How did it go? Hopefully fantastic? I can't stand the wait!
Sounds great! What kind of miles? By the way the forecast looks, it's a good deal you went, it's all but over now.
Sounds like a very cool, but very demanding trip, Hoosier. I'm not sure I'd want to attempt 350 in one day, let alone 260. Too much for me.
An old aquaintence and I were going to do Canada a few years ago, and he was telling me about remote river crossings, where you have to water skip if rivers aren't frozen. I think he was talking March. Same area you rode.
When I heard about the water skipping out in the bush, I was pretty much out.
I'd agree with that. Abe has ridden up there a lot more than me. They rate the primary trails as closed, limited or open. If a trail requires water skipping and they can't find a detour, it will be marked as closed. If you have a newer sled and travel in a group and pay attention to the weather, I don't think it's too much to be concerned about. The distances between towns with food/gas/lodging are anywhere from 50 to 100 miles, so that's all you really have to be prepared to travel at a time. I wouldn't set out to ride that many in a day again, at least for those particular trails. They are more winding and hilly - there are definitely some areas that follow a rode and more like the grades in the UP, but we try to avoid those. To me the upsides are normally more snow, a lot less traffic, lots of scenery, no railroad grades and wildlife. The downsides are higher gas prices and if it's cold, it can be rough to be out that long at a time. Also a lot of the towns are smaller and fairly remote - a gas station, a restaurant, a hotel, but not much else. If we had more time, I'd rather average 150-200 a day and spend more time exploring and hitting the play areas.
With the friendly exchange rates, costs are not as great as they seem. Gas is the worst cost factor. I agree all the way on 150, 200 a day. Gives you time to wonder the loops, see some scenic places, and just enjoy. Early start, and the same for 250. One thing to keep in mind is, late season riding can create lodging problems due to fishing, and hockey tournaments/contests. I'm a cold weather guy, and can stand the sometimes 30/40 below, as long as the wind is reasonable. 35 below, and high winds are brutal! But the riding is always great! One last thing, if you know your going for sure, order a season trail permit before Nov 2nd for a good discount. It also helps you not being on a certain time frame. Things do happen!
The exchange rate helps a lot. Back in the great recession, it went down to about 1:1. I think that's when the system kind of fell apart up there (although the wipe out of some of the large industries was probably a bigger factor).