slomo Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 According to the Intrepid Sledder on his facebook wall, trails in this area were pretty badly iced up and would need a major snow to recover. Was keeping this in mind Friday afternoon as I looked forward to a drive to District 1. We all live or die each week by weather and trail reports. Stopping for gas in Kingston, there was a pretty heavy snow falling. But heading north on highway 15, the snowfall petered out at the turn off to Westport. Arriving in Perth, wasn't too encouraged by conditions as no new snow had fallen as forecast. Prettty sure there would be no sledding, so left sled on trailer. Next day woke up to light 'lubricating' snow and decided to launch. Sure glad I did. Originally my plan was to do a circle from Perth on the E, follow E103 to E104A west to the other E, then back to Perth - perhaps doing some of the local trails at the western end of the loop. Lady at the motel passed on that the Intrepid One suggested avoiding Smith Falls and area as lack of snow on road running was pretty bad. So I altered my plan and took E to the west, did the little local trails north of Sharbot Lake and return to Perth on KandP trail 1 to avoid north of Smith Falls. No sooner had I gone a few kilometers west on E which was icy, but snow covered for the most part, I was in the farm land riding that I had always dreamed about while cranking a sled through the PreCambrian Shield rock around Parry Sound. Largely effortless riding along wide rail lines and through fields with the occasional wood lot thrown in. Had occasion to approach the official OFSC trail speed limits at times. After a while snow conditions got much better. And the sun came out! Lots of people trailering and dropping at Sharbot Lake where the caboose is located. Good trails there as well. Quite a crowd at the Snow Road club house.... and after a short visit there, on to some local trails and return on trail 1. Great variety of surroundings. The main trails were in great shape, the local trails needed more snow to even out a few moguls, but all in all a very pleasureable ride. Cold though.... My super quiet 4 stroke sneaks up on a group of wild turkeys.... and back to the junction of E I returned to Perth on the E and continued past the motel toward Smith Falls for a few kilometers, but the trail was pretty icy so I turned back before I could throw any kind of shadow on a good riding day. Trip was a little over 170 km - held down the wrong button to check fuel level and erased trip meter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnj Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Glad you made it and decided to go north vs Iroquois and had some decent riding too by the looks of things. Perth is an hour from me so would be interested in checking it out too sometime. Where did you drive from to come to this area sleddin?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Glad you made it and decided to go north vs Iroquois and had some decent riding too by the looks of things. Perth is an hour from me so would be interested in checking it out too sometime. Where did you drive from to come to this area sleddin?? Thanks shawnj for your previous info which was quite helpful. If you were to drop at Sharbot Lake - right in the middle of town where the E trail kind of makes a U - you would have great snow. The Snow Road club house had plenty of parking - lots of trailers there. As for Perth itself, I'm betting you could launch from the mini mall behind Wendy's Restaurant at Dufferin and Lanark road which is close to the E where I started this ride. I drove over from Whitby - so about 3 hours. Would really like to sled in the 'far east' part of district 1 some time when conditions are better. If I had a few days, like the look of those 'tours' advertised by district 1 web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Couple more pictures to show conditions Trail along highway 7 Not sure what killed this deer. Didn't see signs of a collision, but my forensic skills are rusty. Location next to parking area and a hairpin turn on the E trail Sharbot Lake On local K and P trail 1 - thin but rideable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnj Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 About 3 weeks ago, the far east, cornwall, back to hawksburry was great I heard. A friend of mine went on what was gonna be an overnite trip, but the trails were so good then that they did it in one day easily. I think they have suffered since, unless they got some fresh snow. We really haven't got any snow, other than a dusting around home. That is fine with me, I hate plowing and shoveling but love riding in it up north. Have you tried Petawawa west this year. Excelllent up there. Will be making my 4th trip up this coming weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Looks like you had a great trip. I've never ridden that far east. The furthest for me has been TOP E a bit east of Hwy 41 near Vennachar. My parents in the past have taken trips over to Calabogie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Have you tried Petawawa west this year. Excelllent up there. Will be making my 4th trip up this coming weekend. We planned a trip a couple of times out that way for March, but conditions were poor, so had to cancel. Just too far for a Friday night drive up - after a week of work both ms. slomo and I are kind of punchy - on the trip to Port Loring last weekend during the final stretch on hwy 522 we saw 1 moose and lots of deer as well as a bunch of 'virtual' ones we kept thinking we saw. Petawawa is one of my favourite areas - even stayed at the cabins your friends own one summer for fishing - and would like to get to that area in the winter. Looks like you had a great trip. I've never ridden that far east. The furthest for me has been TOP E a bit east of Hwy 41 near Vennachar. My parents in the past have taken trips over to Calabogie. I think you'd like the area - not as much traffic as around Apsley etc. Keep north for the snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahas Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Next time anyone ride out this way and don't mind an extra rider let me know, these are my local trails! Good Call on skipping Smiths Falls, the trail rush right through town and there is not recent snow it is rough going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Next time anyone ride out this way and don't mind an extra rider let me know, these are my local trails! Good Call on skipping Smiths Falls, the trail rush right through town and there is not recent snow it is rough going. It's a great area to sled in and for those in the eastern GTA or points along the way, the 401 makes the driving a lot easier than following some manure spreader travelling north on highway 12 or Lakeridge Rd. for miles.....hwy 15 has plenty of straight sections and passing as well. Just have to get north to some snow, find a place convenient to the trails and you're away. Hope to return some day with more time for touring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sledjunk Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Looks like a great ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrummage Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Great report. I have a place near Tamworth but the trails in the area haven't been open the last three seasons so I do all my sledding in the Parry Sound area. I'm thinking of bringing my sled up in a couple of weeks as I see a lot of green trails in and out of Sharbot Lake. I'll keep an eye on Kaladar too as it's closer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowTouringGuy Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks Slomo ! It's an area of the province in which I've never been on the trails. And thanks for the pictures, too. Is that area typically one that gets lots of snow and this is a tough year or is it a 'hit and miss' area every year ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks Slomo ! It's an area of the province in which I've never been on the trails. And thanks for the pictures, too. Is that area typically one that gets lots of snow and this is a tough year or is it a 'hit and miss' area every year ? We complain about the IAFTC map, but in fact it has opened up a whole new consciousness about sledding in Ontario and that is a 'hunt for the green'. Never even thought about district 1 until the OFSC conditions could be seen. After that, it was some basic research. Can't answer your question about snow cycles in the area. However, for a saddlebag kind of sledder, check out the tours available: http://www.district1.../trailloops.htm Posted the URL before but you might have missed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I know in the past I've seen forecast of heavy snow in the area east of a line drawn from Kingston to Ottawa. I'm not sure sure if they have enough to sustain a decent riding season or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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