Riding With Dan & Dylan - ridingwithdandylan

It was 80 degrees in Lake Geneva, WI today- site of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series http://www.isocracing.com/ . Dylan and Suzie went to the races- it was unbelievable how they managed to scrape enough snow off the ski hills to make a track to race on. Congratulations to Wisconsin's own Ross Martin for winning the race! NOW snowmobiling is officially over for the season here in Wisconsin.

It was 13 degees with a light flurry this morning at 7:00am as we headed out on our ride. We left the Pond via Bonita Creek and headed north to the Parkside BP on the 7N NST. The trail was freshly groomed and in good condition. We continued north into Paul Bunyan trails and the trail got even smoother. There was a short ungroomed section just north of Mulligan's, then we turned east into the woods.

 

The wooded trail was freshly groomed and in good condition. You could tell the trail was pretty beat up yesterday before it was groomed because it had a few holes here and there that the drag didn't fill in all the way. It was a sweet ride east all the way to the Iron Snowshoe "F" trail. The Iron Snowshoe groomer had only dragged his pan for the first few miles, and it was a little rough (but no doubt much better than before he groomed!). The trail was kind of chunky and choppy, but overall it was in fair condition as we made our way past Crooked Lake.

 

We turned onto Chute Pond's pipeline trail and headed south. This is a very tough trail to groom, but it was in overall good condition as we made our way to the turnoff for the Bag & Bra Shay Lake loop. This trail had not been groomed since Friday afternoon (there was Friday night's 2-3" of powder still on parts of the trail), but is had been lightly ridden so it was in good condition. This is one of our favorite "trails that go nowhere"- just a big loop off the pipeline. We made our way east, but got a little confused at a poorly marked detour around the cedar swamp. A few blazers and arrows would have made it easier to follow, but we made our way all the way back around to the pipeline. We headed north on a Friday groomed, lightly travelled trail and made our way back into Chute Pond trails. The wooded trail off the pipeline heading west was freshly groomed and in great shape, as was the Jack Pine Rd trail. Things got a bit rough west of Twin Pine- the groomer must have turned around instead of continuing on. The trail was a little rough but lightly travelled as we made our way back to Rhode's Jct to fuel up. We took theAnderson Lake- 2112 route home, coming back onto the lake On Bonita Creek.

 

We rode 73 miles today on some really nice trails. We saw only five other sleds on our three hour ride. Do I need to say more?

 

Let's hope we make it past "Rainy Wednesday" and "Sunny Thursday" so we can ride again next weekend. If I could, I'd be out on the trails right now. I hate it when work gets in the way of snowmobiling. Ride 'em while you can- the trails won't last long.

 

Be safe, be courteous, ride sober and stay on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

We woke up to a light snow flurry, 28 degrees and about 2-3" of fresh snow at the Pond. We met up with Dave & Mary, Scott & Dawn and Joe and left the Pond via Bonita Lane boat launch. We hit 2112, took a right and headed west to the 7N NST. The grade was really rough and didn't get any better as we made it to Parkside BP to top off. Rough trails continued into Lakewood's Paul Bunyan trails until we turned east just south of the Super Valu.

 

This wooded trail was freshly groomed, lightly travelled, and very scenic as we wound our way west towards Crooked Lake. We turned north at intersection 35 and again enjoyed freshly groomed trails as we headed towards Waubee Lake. These Paul Bunyan trails were in very good condition- flat, hard, and white and we enjoyed our ride north towards Townsend. We passed the airport and entered Red Arrow trails.

 

These trails were ok, but did not meet the high standards they set for themselves in Townsend. We cut over to the Shell and topped off again before heading onto the Wildwood Trail, leading us to a lunch stop at Barb's Valley Inn (with the snowmobile AND ATV on the roof). After a tasty lunch we headed west on a trail that was showing the signs of wear just after noon. We turned south on the Bob Kroll Memoril Trail, and that was in fair condition- pretty rough in many stretches. We turned into Langlade County's Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails and made our way west and north to the turnoff towards Lily.

 

We wanted to make a loop to Nine Mile Resort, but the trail we were on was so rough we turned back. It turned out that half the Nine Mile loop is closed because of water flooding the trail- anyone going there must go back out the same way or take the shortcut out to the Wolf River State Trail. We doubled back and took the trail towards Boulder Lake. These trails were in fair condition, which got better as we went south due to less traffic. We took a trail break at Boulder Lake Lodge to visit with Jack & Jerry. From Boulder Lake we took the 18W trail (in fair condition) to Four Corners, then took the trail past Pine Grove into the tunnel.

 

The tunnel was brutally bumpy and we thought we'd be in the clear when we hit 2112, but it was pretty rough as well as we headed east. We passed a CPSC groomer who was heading west, but it turns out he came off the connecting trail, so 2112 remained rough for the rest of the trip back to the Pond. We came back onto the lake at Bonita Lane, saying goodbye to Dave & Mary and Scott & Dawn. The Bonita Lane trail is actually in good shape and a nice option for lake access.

 

After a short break at the Man Zone, we picked up Suzie and headed back out. Suzie rode my ZR600 and I hopped on the Pantera and we left the lake the same way- Bonita Lane. We ran out to Pine Grove for dinner and feasted on Doty Double burgers- a specialty of the house. We met up with a lot of sledders at Pine Grove, including a whole bunch from Chute Pond. On the return trip to the Pond, the tunnel was already beat up even though the groomer had passed over it only about an hour ago. Joe and I continued down 2112 to the Doze Inn trail and stopped in for a visit with Larry & Della. We were pleased and surprised to find Tony back behind the bar at Doze again. After some smart talk with Larry and Tony, we made our way back across the Pond to call it a night.

 

We rode 119 miles today on a variety of trail conditions. We knew there would be lots of traffic to beat up the soft, wet snow and we were right. Trails were best in the morning, and grooming only helped a little for a very short time. It was a great bonus ride and we were happy to be riding on white snow. It's just too bad we didn't get a big snowfall like this in January. If things go like I think they should, we should be able to ride again next weekend- let's hope so.

 

Let's have fun, but be careful out there! See you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

We recovered our van and two sleds today and would like to thank Gary Kochenderfer for all of his help- last week and this week. Gary has been our sledding "Guardian Angel", and we truly appreciate all he has done for us.

 

We unloaded, unpacked, and hit the trails about 3:30 today. It was about 33 degrees and a misty, snowy mix was clinging to our face shields. We left the lake at Bonita Creek and took the NST to 2112 and made our way across Hwy 32. We had to cross Anderson Lake, which was very slushy, as was Bonita Creek- which also had some open water to dodge as we went by. We took the trail from the Junction to the pipeline, which was groomed and lightly travelled and in decent shape- fair to almost good condition (but damn good to be riding white trails on March 2nd!). Trails are soft and slippery, and very little traffic causes moguls and speed bumps in a hurry.

 

We turned south into Bag & Bra trails, and the pipeline was not groomed. It was decent, though, because of low traffic, and we busted our way south to the first turnoff east. This was also not groomed, and we dodged sagging tree limbs and downed branches for a few miles until we made a right turn and followed fresh groomer tracks for the next 5-6 miles. Even the freshly groomed trails were only "decent" because the wet snow made it so difficult for the groomers to lay down a smooth trail. We made a loop south, east, then west again to the pipeline. We took the pipeline north back to CPSC trails, and except for the idiot in a truck who rutted up the far south (ungroomed) section of the pipeline, it was an ok ride. This loop was 47 miles, and we figured it set the tone for what kind of trails we'd be looking at for the weekend.

 

We doubled back to Chute Pond the same way we came, and were amazed at the number of trucks pulling sled trailers going past on the Hwy 32. It was by far the most we've seen in years. We met up with Joe at our place, and after a bite to eat and replacing his skegs and slides, we saddled up and headed back out. We left the lake on the Bonita Lane boat ramp and headed down the curvy twisty trail to 2112. We took that west to the NST and had our kidneys punched as we headed north and stopped for Joe to fuel up at Parkside BP. We ran into all four of CPSC's groomers along the way, and they told us they were having big time trouble getting the trails to lay down smoothly with the high temperatures and the wet snow.

 

We continued north on the NST to Lakewood, where we turned into the woods just south of town. This trail was freshly groomed and in fair to almost good condition and we enjoyed a scenic ride to Crooked Lake. The Iron Snowshoe "F" trail leading into town was about the worst we rode, and we'd give it a "C-" grade. We cut across Crooked Lake, again finding a slushy adventure that kept our throttles pinned with excitement and anticipation. We stopped in for a visit with Tim & Jackie at Randall's Resort before heading back towards the Pond on the 18W trail though the woods.

 

The 18W had been groomed but the small amount of traffic had it pretty beat up, but it was an ok ride back to the Pond. We came back onto the lake at Everbreeze Resort, finishing up a 50 mile ride. Trails today were pretty much as I expected. They were soft, slippery, and any traffic whatsoever made wore them down very quickly. But it's March and we'll take what we can get- just like we did all season long. We rode 97 miles today, and tomorrow we'll look for some lightly ridden trails to enjoy the 2-3" of fresh snow that fell last night.

 

There are a lot of people here in the northwoods- here's a tip from our friend Ray in Silvercliff: Enter each turn as if there's a warden or a family of sledders approaching from the other direction- because there probably will be. We saw riders on sections of trail today that we almost never see any. Let's be courteous and careful out there. Stay on your side of the trail- don't drink and ride- use hand signals, and drive within the limits of the conditions, your machine, and your skills. RIDE SOBER, RIDE SAFE, RIDE FOR LIFE!

 

See you on the trails,

 

Dan & Dylan 

It was 29 degrees and overcast at 9:00 am. We decided to put yesterday's unpleasantries behind us and enjoy a ride from the Pond. We knew we might have some rough stuff to go through to get to the good trails, but we were willing to take the chance and go for it. Dylan rode the "bullpen" Puma, and I was on the "Beast" Pantera 800 triple with the 2 gallon gas can strapped on the back. Tim & Kurt came across the lake on their Polaris machines and we saddled up and headed out.

 

We left the Pond via Bonita Creek. It's starting to break up along shore and in the stump field, so we didn't slow down or stop as we cruised through and hopped up onto the 7S NST. There were immediately a few ugly gravel patches as we headed south over the Bonita bridge. Once past those, conditions improved as we turned west onto 2112 at Bonita Jct. This trail was flat, white and really nice for the most part- there were a few burned out spots along the way that we had to go around or through, but it was overall decent. We hit the tunnel and found some rough bumps and a few small bare spots, but we carefully navigated our way through and came out at Pine Grove Bar & Grill. So far trails were fair to good.

 

We crossed Hwy W and went into the woods and up and over the "mountain". This trail was very rough with numerous bare spots and we were thankful to get down the hill and on the edge of the road trail leading to the Big Y. Trails along this section were in good or better shape as we hung left at the Big Y and headed to Four Corners. We hung a left at 4-C on the 18W trail towards Boulder Lake. This trail was in pretty good shape overall except for a few sunburned spots and the low cedar swamp sections, which were rough and had bare spots. We got to the Langlade County line and entered the Boulder Lake Sno Goers trails.

 

As usual, these trails were white, flat, and for the most part freshly groomed (what wasn't freshly groomed was in great shape because of very low traffic) and we cruised along happily. Since Dylan's Puma topped out at 51 mph (downhill with the wind), we had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and trails, with a light snow falling throughout the morning. We stopped after several miles of good to very good trails and asked Tim & Kurt if it was worth the bad stretches of trail we rode to get to these great trails. They wholeheartedly agreed with us that it was worth it. We continued north and west towards Lily, piling on mile after mile of very good trails. Many were freshly groomed and pretty slippery underneath. We slipped and slided a few times, and I had a near miss at a turn. We made some adjustments and continued on to the Lily Sno Birds clubhouse.

 

We had a nice lunch and visit with the volunteers there- they are really great people who do a lot for their club and for our sport. And they serve up some good food, too. After lunch we doubled back through Lily and took the Wolf River State Trail north towards Pickerel. We had some confusion when turning west off the WRST- a 16W sign at the intersection would have helped us know for sure we were heading the right way. Trail conditions deteriorated to poor to fair- they were a little low on snow, bumpy and icy as we made our way over to the Shell station to gas up. We continued on the loop through Pickerel and skirted the south side of Pickerel Lake. We encountered a really worn down rough section of trail that we figured was the main way in to Schuh's Jump in a few weeks ago.

 

Conditions improved as we headed east, away from Pickerel. We got on a 100 Miler trail, then LMT3, which for the most part had plenty of snow. As usual, the LMT needed grooming- it was pretty rough in spots, earing it a "fair" rating. I know that if we had that much snow to work with in the Chute Pond area, it would be groomed regularly. I've used this expression before- it's a shame to waste such nice snow. We wound our way east and south through some fair trails and finally hit the Oconto County line. We continued east, then turned south on the Bob Kroll Memorial Trail.

 

This trail was freshly groomed, lightly ridden and in very nice shape as we wound our way down to the new road route John showed me the other day. Once we got to the other end of Saul Springs Rd, we stopped and waited for Dylan to catch up. Tim & Kurt were impressed with this bypass trail- it's a nice way around the hilly section which can be kind of rocky early and late in the season. We continued east and south to Animal's Bear Trail. The potato field and final north-south field were a little bare, but we managed to stay in a little snow to make it through. We stopped for a visit with Mike and planned our final route home. We agreed to check out the tornado zone trail south of Animal's.

 

The tornado zone trail was about 50-50 decent to rough and bare, but certainly not the worst trail section we've been on this week. We got through the bad stuff and conditions improved to good or better as we made our way back to Four Corners. We headed south, past the Big Y, up and over the mountain, back through the tunnel to 2112 to the NST and back onto the Pond at Bonita Creek.

 

We rode 112 miles today on trails that based on mileage were 90% good or better. The many miles of good or better trail greatly outnumbered the bad, and we feel it was a good tradeoff. The bad sections were pretty bad in some areas, but they were short sections of trail scattered throughout the day- many of the bad ones were within 15 miles of Chute Pond, and we knew that risk when we started out today. Overall we were pleased to be able to ride from the Pond- I'm not going to lie- we wore down some skegs and maybe a little slide today, but again-we knew that when we made plans to ride. Tim & Kurt were fun to ride with- we enjoyed our day on the trails with them.

 

It snowed only about an inch here last night. Our van and two sleds are in Laona getting repaired. Hopefully we get some snow this week, and we get our fleet back from Laona next Friday so we can do it all over again. If you ride, be careful- there's an icy base under a lot of the nicer trails.

 

Ride sober, ride safe, stay on the trails or stay home!

 

Dan & Dylan

Day two of our overnight trip. Our stay at Four Seasons Resort was very nice- check it out some time. The rooms are really nice, the place is very historic, and the people and service are very friendly. Snowmobile trails lead right to the resort (the 1 corridor trail goes right past), but there wasn't enough snow to ride to and from the resort. We decided to drop again in Dunbar and explore from there.

 

Dylan's sled wasn't running right in Dunbar so we took it to Gary Kochendorfer (our new best friend Cat mechanic) in Laona- found out he has a cracked exhaust manifold. Dropped the sled off to be fixed. Went back to the Pond. Dylan hopped on the bullpen Puma, and we headed west to check out the trails. Stopped at Pine Grove to snap a photo and my ZR600 wouldn't start back up. We tried everything. Dylan rode back (that's how he rode 18 miles and I only rode 9 today) and got the van & trailer, picked me and the ZR up and we headed to Laona again to see Gary.

 

This is where things got really interesting. The van blew a pulley and belt on the way there. We limped into Laona and dropped off the ZR600 with Gary- problem unknown. Gary said he wouldn't let us try to drive back with the van in that shape, so he took us to a mechanic friend of his to get the van fixed, then he drove us back to the Pond. We enjoyed some great conversation with Gary on the way back- he's a really nice guy with some great "up north" stories to tell. 

 

Total score today- Laona= 2 sleds and one van. Chute Pond= 2 backup sleds, one Toyota. Everything should be fixed by next weekend, so we'll drive up there and pick up our fleet on Friday. Gary- you saved the day for us. Thank you.

 

We're meeting up with Tim in the morning (I know Keith also wants to go, but he probably won't be able to get off work) to make a run west and north from the Pond. We plan to swing up to Lily and Pickerel and back. Dylan will be on the Puma and I'll be on the Beast- the Pantera 800 triple. Unless we get some more snow from one of these predicted storms, this could be our last ride from the Pond this season. Things are getting pretty thin around here. We'll see how it goes and let you know.

 

Ride safe, ride sober, stay on the trails or stay home!

 

Dan & Dylan

Dylan got back from his sledding trip in the mountains of Idaho last night, and he got up to the Pond this morning. It was 30 degrees and overcast as we loaded up his sled along with Sablu's on the trailer. We were stopping at Gary Kochendorfer's in Laona to drop off Sablu's sled and to pick up my ZR600. All systems were "go"- my stator was replaced and everything was working well. We headed east on Hwy 8 and headed for the Park & Ride in Dunbar. It took a few passes through that major metropolis before we found the very convenient parking lot right along the 16 corridor trail.

 

We unloaded and headed on 16E towards Goodman- we needed to get some lunch. After some confusing signage and a few "go-backs", we stopped for lunch at a nice diner, which was attached to a BP station on Hwy 8. After lunch we were determined to head west to Armstrong Creek. We found several "trail closed" signs, which were our problem in the first place. We decided to ditch along Hwy 8 and found out it was the trail we were looking for in the first place. An arrow or blazer would have made finding this trail much easier- whatever! We made our way to Armstrong Creek on a very bumpy trail alongside Hwy 8. A groomer would have made a huge difference- it appeared this trail hadn't been groomed in weeks.

