Bayfield/Valhalla

[woodside]

Conditions up here are very good. We rode today and pushed 8-9" of powder on the FR's and there is up to a 18" solid base. Never felt a bump all day.
The Valhalla groomer was working TR51 then TR1 east towards TR31N for the first time. TR31N was groomed yesterday. Saw just three sleds and then three sleds at the PubNGrub.
We spend 80% of our time on the FR's.

TR31N south of Star Route.has logging for about a 2 mile stretch but passable.

We will be riding Friday-Sunday with cottage guests. www.woodsidecottages.com

Come up and join us. You won't be sorry.

gary

 

[woodside]

Great riding today! We broke trail on every FR we rode and the few trails we were on were freshly groomed. The eight of us saw zero sleds all day and there were only 5-6 at the PubNGrub. No pics as my camera was being naughty. See my above post and you will get the idea.
Gary

 

[woodside]

Another very good day of riding. Saw a few more sleds today (maybe 10) but only on the groomed trails. Probably 30-40 sleds at the PubNGrub this afternoon. TR19, 40 and parts of TR's 51 and 31N were excellent. Expect some plowed sections on TR19 west of Cty C, 31N and a couple hundred yards on TR1 east of Henken Rd.

We spent about 80% of our ride on FR's with my wife and three other couples. Lots of loose snow to ride in and found more FR's where we broke trail.
Had so much fun I forgot to take pics but here are a couple on a remote logging road.

www.woodsidecottages.com

 

[boostedblack99]

We had the pleasure of joining Gary and Jackie on Saturday along with Jonathan and Laura and Nick and Ashley. We had such a great time, probably one of the best trips to date. Woodside was remarkable, the Forest roads we were on were fantastic. First time in this area and Gary made it a great ride. Can't recommend this are enough. They have a great base right now and added snow will really help things along.

We put on another 50 miles this morning..155 for the weekend and I think we saw less than 20 sleds the whole weekend actually riding. Hard to believe.

Thanks for a great weekend!
Jordan and Courtney

 

[candyman]

������ Laura and I are still smiling from spending a great day riding with our awesome guests and new friends Jordan,Courtney, Nick and Ashley. Glad we could help break in that new Polaris, Jordan. Be sure to post some pics of your Wyoming trip so the rest of us can drool. A big thank you to Gary and Jackie for being wonderful guides! Gary, you never cease to amaze us with your knowledge of the area. I hope to have a GPS like yours someday!�� We look forward to seeing and riding with all of you again soon!!!
Jonathan and Laura

 

[woodside]

One of the great things about riding is making new friends. We are so lucky! Thanks again you guys for joining us and staying at Woodside Cottages www.woodsidecottages.com . Laura and Jonathan are wonderful hosts and the riding, well..................just read the reports.

Until our next ride.
gary & jackie

 

[81indycenturion]

Does anybody have a recent Valhalla/Bayfield update?

 

[woodside]

Well, in spite of the crap we have all had the past week, we aren't totally done yet. Drove west of Bayfield today. Up to 6" of mushy snow pack which will become a solid base once it gets colder mid week. A couple inches of fresh snow will do wonders and maybe Tuesday into Wednesday and then some LES??????? Will ride Tuesday PM and do an update.

 

[Polariswoman21]

Any update on your ride on Tuesday?

 

[woodside]

We rode Tuesday and conditions were still soft but then hardened that evening. The groomer had been working the trails. We rode Friday and Saturday with guests from Woodside Cottages. There is a very solid 6" base that will be there to rebuild the trails once more snow falls. The base will be there for a long time. There was enough loose snow on top to keep the sleds from overheating and the hi-fax happy. My sled ran normal temp with the scratchers down and about 10-15 degrees higher with them up. Our group of seven had no issues.

Sled traffic was very, very light. The trails and FR's were smooth, hard and fast and there were some frozen ski ruts, mainly of the FR's, but no problem.

NWS is calling for 3"-5" tomorrow which should get the groomer going again. Hope to take a ride after that and check on conditions. http://forecast.weather.gov/showsig...dvisory&lat=46.8113&lon=-90.8899#.WI5vwfK3hOk

First and last pics were taken Tuesday and other two Saturday.

www.woodsidecottages.com

 

[woodside]

Have not been out since Saturday. The area got 2"-3" which is enough for the groomer to start work again. Trail conditions should be hard and fast and enough snow on top.

