C to Bala has a ditch

[J$]

Starting from Little Go Home Bay/Gloucester Pool on Saturday I awoke to -26. Married for 21 years, you'd think that would be normal, but it was cold outside too. Surely the lakes would be safe - and yes Six Mile was a snap and Gibson Lake to Muskoka 33 was a snap, although we were the first to cut trail at the top of Gibson Lake and then over the bridge onto Go Home Lake, north across Irving and Galla Lake. All solid if you have local knowledge and it's only January 10th! ** disclaimer "Don't do the lakes until there staked".

Later we tried "C" to Bala from top of Six Mile Lake because it looked groomed, by just after the Whata and east along the trail we stopped at a washout the size of a good ditch. I'd say 2 ft deep and 4 ft across with 8" of running water. No groomer had been through here - no way. You could see 2 old metal culverts all broken up at the bottom. Despite meager attempts to add logs, the jagged metal scared us away (2 new '09 sleds are just too pristine to rip up a track on metal culverts). So, there was no way to get to Bala from the south! The next day we went south through Coldwater (also ungroomed) through Moonstone, then hit pure pleasure on B over to Orillia!

I wonder how this ditch on "C" to Bala will get fixed? So deep it really needs a new culvert or a bridge. In fact, every year this same spot washes out. Sometimes in the middle of Feb.

Any ideas?

[Trax]

Great post! By the sounds of it, we had a similar trench up in Nobel just over a week ago. We were clearing windfall so we expected hazards. We piled pine branches from a nearby tree that had fallen over the rough culvert on one side just about 5-6ft wide. Then we made the xp spin snow from the edge of the washout into the gap. We eventually made the area passable for us to continue our work.

Later, the groomers rolled in & worked their usual magic. Maybe some groomer operators can shed some light but from what I understand, they try to crib up deep voids with logs or rock & then finish by filling the area with snow & packing it so that it will freeze solid. I am always amazed at how those guys turn this rough terrain into such great trails.