 

Once in Armstrong Creek, we topped off at the Shell station, crossed Hwy 8 and headed north on the 100 Miler. The trail was freshly groomed and in pretty nice shape. It was icy in some spots and very thin to bare in others, but it improved as we made our way away from town. Things turned really good as we headed north, then west on the 100 Miler towards Newald. The trail was freshly groomed, smooth and fast as we made our way west to the NST. We turned north and again the trail was excellent with the exception of a few troublesome gravelly stretches along the way.

 

We turned east on the F4 trail. There was a lot of snow on this trail, but it had not been groomed since the weekend, and it was a little rough and bumpy. Things turned worse as we neared Fence- our planned fuel stop. We ran through some bare stretches and some really rough trail along the way- again- a groomer would have made a world of difference on many of those rough areas. Question- if a club's trails get beat up over the weekend, why wait so long to fix them up? It was a shame that all that snow went to waste. As we neared town, we turned onto the F8 and things smoothed out a little, but now the problem was all trails were "edge of the road" trails, and between the sun and the Town plow guys, there wasn't much "edge of the road" trail left for us.

 

We scratched our way through Fence, stopped to top off at the Fence Post- a really unique combination of gas station (one old-school pump out front- almost out in the road!), C-Store, bar, and pool hall. Once through town, we got back on the 100 Miler, which was groomed fresh for us and in really nice shape. We took the 100 Miler back down to Armstrong Creek and headed south from there. Our intention was to go south, then pick up the 16E trail back to Dunbar.

 

We rode some road edges, bare stretches, then some really awesome 100 Miler trails for way more miles than the map showed for the 16E turnoff. We kept going until finally we saw a trail sign that said 7S. I've never been so confused on a trail as I was at that moment. We went down the 7S trail a ways, but when it quickly turned from bad to worse, we turned around. We doubled back on the trail we came south on- there were miles of great trails sprinkled with a dash of bare road and some muddly south facing rocky hills along the way. (I still don't know where we were or how we got to the 7S trail- it seems almost impossible)

 

We made our way back to 16E near Goodman, and got back to the Park & Ride in Dunbar. My sled acted up during the day- sputtering and coughing for a few minutes. We changed plugs and things cleared up just fine. When we got back to Dunbar, Dylan told me his sled wasn't running right, either. Sounds like a fuel or ignition problem. We'll check it out tomorrow. We plan to ride a different area around here tomorrow, then head back to the Pond tomorrow night.

 

We rode 137 miles today, starting at about noon and ending about 6:30pm. We rode a lot of different trails of all types, grooming status, and rideability. I would estimate 70% good to very good or better, 30% poor to very poor. Dylan went 60-40. Overall it was a fun exploration adventure and we'll do it again tomorrow. Tonight we're at the Four Seasons Resort on Miscano Island in Pembine. There is a snowmobile trail that comes across the old railroad brige onto the island, but the trails looked pretty rough coming in. Regardless, it's a great place to stay- check it out http://www.thefourseasonsclub.com/. It's late in the riding season- time to ride 'em or summerize 'em- you choose!

 

Ride sober, ride safe- stay on the trails or stay home!

 

Dan & Dylan

I'm a big fan of Red Arrrow Townsend Snowmobile ATV Club and the great job they do on their trails- this should be no surprise if you've read any of my stuff before. So when I got a chance to join Club President John, groomer drivers Ron & Dale, and a "three generation riding team" of Jim, Brian, and Sean on a ride today, I dropped everything and headed north.  Since my ZR600 is in the shop, I trailered up the Pantera, strapped an extra 2 gallon gas can on the back and met John at his house on the Townsend Flowage.

 

It was about 29 degrees and starting to snow as we cut across the flowage, crossed Hwy 32 and scratched a little bit until the NST got a little kinder to our skegs- just a little ways north. We turned east and took the "big Carter loop", up and over the Wildwood Trail. This trail was freshly groomed, very white, and in really nice shape. This was Sean's first time riding, so we took our time and let him get used to the Yamaha he was riding. He did a really great job all day long, and told us he enjoyed his first time out on the trails. When we got back to the Nicolet State Trail, we turned north and headed into Forest County.

 

The 100 Miler section of the NST was nicely groomed for the short time we were on it. We turned west on the LMT2, crossed Hwy 32 and wound our way west. The trail had plenty of snow, but had not been groomed for a while, so it was a little rough but it was nice to be on white snow. We took the LMT2 to the LMT4, which was about the same- in need of some grooming. We made our way to Ada Lake Rd and had smooth riding on the 9/16 trail towards Lily. Just short of Lily, we turned south at intersection 96 and headed east (this was a favorite trail of ours earlier this season) on a really nicely groomed trail. 

 

We made our way down to 9 Mile Resort, which had been our planned lunch stop- but it was closed. The trails continued to be really nice as we continued the loop and made our way east and then south towards Hwy 64. We turned around at the fish hatchery and doubled back north, then east towards Oconto County. John showed us a new route he just opened up on Saul Springs Rd and we took that trail south and east to the potato fields just north of Aninmal's. We turned around at the potato field (but it looked to be a decent trail if we would have wanted to get to Animal's) and doubled back. We made our way to the Bob Kroll Memorial Trail and headed north.

 

The Bob Kroll was in really good shape and a very smooth ride all the way up to the turnoff east towards Townsend. We made our way through what I've always found to be a maze of trails, some on roads, some alongside the roads, as we worked our way back east to Sunset Resort on Resevoir Pond. We had a really nice lunch there, and had some good conversation- getting to know each other a little better.

 

The ride from Resevoir Pond to Townsend Flowage was a pretty short one, ending up back at John's house with a really nice 75 mile ride completed. It snowed about 2-3" while we were riding today, and John, Ron, and Dale were making plans to get out grooming tonight. They were anxious to pack the snow down to help preserve it with the warm temperatures.

 

I'm glad I took the extra gas along today- the Beast got only 6.6 mpg. I used up that extra two gallons and was pretty empty when we got back. Tomorrow I pick up the ZR600 in Laona on our way to the Dunbar/Goodman/ Florence County areas for an overnight trip.

 

I had a great ride today with the Red Arrow guys on trails that were 90% good or better, with a considerable amount of very good to excellent trails. We saw zero other sleds out on the trails today- you gotta love mid-week riding! I appreciate the invite, and look forward to riding with them again some time.

 

Ride sober, ride safe- stay on the trails or stay home!

 

Dan & Dylan 

I took a winter week of vacation to go snowmobiling, so I'm going to go snowmobiling, dammit! Dylan's in Idaho, coming back tomorrow night. I've been working on a few vital Man Zone projects here at the Pond, and we're heading north when Dylan gets here Wednesday.

 

In the meantime, while waiting for the stain on my new walnut bar table to dry, I took a spin around the Pond today. It was 12 degrees and sunny this morning, so things were hard, but there was still enough loose snow for lubrication. I left the Pond via Bonita Creek (since the Town plow guy plowed my super sweet path off the edge of the road!) and it was bare and muddy- not a good start. Things improved as I headed north on the Nicolet State Trail (NST- the railroad grade). The trail was flat, white and smooth as I cruised north past the Spur of the Moment ranch. At Kingston Rd there was a pretty nasty bare stretch, and these multiplied as I headed north. I made it about halfway to Mountain when I couldn't dodge the cancerous gravel patches any longer. I turned around at the road to Jeff & Jean's place and headed back.

 

When I got back near Chute Pond, I took the small trail that connects the NST to 2112. Big mistake. Dylan hates this trail, and I could hear him saying (as loudly as if he was actually here) what a crappy trail this is and why didn't we just go down another mile and then turn onto 2112, blah, blah, blah...he was right again, of course. The trail was 3/4 bare and rocky and I was grateful to get down to 2112- my slides were screaming!

 

I turned west on 2112 and was surprised at how nice the trail was for the most part. There were a few burned out spots to drive around, and a little scratching, but it was mostly white and smooth as I made my way out to the tunnel turn-off. Instead of going down the tunnel, I stayed on 2112, which is an unplowed road that dead ends at Hwy W. There were a few vehicle tracks on the road, but there was lots of snow and it was a fun several mile ride to Hwy W and back. I then turned west into the tunnel and made my way out to Pine Grove. The tunnel was rough but mostly snow covered and really not that bad- I was riding my Pantera, which rides exceptionally well over rough trails.

 

I heard from Margi yesterday that the normally rough trails north of Hwy W past Pine Grove were really bad this weekend, so I turned around and headed back the way I came. It's nice to know that there's enough snow and decent enough trails to ride out to Pine Grove and back. Maybe Friday we'll head out there for dinner.

 

When I got back to Bonita Junction, I turned south on the NST. I didn't get much more than a mile down the trail when the gravel monster scared me and made me turn back around. I headed back to the Pond via Bonita Creek, completing a "pretty nice- all things considered" 30 mile ride. I'm hoping to get together with John from Red Arrow Townsend tomorrow- I would trailer up there- and hopefully join him on a tour north and west of Townsend. Weatherman is calling for a little snow tonight- let's hope it's more than just a little.

 

Ride sober, ride safe, and stay on the trails!

 

Dan & Dylan

After breakfast this morning it was 14 degrees and sunny as I headed out to check out the trails east of Hwy 32 near Chute Pond. I left the lake at Kingston Rd and got on the 18E trail. There was plenty of snow in the woods with only a few sunny bare spots as I headed east towards Hwy 32. The trail was panned but not cut on Friday, so it wasn't the smoothest ride, but it was decent. These trails around Chute Pond still remind me of "early season" conditions- not enough snow to fill in the ruts and grooves (poor to fair condition)- but the "road trails" are pretty nice (good condition). The saving grace for these trails is that not very many people are riding them- heavy traffic would trash these trails in less than a day.

 

I crossed Hwy 32 and made my way past the Mountain Industrial Park and Town office. When I got to the old Bowman air strip, it was pretty bare but still rideable. When I got into the woods, the hilly, windy (curvy windy- not wind blown) trail was very rough until I got to Lower Dam Rd. This was a really nice ride into the woods until it got curvy and hilly again- ruts and grooves made it slow and rough going for a while. When I crossed Old 64, things smoothed out, since the trail is used for ATV's the rest of the year, so it is a smoother base.

 

When I got to the intersection behind the Junction, I turned east towards the pipeline. I was the 4th sled to ride this trail since it was groomed on Friday. There was plenty of snow, and the trail was in fair to good condition as I made my way to Jack Pine Rd, which was really good. I took the turnoff to the pipeline south, and this trail was also nice- plenty of snow and lightly ridden. 

 

I turned south into the Bagley Brazeau Joyrider trails. Once I crossed Hwy 64, the wheels fell off the bus. The trail was hard as a rock, extremely rough, and very little snow. I went a little ways, saw no improvement, so I turned around and headed back. Once I got back to Jack Pine, I turned north and made the first and only tracks on a freshly groomed trail. The ride was very good for several miles, and I made a turn east towards the pipeline. Once on the pipeline heading north, conditions deteriorated quickly to extremely poor. I was riding slowly and carefully along, and decided to see if things would get better towards Crooked Lake- they did not. After a bruising ride (very poor condition), I got on the Iron Snowshoe's F trail and made my way into Crooked Lake. I scratched through town and headed west on the 18W trail.

 

This trail had plenty of snow for the most part and was lightly ridden, but it was in pretty rough shape. Lots of ruts and grooves and dips and bumps made for a slow, painful ride (poor condition) back towards Chute Pond. I followed the 18W trail back the same way I came off the Pond, going back onto the lake at the Kingston bridge.

 

Trail conditions today ran the full range of conditions from really bad to really good. I rode 52 miles, and I would go out again if I didn't have to pack up and head for home. My hand warmers and tachometer took a crap today, so I'll have to check them out next weekend. Our season is nearing it's end- let's ride 'em while we can!

 

Ride sober, ride safe- see you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

It was -7 degrees at 7:00 am this morning. Dylan & I headed over to Chute Pond County Park to set up the sound system for the drag races. We finally located all of the missing parts and got the wires run, hooked up to the amp, and the speakers positioned. After breakfast we found that the street side wear bar on the ZR600 was in really bad shape- luckily we had a spare on hand and replaced it. We headed back over to the races- Dylan decided to stay and watch the races, and our friend Joe wanted to go riding after his kids raced in the Kitty Kat division.

 

After 22 spin wheel raffles and a few brats for lunch, we left the Pond via the Doze Inn trail, and headed south to 2112. The Doze trail was rough but mostly snow covered, and the eastern section of 2112 had plenty of snow along the edge of the road, even though it wasn't very smooth. We headed west on 2112 from Bonita Junction, and the trail was mostly good, with a few gravelly areas. Joe was having problems with overheating and had to shut down a few times on 2112. There was plenty of loose snow- we didn't know why he was having a problem. The trail turned rough and bumpy with pretty many bare spots as we went through the tunnel towards Pine Grove. The trail north of Hwy W was also a rough ride until we got over the "mountain" and back on smoother trails towards the Big Y. We hung to the left and from Four Corners we headed towards Animal's Bear Trail. The trail was mostly good except for the tornado zone, which was really rough with lots of bare spots.

 

We passed Animal's and turned north onto Red Arrow Townsend trails. After getting though the storage unit parking lot and two farm fields, we were into the woods and on a really nice trail- the Bob Kroll Memorial trail. The trail was not groomed but in fair to very good condition all the way to the end, where we turned east towards Barb's Valley Inn. This trail was in really nice shape, as was the Wildwood Trail on the east side of Hwy 32. We made our way back to the Nicolet State Trail and headed south. The NST ranged fom very poor (bare and gravelly stretches) to very good as we made out way back to Chute Pond. The NST is rideable (barely), but not very nice. We found Joe's snow flap was broken and hanging crooked- that may be the reason for his overheating problem- let's hope so.

 

Joe and I agreed that it was great to be riding (68 miles today), but we still need more snow- there's just barely enough to ride on right now. You will ride through some pretty ugly stretches at times to get to the nice ones- the good trail outnumbers the bad by at least 4 or 5 to one. For me, it's worth it. If it's not ok for you, then this isn't the place you should be riding. Let's hope we get some more snow soon so we can keep on riding in this area. If it doesn't snow, I'll probably still ride again next weekend- you never know...

 

Ride sober, ride safe. Stay on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

We got a surprise 4" of fresh snow here at Chute Pond last night. Dylan & Suzie rode the Pantera, and I took the ZR600. We went off the lake at Doze Inn, down 2112, then up the NST north. CPSC groomers were out, and all trails were panned today. We rode the NST (railroad grade) from Chute Pond up to just short of Townsend. Paul Bunyan and Red Arrow NST were also freshly groomed. Dylan lost a wear bar on the Pantera, so we had to turn back. Trails were overall in fair to good condition. There's a very icy base, and some gravelly areas, but overall it was a nice ride- too bad we had to turn back. We rode 40 miles today- maybe we'll get back out there again tomorrow.

It's Dylan's 23rd birthday today. We're celebrating it by riding in the 2nd Annual Brent Rosner Memorial snowmobile ride. We picked up our poker run cards last week, so we got a good start this morning. It was 15 degrees and clear at 7:00 am, and warmed up to 25 and sunny by about 10:00 when we left on our ride. We scooted down the edge of West Shore Dr and hit the 7S NST (railroad grade). It was groomed, flat, and very hard with little loose snow for lubrication as we cruised down to Rhode's Oasis for gas. We headed back north to AA Bar in Breed, but they were closed.

 

The girls were doing the poker run by car (stopping first at the purse sale at Gigi's, or course!), so we called them and told them to meet us at Schoolhouse Bar in Mountain. The trail to Mountain was in fair to good condition. We stopped, got our stamps, and were off again- heading north. Our next stop was Firelite in Lakewood. Paul Bunyan groomers had groomed the NST from Halfway Bar to Lakewood last night, pulling in lots of snow to cover the many bare spots we saw yesterday from the car. This trail was also in fair to good condition, with only one ugly bare spot to go around along the way.

 

After getting stamped by Jenni at Firelite, we headed south again to Halfway Bar. We had some drinks and snacks there, got our stamp, and headed south towards Chute Pond. The sun was hot and temperatures were nearing 40 degrees and we noticed the trails beginning to deteriorate as we made our way onto Chute Pond to Doze Inn. We had a guessing game with Della to guess her middle name (no, I won't tell what it is!), got our stamps and headed south again. The NST south to Breed was still ok, but the small brown spots from this morning were now big brown streaks, and the trails were pretty soft- as was to be expected.

 

We had a chat with Mitch at AA Bar, got our stamps, and headed over to Water's Edge on Anderson Lake to check in ann get out poker hands. Most of us got crappy cards, but the Birthday Boy got a full house. We bought 50/50 and bucket raffle tickets, made a few silent auction bids, and came home to re-group before heading back over for the party- the action starts about 5:00.

 

We rode 60 miles today, and we felt very lucky to be able to get out on the trails at all. Most trails were fair to good, we only burned a little slide this morning, and we all enjoyed the day on the trails together. It looks like we most likely won't be riding here at Chute Pond again until we get more snow. Let's hope Dylan's full house wins him some money tonight, and let's hope we get some much needed snow here at the Pond.

