frozen slush....you could break a ski on some of this!   wide around old tracks is nice smoooth.

 

We found another bubbler in dorset where we used to park and walk across to the restaurant, now you must get off lake at shell gas station exit, then ride down the road a few hundred feet to eat, looks like a marina has put in new docks near the shore and now has bubbler to keep it open..be careful here and use gas station entrance onto lake ONLY!!!

 

We rode back west home, went right by bigwin island and saw myself on the webcam! haha..... then got off of lake up near trail d102b where trail takes a 90 degree turn near brunel rd and south portage rd...my buddy lives there and we use his small trail to connect to d102b.  Great short cut back to HGR trails coming home from lake of bays!

 

Let me try to load some pics...I took a lot of lakes.

 

Dan

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