2-19-17...Tomahawk update.

[Attak man]

Not much to say...conditions deteriorated rapidly Friday and saturday...and are currently toast...lakes are slushy...our base is completely gone, and the frost is even out of the ground.
It will take a miracle to get the trails back to rideable...I guess spring has sprung early again this year.
One big storm will of course make them rideable again...but there is no base so it won't last long.

This will be my last report unless something changes...as it stands right now I am shutdown...the trails from Tomahawk south to merrill are closed...and I doubt southern lincoln county or marathon County will reopen.
Trails from Tomahawk to the north will remain open...they don't close those trails until the end of March if there is snow...(they can close around the 15th if there is no snow)

Basically....mother nature kicked us in the balls this year...nothing we can do about it.

 

[old abe]

Thanks for all your reports, and efforts Attak man!!! It's a bummer!!!

 

[attack_06]

Look at the forecast there's hope

 

[Attak man]

There's always hope...and maybe we will get some snow and be able to ride some more...however...the swampy/weta reas opened this weekend, the lakes are a slushy mess (clubs are starting to pull markers)...and we lost our base...there is little to no frost in the ground right now...so any snow that we do get...will not last long...I never want to say never...but it's looking pretty grim at this point. For me personally...the county might not reopen the trails by my house...I am land locked, and currently don't have a trailer..so if they don't reopen, I don't ride.

We always get one or two big snow falls this time of the year and into march...and I hope we get it...I hate being a negative nelly....but it just doesn't look good.

 

[RVR RNR]

I agree. We were up and rode from our cabin (by Boomba) north on Fri.- all was good til late afternoon. Trails were gone on our way back. Loaded sled and went to Turtle lake Rd. parking area off "J" on Sat.- like a whole different world. Langlade was excellent, even late in the afternoon. I'm sure you could still have rode there on Sun. but, now all hope is lost.

 

[whitedust]

News on NBC TV Rhinelander said Vilas Clubs will discuss trail closing schedule later this week. More thaw and rain next couple of days but I hope the Clubs hang in there for a few more weeks. JD forecast sounds good later this week! Tape the fat lady's mouth shut too soon to end the show. imo

 

[skidoochic]

Just looking for your opinions - if Northern WI gets the 6-10" predicted Thurs-Sat - will the trails be OK to ride on Fri/Sat? I'm not super picky but I don't like slushy lakes so I will be trail riding only.

 

[kevinj]

Looking at the Presque Isle trail cam, it shows both low areas within view of the camera to have standing water. 6-10 inches of snow on soft ground and water will just create pockets of slush at every even minor low point in the trail. Even higher terrain trails have low spots. I saw a picture from downtown st germain with a lot of the tree line where the trails runs trough town flooded with water and that was before the rain. As much as I want to go up there this weekend, I am not riding black snow, snirt doesn't bother me much, but muddy snow is no fun.

 

[Attak man]

Temps will be the key...if it cools off and is below freezing at night...the clubs might be able to groom abit, and it might be ok for a couple days...but it will be sloppy in the usual wet areas, and the lakes are gonna be slushy..again...we have zero base, and no frost in the ground...so it won't last...my advice is to ride while you can...this may be it

 

[whitedust]

Just saw ABC graphic north of Wausau for 9-12" all the way to CH so we will have snow if storm track holds...JD graphic right on too. Imo hold tight when storm is over let clubs groom trails... night time lows of 7. Northwoods will have more snowmobiling soon winter not done yet!

 

[longtrack]

The Ground below the Trails I walked on Tuesday was frozen solid yet. I closed all the Gates for the Season on my Trail section north of Merrill. The Streams have washed the Ice Bridges out and I will never be able to cross them or the Swamps with a Groomer this Season. The Sun is to high to freeze them up again.

I think some areas up north may recover. I also think any Lake crossing is toast for the rest of the year, the North shore on Lakes and Ponds have open Water here south of Tomahawk.

 

[old abe]

The Ground below the Trails I walked on Tuesday was frozen solid yet. I closed all the Gates for the Season on my Trail section north of Merrill. The Streams have washed the Ice Bridges out and I will never be able to cross them or the Swamps with a Groomer this Season. The Sun is to high to freeze them up again.

I think some areas up north may recover. I also think any Lake crossing is toast for the rest of the year, the North shore on Lakes and Ponds have open Water here south of Tomahawk.

This is sad but very true as we never got a good deep freeze this year. Where we are located we're heading for the 6th straight day of record high temps by large amounts in temps, and days in a row. Same as January. A real bummer for sure.

 

[Attak man]

The Ground below the Trails I walked on Tuesday was frozen solid yet. I closed all the Gates for the Season on my Trail section north of Merrill. The Streams have washed the Ice Bridges out and I will never be able to cross them or the Swamps with a Groomer this Season. The Sun is to high to freeze them up again.

I think some areas up north may recover. I also think any Lake crossing is toast for the rest of the year, the North shore on Lakes and Ponds have open Water here south of Tomahawk.

Yep...the swamps just south of Tomahawk (notorious wet areas), are all opening up...it would take a week of below zero weather to refreeze those wet areas...and heavy wet snow...does not help the slushy areas on the lakes...if we get the snow...it will be rideable..but don't expect pristine conditions...it was just too warm for too long