skidooboy
New member
my post copied for you viewing pleasure from ontarioconditions.com
well gang, as the trails were posted closed on thursday, we attempted our annual last ride of the season in northern ontario (on crown land) knowing all the risks and taking them instride with two new northern ontario rookies (kooky and zdooman). after speaking with a few personal contacts, (thanks guys you know who you are) we left for wawa late friday night for the marathon, drive, ride, sleep, ride, drive home 2 day last ride extravaganza. and we were not dissapointed with what we found.
leaving home in central lower mich in the rain and temps close to 70 we drove to wawa through rain, fog, speeding transports, snow flakes, and little sleep to arrive in jones' powersport parking lot at 330 am with temp at 32f (thanks for the parking lot time gord, i owe ya one) . due to the time we opted to catch a few zzzzz's in the lot and wait for the sleepy little town to open it's eyes and greet the day.
we ate breakfast at the motor inn, and let the temperatures warm up a bit to loosen the rained on hardpack loosen up to allow us to ride. this gave us time to stop out to the north end of wawa's trail 3 and 7 at the northern lights motel look at the trail out back. really didnt want to bug mo and john, as they are enjoying their last few days of freedom for the winter. the trail looked great out back, but we still needed the sun and some temps to ride. we ended up going to look at steephill dam rd, and the d7 at hwy17 close to lucville to kill time and let it warm up. they all looked ridable and passable, albiet some small amount of dirt showing here and there.
when we were that close to dub, we decided to stop in and check out the 100 mile loop. it looked great, the sun was out and the trail was loosening up fine. dropped the sleds on the trail, and rode all day there, a few dirt spots to go around, have seen it alot worse. total for the day, 2 bald eagles, 1 golden eagle, multiple great views, lots of laughs, and 100 more miles in the saddle for the year.
when returning back to the trailer, our very own welcoming committee, and your number one groomer in the northland, luc "the groomer guy" left us a nice note on the truck giving me his cell number. we had a brief conversation about the conditions, and said our thank you's and your welcomes. (your one of the the best, bro!) and we headed back to wawa for dinner. all in all a great day.
we ate dinner at north of 17 restaurant and then stayed at the parkway motel on kenny pope, and revman007 recomendation from their posts last week on here. it's like the owners took a page right out of the NL play book. the rooms are almost identicle albiet it smaller. it was nice, dont get me wrong but, it just wasnt like staying with our beloved mo and john. but we did get to see one of mo and john's transplated siameeze (sp)kitty's. she is gorgeous, and very friendly.
sunday am we were hoping to catch mo and john at home but the
truck was gone. so we helped ourself to the snow and the parking. LOL! we saw mo's gigi outside having fun. with sean and bruce with us as first time late spring riding partners, i told them to be very carefull out back due the water hazards and the ice bridges.
i had the helmet cam on, and was leading early, and i stopped to get a shot of the group riding by me. i couldnt re-get out front of the group before getting to the first bridge. and sean's mach z, couldnt stop in time, and the drop to the water was about 3 feet on our side, a little shallower on the other. the sled nosed over teh edge slowly, and he went over the bars softly and gracefully. skis in the water, tail end of the sled, was up on the snow bank. no one was hurt, and the sled was fine. always an adventure during spring riding! LOL!
after pic's and laughs, "it's your lie, tell it anyway you want!" we put up warning tape on both sides. cut the banks ramp style, so you could get in and out if need be, and arranged the pallets, so you can cross. we were just going to get the one sled over and then bring it back accross and load up and head home. but while we were finishing the ramps, lynne took the sled to look at the other bridges on request fromt he sled owner. she came back and said everything was fine. so we finished the ramp, took all the sleds across and continued our day.
we went out to trail 3 and the power line, but that huge water crossing we normally take pics on was flowing too big and too fast to cross (even for us). soooooooooo, back to the d7 riding out to see the water falls, past belanger rd and out to hwy17 (halfway point to dubreuilville trail) just to say we did it. taking a short trail break with snacks, we turned around and headed toward the trailers for the last 30 trail miles in ontario for the year for all of us. we detoured off d7 to the powder loop trail for not quite an hour, then completed the ride to the hotel.
in the time we left the trail and got back on, a set of, GET THIS, quad tracks were on the trail, they must have went by us while we were offtrail playing. when we re-crossed the broken ice bridge we "fixed", we saw
where the leader locked up the brakes at our flags warning of the bridge out. if we wouldnt have fixed that and flagged it, that quad and the rider would have had a completely different outcome i am sure. this is the biggest danger you encounter spring riding.