 

Dan & Dylan

We left Chute Pond via Bonita Creek and headed south on the NST (railroad grade 7S). We turned west onto 2112 and found crisp, flat trails as we headed west. It was 25 degrees and clear at 10:00 this morning as we made our way west into the tunnel. The tunnel was rutty, choppy, thin and hard as we banged and clawed our way out past Pine Grove. The trail was still very rough once we crossed Hwy W and made our way into the woods again. Conditions improved somewhat as we neared the Big Y and stayed to the left towards Four Corners. We followed the 18W trail towards Boulder Lake. This trail was thin but acceptable in most areas as we worked our way towards the county line.

 

Once we crossed over into the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trail in Langlade County, conditions improved. Most trails were in fair to good or better shape as we headed north and west. There were a few rough spots along the way, but the good far outnumbered the bad as we made our way towards Lily. We cut across the two bridges and stopped for a bowl of chili at the Lily Sno-Birds' clubhouse. There were several groups of MS Snow Tour riders having lunch there (courtesy of the Lily Sno-Birds), so we did our best to stay out of their way.

 

After lunch we headed north on the Wolf River State trail, turning west just short of Crandon. The grade was in decent shape with the exception of quite a few rocks on top of the snow. We stopped for a break at the old Lily River Campground, which now has a frog in it's name. From there we headed west to Pickerel, skirting along the edges of the lakes, staying on dry ground. We got gas at the BP in Pickerel and took the WRST south, then the 16E trail back east.  The grade was showing signs of a busy day of riders- bumpy, rutted, rough and rocky as we headed south. We went past Lily and made our way on the 9/16 trail towards Townsend.

 

We left the Lily Sno-Birds trails and were riding on a pretty brown and rough 100 Miler for a while until we hit the Oconto County line. Red Arrow Townsend took over from there, and conditions improved as we headed east to the NST. We went south on the grade, made a turn east into the woods and made a big loop back north and west on the Wildwood trail. This trail was in very good condition, as was the trail heading west past Barb's Valley Inn. We turned south onto the Bob Kroll Memorial trail and enjoyed a great, smooth ride south to Animal's Bear Trail. We stopped for a break at Animal's before continuing south.

 

We crossed over back into Chute Pond trails, entering the tornado zone. This trail was better than we thought it would be, which was a pleasant surprise. We made our way back to Four Corners and headed south to Pine Grove. We met up with Jeff & Jean there for dinner. We enjoyed several variations of Sally's fish frys and Rocky's jokes and had a really good time before heading home on the tunnel trail to 2112. The tunnel trail was no better and no worse than it was in the morning, which in a nutshell means bumpy and rutty. 2112 was in overall good shape and it was a nice finish to our ride. We came back onto the Pond at Bonita Creek, completing a 136 mile ride today.

 

It's supposed to snow a few inches here tonight. That would be a welcome addition to our thin trails here at the Pond. Snow or not, I sure hope the groomers all get out tonight and get the trails ready for us tomorrow. The MS riders are having lunch tomorrow at the Tombstone-Pickerel clubhouse, so that area will see heavy traffic again.

 

We're not sure of our plans- we'll decide in the morning. Let's all hope for that snow!

 

See you on the trails.

 

Dan

It was a cold one last night here at the Pond. It was minus 8 degrees as we headed out this morning. We trailered up to Animal's again, this time parking in the storage unit lot to avoid a few hundred yards of pavement scratching. We crossed the nasty bare fields, and in a few minutes we were back on the awesome Townsend Red Arrow wooded trails.

 

Dylan was anxious about having enough snow for the MS Snow Tour next weekend up in Carter, so we headed up the Bob Kroll Memorial Trail towards Townsend. This trail was freshly groomed overnight and in overall good condition- as usual for Red Arrow trails. We turned east at the end of the Kroll and took a perfectly groomed trail towards Barb's Valley Inn (with the snowmobile on the roof). We crossed Hwy 32 and headed north on the Nicolet State Trail (NST) towards Wabeno.

 

We could immediately tell when we crossed over from Red Arrow trails onto the 100 Miler. Trails went from "good to very good" down to "fair to good" at the County Line. We made our way north to Wabeno on the NST, which was a little soft, a little bumpy, and a little rocky. Since we only planned a half day ride, we turned south on LMT 4 out of Wabeno. This trail went from "kind of bad" to "total disaster" as we made our way south and west.

 

Now you get Dan's take on the LMT: the trail was rough, rutted, and totally out of touch with any groomer for quite some time. We needed to get to the 9/16 trail towards Lily, but the next intersection was poorly marked so we made a wrong turn. We checked the map, but the big fat black circles with the intersection numbers covered up the actual intersection on the map. We then had to back-track on the crappy trail to turn onto the next crappy trail to eventually get to the 9/16. What's up with the LMT? When you go to their website trail and grooming report, it's a blank page. When you email them off their website, it goes nowhere and gets returned to you. When you ride their trails, they're ungroomed and poorly marked. Very disappointing, and frankly- unacceptable. End of Dan's take on the LMT.

 

We got on the 9/16 trail and headed towards Lily. This trail was mostly in good to very good condition, with the exception of a short stretch of re-routed trail when nearing town. There really was no re-route, so we ditched it for a 1/2 mile until we got back on track. We stopped back in at the Lily Sno-Birds clubhouse and had some chili for lunch. The people working (actually all volunteering) there are all really nice, friendly people. They do an amazing job running the bar/restaurant/clubhouse. We had a nice visit over lunch, then headed back out on the trails.

 

We got out of Lily and headed south on what was arguably the nicest trail of the day. The Lily Sno-Bird trail was groomed before the last snowfall, but it was wide and smooth and very lightly travelled. There were at most 20 sled tracks on this trail (and 8 of them were ours) that took us back towards the Oconto County line. This was one fine trail, and a really nice ride. We got back onto Red Arrow trails, which were in good or better condition, and made our way back to trailer up.

 

We rode 75 miles today on some really nice trails, with just the one exception. Dylan will be based out of Carter for the MS Snow Tour next weekend, with lunch stops in Lily and Pickerel on his itinerary. He was happy to see that the trails were in overall fair to very good condition, in spite of the low snow levels in this entire area. We had a great day on the trails, and it's nice to be on the sleds again. We're coming back up on Thursday- check in for the MS ride starts at 3:00 pm. We know Dylan will be busy- I'll be freelance riding for the rest of the weekend. Wanna go along?

 

Ride safe, ride sober, and stay on the trails. See you out there.

 

Dan & Dylan

We left a bitterly cold Milwaukee area today, dodging a pretty good snowstorm on our way out of town. When we got up to the Pond, we had about an inch of fresh snow, and Chute Pond trails were still closed. We trailered up and dropped at Animal's Bear Trail on Hwy 64 & Hwy T. The closed Chute Pond trails are south of Animal's, and Red Arrow Townsend trails are to the north. We scratched out of the parking lot, through the storage unit lot across the highway, and found very little snow at all as we headed north in a field along Hwy T. We turned west and we really started to question our choice of trails as we rode along through a field that was wind blown with hardly any snow at all on the trail.

 

Things improved immediately as we got into the wooded area and continued to head north and west. Trails were freshly groomed, flat, white, and for the most part very smooth. We encountered a few areas that were rutted, occasional brown spots, and an icy area or two along the way, but overall the trails were in fair to very good condition in spite of the fact that there was not a whole lot of snow there at all.

 

We headed west into Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails, which were also in really nice shape. Hilly areas were the only rough spots along the way, but overall these trails were in fair to good condition. Snow cover increased as we headed northwest into the Lily Snow Birds trails. These trails were in good or better condition as we headed into Lily, and stopped for a break at the Lily Snow Birds' clubhouse.

 

After a short stop, we continued our loop and headed east and north on the 9/16 trail towards Townsend. There was a pretty long stretch of logging affected trail, but the fresh snow gave us a decent ride through that area. We had a few stretches of rough trail on the 100 Miler, but condtions improved as we hit the Oconto County line and Red Arrow's trails. The trails were in good to very good condition as we headed east, then turned south onto the Bob Kroll Memorial trail. This trail had a few icy and rough spots, but overall it was in good condition as we wound our way back down to Animal's Bear Trail.

 

We stopped in and gave a trail report to Mike and several other interested parties at Animal's. We rode 55 miles on our loop today, and trails were in surprisingly good condition. It's hard to believe that in mid-January we still have "early season" conditions- thin snow, exposed rocks, icy areas, etc., but we do. In spite of these drawbacks, the trails are in very rideable, fair to very good condition. We were very impressed with the job the groomers have done with very little snow.

 

We only have a 10 week season at most here in northern Wisconsin. It's almost half over- time to get out and ride! See you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

Since there was no new snow here at Chute Pond from that GIANORMOUS storm everyone made such a big deal about, we decided to trailer up to Townsend. John Brantmeier, Red Arrow Townsend President, posted on the trail report fair conditions on wooded trails, and good to very good on the Nicolet State Trail (NST) and unplowed road trails. This is exactly what we found. We dropped at Townsend Shell and headed north on the 7N corridor NST- this was thin but good enough to ride. We made the first right turn off the grade and the trail was a little rutty in places, but mostly white and reasonably flat. Once we hit the unplowed road section, trails turned really nice as we headed north and onto the Wildwood Trail. This is one of my favorite trails- up and over "the mountain", and back to the NST. We hung a right and headed into Forest County. You can immediately tell when you leave the Red Arrow system- the grooming quality drops noticably. The NST was still in good shape with plenty of loose snow for lubrication and cooling as we headed north through Carter and into Wabeno. As we entered Wabeno the trail turned kind of scratchy in some places, and we decided to stop and talk about our plans. We had a cold one at Pichotta's and decided to head back on the same trails we came up on. We're both easing our sleds back into service after engine rebuilds, so we took a nice easy ride back to Townsend. We rode 34 miles today on our Season Opener, and the trails were just as advertised- fair to very good. We saw some sled traffic out there during our ride from 4:30-6:30 pm, but way more sleds heading north in trailers on the road. I hope they kept going north- trails further north made some big gains in snowcover and quality with the Thursday snowstorm. These trails here won't take a lot of riders before they break down and become unrideable. There's just not that much snow- we need lots more, including some down in the Chute Pond area. Let's hope for the best!

 

Comments and questions always welcome. Ride safe- stay on the trails. RIDE SOBER!

Dan & Dylan

Press Release from the Rusk County Sheriff's Office:

On 12/26/11, at about 2:15pm, the Rusk County Sheriff's Department received a report of a snowmobiler in the water on the Flambeau River about 5 miles southwest of Ladysmith, in the Town of Thornapple.  Family members were able to pull the subject from the water and brought him to a location on the ice where emergency personnel began CPR.   The subject was transported via snowmobile and trailer to a waiting ambulance, and then transported to Rusk County Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The victim was Christopher Stanger, 26 of Somerset WI (and formerly from the Ladysmith area).

Initial information indicates that Stanger was operating his snowmobile on the river, and attempted to drive over an area of open water, and while doing so, he and the snowmobile went into the water.

The Rusk County Sheriff's Office, Bruce Fire Department, Rusk County EMS, Rusk County First Responders, Rusk County Coroner, Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin DNR, Rusk County Sheriff's Department Chaplains, and Ladysmith Police Department responded to the scene and/or assisted with the investigation, that is continuing.

Here is an interesting article on the economic impact of snowmobiling http://www.snowest.com/snowmobile-news/display.cfm?ID=3225 (click to open the journal entry to follow this link)

We had 26 people come out on Saturday, November 5th to help brush our 15 miles of trails that we adopt with Mountain Springs Motel and Campground. After the work was done, we gathered at the Man Zone for a potluck cookout and bonfire (and a few cold ones!). Thanks to everyone who helped out. Our section of trails are now ready for snow, so bring it on!

We found out from local DNR Warden Joe Paul that riding ditches is in no way connected to snowmobile trail riding. When local trails close, it is legal to ride the ditches- just follow the rules outlined in the DNR snowmobile rule book.

Dylan ditched from the Junction to Pound and back on Friday, 3/25, and said it was a really fun ride. We're hoping the weather cooperates and maybe we can ditch again next weekend.... 

The only trail system left open in our area as of today is Red Arrow Townsend. They are reporting the Nicolet trail (RR grade) is very poor, but wooded trails are in fair "late season" conditions. They plan to be open until at least Monday 3/21.

It's been a hot and cold year in this area. I rode about 1550 miles, Dylan way less this year. The miles we rode, though, were really good miles on some very nice trails with some really great people. Time to summerize the sleds. Have a great off-season- see you in the fall for trail brushing.

Comments and questions always welcome.

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Dylan headed out onto the trails this morning and took a few pictures to give us an idea what the trails looked like. There was an inch or two of fresh snow, and he reports that trails are in fair to good late season condition. I've posted a couple of photos (in the photo tab).

Dylan will be taking off Thursday morning to fly to Idaho to meet up with local mountain sledder Dave, Dave's brother Geoff, and their cousin Joe.

Dan will be staying home this weekend to attend services for his grade school buddy's Dad, who passed away recently.

Chute Pond area trails are hanging in there. After a few warm days, it's cooling off and there's a few inches of snow in the forecast. This time of year, you either ride 'em, or you summerize 'em. I'd be riding if I was there- the trails should be good enough- considering it's early March.

Friday 3/4/11- Dylan said he only got stuck once, had a great time, and he sent 8 photos- check out the album.

Saturday 3/5/11- I heard from Dylan this morning. They were going out for breakfast and then heading out riding. He didn't know how good his pictures would turn out, since they'd be riding in the clouds. I requested a few photos with him in them, and he sent a couple of those. Check out the photo album.

Ride safe and stay on the trails.

Dan & Dylan dguendert@tds.net

We changed the plugs on the ZR600 this morning. She fired right up and ran like a champ. We must have gotten the wires wet when we were scrubbing off the road salt yesterday. I hope to get a chance to ride it next weekend.

Saturday, February 26, 2011. Temperature at 8:00 am- 9 degrees and partly sunny.

 

My ZR600 got dropped off at 8:00 this morning, and I was anxious to take it on our ride. We got ready to go, but when we got onto the lake, the sled was just not running right, so we parked it in the garage and I took the Pantera. I was so flustered by the sled not running right that we forgot to pick up Jeff and Bear on our way by. We went off the lake at Doze Inn and stopped on 2112 to call them. Jeff claimed we didn’t care about them any more, but then he was ok when I told him I’d buy the first round. We headed across and gassed up at Rhode’s Junction. We met Dave & Mary, Big Mike, and then Jeff and Bear showed up.

 

We headed east into the woods behind the Junction, and the trails were thin but in fair condition as we worked our way east. Jack Pine Rd was nice and flat, and it was a pleasant ride to the pipeline. We turned south onto the Bag & Bra pipeline, which was mostly bare and in poor shape. The only saving grace was that it was a lot of grass showing, which was nicer that running on dirt or gravel. We headed south and took a turn east into the woods. The wooded trails were in mostly good to very good condition as we made a big loop east, then north, then back west to the pipeline. There were a few bad spots along the way, but this was a really nice trail.

 

We turned south onto the Chute Pond pipeline, which was in mostly fair to good condition as we made our way back to Jack Pine Rd and back through the woods to the intersection just east of the Junction. We turned north and took that trail to Old 64, where we turned west and rode the edge of the road. There was a really nice snowy path alongside Old 64 as we made our way to Skinny Dave’s for our first pit stop. There was a kickball tournament starting up there, and it was curious to see that although we many times during the season could have used a groomer on our trails, the groomers had taken the time to groom the kickball diamond at Skinny Dave’s with the trail grooming equipment. Once we saw that, it was no surprise that most of the Groomer Boys were playing in the kickball tournament. Go figure.

 

After our pit stop, we ditched back up to Old 64 and crossed Hwy 32 and went into the woods. We made our way over to the 7N RR grade and headed up to Schoolhouse where we picked up Jean. We gassed up at Parkside, then headed north on the grade. The grade has some really nice stretches, and some really nasty rocky stretches, but this late in the season you have to take what you can get. We turned west on the 18W trail and took that out to the Big Y intersection, where the Trailside Cookout was going on. The Take a Friend Snowmobiling Ride was also there, with Jim & Linda guiding 4 rookie riders. We had a bite to eat and it began to snow pretty good while we were at the cookout. It was probably 15 or more degrees out, but it felt kind of chilly standing around. Thanks to Ken & Julie, Mark & Barb, Jim & Linda, and all the other volunteers for making this event a success today.

 

Dylan stayed at the cookout, since he wanted to head back, then over to Greenleaf later for the banquet. From the cookout we headed north to 4 Corners and turned left onto the 18W trail. We took that trail, which was very thin, icy, and snirty to Boulder Lake Lodge, where we warmed up while visiting with Jack for a while. From Boulder Lake we headed west into Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails, which were not groomed and pretty rough. The trails had plenty of snow on them, and would have been really nice if the groomers had been out last night. We wound our way through the woods to 9 Mile, where we made a pit stop. Jean and Mary met some people they knew there, and Dave warned about the rough trail coming up if we continued the loop. Since I didn’t want to double back, we roughed it out and took the trail Dave warned us about. It’s a really bumpy stretch that takes you from 9 Mile back up to the main trail. We got back on the main trail, which was nice and smooth and headed east back into Oconto County.

 

We turned left onto the Bob Kroll Memorial Trail, which was in really nice shape, and headed north. There were a few icy corners, but this trail was a great ride all the way up to where we turned east and made our way over to Barb’s Valley Inn. Dave and Mary signed up on some sports “boards” and we planned the final leg of our journey. We crossed Hwy 32 and took the Wildwood trail east and south, which was a really nice ride until we got into Paul Bunyan trails. These trails were thin and snirty, although the 1-2” of fresh snow made things a little better. We made our way into Lakewood, where we stopped at Pour Haus to bother Betsy & Ed. A few of us signed in and we talked about the upcoming Fat Tuesday party there next Saturday. We also started making up foursomes for the Skinny Dave’s mini golf tournament on April 2^nd.

