Hoosier Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 28 minutes ago, skidooboy said: That would be part of it, for sure. you will have to run close to 5 miles of plowed sanded logging road to get between the 2 sled trails. The loggers do not want us on that road at all. if, you try it stay to the far right of the road, mind your manners, and call Jeremy at the Fishing Moose way prior to you going. They are not open for service, due to all of this. they are not prepared for guests, for food or drink. Then you need to worry about, due to the warm ups, has the 4 holes opened up between Hammer lake, and White River, that @AC+YAdescribes above. with another warm up tomorrow, and Thursday, with a big dump of snow Friday. and understand, I think the last time the Hammer Rd 12 trail to White river was groomed, would have been valentine's day week. have you decided where you are starting, or staying at yet? Ski Haven't decided anything yet, except we are driving somewhere tomorrow. Our sleds and trailers are parked just south of Lake Michigan. Right now I'm thinking about going up to MN or NW Wisconsin instead. They got hammered with snow last weekend. Used to ride out of Searchmont once or twice a year but haven't gone since COVID, so I was really looking forward to it. I enjoy northern Ontario a lot more and it's an easier drive to get there, but I'm starting to be concerned about conditions. I see Luc is out grooming all over and that area looks good. If we go Ontario, I'd be leaning towards starting in Searchmont and then staying in Wawa, accessing it from the lake trail, or maybe Dubreuilville, if rooms are available. I really like the trail going out to Marathon, and we've never done the part going up to Manitouwadge, but if the trail is closed we won't mess with it. Could go up towards Hearst after that or the other way out towards Longlac but that looks like it might just be a straight away for most of it (we've done the loop going towards Hearst but haven't gone West on A before). Or could just look for places to play between or around Dubreuilville. We're not too picky and like the adventure and low traffic of Ontario 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidooboy Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 depending on what sleds you have and option for carrying fuel, start in Searchmont, ride to wawa, or Dub for the first day depending on rooms, then up to hearst for the second day, then head back... that is 4 days of riding. just understand, tomorrow and thursday it is going to be warm, and friday, they are expecting a big dump of snow. they still dont know how far it will track north, or where the majority of the snow will fall but, friday it will be snowing in algoma hard, might not be a great day in the truck, or on a sled, trying to navigate. Sunday looks like an awesome sunny day to be on a sled. be safe, wherever you decide. Ski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ox Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 If you stage out of Searchmont, you may want to park up at the trailhead/turn-around, and not at Carl's, so that you don't have to ride all that pavement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidooboy Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 10 minutes ago, Ox said: If you stage out of Searchmont, you may want to park up at the trailhead/turn-around, and not at Carl's, so that you don't have to ride all that pavement. If the road is that bad, I would trailer, and drop the sleds, and leave the rigs at Carl's for safety reasons. walk back to the sleds, if need be. too many horror stories of coming back to broken windows, stolen items on Whitman dam road... I aint leavin my rig like that. even if you just pay carl the "parking fee" it is worth it. your results may vary. Ski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Got it. Yeah we'd pay the small fee to leave the truck and trailer at Carl's quite a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ox Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 17 minutes ago, skidooboy said: If the road is that bad, I would trailer, and drop the sleds, and leave the rigs at Carl's for safety reasons. walk back to the sleds, if need be. too many horror stories of coming back to broken windows, stolen items on Whitman dam road... I aint leavin my rig like that. even if you just pay carl the "parking fee" it is worth it. your results may vary. Ski Well, that's an option as well. Just wouldn't want to come back and run a klick of pavement... I have heard of some trouble there over the years as well, but then you see 30 rigs parked there when you drop there, so, it must not be quite as bad as all that. But I understand safe/sorry... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidooboy Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 22 hours ago, Hoosier said: Got it. Yeah we'd pay the small fee to leave the truck and trailer at Carl's quite a few times. Make sure you are watching the weather, calling for 18" in 36 hours, starting tomorrow. I would bet, if you aren't in wawa by midnight Thursday, you aren't getting there until late Saturday or Sunday. Understand that storm is going to make fuel mileage on sleds suffer. Not to mention poor or no visibility of the established trails... Be smart, be safe. On our way up now, to beat the mess. Ski 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC+YA Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 On 3/12/2023 at 10:05 PM, Hoosier said: Thanks so much for the details. Did you run the 180 miles from Searchmont to Dub on the cat 800 with only the 3 extra gallons? Did not have the Cat with that trip, but I’m sure it would go farther than the Doo’s because it has a much bigger tank to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC+YA Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 23 hours ago, Ox said: Well, that's an option as well. Just wouldn't want to come back and run a klick of pavement... I have heard of some trouble there over the years as well, but then you see 30 rigs parked there when you drop there, so, it must not be quite as bad as all that. But I understand safe/sorry... They cut the banks so we could ride on the tops when I was up a couple weeks back. They did it last year also which really helps. I don’t care about a bit of dry road when spring riding as it happens in every town. If you’re not good with it, touring is not possible. I don’t like it, but very little consequence to the machines. Like you said Ox, lots were parking at the bus turnaround. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC+YA Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 1 hour ago, skidooboy said: Make sure you are watching the weather, calling for 18" in 36 hours, starting tomorrow. I would bet, if you aren't in wawa by midnight Thursday, you aren't getting there until late Saturday or Sunday. Understand that storm is going to make fuel mileage on sleds suffer. Not to mention poor or no visibility of the established trails... Be smart, be safe. On our way up now, to beat the mess. Ski Glad you’re feeling better. You guys have a nice trip. I will be back through Dub Sunday. The weather looks to be putting some snow all the way around the northern loop for us which should help out those dry spots in towns. Heading up early tomorrow and grabbing the sleds we left in Searchmont. With shortcuts it’s about 120 miles to the Edson in Chapleau plus a couple more to Valentines. Indoor parking there so no mess to clean off in the morning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC+YA Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 On 3/12/2023 at 11:43 PM, Hoosier said: From the OFSC online map, I got 153 miles going from Driftwood to Wawa using Wawa Lake, or 150 running D into Wawa. Sounds like we'd better off going into town off the lake? I usually take the lake this time of year. Also, the lake was pretty smooth and fast a couple weeks back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ox Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 5 hours ago, AC+YA said: They cut the banks so we could ride on the tops when I was up a couple weeks back. They did it last year also which really helps. I don’t care about a bit of dry road when spring riding as it happens in every town. If you’re not good with it, touring is not possible. I don’t like it, but very little consequence to the machines. Like you said Ox, lots were parking at the bus turnaround. Sounds super! But y'all have to understand that I haven't had to replace a set of worn sliders in over 20 years, and I've only bought one new sled in that time, so ... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidooboy Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 made it up to Dub. town streets are bare in dub and wawa. just waiting out the storm now. sunny and 38 most of the way up, from soo on. @AC+YA we may be here sunday night. sunday looks like the best day to ride, so I am pushing to stay and ride that day... may go to Hornepayne for lunch. we will just have to leave at the crack of dawn on monday to get the mrs to her flight in Detroit, monday afternoon. Ski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ox Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Come on Ski.... This is a family friendly site here.... No more talk aboot Dawn's crack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 On 3/15/2023 at 1:04 PM, skidooboy said: Make sure you are watching the weather, calling for 18" in 36 hours, starting tomorrow. I would bet, if you aren't in wawa by midnight Thursday, you aren't getting there until late Saturday or Sunday. Understand that storm is going to make fuel mileage on sleds suffer. Not to mention poor or no visibility of the established trails... Be smart, be safe. On our way up now, to beat the mess. Ski We ended up going to NW Wisconsin, mainly due to the storm. We would have been able to get to Wawa by mid-afternoon Thursday, but I wasn't sure if we would have been able to get back Saturday with all the fresh snow and I didn't want to take a chance on that. NW Wisconsin was awesome as they got the same storm but a bit earlier. No traffic and tons of snow. We'll hopefully be back in Ontario next season. Thanks all for the input and answering questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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