we loaded up the sleds at the hotel, and as we were pulling out, the 3 quadders pulled up. i talked to two of them, and told them what we did, and that their ride might have ended different if we hadnt gone
out there in front of them. they acted like oh' well!
makes me wonder. wouldnt do me any good to tell them they shouldnt be out there on the sled trails, as they could say the same thing about us. trails were closed we shouldnt have been there either.
i'll post pics asap so you can see the trails, the sights, new friends and the great time we had. we had another great spring ride, we rode about 170 miles in two days. closing the trails and telling all the riders not to come up was a neccesity not just a great idea for all the clubs. the majority would have been lost. as all the town trails and most trails you "know and can find" were mud. you have to "know" the area and expect to see rocks, mud, water, ended trails in certain areas. you cant ride town to town at all, and the dangers for the "average rider" is too great to risk to ride up there at this time.
i'm not saying you cant do it, i am just telling you for future refernce dont expect mid winter conditions. and only blame yourself for weather, trails and poor preperation, instead of taking it out on the clubs and business owners. it is ultimately your decision to ride or not. so do your homework and really know the area before venturing out up there this time of year. it is definately not for someone who has never been up there, or only been up there a limited amount. late spring is never without a good story, the outcome is up to you.
hope you enjoyed the last ride in ontario for us this year. i'll post pics when we can. we arrived home monday at 200am both lynne, i and sean had to work this am as well. as i type this my bride is still working. she must be dead tired. well worth the adventure to ride one more time. big thanks to all the club volunteers that allow us to do this. without you, this would be impossible. if we can do anything for the clubs, let us know we are glad to help. ski
here's the link for the pics. (not dial up friendly)
http://www.sno-xscape.com/ski/last_CA_blast/
here's smaller more dial up friendly i think.
http://www.sno-xscape.com/ski/mud_bog/
well gang, as the trails were posted closed on thursday, we attempted our annual last ride of the season in northern ontario (on crown land) knowing all the risks and taking them instride with two new northern ontario rookies (kooky and zdooman). after speaking with a few personal contacts, (thanks guys you know who you are) we left for wawa late friday night for the marathon, drive, ride, sleep, ride, drive home 2 day last ride extravaganza. and we were not dissapointed with what we found.
leaving home in central lower mich in the rain and temps close to 70 we drove to wawa through rain, fog, speeding transports, snow flakes, and little sleep to arrive in jones' powersport parking lot at 330 am with temp at 32f (thanks for the parking lot time gord, i owe ya one) . due to the time we opted to catch a few zzzzz's in the lot and wait for the sleepy little town to open it's eyes and greet the day.
we ate breakfast at the motor inn, and let the temperatures warm up a bit to loosen the rained on hardpack loosen up to allow us to ride. this gave us time to stop out to the north end of wawa's trail 3 and 7 at the northern lights motel look at the trail out back. really didnt want to bug mo and john, as they are enjoying their last few days of freedom for the winter. the trail looked great out back, but we still needed the sun and some temps to ride. we ended up going to look at steephill dam rd, and the d7 at hwy17 close to lucville to kill time and let it warm up. they all looked ridable and passable, albiet some small amount of dirt showing here and there.
when we were that close to dub, we decided to stop in and check out the 100 mile loop. it looked great, the sun was out and the trail was loosening up fine. dropped the sleds on the trail, and rode all day there, a few dirt spots to go around, have seen it alot worse. total for the day, 2 bald eagles, 1 golden eagle, multiple great views, lots of laughs, and 100 more miles in the saddle for the year.
when returning back to the trailer, our very own welcoming committee, and your number one groomer in the northland, luc "the groomer guy" left us a nice note on the truck giving me his cell number. we had a brief conversation about the conditions, and said our thank you's and your welcomes. (your one of the the best, bro!) and we headed back to wawa for dinner. all in all a great day.
we ate dinner at north of 17 restaurant and then stayed at the parkway motel on kenny pope, and revman007 recomendation from their posts last week on here. it's like the owners took a page right out of the NL play book. the rooms are almost identicle albiet it smaller. it was nice, dont get me wrong but, it just wasnt like staying with our beloved mo and john. but we did get to see one of mo and john's transplated siameeze (sp)kitty's. she is gorgeous, and very friendly.