 

From we headed south on the 7S RR grade. That little bit of snow helped, but there are still a lot of rocks that clink and clunk as you ride along. Jeff, Bear, and Big Mike headed home, and Dave, Mary, Jean and I met up with Ken & Julie and Mark & Barb at Mulligan’s for dinner. We were about an hour late, but they forgave us, and Pam & Don served us up a really tasty meal. From Mulligan’s, we headed south and our group broke up. Some headed over to Water’s Edge, some headed home, and I headed over to Doze Inn for a visit with Larry & Della before calling it a night.

 

We rode 133 miles today- a day which I classify as “bonus time”. We had a really fun ride on some nice trails with some really great people.

 

Here’s how we graded the trails today:

 

Chute Pond- mostly fair. Thin and rough in many areas. RR grade rocky in spots.

 

Bag & Bra- pipeline poor. Wooded trails mostly good to very good.

 

Boulder Lake Sno-Goers- fair. These trails need to be groomed- they would be very good if they were.

 

Red Arrow Townsend- good to very good. As always.

 

Paul Bunyan- mostly fair. Thin, snirty, rocky.

 

I’m not sure what this week’s weather will bring, but I’m really glad we got a chance to ride this weekend. Look for Dylan’s reports from Idaho next weekend- that should be a great adventure for him.

 

It’s late season. Either ride ‘em now, or put ‘em away.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Friday, February 25, 2011. Weather partly sunny 27 degrees at 3:00 pm.

 

What a crazy two weeks this has been. On the 16^th Chute Pond and a bunch of other trail systems closed. Others stayed open, hoping for the best- more snow soon. Sunday the 20^th brought a pretty nice storm that hit some areas hard, missed others, and the wind blew so hard that any open fields didn’t get any new snow. Chute Pond got 6-8” of that snow and trails re-opened Tuesday the 22^nd. Other trail systems followed, and soon most trails around the Pond were open, in various levels of quality.

 

It really didn’t matter too much what conditions were, we were super stoked to be able to ride again. Dylan keeps saying he will get to ride regardless- his trip is coming up next week- but we had trouble focusing on anything but getting up to the Pond and getting back on the trails. Tony my mechanic sent me an email that my ZR600 is done and he’d drop it off Saturday morning. I can’t wait to ride that sled again.

 

We got up to the Pond at about 1:30 pm and unpacked. Dylan ran some stuff up to Ken for the Trailside Cookout tomorrow, and we got ready to ride. Our neighbor Joe almost rode with us, but he stayed back and waited for Geoff to get there. We’ll meet up with them tomorrow. We got off the lake on and headed north on the 7N RR grade. The grade had some really nice white flat stretches, and it also had plenty of nasty, brown, rocky stretches. We gassed up at Parkside and continued north. The condition of the grade stayed pretty much the same hot and cold condition as we made our way into Lakewood. We turned east into the woods, and the trail thinned out into an icy path with lots of bare spots and snirt galore as we wound our way north to the golf course. We crossed Hwy F at the Sand Trap and trails did not improve much as we made our way north past the Ski Hill. The trail through the airport were bare, and we had to ride along the side of the trail, which pretty much summed up the Paul Bunyan trail experience- poor to fair at best.

 

We entered the Red Arrow Townsend trails, and as always they were head and shoulders above the rest. We headed north on some really nice trails- there were a few icy and thin areas, but mostly flat and fast, with just the right amount of snow on top. We went up and over the Wildwood trail, and then went up to the Scenic Overlook. The last part of that trail does not get groomed (can’t quite figure out why not), so it was a wild and bumpy ride to the top. The view from the overlook is outstanding- we took a couple of pix and headed back down the trail.

 

We crossed Hwy 32 at Barb’s Valley Inn and headed west. The trail was in nice shape, and that improved when we turned south onto the Bob Kroll Memorial Trail. This trail was in very good shape- perfectly groomed and very few flaws as we wound our way south. We turned west into Langlade County trails to avoid the tornado zone at Animal’s- we got a first hand report to avoid that trail. The Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails were nicely groomed and flat as we headed west. We turned south onto a wooded trail that had plenty of snow on it, but it was very bumpy. After riding a ways, we determined that when the trails opened up Wednesday, they must have just panned this section of trails and not used the blades on the drag. This trail will be very nice once it’s groomed properly.

 

We worked our way through the trails back towards Boulder Lake. We took a left turn back into Chute Pond trails, and all hell broke loose. Trails immediately turned brown, bare, icy, and where there was snow it was rough and bumpy. We toughed it out back to Four Corners and took a right turn. The trail is more of a road type trail at this point so it was a little better as we hung a right at the Big Y and went up and over the hill towards Hwy W. The trail up and over the hill was groomed but still pretty rough and rutty and we thankfully pulled into Pine Grove for a pit stop. We visited with Rocky and Sally for a bit, and then headed for home.

 

The tunnel was stutter bumps all the way to 2112, when the trail smoothed out somewhat, but still was really not near as smooth as a road trail should be. We turned left on the 7N RR grade and went back onto the lake at Bonita Creek. It was great to be back on the trails, and we fully realize we are in “bonus time”. In my mind we were done for the year two weeks ago, and now I can’t wait to get back out and ride again tomorrow. We rode 73 miles today, and here is how we graded the trails:

 

Chute Pond- a very disappointing poor to fair overall. Very icy, bare spots, very rocky, rough and bumpy. The only “good” trails we found were short sections of the RR grade.

 

Paul Bunyan trails- poor to fair, same as they say on their website. Same reasons as above.

 

Red Arrow Townsend- good to very good. It amazes me that this club can consistently produce such great trails. Flat, smooth, white, almost perfect, and a joy to ride.

 

Boulder Lake Sno-Goers- Good overall. The thing holding them back from a higher grade is the fact that they need grooming. There’s plenty of snow on the trails- they’re just a little rough. I hope they groom tonight.

 

We have a Club Ride and Trailside Cookout tomorrow. Suzie is riding in the Take a Friend Snowmobiling Day ride, and then Dylan and her are heading to De Pere for the Greenleaf Riders banquet. We’re meeting at the Junction tomorrow at 8:30 am, and I can’t wait!

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

The Chute Pond area got 6-8" of fresh snow Sunday to Monday. Trails will re-open Tuesday, groomed and in fair to good "early season type" condition. Watch for icy corners. We're meeting 8:30 am Saturday at Rhode's Junction for a ride- come on out and ride. We're not sure which way we'll be going, since we're just not sure where the good snow is. Shawano County got 8-10 (let's go there!), Lakewood got 3-4". Wabeno got 6-8", Armstrong Creek none, etc.. We'll just have to play it by ear.

See you on the trails!

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

What a huge change and disappointment this week's weather was. After we left for home last Sunday, the Big Melt of 2011 hit pretty much the entire state. Chute Pond, Bag & Bra, Gillette and all points south and Langlade County closed their trails. Iron Snowshoe closed part of theirs, and anyone who stayed open was doing so in hopes of colder weather and more snow.

There is some significant snow in the forecast for Sunday through Wednesday, but what a mess the trails are right now. It is colder today than it has been all week, so now it's a frozen slippery mess. Dylan took the Puma through the yard and out onto the Pond over to Sablu's to fire up his furnace for him. Of course, Dylan was happy and thought there was plenty of loose snow on the lake to ride.

If the trails had held up as good as our yard, we'd still be riding! We have an icy corner, but all in all our yard's base has held up pretty well. I hope we get some more snow to extend our season out on the real trails for another weekend or two. We'll have to wait and see.

Sunday morning update- looks like that snow is coming for sure- just not sure how much. If we get a good dump of snow, the trails around here would most likely reopen in decent shape for riding. We're helping Larry Deau take down the drag race fences, then heading home. I hope we beat the storm....but we probably won't. Are we willing to pay that price for a few more weekends? You bet we are!

Your comments and questions always welcome.

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Sunday, February 13, 2011. Temperature 28 degrees and getting sunny at 9:00 am.

 

We took a spin around the nearby trails before we put the sleds away this morning. We went off the lake at Bonita Creek and headed north on the 7N RR grade. The grade was white, flat, hard and fast, but had not been groomed last night. We took a left turn on the connector trail and this trail was also really nice in spite of the dozen or so rocks that always seem to be right where your skis are. We came out on 2112 and took a left. We headed east on 2112, which was in really nice shape, but again not groomed last night.

 

We took 2112 down to Bonita Junction and took a right on the 7S RR grade. We headed south, and the grade was in pretty nice shape except for a few rocky areas. There were, however, much fewer rocks going south than there are heading up towards Mountain and north of Mountain on the grade. We cruised south on the grade, past AA Bar and past Rhode’s Oasis. We were told by the Trail Boss that CPSC will not groom south of Breed again until we get more snow. Satisfied that we now knew what shape the trails are really in (pretty darn nice!), we turned around and headed back north. We turned right onto 2112, which was lightly ridden since the last time it was groomed. The trail was in good shape as we headed east.

 

We turned left onto the Doze Inn trail, which was also very lightly used and in great shape. We went back onto the lake at Doze Inn and stopped to survey the snow cover on the bay which we hope to use next weekend for the CPSC Slalom Races. With the warm weather coming, we are hoping there will be snow left on the lake to hold the Slaloms. This is a club member event, with a chili dump this year instead of the cookout on the lake. We have some really mean chili to dump into the NESCO- and we’re looking forward to chowing down. I hope enough snow stays on the lake to make the event complete.

 

We only rode 16 miles today on our “test run” and we were pleased with how nice the trails were- overall the Chute Pond trails were in good condition in the areas we rode.

 

I got out my calculator and figured my Pantera mpg for the weekend. Friday when the trails were firm and hard, I got 9.3 mpg. Saturday with softer rougher trails I got 8.3 mpg (including running out of gas!) 

 

The evil sun and high temperatures are our enemies this time of year- this week in particular. If these trails survive the week, it would be a miracle. But stranger things have happened……let’s hope for the best.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Saturday, February 12, 2011. Nine degrees at 8 am, 28 degrees at 11:00 am, snowing lightly in the pm.

 

This morning Dylan & I went and set up the sound system for the Chute Pond Ice drags. Dylan stayed and sold beverages- I had a date with Mike & Julie & friends to go to to the Jerry Schuh jump in. I met them over at their cottage and we hit the trails about noon. We headed up the 7N RR grade and I fueled the thirsty Pantera at Parkside. We no sooner got going north up the grade when all of a sudden there were flashing lights and everyone ahead of me was pulled over to the side of the trail. There were several law enforcement officers at an intersection, and apparently Julie had rolled through a stop sign. She was lucky to get away with a ($200 savings) warning, and DNR Warden Joe reminded us to stop fully at all stop signs.

 

We continued north on the grade, which was reasonably flat, but still kind of rocky on spots through the Chute Pond section up to Lakewood. The trail improved from there north to Townsend, where we went west at the Valley Inn. We continued west on the 9S 16W trail into Lily. This trail was in pretty nice shape, especially considering the traffic that was in the area. From Lily we went north on the Wolf River trail up to Lily River Lodge, which is closed. We went west and Mike led us through a maze of intersections onto Pickerel Lake . We made our way down to Schuh’s, where the big party was happening.

 

The “jumping in” part was over, but there were plenty of guys skipping across the open water on their sleds. Most made it, some did not. There was even a shopping cart pulled behind a sled, and that eventually did make it across the open water. We bought some Pickerel Pearson Lions Club raffle tickets for an ATV, had a drink, and watched the activities. Once we found out that we did not win the ATV, we decided to head back.

 

We doubled back on the same trails for part of the way, and then cut over onto the LMT 3 and 4. We endured some pretty rough miles of trail as we worked our way back towards Townsend. Things eventually smoothed out the farther we got away from Pickerel, and we rode some pretty nice trails coming into the Townsend area. I was low on gas and watching my gauge like a hawk when suddenly, a mile north of the Townsend Shell I ran out of gas. I unstrapped my trusty 2.5 gallon backup gas can and dumped in a little so I could make it to the Shell station to fill up. It took a few cranks to get the gas back in the fuel lines, but I was back up and running in short order.

 

My thirsty sled cannot be willed nor forced into higher mpg. About 8 is all she is going to give up, so I need to plan accordingly. The rest of the group was heading over to Waubee Lake Lodge for dinner- I was heading home to grill out with Dylan and Suzie, so we said our goodbyes at the gas station. I had a really good time meeting new friends today and riding to the jump in. We rode some pretty nice trails for the most part- we are fully aware of the possible 40 degree weather on its way for next week. This may be the last ride of the year in for us. We rode 112 miles today, and here is how we graded the trails:

 

Chute Pond- Fair- the grade was flat but a lot of rocky sections.

 

Paul Bunyan- Good to very good. We only rode the grade, and it was pretty nice.

 

Red Arrow Townsend- Good to very good. These trails very seldom let us down.

 

Lily Sno-Birds- fair to very good. The trail had numerous rocky stretches.

 

100 Miler- Good- most trails were in pretty nice shape.

 

LMT- ranging from poor (very rough) to very good. A wide range of rides on these trails.

 

There was a lot of traffic today, especially in the Pickerel area. I have never seen so many sleds all together in one place. It’s pretty amazing that the trails were as good as they were. Now we will have to wait and see what the weather brings. I sure hope that whatever weather comes our way is followed by a nice big snow storm. If not, our riding season in this state may be over.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Friday, February 11, 2011. Temperature 25 degrees at 3:00 pm.  

 

We headed across the lake to pick up Sablu and went off the lake at Bonita Creek. Just a reminder that someone fell through some thin ice in Snag Bay last weekend while trying to access the Everbreeze trail from the lake. Don’t go there- there’s plenty of other ways to get on and off the lake safely.

 

We headed up the 7N RR grade and stopped to top off at Parkside in Mountain. The grade was freshly groomed and flat, but very rocky in many areas as we headed north into Paul Bunyan trails. Once into the Lakewood area trails, the trails got better, and they got really nice when we turned east off the RR grade just north of Mulligan’s and headed into the woods. The trails were freshly groomed and in very nice shape as we made our way through the Paul Bunyan trails and into the Iron Snowshoe trails north of Crooked Lake. It’s amazing how things can change quickly when you enter a new trail system.

 

As soon as we entered the Iron Snowshoe, the trails got thin and very snirty for about a mile or so before turning whiter again. Trails were reasonably flat, but pretty thin as we made our way south to Crooked Lake. We stopped for a visit with Tim & Jackie at Randall’s Resort. We checked our Super Bowl pool numbers, only to find out we did not win, but that’s ok- the Packers did! After a nice visit, we headed back across Crooked Lake to the F trail. We took that trail north to the Paul Bunyan trail and doubled back west.

 

We made a right turn and headed north towards Waubee Lake. This trail always seems to be under-ridden and in really nice shape. We wound our way through the woods on some really nice trails, then turned west on the trail that fronts Hwy F. This trail was also freshly groomed and in nice shape all the way to the Prospect Lodge, where we turned north. Even the normally bad roadside trails north of Prospect Lodge were in decent shape as we went back into the woods, heading towards Townsend. Once in the Red Arrow trail system, trails remained in great shape as we made our way through the woods. We made a turn-off to head to the Townsend Shell for gas, got turned around and had to pull out the map.

 

Once we got our bearings, we headed for a gas stop and then doubled back- I didn’t want to skip the Wilderness Trail. We headed up and over the Wilderness trail and crossed Hwy 32 at the Valley Inn. We continued west to the Bob Kroll Memorial trail, where we turned south. We followed this really nice trail all the way to Animal’s Bear Trail, where the Chute Pond trails take over. The tornado zone was really thin and icy, but after that the trails were freshly groomed and in decent shape, especially considering the lack of new snow. We followed fresh groomed trails all the way to Pine Grove, where we stopped for dinner and refreshments. Rocky and Sally served us some tasty food and cold drinks, which really hit the spot.

 

From Pine Grove, we followed fresh groomed trails all the way through the tunnel to 2112, then the 7N RR grade back to Chute Pond. We enjoyed a really nice 107 mile ride today, and here is how we graded the trails:

 

Chute Pond- freshly groomed- mostly fair to good. Could really use some more snow.

 

Paul Bunyan- freshly groomed- good to very good. Surprisingly good- a nice ride.

 

Townsend Red Arrow- good to very good, but not as smooth and perfect as usual.

 

We’ll be helping set up for the Chute Pond Snowmobile Drags tomorrow morning, then I plan to head up to Pickerel to see what all the hub-bub is about people jumping into a lake. When I find out, I’ll let you know.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Saturday, February 5, 2011. Sunny and 28 in the am, 37 degrees in the pm.

 

Dylan and Suzie decided to ride the Pantera today. Don & I rode matching Pumas, Geoff rode his older Cat, Sablu dusted off his 800 Cat, and Sher rode their Polaris two-up. We met for a mid afternoon ride around the Chute Pond trails. We left about 2:00 pm, going off the lake at Doze Inn. The trails were soft from the warm weather, and not in very nice shape, either. We hit 2112, which was also not groomed, and took a left, crossing Hwy 32 twice and ditching to Rhode’s Junction for gas. We went into the woods behind the Junction and headed east. The trails were not groomed and in very poor condition. Even once we got onto Jack Pine Rd, the trails were still very rough all the way to the pipeline. We turned south into the Bag & Bra trails, and you could immediately tell they had groomed. There were some bare spots, and the pipeline trail was soft in places, but overall not a bad ride down to the turnoff into the woods.

