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Hoosier please report?
- Thread starter old abe
- Start date
How did it go? Hopefully fantastic? I can't stand the wait!
Yep, had a great trip. We’re just driving back now. I don’t think the rains were nearly what was forecasted so not much impact. A bit of ice in a few places. Rode from Searchmont out to Marathon and back. Got to Searchmont the first afternoon and stayed at halfway. Trails were mostly great given the conditions. Off trail wasn’t so good since there was crust on top of the deep snow. Definitely glad we went!
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.
Yeah, it's going to warm up again. At least it doesn't look like more rain.
So, Thursday we parked at Searchmont around 4, loaded up and headed to Halfway. It had rained that morning but not too bad apparently although the snow was a bit crusted over. It started to rain as we got close, and we ate dinner there and stayed the night, catching up with Sean a bit. That was about 90 miles. Friday we got a late start but drove out to Marathon. The rain turned to snow overnight so conditions were good except a bit icy the last 20 miles to Marathon. Halfway to Dubreville, skipping Wawa, is about 110 miles. We grabbed dinner there at the LOL and headed to Marathon through White River. That was about 150 miles, so about 260 for the day. That was a lot of fun with all the hills. Saturday we basically did it all in reverse. It was a long day - about 350 - but conditions were better as more snow fell in most places, which kind of cleaned up the icy spots from the rain.
We like to find play spots as we go and ride a bit off trail, but that didn't work out too well this trip. It was crusty on top but if your skis broke through, you were stuck and it was deep.
Not much traffic at all but we did see a lot of trucks/trailers parked at some of the parking lots along the way. Good trip but it would have been good to get there earlier on Thursday. For those trails, 700 is too many in that short of time. Would have been nice to spread it out a bit. We've enjoyed riding up there in March, just to lose some of the bitter cold.
C
Cirrus_Driver
Guest
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.
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.
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.
No water skipping on OFSC trails. If not safely frozen, trails will be closed, and not be open. In the bush however, your on your own so to speak. However we were told by a OFSC official in 2003 that it is considered illegal to cross any open water with a snowmobile. They have pretty strict laws, and that is not good as to disregard. Have had nothing but total enjoyment riding up there! If you get the opportunity to ride there, by all means take it!
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.
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!
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).
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).
Agree. We been lucky, the most of our trips had very friendly exchange rates. Over 7, to 10 days, it's a big difference!