Gaylord/Lewiston Trails

jrtjh

jrtjh

New member
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
Messages
9
Location
Joburg, MI
Just got back from running about 18 miles on 448 from where it splits from 404 over to Lewiston, back up and around through Vienna Corners. I thought the moguls at the Olympics looked tough. These things shook hell out of me and it's the worst I've seen the trails all year. I live about 500 yds from 448/404 split and I probably won't be back on it unless we get at least 6 in of snow to cover all the snirt and moguls. Now, where's my tylenol <sigh> :o|

John
 
Last edited:

Thats not that suprising......Gaylord and Lewiston usually have the worst conditions in the lower due to the population of people that ride that area, weekend rides are even worse than during the work week. You gotta head north or northwest to get decent trails but even still those can get beat up pretty bad too.
 
Yeah, That's why I waited till Wednesday (after snow on Monday and Tuesday) but it didn't help. The trails are beat to sh*# and aren't looking to get much better. Today it was in the mid 30's, ice on the roads has pretty much turned to slush, the trails where I crossed them on roads this afternoon are muddy. Unless we get some significant snow in the next week or so, looks like the snowmobile season is about ended for this year. Of course there's always a glimmer of hope, but then, it's getting time to start cleaning reels and charging boat batteries..... <G>

John
 
I did 170 plus miles yesterday on the Blue Bear/Cranberry and Grayling/Frederic loops, saw one groomer and the trails were nice (for this season) but dirty. I agree without any new snow it won't take much to destroy it.
 
So far we have gotten about 1-2 inches of new snow. All the trails around my house which is between Gaylord/Lewiston seem about like they were last week. According to Pete (at Sledheads) the trails around Fredrick and Northwest of there were better, but that was on Monday. With the 39* weather, we lost a lot of ground this week. The weatherman says "maybe a few inches, but it's going to take be "iffy" at best. BUT... according to VMax, the trails he ran were "nicer" than around here. My guess is, go for it, if you can get any riding in, it'll probably be pretty much the end of the season, so it looks like it's "now or never" <sigh>
 
Haul the sleds down here, we just got 6-10in of fresh stuff. I just wish my sleds were down here, Id get more miles down here than I got up there so far. Its been a strange season, 49 states have seen snow this year which is very very rare.
 
ROFLMAO. I know I know I know. My brother in law is up to his A** in snow and can't even get his 4X4 out of the garage because the snow is so deep. He's 250 miles SOUTH of me... We moved from Louisiana to Gaylord this past summer, they had more snow last week than we did, Dallas had more than we've had on the ground at any one time all year... Strange weather this year, hopefully next year will be better, and maybe this year we'll have a summer. July last year was 45* at Higgins Lake, Try skiing in that <sigh> BRRRRRRR Upside down seasons this year, but at least we're still able to get to town to buy food and beer <wink> ROFLMAO
 
vmax4rules said:
I did 170 plus miles yesterday on the Blue Bear/Cranberry and Grayling/Frederic loops, saw one groomer and the trails were nice (for this season) but dirty. I agree without any new snow it won't take much to destroy it.
Click to expand...
Damn rules why couldn't you have been there two weeks ago i was there also some trails were shot lots of dirt bad whoops seen tons of groomers tho,put on 158 miles.
 
jrtjh said:
ROFLMAO. I know I know I know. My brother in law is up to his A** in snow and can't even get his 4X4 out of the garage because the snow is so deep. He's 250 miles SOUTH of me... We moved from Louisiana to Gaylord this past summer, they had more snow last week than we did, Dallas had more than we've had on the ground at any one time all year... Strange weather this year, hopefully next year will be better, and maybe this year we'll have a summer. July last year was 45* at Higgins Lake, Try skiing in that <sigh> BRRRRRRR Upside down seasons this year, but at least we're still able to get to town to buy food and beer <wink> ROFLMAO
Click to expand...