 

Once in the woods the trails were in really nice shape. We made a big loop east and north, coming back out onto the pipeline on Chute Pond trails south of Crooked Lake. The Bag and Bra trails were nicely groomed and in good to very good condition. Even the cedar swamp section was nice- in fact this section of usually rough trail was a nicer ride today than Jack Pine Rd. Once on the pipeline, there was no way we were going to try to navigate that disastrous detour up towards Crooked Lake, so we turned south. The Chute Pond section of pipeline was not groomed and very rough. We continued south to the connecting trail to Jack Pine again, and headed south. This trail was also not groomed and very rough- how hard is it to groom a road trail?

 

We turned back into the woods and headed west. At the “T” near the Junction, we took a right and took the trail to the 18W trail back to Kingston Rd. This trail was like all the rest of Chute Pond trails today- not groomed, very rough, and bare in many spots. Just a bad ride- period. We went onto the Pond at the and made plans to watch the fireworks, then meet up for dinner. We rode 55 miles today, and here is how we graded the trails we rode:

 

Chute Pond- poor and worse. Not groomed, bare stretches, brown and snirty.

 

Bag & Bra- good to very good. Very few, but some brown and snirty sections.

 

I’m not sure what’s going on with the Chute Pond trails. I’ve contacted the Groomer Boss and the Club President to express my displeasure over the poor conditions. I hope they go out and groom soon. There are not many weeks of riding left, and I plan to enjoy them- not suffer like we did today. Let’s hope for the best.  

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Wednesday, February 2, 2011. 24 degrees and sunny at 2:00 pm.

 

I left after digging out of the biggest blizzard since 1999. We got 15-18” of snow, with drifts as high as 6-7’. For the first time in 34 years, UPS was closed down for the morning shift. I waited until daybreak, then proceeded to dig out our cars and driveway. Once that was done, I packed up and headed north. The freeway was pretty much one semi-slippery lane all the way to Fond Du Lac, then by Oshkosh it was pretty clear. It took me an extra hour or so, but I got to the Pond by about 2:00 pm. After all that snow down south, I was greeted by a whopping ¾” dusting on my back porch.

 

I went about getting my gear packed for our trip to the U.P. Since I couldn’t find the buckles for my tank bag, I rigged up a fanny pack on the back of my Pantera 800 triple. I also strapped on a 2.5 gallon gas can and a waterproof backpack with overnight gear and other vital supplies for the trip.

 

I still didn’t have a really good feeling about taking the Pantera on a long, unsupported trip, even after the belt replacement last weekend. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why, but I just felt uneasy about it. I figured I’d give her a final test run up the 7N RR grade, just to be sure. If something happened, I’d be nice and close to help (I really wanted to run to Randall’s Resort in Crooked Lake, but that trail is too isolated if I needed help). I ran up the grade to Lakewood, and stopped in at Pour Haus for a cold one. Tim & Andy were there, and I visited with some local people. We talked about- what else- the Packers and the Super Bowl.

 

After a short pit stop, I headed back south down the grade and stopped in at Mulligan’s, where Pam was tending bar. We again talked about the big game, and Bob was there- he was flying out of Green Bay on Thursday morning to go to the big dance. Can’t talk too much about the Packers being in the Super Bowl! After a short visit, I wished Bob luck on his trip, and headed home on the grade. The grade was groomed and in good condition, both in Paul Bunyan and Chute Pond sections. It was a 30 mile round trip tonight, and the Pantera ran fine. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s trip. Geoff called and said he was on his way- he made it out of Chicago, and past Kenosha on I-94. He stopped over about 9:00 and we went over final plans and routes, and agreed to leave about 6:00 tomorrow morning. I can’t wait.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, February 3, 2011. Temperature 7 degrees at 6:00 am.

 

I was up early today, excited and ready for the big trip. I strapped all of the gear onto my sled, and headed over to Geoff’s. We left the Pond at about 6:30 am and headed north on 7N RR grade. We topped off our tanks at the Parkside BP in Mountain, and continued north on the grade, which was nicely groomed, flat, hard, and fast all the way to Wabeno. From Wabeno north to Laona the trail softened, and there were numerous stretches of rocky trail, with lots of rocks clinking and clunking and flying around. Not a very nice piece of trail. We stopped for gas in Laona, and I did some quick math that showed my Pantera at just over 9 mpg. I was pleased with that, since last year it was at 6.5- 7.0.

 

We continued on the trail, which turned into 9N after Laona. The trails turned fabulous as we continued north to Tipler, where we hung a right onto the 6E corridor, then a left onto F3 north. We followed the F3 to the border (81 miles from the Pond), where we stopped for a trail break and photo-op on the bridge over the . My camera was not working and Geoff forgot his, so the photo-op was missed- but it was a nice break, anyways. The Pantera was running ok but I had a high rpm vibration- I thought it might just be the hard trails we were on. Not sure at this point, but we’ll need to keep an eye on it.

 

We crossed over into the U.P. at Pentoga, and picked up the 2W trail, which we took into Iron River. We stopped for breakfast and gas, then headed west on the 2W trail. The 2W trail was in really nice shape- freshly groomed and flat, just like all trails so far today. We took a right on the 15N trail, then stopped for a trail break after a while. I noticed a familiar clunking when I was starting up and at low speeds. A quick check revealed that the replacement belt I put on last weekend was dry rotted, and a big chunk was missing from it. I put on the spare which Jeff was gotten for me last weekend (thanks, Jeff!), and compared belt sizes with Geoff. Luckily, his is the same size, so between the two of us, we still had one good spare. With the new belt, the low speed clunking and the high speed vibration disappeared, and I was a happy camper again.

 

We continued north on the 15 trail and enjoyed a smooth ride north. We saw our first group of sleds at the 126 mile point in our trip- one of the benefits of an early morning start. We stopped in Sidnaw (145 miles into our trip) for gas, and now we were seeing more sleds on a frequent basis. By no means were these trails busy- traffic was very light, especially for the U.P. We continued north on the 15N trail and enjoyed a really nice ride on all freshly groomed trails all the way into Baraga. We arrived at 1:00 pm (our time), and were at the 174 mile mark on our trip.

 

We pulled up to the Baraga Lakeside Best Western, which was our original planned stop for the day. We had talked about going further, but those plans changed when Geoff checked under the hood to find he had blown his clutch. We went into the Best Western and the front desk staff was very helpful finding a repair shop that had a new clutch, as well as the desk clerk’s husband to take Geoff and his sled up to Houghton for the repairs. We loaded the sled into the guy’s pickup truck and off they went. I checked into the motel and had lunch and a few beers, overlooking Keweenaw Bay. It was a really nice view, including two people snowboarding with para-sails on the ice.

 

I had no idea how long Geoff would be gone, so I grabbed some maps and literature from the lobby and headed back to our room. In a surprisingly short time, they were back with Geoff’s sled. The repair shop put in a new clutch with the sled sitting right in the back of the pickup truck, swiped Geoff’s credit card, and away they went. With Geoff still in sticker shock over his clutch repair, we headed down to the restaurant- Geoff hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We remained a little confused over the time zone difference, but time really didn’t matter that much to us. We had dinner overlooking the bay- the para-sail snow boarders were still out there, along with a lot of ice fishermen and one snowmobile racing back and forth. We enjoyed conversation about the day’s events, talked about the next day’s plans, and watched it turn from day to night on the . The lights from L’Anse made for a very picturesque scene. We headed back to our room and agreed to an early start in the morning- 5:30 Eastern Time, 4:30 central (we went to sleep before 9:00, so no big deal).

 

 

 

Friday, February 4, 2011. It was about 15-20 degrees at 6:00 eastern time.

 

We were not sure if we would head home today or not- we decided to just ride and see what the day would bring. With such an early start, we had options. We saddled up at 6:00 am (ET) and headed back south on the 15S trail, and then took the 14E trail over to L’Anse, where we gassed up. I was seeing less mpg now that the trails were softer and hillier. Quick math after this last fill up showed me somewhere around 8 mpg on my fire breathing dragon sled. We continued on the 14E trail over some really pretty terrain, which included the Huron Mountain range. We took a trail break on top of the mountain range, and then headed over to Big Bay. Trails continued to be freshly groomed, with a lot more soft loose snow than previous trails. At one point, the snow banks on the sides of the groomed trail were almost as high as our windshields. We gassed up in Big Bay, then doubled back to the 5S trail and headed for Republic. We got gas along Hwy 95 north of Republic, and decided against trying out a very smooth but unmarked RR grade trail just next to the gas station. We doubled back to 5S and continued on into Republic. At this point we pretty much decided to make the most of the day’s ride- all trails so far were freshly groomed and very nice- and head back to the Pond by tonight.

 

From Republic we took the 18W trail, a new trail connecting Republic to Amasa. This trail turned out to be the worst trail of our trip. Way too many plowed roads, and on top of that the loggers were also plowing, scraping down to bare dirt for many miles of trails. I was beginning to worry about my slides, which were not new when we started the trip, but which I had thought were in good enough shape. Running the bare roads not only burned a bunch of slides and wore down my carbides, it didn’t help my mpg, either. We finally got through this poor section of trail and got near Amasa. It was starting to snow lightly, which improved my mood after that rough stretch of trail. Rather than go get gas in Amasa and double back the 3 miles, we headed south to Crystal Falls.

 

Once in Crystal Falls, we had some trouble finding the gas stations, which were not easily accessed from the snowmobile trail. We scratched around the alleys in town until we found some gas. It was starting to snow harder as we left town and headed south. We stopped for a trail break just 3 miles from Wisconsin. We turned west on the freshly groomed and snow covered 2W trail and headed back into Wisconsin at Pentoga- the same way we came out. My camera was now working (I think it might have been frozen), so we stopped at the bridge over the Brule for a photo-op.

 

We took the F3 south to the 6W trail to the 9S and 7S trails down to Laona. The grade was flat and smooth, but a lot softer and looser than it was yesterday. We gassed up in Laona, and now my mpg was below 8- the softer the trails, the lower she goes. We took the LMT 7 south out of Laona, and except for one stretch of bumpy logging area, it was a really nice ride to Wabeno. Trails were freshly groomed and in very good shape. We got back onto the RR grade in Wabeno and headed south back into Oconto County. We hung a left onto the Red Arrow Townsend Wildwood trail, which was perfectly groomed- as flat and smooth as a table top. We cruised the back trails down to the Paul Bunyan trails to the east of the RR grade. These trails turned very rough- unbelievably rough for a Friday afternoon- as we headed back to the 7S R grade south of Lakewood.

 

The remainder of the ride home on the grade was reasonably smooth as we came back into Chute Pond trails. I made my final fill up at Parkside, and after some number crunching came up with exactly 7.9 mpg for the trip. Although not as high as I was looking for, I had a really smooth and comfortable 476 total mile ride on the 800 triple Pantera two-up. We rode 302 miles today, and the only part of me stiff or sore is my throttle thumb. My wallet hurts a bit from the 60 gallons of gas I paid for, but that could not be avoided. It was either the Pantera or the Puma for this trip, and my body is thankful for my choice.

 

We rode a lot of miles on some really nice trails. I would estimate that about 90% of the trails we rode were freshly groomed. We saw no groomers on Thursday, but we saw groomers on 5 different trail systems on Friday. Traffic on both the and trails was very light- our plans for riding Thursday and Friday paid off in that respect. I think next time I make a trip like this I will, however, take a sled that is a little more fuel efficient. While we never needed to tap into the 2.5 gallon can strapped on the back, we still always did need to be heading for a gas station. The extra gas was definitely a “feel-good” thing for us. We knew we wouldn’t run out, but even still we never passed up a gas station.

 

I had a great time riding with Geoff, and appreciate him leading the way on the trails. We talked about other future trips, both to the U.P., and some nice day trips from the Pond. I’m looking forward to any and all of those opportunities. We will ride a little Saturday with some friends, and then we’re grilling tenderloin for Dylan’s 22^nd birthday tonight. I have to run- it’s been a pretty slow start to the day, but it’s time to get going.   

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails. 

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

 

Saturday, January 29, 2011. Weather 19 degrees, 4-5” fresh snow, still light snow in am.

 

I made breakfast for Don, Jeff, Jean & Bear at my place, and we left about 9:15 am. It was still snowing lightly, and we had 4-5” of fresh fluffy snow from last night. We left the Pond on and headed north on 7N R grade. We were very surprised to find that the grade was not groomed, especially since I got a text message from the CPSC Groomer Boss this morning telling me the trails were groomed last night.

 

We turned left on the connector trail, which took us to 2112. The connector was not freshly groomed but in nice shape because hardly anyone ever rides this trail. The rocks are still a problem, especially when the snow base is thin. We turned west onto 2112 and rode some un-groomed fresh powder out through the tunnel to Hwy W. We crossed W and headed into the woods. The only reason the trails were decent is because they had the fresh snow on top. Grooming sure would have helped. We made our way to the Big ”Y” intersection and hung a left to Four Corners. We went straight at Four Corners and headed towards Animal’s Bear Trail. The ride through the tornado zone was decent with the fresh snow. We stopped at Animal’s and met Bob, Tony, Tony, Kevin, and Bob’s daughter Kayla(?), who joined us on our ride.

 

We discussed our ride plans for the day over a bloody mary, and soon we were ready to ride. We headed north into Red Arrow Townsend trails on the Bob Kroll Memorial trail. I was surprised that this trail was not groomed, but because it was in much better condition to start with, the ride through the fresh powder was smooth. We made our way north, then turned east onto the trail to Boonie’s, and wound our way east, coming off the Townsend Flowage at Markuby’s. We headed over to a very busy Townsend Shell to get gas. Bob, who is a mechanic, looked at my Pantera, which was clunking a little when starting up. We found it had a worn drive belt, and we replaced it, which solved the problem.

 

We then headed north on the 7N trail, and took a left at Barb’s Valley Inn. We headed west into Langlade and on the 9S and 16W trails. The 7N in Townsend was better with the fresh snow but still very snirty. The 9S and 16W were in great shape as we headed towards Lily. Traffic so far today was way lighter than we had expected, and even as we got close to Lily, things were still going well. We got into Lily, and turned south on the Wolf River State trail- I call it the Lily RR grade. We headed south towards White Lake on the RR grade and turned west about halfway down on a side trail towards Polar. This trail was fabulous- freshly groomed and not yet ridden, and it was near noon when we turned onto it. The trail led us to the 18 corridor trail, and we turned right onto the 18W towards Polar.

 

This trail was a mixture of hills and woods, and open fields, and was more heavily ridden than others we had been on so far. Overall it was in fair to good shape, some snirty spots, plenty of icy corners, but a decent ride as we continued west. We found a pit stop on the outskirts of Polar called the Cocktail Cage, where a very serious “big money” pool tournament was going on. It was a very interesting place, with skeet shooting and pheasant pens outside, and lots of wildlife and taxidermy inside. We had some refreshments and made our final plans for the day.

 

When we left, we all planned to head to the gas station we saw on the map to fuel up for the return trip home. We went west and at an intersection by a softball diamond the arrow with the gas pump pointed west. We took that trail west to Bryant, which is only 6 miles east of Antigo. No gas there. We asked some riders, who directed us back east. We went back east, then turned south at the ball diamond, crossed Hwy 64 and headed down that trail. Soon Bob came cruising up to the front of our line of sleds and told us the gas was back at the ball diamond. We turned around and headed back to the ball diamond. No gas pumps in front. I rode around the building, ending up back near the ball diamond. No gas pumps. Bob went inside and came out, waving us over to a cement enclosure on the west side of the building, where one very old gas pump dispensed gas at a bargain price of $3.49 a gallon. No sign saying “gas”. Go figure. At that price, we splashed a little in- just enough to get us to Langlade.

 

We headed back east on the 18E trail, winding our way back to Bob & Joni’s, where we all fueled up. The 18E trail was fair to good, just like before. From there, Don, Jeff, Jean, Bear and I headed back towards Chute Pond, and Bob and his group were planning a loop through the woods towards 9 Mile. We worked our way east on the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails, which were in decent shape, but getting rough from the day’s traffic. When we hit the Chute Pond trails at Boulder Lake, the word “rough” got a whole new definition. These trails were in very poor shape- badly in need of grooming, and they did not improve at all as we rode east to Four Corners, south past Pine Grove, into the tunnel, and even 2112 was rough and bumpy. These trails were terrible- our worst of the day by far. We turned onto the connector trail, which was a little rocky, but our best Chute Pond trail of the day. We took the RR grade back to Bonita Creek and back onto the Pond.

 

We said goodbye to Don, and headed over to Bear’s for some of his specialty Old Fashioneds and a steak cookout. We were all a little tired and sore, especially from the trail beating we took on our home stretch, but we had a nice dinner and laughed and talked about our day’s ride. We heard from Dylan that he had a great 125 mile ride with his MS group up on the northern and western trails. We rode 139 miles today, and here is how we graded the trails:

 

Chute Pond- am fair to good, pm poor- need grooming

 

Red Arrow Townsend- good to very good

 

100 Miler- very good (we only rode a small piece of this trail system)

 

Lilly Sno-Birds- fair to very good. Snirty and very worn trails on some sections

 

Polar trails- mostly good condition

 

Boulder Lake Sno-Goers- fair to very good. More good to very good than not.

 

I am excited about my backpack trip coming up this Thursday with Geoff and Joe (Dylan is not going along because he’s using his days off for his trip in March). We’re taking off Thursday morning- riding from the Pond up to the U.P., staying out two nights, then coming back on Saturday some time. Not sure where we’re headed, but it sounds like a great adventure. I’m not taking the laptop along, so I’ll have to post our adventures when we get back.