sunday am we were hoping to catch mo and john at home but the
truck was gone. so we helped ourself to the snow and the parking. LOL! we saw mo's gigi outside having fun. with sean and bruce with us as first time late spring riding partners, i told them to be very carefull out back due the water hazards and the ice bridges.
i had the helmet cam on, and was leading early, and i stopped to get a shot of the group riding by me. i couldnt re-get out front of the group before getting to the first bridge. and sean's mach z, couldnt stop in time, and the drop to the water was about 3 feet on our side, a little shallower on the other. the sled nosed over teh edge slowly, and he went over the bars softly and gracefully. skis in the water, tail end of the sled, was up on the snow bank. no one was hurt, and the sled was fine. always an adventure during spring riding! LOL!
after pic's and laughs, "it's your lie, tell it anyway you want!" we put up warning tape on both sides. cut the banks ramp style, so you could get in and out if need be, and arranged the pallets, so you can cross. we were just going to get the one sled over and then bring it back accross and load up and head home. but while we were finishing the ramps, lynne took the sled to look at the other bridges on request fromt he sled owner. she came back and said everything was fine. so we finished the ramp, took all the sleds across and continued our day.
we went out to trail 3 and the power line, but that huge water crossing we normally take pics on was flowing too big and too fast to cross (even for us). soooooooooo, back to the d7 riding out to see the water falls, past belanger rd and out to hwy17 (halfway point to dubreuilville trail) just to say we did it. taking a short trail break with snacks, we turned around and headed toward the trailers for the last 30 trail miles in ontario for the year for all of us. we detoured off d7 to the powder loop trail for not quite an hour, then completed the ride to the hotel.
in the time we left the trail and got back on, a set of, GET THIS, quad tracks were on the trail, they must have went by us while we were offtrail playing. when we re-crossed the broken ice bridge we "fixed", we saw
where the leader locked up the brakes at our flags warning of the bridge out. if we wouldnt have fixed that and flagged it, that quad and the rider would have had a completely different outcome i am sure. this is the biggest danger you encounter spring riding.
we loaded up the sleds at the hotel, and as we were pulling out, the 3 quadders pulled up. i talked to two of them, and told them what we did, and that their ride might have ended different if we hadnt gone
out there in front of them. they acted like oh' well!
makes me wonder. wouldnt do me any good to tell them they shouldnt be out there on the sled trails, as they could say the same thing about us. trails were closed we shouldnt have been there either.
i'll post pics asap so you can see the trails, the sights, new friends and the great time we had. we had another great spring ride, we rode about 170 miles in two days. closing the trails and telling all the riders not to come up was a neccesity not just a great idea for all the clubs. the majority would have been lost. as all the town trails and most trails you "know and can find" were mud. you have to "know" the area and expect to see rocks, mud, water, ended trails in certain areas. you cant ride town to town at all, and the dangers for the "average rider" is too great to risk to ride up there at this time.
i'm not saying you cant do it, i am just telling you for future refernce dont expect mid winter conditions. and only blame yourself for weather, trails and poor preperation, instead of taking it out on the clubs and business owners. it is ultimately your decision to ride or not. so do your homework and really know the area before venturing out up there this time of year. it is definately not for someone who has never been up there, or only been up there a limited amount. late spring is never without a good story, the outcome is up to you.
hope you enjoyed the last ride in ontario for us this year. i'll post pics when we can. we arrived home monday at 200am both lynne, i and sean had to work this am as well. as i type this my bride is still working. she must be dead tired. well worth the adventure to ride one more time. big thanks to all the club volunteers that allow us to do this. without you, this would be impossible. if we can do anything for the clubs, let us know we are glad to help. ski
here's the link for the pics. (not dial up friendly)
http://www.sno-xscape.com/ski/last_CA_blast/
here's smaller more dial up friendly i think.
http://www.sno-xscape.com/ski/mud_bog/
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Sounds Great Eric,
we didn't get up there for the last ride this year as I was running out of sleds that would run. The trailer / mobile garage and a good knowledge of the back country roads are your best friends this time of year. Gotta have patience to keep looking for good snow as it is not always in the same place.
That one pic you look as weird as ever j/k
No pics of the lovely Lynne? She must have had the camera huh.
How's the Viper doing?
we didn't get up there for the last ride this year as I was running out of sleds that would run. The trailer / mobile garage and a good knowledge of the back country roads are your best friends this time of year. Gotta have patience to keep looking for good snow as it is not always in the same place.
That one pic you look as weird as ever j/k
No pics of the lovely Lynne? She must have had the camera huh.
How's the Viper doing?
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