AkronOrange Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Late Saturday (3:30 AM) 3 of us returned from a recent trip to Northern Ontario. New Liskeard - Cochrane - Shining Tree - New Liskeard loop. Day 1 - Snowing and blustery, never would have thought too much snow could be an issue for snowmobiling. If you have ridden the New Liskeard area, you know about the wide open fields. It was tough to see the trails, most are marked very well, but occasionally there would be a stretch where you wondered where the hell the trail was. 50 miles out one of the sleds had some mechanical issues, the Arctic Cat towed the Yamaha to a safe location and the remaining two said "hasta la vista" and went on our way. It was 1:00 and we still had about 180 miles ahead of us in the blizzard-like conditions. Arrived safely in Cochrane at 8:30. Went to Terry's in front of the Thriftlodge had a very good dinner and a few drinks and headed back to sleep. As a side note; we spent at least an hour trying to find our way out of Kirkland Lake. Each of the past 3 years I have ridden Kirkland Lake it is my experience that Kirkland Lake has the absolutely worst trail signage in all of Northern Ontario, and I have ridden all of Northern Ontario. Most trail intersections do not have any signage indicating which trail goes where or even which trail is which. Finally, after the hour of riding, we rode a trail without one trail number sign until it ultimately ended at "A" trail. BTW - it cost me $50 in roaming charges trying to use the OFSC app which also didn't apply. I am very supportive of all of the volunteers and I want to ride, but if the trails are not signed, they're not ready. It's not only locals out there riding. Day 2 - It was a beautiful bright morning. Went to Timmy's for breakfast and started on our way to Shining Tree. On our trip we found numerous areas where the trails were blown over and difficult to see. We took our time, got stuck a few times and were helped by others each and every time. It was a good ride, got gas in Timmins and headed toward Gogama. About 40 miles from Gogama, my riding partner had an unfortunate meeting with one of the many Pine trees in the area, he wasn't injured, but the new Ski Doo suffered some cosmetic damage. We picked up the pieces and continued through Gogama and onto Shining Tree. Kelly served us a wonderful supper and forced us to drink too much that night. Day 3 - We were a bit foggy from the libation from the night before we started off back to New Liskeard. Again, the trail was completely blown over in many areas and difficult to see. Many of the road crossings had been plowed over and were difficult to see as well. We took our time and made it back to the truck at about 4:00, loaded the sleds and drove back here to Buffalo. It was a snowy, slushy ride, one of those drives where you have to pay complete attention all of the time. I'm not sure if my partners would agree, but I think regardless of all of the obstacles we confronted, it was still a good weekend; we rode some beautiful areas and spent time with some wonderful people. Get out there and enjoy all of the snow and do it safely, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Bears Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Glad you got home safely and hope the bruises have healed from the forcing of alcohol.......I was sure I was in bed before you left......haha Hope to see you again this year Remind Gary...I have a menu Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 AO, had you been thru Kirkland Lake before? We've been thru there a few times and never had problems w/ the signage. I wonder if there had been a rash of vandalism? Your last day reminds me of a day we had venturing from Timmins to New Liskeard. Started to snow about an hour south of Timmins on TOP C & seemed to snow harder the further we went. Try finding your way across Campbell Lake (west of Matach') w/ minimal staking. Earlton area was just brutal w/ the blowing snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattherat Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 i'm from earlton and your right,the open fields can be a challenge sometimes,hard to keep the trails flat all the time,i've seen drifts where the groomers get stuck,they need a second groomer to get it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Akron, Great report. I also enjoy the excitement of the earlton area wind blown fields. I gps navigate with reved's base map and rarely get lost for too long, hmm. We did a Beaverton to North Bay trip Sunday and back on Monday and the biggest thing we noticed in the Muskoka area trails were that the signs were buried or just sticking out a little. Lots of snow. Strange year so far, my third Ontario tip and I have not been north of NB. Tough break for your Yamaha friend, I have been on both ends of that situation. Glad he was able to get back. Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Re:Leaf Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks for the report AO. Hi Max. You rode from Beaverton to North Bay in one day? How many km's/miles is that trip? How long did it take you? Sounds like a great ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbojamie Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Curious on the Beaverton > North Bay route as well been thinking on doing that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Leaf and Jamie, Did a little write up at the link so as not to be one of those hijacker type people on Akrons thread. Jim http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/index.php?/topic/12472-beaverton-to-north-bay-trip-report/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Re:Leaf Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks Max. I just read your report. Very nice and thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronOrange Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Rev, We rode the A108 in Kirkland Lake. There was a sign just before town that showed an arrow to Matheson. We passed several intersections along the none were properly identified. After riding into town and talking with a local who was with the club we back tracked and found our way to, what I think was L103, it was not marked but "A" was clearly marked at the end. Could be us, but we seem to lost around Kirkland Lake every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbojamie Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Rev, We rode the A108 in Kirkland Lake. There was a sign just before town that showed an arrow to Matheson. We passed several intersections along the none were properly identified. After riding into town and talking with a local who was with the club we back tracked and found our way to, what I think was L103, it was not marked but "A" was clearly marked at the end. Could be us, but we seem to lost around Kirkland Lake every year. no, it took me a couple seasons to get comfortable with Kirkland lake not just you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ox Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Had the same thing trying to find our way around Geraldton. Only thing that seemed well marked - or at least not cornfusing - was the trail to Nakina. Took for-ever to find our motel, and finally called him with the Sat phone - only to find that we were 1/2 klick away... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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