 

I sure hope a certain local club gets its groomers out and fixes the trails- soon. They need it badly.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Friday, January 28, 2011. Weather 24 degrees cloudy at 10:00 am.

 

I met up with Jeff and Bear at my place and we left the Pond at Bonita Creek. We headed north on 7N RR grade, and turned off just south of Mountain to pick up Jean at their place off McComb Lake Rd. We continued north, gassed up at Parkside, and went north on the grade. We turned left onto 18W and headed across Hwys 32 and 64 and through the woods. Trails were thin, but in fair to mostly good condition as we got to and took a right turn towards Animal’s Bear Trail. We stopped in for a bloody mary at Animal’s, and Jeff commented how nice it was to not be on a time schedule like we were last weekend on the poker run. We watched the X-Games on TV, visited with Mike for a while, then continued north and west.

 

The Red Arrow trails were in really nice shape, as were the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers Langlade County trails as we made our way towards 9 Mile Resort. The trails were freshly groomed, and they had a lot of snow on them, which made them a little slippery both on the straight aways and the corners. We passed 9 Mile and came back to the 18W trail, which we took towards Langlade. We stopped for gas at Bob & Joni’s at Hwy 64 & 55 and scratched our way across the dreaded bridge. We continued west, ending up at Gator’s Rockin’ Country Bar, where we had our lunch stop planned.

 

As we walked in the door, we were greeted by a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. If we would not have been so hungry, we all agreed later that we would have walked right back out. We did have some really tasty home made pizza for lunch, which will be the last time we ever have that pizza. The four of us agreed later that we will not go to this bar again. As I sit and type this report, I still reek of cigarette smoke from Gator’s. It was very disappointing, because we used to really like that place.

 

After lunch we headed back to the Wolf River trail (the Lily RR grade) and headed north. This trail was in great shape except for a very short stretch of large rocks popping through the snow. We cruised along at a pretty good clip up to Lily, where we saw our first group of MS riders taking a trail break. We gave them a thumb’s up and a wave as we went by and headed east and south. We then went down probably our worst trails of the day- a logging area and some thin and very snirty stretches made it a pretty rough ride back south. We rode a several mile section of trail that we had ridden freshly groomed in the morning, and it was very rough and bumpy in the afternoon.

 

We finally got back onto some nicer trails and made our way towards Oconto County. We turned left onto the Bob Kroll Memorial trail and found it to be very thin and icy- the worst condition we’ve seen in several years. It looks like some heavy traffic today has taken its toll on our favorite trail today. We headed north, and soon Bear pulled over and put his hood up- not a good sign. After a short evaluation, he determined that he had blown a cylinder- just like I did two weeks ago. Not good. Side note- we saw our second group of MS riders of the day while we were pulled over looking at Bear’s sled. It was the White Group- Dylan’s ride group.

 

We put a strap on and pulled Bear over to Barb’s Valley Inn, where we dropped his sled and Jean doubled up with me on the Pantera. We headed back to the Pond on the RR grade. It was a decent ride most of the way back. There were a few snirty stretches, a few rocky ones, and a few bumpy areas, but all in all for the grade it was ok (except for the big bump at the bridge where I almost lost Jean!). I dropped Jean off at Bear’s place and they took a trailer up to recover Bear’s sled.

 

Later we all met at Doze Inn, joined by Gary & Carol and Don. Della cooked us up a nice fish fry and we had a few cold ones to go along with it. We made plans to meet for breakfast in the morning and go riding again. Carol was kind enough to let Bear use her sled for tomorrow. Dylan rode 117 miles today with his MS ride group. We rode 118 miles today, and here is how we grade the trails:

 

Chute Pond- fair to good. We need more snow (it is snowing like crazy as I type this report)

 

Lakewood’s Paul Bunyan trails- good. They usually over-grade their trails on their trail reports. I don’t know why they just aren’t honest and truthful about them.

 

Red Arrow Townsend- good. These trails are usually exceptional, but today they were thin, icy and snirty.

 

Boulder Lake Sno-Goers- good to very good. We rode them pretty early in the day- this helped their grade.

 

Lilly Sno-Birds- fair to good. Some snirty areas and some bumpy stretches.

 

We had a fun ride with the exception of the blown engine. While the trails were about what we expected, traffic was much lighter than we had expected. Tomorrow may be a different story. We have 3-4” of fresh snow on the ground, and it is still snowing as I finish this report. I hope all groomers get out tonight and do their magic on our trails. We have an 8:00 breakfast date, with a 9:30 meeting at Animal’s. I can’t wait!

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Thursday, January 27, 2011. Overcast and 29 degrees at 2:00 pm.

 

We left the Milwaukee area in a sloppy, snowy mess today, anxious to get out of town and get up to the Pond. The roads and traffic improved by the time we got to Lomira- most of the snow was south of there. We ended up with just a slight dusting of snow on our porch, which was easily swept away with a broom. We unpacked quickly and Dylan repacked some gear into his backpack to take up to Carter for the MS Snowmobile Ride. Check in for the ride started at 5:00 pm, but lots of riders usually get there earlier. Dylan rode his sled up to Carter on the 7N RR grade- he’s riding in the MS Ride. I took the car because I had stops to make along the way to pick some things up. The grade was in pretty good shape all the way up- he did say to look out for a driveway south of Kingston Rd which was plowed way down, creating a big bump. There’s a yield sign there- best to slow way down at this driveway.

 

I spent the afternoon and evening working with the MS staff and other volunteers helping check in the over 100 riders for this 28^th Annual MS Snowmobile Ride. This ride is a fully supported event that raises well over $200,000 each year for MS. Each rider has to raise a minimum of $650 in pledges to participate. This year Dylan raised over $1500, an increase of $400 over last year. This is a really great group of snowmobile riders who are dedicated to raising money for MS while at the same time having a lot of fun.

 

There are about 8 or 10 riding groups, each led by a guide, who has been up in Carter all week checking out the trails and planning the rides, which will be all day Friday and Saturday. I talked to a lot of the guides, and they said trail conditions range from a “2” to a “10” on a scale of 1-10. This did not surprise me, since both the LMT and the 100 Miler both downgraded their trail conditions (for the first time I can remember in a very long time) from “good to very good” last week to “fair to good” this week.

 

There are some good trails to be ridden in this area, but I read a posting on Facebook that the Carnage Cruise has over 100 riders, as well as one other group of over 100 riders that will be in the area this weekend. One of those groups is riding out of Crandon, and the other out of Mole Lake. Add to this the 110 plus in the MS Ride out of Carter, and you have over 300 additional riders in a pretty small geographic triangle.

 

I plan to ride Friday and Saturday with some friends from Chute Pond. I’m not sure which way we will be going, but I’m pretty sure it will not be up in the Carter, Crandon, or Mole Lake area. The marginal trail conditions, heavy traffic, and warm temperatures promise to make this an interesting weekend of riding. I’m typing this report at 6:00 am on Friday, and the thermometer is already at 24 degrees. I sure hope we get that couple of inches of snow that is predicted. We need it.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Friday, January 21, 2011. Temperature was 5 degrees at 1:00 pm.

 

We got up to the Pond to find about 1-2” of fresh snow on our porch. Dylan finished putting new wear bars on his sled while we waited for the furnace repair guy. We have a bad bearing in the blower motor- glad it still works, just a little noisy when it’s cold.  A phone call determined he wasn’t coming today, so we got ready to ride.

 

We got off the lake on and headed north on 7N RR grade. The grade was freshly groomed and in nice shape as we headed up to pick up Chris. We headed north and got gas at Parkside and continued on up to just short of Lakewood, where we turned east into the woods. The RR grade was in good condition- only a few places where rocks were popping up, but overall a nice ride. The wooded Paul Bunyan trail was in mostly nice shape, turning thin and snirty as we continued north.

 

Once we crossed over into Red Arrow Townsend trails, we saw an immediate improvement. The snow was white and the trails were flawless as we made our way north to the Wildwood Trail. We headed north, then west towards Hwy 32 and found trails in very good to excellent condition, as we have come to expect in Townsend. We crossed Hwy 32 and stopped in at Barb’s Valley Inn for a pit stop. We then continued west and turned south onto one of our favorite trails- the Bob Kroll Memorial trail. This trail was also in very good to excellent condition, the only flaw being a few icy corners.

 

We cruised south on the Bob Kroll, returning to the Chute Pond trails at Animal’s Bear Trail. The tornado zone was pretty thin and a little bumpy, but in decent shape overall. As we got back into the woods, there was a little more snow, but the trails were just not as smooth as the Red Arrow trails had been. We made our way south to Pine Grove Bar & Grill and stopped in to see Rocky & Sally. After a short visit, we made our way home on the tunnel trail and 2112. We said goodbye to Chris, who went back home on the RR grade as we turned off onto Bonita Creek.

 

We rode 58 miles today, and here is how we graded the trails we rode:

 

Chute Pond- fair to good condition. Thin in many areas, some bumpy stretches, but decent and plenty of snow on top for your slides.

 

Paul Bunyan trails- mostly good, some better, and some a little worse. The snirty areas were the biggest downgrade for these trails today.

 

Red Arrow Townsend- very good to excellent. Red Arrow trails continue to be the “best of class” in northern . They are head and shoulders above the rest- smooth, white, and perfectly groomed.

 

It was a great warm up for our benefit ride tomorrow. It’s great to be on the trails again. Hope to see you out there.

 

 

Saturday, January 22, 2011. Sunny skies and 7 degrees.

 

We met for our club breakfast at Kitty’s Grill & Bar on Chute Pond. Joining us were Jeff, Bear, Jean, Todd, Eva, Tom, Deb, and several riders from Pulaski. Gary made us a tasty quick breakfast and we were on our way over to Water’s Edge to sign up and join up with some riders for the Brent Rosner Memorial Snowmobile Ride. We met Collin, TJ and a couple other riders. Dylan split off and rode with them for the day, so we had a smaller group for the poker run.

 

We headed back to Kitty’s on 2112, which was nicely groomed alongside the road. We got our poker run stamp and headed through Bear’s yard across the lake to Doze Inn. Della gave us our stamps and a cold drink, and we picked up a couple more riders from Pulaski who were looking for a route west. We headed through the woods back to 2112 and headed west to the 7N RR grade. The Pulaski riders headed west on 2112 and we headed north. The RR grade was in decent shape for the most part. There were some stutter bumps and a few rocks, but it was a nice ride up to Schoolhouse Bar. We met Dave & Mary and Jim & Linda, who had just come back from Lakewood. We had a quick refreshment break, got our stamps and headed north to Lakewood. We stopped in and got a poker run stamp at Firelite Lounge, then headed over to Pour Haus Bar & Grill for lunch and a stamp. We kept Andy pretty busy cooking and serving drinks, and he did a great job making us lunch. Jeremy and Jackie joined our group in Lakewood.

 

After lunch we headed south on the 7S RR grade to the trail cut-off by Halfway Bar. We headed west across Hwy 32 and then south on the trail. This trail was in fair to good shape with bumps being the biggest downgrade. We hit and hung a right, heading to Animal’s Bear Trail. The trail through the tornado zone was in fair shape. It was seeing some pretty good traffic today, and luckily the cold weather was helping it hold up somewhat. We ran into Rob and Trapper with their group of riders at Animal’s, along with a lot of Pulaski riders getting their poker stamps. We got our stamps and doubled back south down the trail.

 

We hit and stopped to pin up a map that was torn down when some idiot broke the plexi glass on the information center. We continued on south to the Big “Y” intersection and hung a right. Trails along here were in fair to good condition- again, they were bumpy. There was plenty of snow, but I think if Chute Pond had gone out grooming when Paul Bunyan and Red Arrow did- before the couple of nice snowfalls- instead of waiting until after it snowed, these trails would be a little better today. The bumpy part is the frozen base under the loose snow on top. This seems to be the case on most Chute Pond trails so far this year. We need a nice dump of snow with some moisture in it to help flatten these trails out.

 

We pulled into Pine Grove and ran into Mark & Barb, along with a bunch of Pulaski riders that we had been seeing off and on throughout the day. We made a pretty quick stop here since we agreed to try to hit one more poker run stop before the 3:30 deadline at Water’s Edge. We headed east into the tunnel, then 2112. Both Todd & Eva blew a belt along the way, so they did not join us as we took a right turn on 7S RR grade and made our way down to AA Bar in Breed. We got there about 3:05, and knew it had to be a quick stop. We got our refreshments and our stamps, said goodbye to Mitch, and we were off and running for home. We followed a pretty big group of Pulaski riders up the 7N RR grade, made the right turn onto 2112 and cruised back to Water’s Edge, walking through the door at exactly 3:30.

 

The place was packed- over 200 people had come from Pulaski for the event. There was food and drink, and plenty of raffles. We registered our poker hands (none of us won), and mingled elbow to elbow for a while during the announcements of the raffle winners. I talked to Brent’s Dad Jeff about the event, which is the first one. He said he is hoping to do another one next year so he can continue to raise money for the scholarship fund in his son’s name. It was a really nice event for a very good cause.

 

When the event wound down, we headed back over to Kitty’s Grill & Bar and had some dinner. We met Dan & Jenni and their kids over there. We were disappointed that more riders did not come over to finish the day with dinner at Kitty’s. It was a pretty long day on the trails- we were tired. No doubt about that.

 

With all good, there always seems to be some negative. I got a couple comments made to me that several bar owners in the area were upset that they were not included in the poker run. You never really know what to say to comments like this. It’s a shame these people don’t understand that a day like this could never include every business on a poker run, and more importantly, a day like this is not about them. It’s about a Dad who lost his son, and is trying to create something positive from the situation. It’s just too bad that people have to be that way. I will not let these comments detract from the fact that we had a fun day riding with some really nice people- all for a very worthy cause.

 

We rode about 60 miles today, and we were thankful for the snow we have gotten lately, even though it was not as much as we’d like to see. We need more snow to help improve the trails.

 

Chute Pond trails- fair to good. The frozen base is hard and bumpy in places.

Lakewood’s Paul Bunyan trails- fair to good. Several rocky stretches on the RR grade.

 

Next weekend will be a three day weekend for us. Dylan is riding in the MS Ride out of Carter, and I have volunteered to help staff the event. I’m not sure of my schedule- whether or not I’ll be riding much or just helping them out. Tony came and picked up the ZR600 today, and Bear found a loose gas line on the Pantera- maybe that was the little gas leak. The Pantera ran really well today and got about 9 mpg when I filled up. That’s a 2 mpg improvement over last year. We’ll see what happens. Either way, it’s hard to argue with a three day weekend. There may be some snow in the forecast for this week- let’s hope so.

 

Packers in the NFC Championship game against the Bears today. GO PACK!

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Saturday, January 15, 2011. 17 degrees at 6:00 am

 

We planned an early ride today, since we had lots of other activities to take up the rest of the day. We were pleased to find 4-5” of fresh powder on our back porch. We left the Pond on the Bonita Lane boat launch and took the trail to 2112. We headed west into the tunnel and busted some fresh powder all the way to Hwy W at Pine Grove. Trails so far were in fair to good shape, with the fresh snow responsible for the improvement since they were still not groomed.

 

Conditions deteriorated quickly once we crossed Hwy W and went into the hills and woods. The trails were extremely rough and choppy until we came down the hill and back out onto the road. We headed to the “Big Y” and hung a left to Four Corners. We took the 18W trail west towards Boulder Lake. It was nice to have the fresh snow on the trails, but trails were still very hard underneath that powder. We headed west into on the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails. These trails were reasonably flat and smooth, but not freshly groomed.

 

We continued our loop through Langlade County and were heading back east towards the Oconto County line when I lost a cylinder on my ZR600. We rigged up a tow strap and Dylan pulled me back to Animal’s Bear Trail, where Sherri picked me up. We retrieved the broken down sled later in the day, and now it is sitting on the trailer awaiting the Sled Doctor’s diagnosis. While we were riding, the Chute Pond Trail Boss sent us a text saying all CPSC groomers were out and the entire CPSC trail system would be groomed by 10:00 am today. At least that was some good news for us.

 

Our mechanic is coming to check out the sleds next weekend. The Pantera has a fuel leak, so that one is down right now, too. Looks like I might be on the Puma for the Brent Rosner Ride next weekend. Seem to be a pattern forming here….

 

Dylan again headed east towards Coleman on his sled to go to a party this morning. He got lost a few times, so the ride was a little longer than planned (3 hours).

 

We rode about 30 miles before the breakdown. Here are our grades of the trails today:

 

Chute Pond- fair to good now that they are groomed.

Sno-Goers- fair to good- will improve once they are groomed.

Red Arrow Townsend- good and better- will improve more when they are groomed again.

 

We’re looking forward to the Brent Rosner Ride next weekend. Register at Water’s Edge at 9:00 am. Come on out and join us!

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Friday, January 14, 2011. 24 degrees, overcast skies. Snow in the forecast.

 

We arrived around noon on Friday to find yet another whopping inch of fresh snow on our porch at Chute Pond. We were bound and determined to check out the trails, so at about 1:00 pm we headed off the lake on the Doze Inn trail. We headed east on 2112 and fueled up at Rhode’s Junction. We headed east to Crooked Lake, and the trails were in the exact condition we had called them in all week- thin, icy, some bare stretches- poor to fair. Chute Pond’s trails had not seen a groomer since before the rain and thaw after Christmas.