Oh come on.......45deg isnt to bad for skiing...LOL...I caught myself tubing and wakeboarding in 50deg weather last year cause I got sick of sitting around.....I froze my *** off but still had alot of fun......BTW Ive been meaning to asking you what roads are you at in JoBurg???? My parents place is located on Douglas Lake at Old State Rd. and Melvindale Camp Rd. You know where that is?
 
Yeah, I know where that is, in fact, Douglas Lake Road is almost in my back yard, but up by M32 rather than by Old State Road. We're just off Dagon where it intersects with Bear Lake Road. 448 crosses Dagon right around the corner from our house. We just built this past summer. Some of my wife's relatives think we were "stoopid" to build in Michigan with this economy. My thought was, why not, can't be any worse than anywhere else is (or will be) in the next few years. Speaking of bad, the sun is out, it's about 32 in the back yard, the roof is dripping and we only got about 1/2 inch of new snow last night. All the trail reports around here are "poor" or "bad" and in Lewiston, they've lost all the trails in town. I guess it's time to ride the back roads and the 2-tracks, but it's gas cans to refuel, no way to get to the stations with this lack of snow. Predicting about 1-2 inches this week, so probably will be poor through the weekend at least.
 
Midweek riding is where it's at...

daman said:
Damn rules why couldn't you have been there two weeks ago i was there also some trails were shot lots of dirt bad whoops seen tons of groomers tho,put on 158 miles.
Click to expand...

If Mother Nature would have co-operated this season I probably would have,
I am sitting on 2 weeks vacation and have only used 3 days so far.
This is the worst season for quality snow/trails I have seen in the 17 years I have lived here.
 
vmax4rules said:
If Mother Nature would have co-operated this season I probably would have,
I am sitting on 2 weeks vacation and have only used 3 days so far.
This is the worst season for quality snow/trails I have seen in the 17 years I have lived here.
Click to expand...
I believe it very bad year,i haven road around here local once this season and that is strange.
 
Update..

jwiedmayer said:
What's this weekend looking like? Plan on being in lakes of the north on Friday morning. J
Click to expand...

I rode 132 miles yesterday on the Blue Bear and Cranberry trails.
50% of the trails were good 35% fair and 15% were poor, you could ride around most water/mud etc but as far as it goes for me the season is over unless Mother Nature keeps the temps low and sends us at least a foot of good snow (not fluffy LES)

If you know the off-trail areas you would be okay but without any fresh snow in what seems at least a month even those are hard packed and rough.

Just my .02
 
vmax4rules said:
I rode 132 miles yesterday on the Blue Bear and Cranberry trails.
50% of the trails were good 35% fair and 15% were poor,
Click to expand...
thanks for the update, we were thinking one more run up there but were not going that far for them crappy conditions.

lots of brown in the snow??
 
We went to Grand Rapids today on business. It looks like there is quite a bit of snow around the Lake City area. From there North toward Kalkaska it looks pretty good, then from Kalkaska north toward Mancelona, it's all dirt/mud. South of Lake City, it turns to mud with little snow again. So, if you're headed up this way for the weekend (assuming we don't get 6" + between now and Friday) My guess would be around Lake City or head on up to the UP. We're staying home this weekend, My wife has a "honey-do" list a mile long... <sigh>
 
we'll probably pull the plug on any more up North trips,the snow just isn't worth the wear and tear.

when i got back home my sled was all sand had to wash everything down re-grease all drive train bearings,it was a damn mess.
 
Yeah, I told my wife a couple of days ago that it's time to start cleaning the reels and charging the battery on the boat, I can throw a rock and hit the 448 trail from my back yard, but I'd be afraid to put my new machine on it and my wife won't let me use here 2-up knowing where I'd take it, so like you, unless we get a BUNCH of snow, the season is over. I just did the 500 mile oil and filter change on the Phazer, so unless I abuse it, it's pretty much set to summerize. Not worth it to take it out and run it in this crap, maybe if we got some snow??????? Otherwise, like you, mine are staying in the garage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top