 

[Polariswoman21]

All groomers are out north and south of Iron River, it seem south got a bit more down near Barnes (They really needed it). Just a note - the Fireroads are rough and hard packed for the most part due to 4 wheelers and the rain and refreeze. Use extreme caution coming across Fireroads 694 & 697, someone decided to drive a pickup truck up the Fireroads and there is sits on 694 down a hill and around the corner! We were able to find some good to fair and yes poor riding from the 24-29th of January so excited to get out again this weekend any snow is an improvement and needed to keep the sleds cool.

 

[Polariswoman21]

Grooming is in full swing up in Bayfield County! Excited to get a great weekend in riding! Thank you to Randy, John and Scott for spending long hours in the groomer to get things back in shape north of 2! You guys ROCK!

 

[woodside]

We rode this afternoon and conditions were fair to very good. Still, hardly what I would call "normal" conditions for the first of February in Northern Bayfield County. But no complaints here!! None! We have a very solid base, no moguls and we are riding. There was 3-5" of fresh snow. The groomer will be able to work with that and we hope some wet and heavier snow will come Tuesday into Wednesday. Fresh wet snow will fill in areas that need it and add to the 5-7" solid base.

Only saw about 10 sleds today.

 

[etakk7]

Rode Saturday, trails were very good. Trail 4 south of the corridor to Delta was the worst of the day, but not terrible. Corridor was great, 18 in Bayfield/Douglas Counties, 27, 6, and 4 all the way out to the Brule River Riders warming shack was very good. Coming back next weekend, hoping the Tuesday snow materializes.

 

[polarisman_98]

Will be heading up for a ride Weds and Thurs this week. I know it depends on the snow we get Tuesday but as it stands now would we be ok if we parked in Solon Springs and rode up through Brule and IR and up into the Valhalla area? I'm guessing from the corridor north is fine but my biggest concern would be the trails between the lake in Solon Springs and Brule. Thanks

 

[woodside]

NWS forecast is for 1-3" to 2-4" in the Solon Springs area compared to 3-6" in the Bayfield Peninsula. So conditions should be better further north. The "fair" status of the trails in the Bayfield area is mainly sections where logging is and also some of the creek bottom areas. Otherwise the groomed trails were very good. Plan on taking a short ride either Tuesday pm or Wednesday morning west of Bayfield and towards Valhalla. Haven't been towards Iron River all Winter and did the Old Baldy loop Jan 27 which was fair.

 

[vmax1994]

Will be heading up for a ride Weds and Thurs this week. I know it depends on the snow we get Tuesday but as it stands now would we be ok if we parked in Solon Springs and rode up through Brule and IR and up into the Valhalla area? I'm guessing from the corridor north is fine but my biggest concern would be the trails between the lake in Solon Springs and Brule. Thanks

That is trail 27 from Solon to Brule. Post above says it is good. You can check on bruleriverriders.com - they usually post an update on Tuesdays.

 

[Polariswoman21]

We were up this past weekend and what a difference a week can make. The snow amounts seemed to be less that originally reported of 5-8 but with the warm sun I'm sure there was some settling. We went south to Barnes and Drummond on Friday it was a nice ride and glad to be able to go south. Anyway headed North on Saturday and we did take a few trails which were greatly improved, the groomers did a fantastic job! Thanks, Randy, John and Scott for getting north of 2 back into shape. We were able to get into Cornucopia as well has Herbster it is thin by the lake, we didn't try to get to Port Wing but I know others that did make it but the road riding was tough on the machines. We spent a majority of time on the Fireroads (100 miles or so) since the snow that they received was enough to level out some of the rough spots as well as fill in some ruts and tire tracks from wheelers. All in all it was a great weekend of riding with great friends, now doing the SNOW Dance and crossing my fingers that the system brings white gold to Bayfield County this week! Remember to stop and support the local business all around Bayfield from the Pub & Grub (try the black bean burger, my new favorite) as well as Little Nikki's, Woody's, Ino, Pine Creek, Tri-Lakes, Port Bar, Hobb's, The Spot (some of the best shrimp around),Trading Post (great pizza) and all of the other business around the area! If your up at Corney and you see a sign for falls 1/4 mile on the trail, pull over shut your sleds off and take a short walk it's so worth it!

 

[LoveMyDobe]

We also rode Sunday from IR up 31N to PubNGrub to Woodys in Herbster. We did ride trail1 to Port Wing, it wasn't bad, then back to Iron River on Flag Rd, that wasn't bad either. Snowing right now in Iron River, about 1 to 2 inches so far, 3 to 5 in the forecast. This weekend will be EPIC!