 

From Crooked Lake we took the Iron Snowshoe “F” trail north. Usually this is the worst trail we ride, but we were pleased to see that it had been groomed recently, and was flat and smooth as we headed north. Even though it was smooth, it was very thin and snirty in many stretches along the way- overall in fair condition. We took the “F” trail north and took a left turn onto the Paul Bunyan trails. These trails were also recently groomed and reasonably smooth, improving in snow quality as we headed north and west into Lakewood. We stopped for a visit with Andy at the Pour Haus Bar & Grill before heading home on the 7S RR grade. Paul Bunyan trails were all groomed and in fair to good condition.

 

When we got back into Chute Pond trails on the grade, again they were not groomed, bumpy and hard. We made a stop to check with Clay at Schoolhouse Bar to make sure he was set for the Brent Rosner Memorial Benefit Snowmobile Ride next weekend, stopped at the snowmobile shop to pick up some maps, and headed home on the grade. We went onto the lake at the Kingston Rd bridge, and cruised home. We rode 53 miles today, and here’s our grade of the trails:

 

Chute Pond- poor to fair. We’re disappointed that no grooming had been done.

Paul Bunyan- fair to good. Groomed, but still thin in many areas.

Iron Snowshoe- fair. Groomed, but thin and snirty in many areas.

 

Dylan rode over to Pound and back tonight on his sled, mainly ditching. He said it was a decent ditch-banging ride, but did not like dealing with the bridge over the Little Peshtigo Brook. 

 

We did not take any photos of the trails today. We figured you knew (or could imagine) what a poor to fair trail looked like. Snow in the forecast for tonight. We need it!

 

Your comment and questions always welcome. Ride sober, ride safe.

 

See you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend of January 7-9, 2011

 

When we got here Friday, there was about an inch of powder on our porch- just like we figured. Dylan rode the RR grade up to Schoolhouse Bar and back. The grade was thin and icy, with that little fluff on top. The exit from the lake on Bonita is muddy and messy. He rode south to AA Bar and surprisingly the grade was actually a little better going that way. His third stop was down 2112 to the trail to Doze Inn. He graded all trails as poor to fair- barely rideable.

 

Saturday we went to the CPSC meeting, and learned that we will not groom until we get more snow. There’s just not enough snow at the edges to pull in and groom. Dylan rode to the meeting at Wendt’s Lakeside Inn on - he ditched most of the way. He thought it was great, because he loves ditching.

 

We talked to riders last night who had ridden west into Langlade County and found decent trails out that way. Paul Bunyan in and Red Arrow Townsend are both grooming and claiming fair to very good trail conditions. A check with John Dee  www.johndee.com  and Big Snow Page www.bigsnowpage.com both show a pretty good chance of some decent snow by next weekend. I think we’ll wait to check out those northern trails until then.

 

In the mean time, we’re making plans to ride in the Brent Rosner Memorial Snowmobile Ride on January 22^nd. We’ll be starting from Water’s Edge on Anderson Lake, and making a poker run around the area. We’ll be raising money for a scholarship fund created in Brent’s memory. We’re looking for as many participants as we can get- how about you?

 

Let’s hope those forecasts for snow come true.

 

Go Packers- let’s beat the Eagles today!

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

New Years Weekend- Fri Dec 31- Sun Jan 2

 

Chute Pond Snowmobile Club left its trails open during the recent warm rainy couple of days, with a recommendation to riders to stay off to help preserve the base. I did not hear any sleds go past Chute Pond yesterday on the RR grade. As of today, Saturday, January 1, 2011, the temperature is dropping steadily, currently at 13 degrees. The trails are frozen hard, thin in some spots, some big brown stretches, with no loose snow on top for your slides. Trails are, and will remain in poor condition until we get more snow.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Dylan & Suzie went for a short ride on the trails around Chute Pond on Sunday morning. The trails were greatly improved with the snowfall from the past week and were rated in good condition. Trail pics from their ride are posted in the photo album. We're hoping the rain storm predicted for later this week turns to snow, or our trails could be in jeopardy.

Saturday, December 18, 2010. It was 15 degrees and overcast this morning. We had a date to pick up Jesse and meet Bob and his buds at Mountain Springs Motel. From there we needed to head back to to meet the Groomer Boys to deal with some trees and branches that became a problem after the heavy snow and winds last weekend. Jesse, Dylan, and I met up with the group of 4 Groomer Boys, along with Bob, Lieutenant Dan, and Brian. We moved along the trail with four pole saws and quickly cut back all of the problem trees in a 2 mile stretch of Jack Pine Rd.

 

With the tree work out of the way, we had two stops to make picking up raffle calendar stubs and cash. We left Chute Pond via Bonita Creek, and were happy to see that the big dark spot we saw last night was bare ice- not open water. There was a messy, mucky area at the exit point, so we skirted to the right of it and headed off the lake. This little trail to the grade has several large logs frozen in place on the ground- we needed to go very slow to navigate over and around them. We headed north on 7N RR grade. The trail was freshly groomed and smooth all the way to Lakewood. There were numerous sizable stretches of gravelly trail along the way- areas where the wind blew the snow away, and there was nothing left to groom. Overall, the grade was in decent shape.

 

We stopped at Lakewood Motor Sports, where Greg & Patti were having a holiday sale. They had sold 10 of our CPSC raffle calendars, and we stopped in to pick up the cash and stubs. From there we headed back south down the grade and turned west onto the small trail towards Maiden Lake. We turned left onto the trail past Winslow Lake and kept heading south. We re-entered Chute Pond trails and headed through the tornado zone. This area was pretty bare from the wind, and in a little worse shape than the rest of the trail, which we graded in fair condition from Lakewood south to 4 Corners, then south to Pine Grove. We stopped in to see Rocky at Pine Grove, who had also sold 10 of the raffle calendars for us. We truly appreciate the support these two business members show to our club by selling the raffle calendars.

 

From Pine Grove we headed east on the tunnel trail, which was freshly groomed and in good condition. As we continued east onto 2112, someone had plowed the road from the end of the tunnel to McComb Lake Rd. You have to wonder what goes through some peoples’ heads some times. After McComb Lake Rd, the trail was fine again as we headed east back to Chute Pond. We rode 41 miles this afternoon.

 

Many of the trails were groomed since yesterday and sled traffic is very light, so most trails were still in decent shape when we rode them. As I described yesterday, there is very little base on the trails, so any amount of sled traffic will tear the trails up pretty quick. Some areas that were groomed again resulted in more rocks and gravel popping up through the snow. We need more snow or some warmer weather to settle this snow down and create a base. Until then, fair “early season conditions” is what we have.

 

I’ll ride over to Doze Inn for dinner tonight and a little more this weekend, but it’s pretty much a bumpy wrestling match with my sled to keep it on the trails. Right now I’m typing this report instead of riding- what does that tell you? I hope it snows more soon.

 

The Groomer Boys report that the Pipeline trail is ok to ride- they pushed snow onto the plowed road and although it is not great, it is rideable.

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. Ride safe- ride sober.

 

See you on the trails.  

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

Chute Pond trails opened on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 following a 12-14" snowfall as a result of a blizzard the previous weekend. Langlade and Forest County trails remain closed at this time, but the rest of the neighboring trail systems are open. Since we both live in Milwaukee, we couldn't wait until Friday- time to ride!

 

Friday, December 17, 2010. We got up to the Pond around 5:00 pm- we saw only one snowmobiler in Cecil on our way up. We were anxious to enjoy the 12-14” of fresh snow that caused us so much pain going home last Sunday. We unpacked quickly and Dylan ran over to Bear’s to pick up his sled- Bear had some work done on Dylan’s clutch.

 

We invited Bear to go along for a ride, so we topped off our tanks and headed out onto the lake. We got off the Pond in snag bay and caught the 18E trail. The trail was snow covered, soft, and powdery as we headed east across Hwy 32 and ended up east of the Junction. We headed east to Jack Pine Rd, which we were told needed some brushing since the heavy snow and winds last week. We’ll meet the groomer boys there Saturday morning to help trim the trees back.

 

We headed east and north on Jack Pine, which was all rutted up by some inconsiderate person in a four wheel drive truck. It was very rough because of those ruts all the way to the pipeline, which is a shame, because this is a really nice section of trail. We headed north on the pipeline, which was in fair shape, until we hit what looked like a plowed field- it was where the groomer had broken through and then re-froze. Soon after that we were turned east on a detour that took us to several miles of plowed dirt roads (I think it was Riverview Rd), with no snow to ride on. We scratched and clawed our way to the Iron Snowshoe’s “F” trail, which thankfully had snow on it.

 

We were trying to get to Crooked Lake, but missed the turn somehow (we were quite distraught after that ride on the dirt) and ended up on our way to Lakewood. We headed into the Paul Bunyan trails, which were listed on the website as in good to very good condition. Make no mistake- there are no trails around here right now in good to very good condition. All trails are in fair “early season riding condition” AT BEST! We wound our way west to the Pour Haus in Lakewood, where we had a bite to eat, some smart talk, and a few beverages with Ed.

 

We had planned to go west and south towards Pine Grove, but the ride had taken its toll on us. We were tired and a little disappointed in the trail conditions, so we headed south on the RR grade (7S). The RR grade was actually the best trail we rode today, and was made even better because it was freshly groomed for the majority of the way home. We topped off our tanks in Mountain and headed back to the Pond. We came back onto the lake on Bonita Creek, which was a little scary in the dark. It looked like there was some open water along shore and to our right as we wound through the stump field to get back home. We’ll have to check that out in the daylight.

 

We rode 65 miles today and we were very happy to be riding again, but realize these are “early season riding conditions”. In addition to what I’ve described above, there were many ruts and gullies that were not filled in with snow yet. The powdery snow covers the ground but is not a good trail base- the trails are soft and rutty. There are many thin spots, with plenty of bare spots as well. In the hilly areas, there were some slushy areas and also some areas frozen over and icy. Some trail signs seemed to be missing, which also complicated our ride.

 

Summary- do not ride the Pipeline trail. Period. That area and the detour need to be addressed. All three trail systems we rode today were in fair “early season riding condition”. No better, no worse. Ride with extra caution. Please note- the Langlade and trails are not open yet, so make your riding plans accordingly- avoid a ticket and do not ride on closed trails. We will ride again Saturday, but we will pick and choose more carefully where we go. Ride safe- ride sober. See you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

dguendert@tds.net

We went ice fishing on Chute Pond on November 27th. There's about 2-3" of solid ice, and the cold weather is making more. Bring on the cold and snow!

Chute Pond trails will officially close for the season on Monday, March 8th at 7:00 am. We've had a great season of riding, but it's always sad to see it come to an end. Time to summerize the sleds and look forward to next year. From our friend Ray over in Silver Cliff, check the "Snowmobiling Websites" for a funny clip of the dreaded "Fat Lady" singing. I guess our season is really over.

Have a great summer.

Dan & Dylan

Saturday, February 27, 2010. Weather was 31 degrees and sunny at 9:00 am

 

Mark & Barb, Adam & Marie, Leonard and I met at Parkside BP for our Club Ride. The RR grade was again freshly groomed and in really nice shape as we headed north to Lakewood. We cut east on the Paul Bunyan trail just south of town and wound our way into the woods. This trail was also freshly groomed and in very nice condition as we headed east and north. It got a little snirty as we went past the Ski Hill, but improved again as we headed north through the airport and into Red Arrow Townsend trails. The trails were firm and smooth as we headed onto the Wildwood trail, up the mountain to the Scenic Overlook, where we stopped for a trail break and a photo opportunity.

 

We crossed Hwy 32 and continued west. The trails were in good shape, but were not the same “perfectly groomed” Red Arrow trails we have gotten spoiled with this year. We turned south on the Bob Kroll Memorial trail, and worked our way down to Animal’s Bear Trail, where we made a pit stop. Jeff & Jean and Bear joined up with us there, and after a short break we headed south into Chute Pond trails. The tornado zone just south of Animal’s was in really bad shape- very big bare spots, with the sun burning down, melting the snow and there was actually water running down the hills like little rivers. We scratched and clawed our way through this area and got back into the woods, where things got much better again. We headed south to 4 Corners, then to the “Big Y” intersection, where the Trailside Cookout was being held.

 

We stopped at the cookout, along with several hundred others who had stopped throughout the day. There were burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks, hot chocolate, popcorn, a bonfire, prizes, and the Groomer Boys had brought their equipment out and had it on display. It was a really great turnout, and a nice job by Ken, who chaired the event, along with the other volunteers from the club. Photos are available on the club website- calendar of events page.

 

Mark & Barb stayed at the cookout, Jeff & Jean headed back to the cabin, Dylan, Collin, and Bear joined our ride as we headed south past Pine Grove and into the tunnel. The hilly trail north of Hwy W was in pretty rough shape with lots of bare spots, but the tunnel and 2112 were in good shape as we cruised to the RR grade and turned south on 7S. This was also in good shape with only a few minor bare spots to go around as we headed down to AA Bar in Breed. We made a pit stop there, before doubling back north to 2112. We headed east on 2112, which still had decent snow along the edge, except for the final leg nearest to Hwy 32. We went across and ditched to Rhode’s Junction to gas up.

 

We then headed into the woods on the trail out the back, and worked our way to 18E towards Crooked Lake. This trail was not nearly in as good of shape as yesterday- there were many bare spots, and the going was pretty rough for most of the way to Randall’s Resort in Crooked Lake. We stopped in for a visit with Tim & Jackie, and played the “fan game”, which Adam won. After checking our itinerary and realizing we were behind a bit, we saddled back up and headed north across the lake to the “F” trail. This trail, too, was not as nice as yesterday, but not too bad as we worked our way north to the Paul Bunyan trails. These trails were in good shape, although everything was getting soft and mushy from the sun and heavy traffic. In spite of the conditions, the trails up to Waubee Lake were some of the best of the day, but once we passed there, they got snirty and a little rough as we headed back into Lakewood.

 

We made a pit stop at Ed & Betsy’s Pour Haus before heading down the RR grade 7S to Mulligan’s Sports Bar & Grill for dinner. We met up with a really big group of people, and we took up a good portion of the dining room. Don & Pam served up some really good food and drinks, and we all were very happy campers when we got ready to go. A part of the group headed back down the RR grade, some left in cars and trucks, and our group headed south on the RR grade to Halfway Bar, where we cut across Hwy 32 and took the Mountain Lakes trail south. Once the sun had gone down, the trails began to firm up a little, and these trails were in decent shape as we wound our way through the woods south to 4 Corners. We headed to the “Big Y”, hung a right, and headed south to our final destination on our itinerary- Pine Grove Bar & Grill. We visited with Rocky & Sally for a while, and were joined a little later by Trapper, Jerry, and Rob. After all the smart talk we could handle, we headed back to the Pond on the tunnel and 2112. These trails were firm and flat and in nice shape with very few bare spots.

 

We rode 143 miles today on some trails that were very nice, and some trails that may be “done for the season”. Even a big dump of snow may not rescue those trails by Animal’s, or the 18 to Crooked Lake. We’ll have to wait and see. We had a great ride, though, with the Trailside Cookout being the highlight of the day. Here’s how we graded the trails we rode:

 

Chute Pond trails- poor to fair condition. Growing number of nasty bare spots.

Paul Bunyan trails- fair to very good condition. Very snirty near town.

Red Arrow Townsend trails- good to very good condition. Still the best in the area.

 

As I type this report, its 30 degrees and is snowing out- there’s two inches of accumulation so far. Let’s hope we get a nice big dump of snow and some colder, cloudy weather to help extend the riding season. Doesn't look good for this week, though. My season is pretty much over. Dylan will be up next week, but I will not. Unless I get to ride on March 12^th, I’ll have to settle for the 2240 miles I rode this year. In spite of limited snow and some funky weather, overall it’s been a great year. We’ve ridden some really great trails with some really nice people, and it’s been a blast- thanks for riding with us!

 

Dan & Dylan

 

Friday, February 26, 2010. Weather was 36 degrees and sunny, turning cooler, windy, and party cloudy.

 

We got a really good start leaving town today, and I was super stoked to ride the fresh snow on my last riding weekend of the year. Dylan will be up next weekend, but this will be it for me. We hopped on our sleds a little after 1:00 pm and went off the lake on Bonita Creek. We could see where the lakeshore is starting to erode, and it looks black and watery right where we drive off. We had a mission- tack up small signs along the trail advertising the Trailside Cookout. We drove up the 7N RR grade to Mountain, stopping along the way to snap a few photos, and tacking up signs along the way. We made it all the way to where the 18W trail crosses Hwy 32, then we doubled back south down to 2112. The RR grade and 2112 were all freshly groomed and in good shape. There are some bare spots you need to go around, but all in all these trails are in nice shape.

 

We cut in on the trail leading to Doze Inn, where we stopped and met up with Bear, Matt, and Brenda. After telling Larry “absolutely no- you can’t ride with us today”, we saddled up and headed back south to 2112. We cut across and ditched back to the trail, stopping at Rhode’s Junction to gas up. We took the trail out the back, and then turned onto the 18E trail to Crooked Lake. We could see that as we went east, the snowfall had been heavier, which these trails really needed. They were freshly groomed and in good condition- a few bare spots, but much better than last week. We did, however, learn first hand that “icy corners- use extra caution” means just that. Dylan was leading the group, and he slid through an icy turn and crashed into a tree. Luckily, he was ok, and his sled was only banged up a little bit. He said “Maybe I should slow down a little”, and we all agreed. Let’s watch those icy turns!

