I was out of town this weekend for our annual ride...we left friday, and the trails were amazing, all the way to sayner...from sayner through star lake, trails were pounded, snirty, sugar like snow (the moisture was pounded right out of it)SUPER HEAVY traffic with very large groups...as we headed further north the snow got deeper, and was better, except it was really rough from star lake to Lando, and up to watersmeet.
We had awesome riding in the U.P. with little traffic all weekend. (not much of a meltdown, and trails held up well)
We rode back to Tomahawk Monday, and found the trails had deteriorated BADLY in some spots (especially south of Lando)...Eagle River was ICY, Snirty, and rough, Three Lakes was the same. The snow on the trails was very hard, and icy, and we were burning slides in some spots. The Hodag trails were horrid...back breaking ROUGH, and Lake Thompson was nasty rough, and slushy...scared the crap outta me. Looks like the snow melted down and as the temps dropped monday it re froze....very crusty..Also try and avoid any trails that run the sides of roads as they were bare (not much snow for cooling, and burn your slides up)
So...Here's how it looks...the lakes are ALL awful...slush in spots, and frozen, rough slush and ice in others...I would avoid all lakes at this point. Wooded trails are very good but getting icy in the corners, so slow down.
The 17 trail deteriorated BADLY over the weekend...from Highway S, down to Irma...BE VERY CAREFUL as huge waterholes have opened in the swampy, wet areas...Basically any town in the northwoods had slush and snirty snow at all intersections...once you get further out away from towns it improves.
With the colder weather I am hoping some of the wet sloppy areas will improve, but with the heavy traffic and warm weather we really need some snow to freshen up the trails, and smooth out some of the rough areas on lakes.
We had awesome riding in the U.P. with little traffic all weekend. (not much of a meltdown, and trails held up well)
We rode back to Tomahawk Monday, and found the trails had deteriorated BADLY in some spots (especially south of Lando)...Eagle River was ICY, Snirty, and rough, Three Lakes was the same. The snow on the trails was very hard, and icy, and we were burning slides in some spots. The Hodag trails were horrid...back breaking ROUGH, and Lake Thompson was nasty rough, and slushy...scared the crap outta me. Looks like the snow melted down and as the temps dropped monday it re froze....very crusty..Also try and avoid any trails that run the sides of roads as they were bare (not much snow for cooling, and burn your slides up)
So...Here's how it looks...the lakes are ALL awful...slush in spots, and frozen, rough slush and ice in others...I would avoid all lakes at this point. Wooded trails are very good but getting icy in the corners, so slow down.
The 17 trail deteriorated BADLY over the weekend...from Highway S, down to Irma...BE VERY CAREFUL as huge waterholes have opened in the swampy, wet areas...Basically any town in the northwoods had slush and snirty snow at all intersections...once you get further out away from towns it improves.
With the colder weather I am hoping some of the wet sloppy areas will improve, but with the heavy traffic and warm weather we really need some snow to freshen up the trails, and smooth out some of the rough areas on lakes.