 

We continued on the 18E trail, making a pit stop at Randall’s Resort in Crooked Lake. We had a nice visit with Tim & Jackie, and then headed out across the lake, onto the Iron Snowshoe’s “F” trail. This trail had gotten a nice dumping of fresh snow, was freshly groomed and in really nice shape as we headed north into the Paul Bunyan trails. These, too had plenty of fresh snow, and we had some of the best trails of the day as we rode north to Lakewood. We continued north and west past the Ski Hill, airport, and into Townsend Red Arrow trails. We rode the Wildwood Trail up and over the mountain, stopping to take a group photo with the sunset in the background.

 

We crossed Hwy 32 and headed west, turning south on the Bob Kroll Memorial trail. The Red Arrow trails were all in very good shape, with very few scars of any kind, as we headed south. Just as we were deciding which way to turn next, Dylan pulled over and said he just blew his spring. Sure enough, one spring had let loose, and his sled was now a “low rider”. Oddly enough, he had just replaced those springs before this season. We limped on down to Animal’s Bear Trail, where we assessed the damage. He decided not to ride it home, so I stayed with Animal and had a few, while the rest of the group rode home through the tornado zone, past Pine Grove- sorry Rocky and Sally- we had planned to stop in- down the tunnel to 2112 and back to the Pond. The tornado zone has those same nasty bare spots, but you can get around most of them, and then the trails get much better as you get back into the woods. The tunnel and 2112 are in good shape all the way back to the RR grade.

 

While we were at Animal’s planning our next move, a rider was getting ready to leave. He asked about the trails and which way we came from. I didn’t recognize him, but he said “You’re the internet guys- I recognize your mugs!” I wish I would have asked his name- he has a place down by Tar Dam or Lower Dam.

 

It was kind of a bittersweet day today. We rode a total of 105 miles (83 miles with the group) today on some really great trails on one of the last days of February. One crash and one breakdown kind of put a little damper on things. But when we got back to the Pond, as I was grilling some burgers for dinner, I heard the familiar sound of the “Bullpen Puma” warming up and coming out of the garage. All is well once again- we can still ride again tomorrow.

 

Here are the grades for the trails we rode today:

 

Chute Pond trails- fair to good condition. Some bare spots and icy turns.

Iron Snowshoe trails- fair to good condition. Some bare spots and icy turns.

Paul Bunyan trails- fair to very good condition. Some icy turns.

Red Arrow trails- very good condition. Some icy turns.

 

Saturday we have the Trailside Cookout at the “Big Y” intersection #46. Come on out to the bonfire for a burger and soft drinks. We have raffles and prizes- bring your AWSC card and enter a special drawing. Club membership forms will also be available. Hope to see you either there, or at the Club Ride, which will start 9:30 am at Parkside BP in Mountain.

 

Ride safe- see you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

Saturday, February 20, 2010. Weather was 41 degrees and cloudy at 3:30 pm

 

After the slalom races, we gathered at Doze Inn for a ride. Larry, Trapper, Rob, Anna, Bob, Eric, Margi, Carli, Dylan, and I headed off the lake at and headed south on 7S RR grade. We turned west on 2112 and headed into the tunnel. These trails had adequate snow, and were in good shape as we passed Pine Grove. We crossed Hwy W and went into the woods. The trail through the woods had some bare spots and was a little rough, but still ok as we went up and over the hill and back down onto the road. The trail from here all the way to Boulder Lake Lodge was in good shape- plenty of snow and still pretty smooth.

 

We made a pit stop at Boulder Lake Lodge, and then resumed our journey. We headed west on the 18W trail to the Grudgeville Pub in Langlade, where we made a pit stop. The Grudgeville Grass Band was just warming up, and part of the group stayed to listen to the music, while Margi, Carli, Dylan & I continued on down the trail. It had started to snow, and was actually snowing pretty good when we climbed back onto our sleds. We got gas at Langlade, then doubled back and took the short loop on the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers’ trail through the woods. The wooded trail had plenty of snow, but was pretty choppy from a day’s worth of riders. We were still very happy to have snow to ride on, though, as we made our way north, then east back into Red Arrow Townsend trails. These trails were flat and smooth as we headed past Animal’s Bear Trail back into Chute Pond trails.

 

Surprisingly, the tornado zone south of Animal’s was not in much worse shape than when we rode through there on Thursday. There are some nasty bare spots you need to go around, but it is still passable, and improves greatly once you get back into the woods. We headed south to 4 Corners, then to the “Big Y”, then back past Pine Grove to the tunnel. We cruised down to 2112, and back home to the Pond.

 

We rode 59 miles today. It was probably Carli’s first long ride- she did great, and we were happy to have her join our trip.

 

Here is how we graded the trails we rode today:

 

Chute Pond trails- fair to good condition

Boulder Lake Sno-Goer’s trails- good condition

Red Arrow Townsend trails- very good to excellent condition

 

The snow pretty much stopped before we got back to Chute Pond (go figure!). Let’s hope for a couple more dumps of fresh snow to help extend our season a few more weeks.

 

Ride safe- watch for deer on the trails at all times of the day and night.

 

See you on the trails,

 

Dan & Dylan

Friday, February 19, 2010. Weather was 15 degrees and clear at 7:00 am

 

We had a little trouble getting my ZR600 started again today. It took a few more pulls than it should have, but we got it going and it ran fine all day. We left the lake on at 7:00 am and headed south on 7S RR grade. After the warm yesterday, the trail was pretty hard, with barely enough loose snow for the slides. The story was the same as we turned west on 2112. I smelled Dylan’s slides burning a little, but once we hit the tunnel, it got better. The trails were groomed, flat and hard as we made our way past Pine Grove. We headed north across Hwy W into the woods, and this trail had some bare spots but was reasonably flat. We came down onto the road and headed for the “Big Y”, where we went left to 4 Corners. These trails are in really nice shape, as was the 18W trail we took to .

 

We stopped before heading into Boulder Lake Sno-Goers’ trails. Dylan’s hands just couldn’t get warm- not sure if his sled’s handlebar warmers were working correctly, so he put a pair of hand warmers inside his gloves. We went west into , through the short section of logging. I smelled melting slides off and on for a few minutes until the logging road turned left off of the trail. After that it was smooth sailing as we followed the 18W corridor into Langlade. We saw many deer along the way- keep an eye out this time of year. We crossed that dreaded bridge and kept going west. Trails were in very nice shape, all freshly groomed, and we turned north onto the Wolf River Trail (the new Lily RR grade). This trail was awesome- lots of snow, groomed to perfection, as we cruised up to Lily. We got off the RR grade and headed west on the 16W trail to the Shell station in Pickerel, where we arrived just before 9:00 am. We gassed up and continued to follow the 16 W trail, which was also freshly groomed and in great shape.

 

We worked our way west and north into Hodag trails, past Elcho and on perfectly groomed trails, then stopped at a gas station in to pick up a map and get a snack. Just south of Elcho, Dylan came within a few feet of hitting a deer on the trail- he just missed it. Keep your eyes peeled- they’re everywhere. We saw our first other sleds of the day at the gas station, at about 10:30 am. We followed the 13N trail from up to the area. All trails were freshly groomed and in great shape. We made a stop just south of and chose our route into town. We made a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up heading south out of town on the 12 trail. We stopped at Wonder’s Pit Stop for lunch just after noon. We had fantastic half pound cheeseburgers and fries and picked up a trail map and tried to figure out where we went wrong.

 

After lunch we turned back north on the 12 trail back towards , determined to correct our course. We must have made another wrong turn, because we ended up back at the first stop we made before- just south of town. We decided to take the western route into town on the 13 trail, which worked out just fine. We made our way into town and gassed up at the Shell station. From there we cut out onto and checked our map. We followed several very well marked lake routes over to , where we stopped at Jay’s place, which is the current home of our Fall Classic fishing trip. Jay wasn’t up this weekend, but I showed Dylan around and we took a few pictures before making our way off the chain of lakes on the TL8 trail. We then went south on the 11S trail, and I was surprised that the Three Lakes trail system went all the way to Hiles, where the 100 Miler takes over.

 

Some of the trails through the woods were a little rough, some more than a little, but we saw very few sleds as we worked our way south through Argonne, ending up at Johnny’s Resort on . We made a short pit stop there, and decided to take the RR grade from Laona south to Townsend. The grade was in surprisingly good shape, and we made good time on this leg of our journey. We turned west past Kathy’s Valley Inn and then headed south on the Bob Kroll Memorial trail. Red Arrow Townsend’s trails were excellent as usual as we cruised south past Animal’s Bear Trail and back into Chute Pond trails. The tornado zone south of Animal’s is getting rougher, with growing bare spots, but we made it through and into the woods, where the trails are still very nice. We headed south at 4 Corners, past the “Big Y”, and stopped in for a visit with Rocky and Sally at Pine Grove Bar & Grill.

 

We talked snowmobiling for a while with some other sledders from , and then hit the trail south to the tunnel and 2112. These trails are getting thin, but are still in decent shape. We headed south on 7S RR grade, and cruised down to AA Bar in Breed. The grade was in surprisingly good shape from 2112 to Breed. I needed to stop in and pay Mitch for the “phone order drinks” I bought for Larry and his crew last week, so I took care of that debt, and from there we headed home on the RR grade.

 

We planned for our day trip today to take about 12 hours. We left at 7:00 am, which was a great idea because there was no traffic on the trails until almost noon. We rode 250 miles today on some really great trails. The only wrong turns we made were our own fault for not paying too close attention- the trails were well marked for the most part. We got to Kitty’s Grill and Bar on Chute Pond for our fish fry a little after 7:00 pm. We had a great day on the trails, and can’t wait to get out there and do it again. The amount of deer we saw yesterday and today, at all times of the day, was incredible- watch out for those deer. Dylan was really lucky he didn’t clobber that one.

 

Here’s how we graded the trails we rode today:

 

Chute Pond trails- fair to good

Boulder Lake Sno-Goers’ trails- good to very good

Lily Snow Birds’ trails- good to very good

Other trails- not all were identified by club name- good to very good

Hodag- Rhinelander trails- good to very good

Three Lakes trails- good to very good, some excellent. Some a little worse near town.

100 Mile Snow Safari trails- fair to very good

Townsend Red Arrow trails- very good to excellent

 

The season is winding down. Feel the heat and power of the sun- it will be our enemy from here on out. We need a nice dumping of snow to help extend the season, at least around Chute Pond. The time to ride is now- ride ‘em or put ‘em away!

 

See photos from today's ride on the photo album page.

 

Ride sober, ride safe. See you on the trails.

 

Dan & Dylan

Thursday, February 18, 2010. Weather was 36 degrees and sunny at 1:15pm

 

We got a nice early start today, and got unpacked and ready to ride. The sun felt very warm- almost like we were into March already. We took off from Bonita Creek and headed north on 7N RR grade. We cut into the woods on the small connector trail to 2112. The connector trail had a few bare spots and rocks showing, but we were able to dodge most of them. We got to 2112 and headed west. The trail was smooth, with plenty of loose snow on top for lubrication. We cruised into the tunnel, and it was a little wash-boardy, but a decent ride past Pine Grove.

 

We crossed Hwy W and went into the woods. This section of trail had a few bare spots, but was groomed reasonably flat. We rode up and over the wooded section and hit the road. The road section leading to the “Big Y” intersection was very well groomed. We stopped and put an “Intersection 46” sign up at the Y, and we had a nice ride from there to 4 Corners. We took a left onto 18W towards Boulder Lake. We stopped and put up an “Intersection 44” sign at the turn, then made our way west into Boulder Lake Sno-Goers’ trails. There was some logging activity on the first leg of this trail. The trucks had smoothed out and crushed down the loose snow, so we dodged and weaved along the edge of the trail to try to kick up some loose snow. The logging road went left just before the tornado zone, and the trail was back to normal.

 

We made the big loop past Nine Mile Resort, and all of the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers’ trails were in great shape- not a brown spot to be found. We enjoyed our ride through Langlade County , then came back into Red Arrow Townsend trails, which were just as nice as we headed south to Animal’s Bear Trail. We made a pit stop and visited with Mike for a bit before heading south back into Chute Pond trails. There were quite a few bare spots in the tornado zone, but the trails went back to very nice once we went back into the woods. We made a left at 4 Corners and headed north towards Halfway Bar. There were a few rocks and bare spots along the way, but it was still a nice ride.

 

We crossed Hwy 32 at Halfway Bar and cut east on The Paul Bunyan trail towards Crooked Lake. This trail was not groomed and very rough. This is the second time in a month that we’ve found this trail in this rough shape- you gotta wonder- why wasn’t it groomed? We stopped for a breather at the intersection of Tar Dam and Sullivan Springs, then took a left and continued down the trail. This section was groomed and in fairly nice shape as we headed north, then east towards Crooked Lake. The trails here were in great shape and we cruised smoothly along to the turn south into Iron Snowshoe trails.

This is the Iron Snowshoe’s “F” trail that we have ridden many times before- it’s the only way into Crooked Lake from the northwest. Today it was in very poor condition- very brown and gritty with many bare spots. We tried to find any white snow that we could along the edge of the trail, and were very thankful to finally reach Crooked Lake. We cut across the lake and stopped in for a visit with Tim at Randall’s Resort. Tim said his thermometer hit 41 degrees yesterday, which explains why there was no snow on our porch when we got here today.

After exchanging some smart talk with Tim, we headed back on the 18W trail through the woods. This is a pretty hilly trail, and it had pretty many bare and brown spots all the way back. There were lots of nice stretches, but it was hard not to downgrade the overall trails because of this section. We got gas at Rhode’s Junction, then ditched to Anderson Lake. We cut through Dan & Jenni’s yard and got onto 2112. We turned onto the trail to Doze Inn, which was in decent but not great shape as we made our way back onto the lake. We checked out the snow that was left on the ice, and decided we would be able to hold the slalom races on Saturday.

 

We rode across the lake and back home. The lake is pretty slippery and bare out in the open, so be careful out there. We rode 96 miles today on some really nice trails, but also on some that made us think we were in the second week of March. Based on the trails we rode, here is how we graded them today:

Chute Pond trails- western trails- fair to good, eastern trails, poor to fair

Boulder Lake Snow-Goers’ trails- good to very good

Red Arrow Townsend trails- very good to excellent

Paul Bunyan trails- poor to very good

 

Check the photos for some trail pics from today.

On Friday we plan to ride from Chute Pond to Three Lakes and back. Let’s hope the trails are just like some of the better ones we rode today.

 

The season is winding down. You never know when your last ride might be, so get out there and enjoy the trails before they’re gone.

 

See you on the trails- ride sober, ride safe.

 

Dan & Dylan

Friday, February 12, 2010. We met up with our neighbors George, Geoff, and Caryn and hit the trails at about 3:15. It was about 25 degrees out as we left the lake on and headed up the 7N RR grade. We stopped for gas at Parkside, then headed north to the 18W trail. The grade was in great shape, and the 18W trail through t the woods was decent. I was surprised that it was a little choppy in spots as we headed west to 4 Corners.

We continued on the 18W to , where we entered the Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails. These trails had also had seen some riders, but were still in nice enough shape as we made the big loop past Nine Mile Resort. We came back east and took the Red Arrow Bob Kroll trail north along the western edge of . This trail was fabulous, as was the trail leading past Kathy's Valley Inn. We crossed Hwy 32 and headed north until we cut east onto the Wilderness Trail.

The smooth sailing continued as we cruised up and over the "mountain" and headed south into Paul Bunyan trails. These trails were a little rough and worn, but still a nice ride as we rode past the Ski Hill bar and the airport. We cut back into and gassed up at the BP. We headed south on the RR grade, then cut across Hwy 32 onto the trail.
 
We headed south towards Halfway Bar, then south back into Chute Pond trails. These trails were all in nice shape, even though they were getting a little thin- that 2" of snow we got this week could only help so much. We continued south to 4 Corners, past Pine Grove into the tunnel trail, then 2112 back to the Pond. The home stretch was in good shape, and a nice ride. We rode 104 miles today, and here's how we graded the trails we rode:
Chute Pond trails- good to very good
Boulder Lake Sno-Goers trails- good to very good
Red Arrow Townsend trails- very good to excellent
Paul Bunyan trails- good 

Saturday, February 13, 2010 we did not ride. We helped out at the Chute Pond Ice Drags.

Sunday, February 14, 2010. It was 14 degrees at 9:00 am when we headed out on . We headed up to , and followed the 18E trail to Hwy 32. This trail is very thin and snirty in many areas- fair condition at best. We crossed the Hwy and followed the 18E trail all the way to , and the trail through the woods was mostly in good shape. We really need more snow on that eastern half of the trail system- that will help those trails a lot.

From we took the Iron Snowshoe "F" trail north. This trail was brown and very bumpy- it deserved the "F" that it was named. We have not had really good luck with this trail in the past- one time this year it did surprise us and was really nice. But not this time. We made our way north to where the Paul Bunyan trails take over, and what a difference we found. The trail immediately turned white and smooth, and we cruised north and west to . This section of trail was in excellent shape. We continued north to the Red Arrow trails, which were fabulous as usual, and headed up and over the "mountain" on the Wilderness trail.

We were running short on time, so we cruised the RR grade down to Mountain where we gassed up at Parkside BP before heading home on the grade. The grade from Townsend to Chute Pond was all groomed and in nice shape. Here's how we graded the trails we rode today:
Chute Pond trails- fair to good
Iron Snowshoe trails- poor
Paul Bunyan trails- very good to excellent
Red Arrow trails- very good to excellent

Ride safe- see you on the trails.

Dan & Dylan

A view of a Chute Pond trail as it passes by Pine Grove Bar & Grill, just south of Hwy W, west of Mountain.

A view looking out the door of Pine Grove Bar & Grill on Hwy W, west of Mountain.

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