Houghton area??

[ridindirty800]

I imagine if you where to ride down the trail 100 yards from the road crossings John took a picture of they would look the same. Typical spring riding, road crossings suck, getting in town sucks, but sitting at home waiting for perfect trails sucks as well.

 

[cloud_master]

I imagine if you where to ride down the trail 100 yards from the road crossings John took a picture of they would look the same. Typical spring riding, road crossings suck, getting in town sucks, but sitting at home waiting for perfect trails sucks as well.

Haha, true....... Made need to put some fresh slides on before this trip. I can see burning through some slides in a hurry with the look of those trails.

 

[ridindirty800]

Haha, true....... Made need to put some fresh slides on before this trip. I can see burning through some slides in a hurry with the look of those trails.

I looked at mine and almost did the same. If they get an inch or 2 a day I would imagine that would really help keep things lubed. If the groomers break up the ice on top that would also help.

 

[cloud_master]

I looked at mine and almost did the same. If they get an inch or 2 a day I would imagine that would really help keep things lubed. If the groomers break up the ice on top that would also help.

When are you heading up? Where are you basing out of and riding to?

We are leaving until Saturday at some point. Planning on riding Sunday thru Wednesday next week if possible.

 

[ridindirty800]

When are you heading up? Where are you basing out of and riding to?

We are leaving until Saturday at some point. Planning on riding Sunday thru Wednesday next week if possible.

Leaving tomorrow a.m headed to Parkview Lodge till Sunday. FYI just got off the phone with krupps resort was told they got about 8" since midnight and trails in the area will be nice. Talked to the Lady at Parkview and its been snowing all morning with inches of snow outside. Trails were groomed and the riders that have been in today said its nice. I will try to post some pics tomorrow night after riding.

 

[cloud_master]

Leaving tomorrow a.m headed to Parkview Lodge till Sunday. FYI just got off the phone with krupps resort was told they got about 8" since midnight and trails in the area will be nice. Talked to the Lady at Parkview and its been snowing all morning with inches of snow outside. Trails were groomed and the riders that have been in today said its nice. I will try to post some pics tomorrow night after riding.

That's good to hear. I don't think Houghton got that much though. Please do post tomorrow when you are out. It may decide if we are heading to Houghton, Munising, or staying home.

 

[ryanslyne]

Thank you to those of you that posted pics. I am not coming after looking at these. Sure there are good spots to ride but the bad mixed in might make it not worth it. I already played this game once this year in early February in Mercer going to St. G and back and ended up with a broke idler wheel, completed hifax, and completed carbides. Hopefully they get a little more snow to make it better. Maybe I will try again next week.

RS

 

[Sonsaditches]

Ok so it snowed to beat the band today. We stayed south of the bridge rode down to Greenland on 3. Took 13 back around, 13 is shot. All ice down trees, not fun at all. 3 is like the frickin autobahn! Freda loop is awesome! Going north tomorrow, should be much better getting thru Hancock with the snow. Going to east last night north of bridge was fine.

 

[122]

Thank you to those of you that posted pics. I am not coming after looking at these. Sure there are good spots to ride but the bad mixed in might make it not worth it. I already played this game once this year in early February in Mercer going to St. G and back and ended up with a broke idler wheel, completed hifax, and completed carbides. Hopefully they get a little more snow to make it better. Maybe I will try again next week.

RS

That's what we are doing, going up Sunday to Thursday before it warms up again.

 

[garyl62]

Ok so it snowed to beat the band today. We stayed south of the bridge rode down to Greenland on 3. Took 13 back around, 13 is shot. All ice down trees, not fun at all. 3 is like the frickin autobahn! Freda loop is awesome! Going north tomorrow, should be much better getting thru Hancock with the snow. Going to east last night north of bridge was fine.

Where are you staying? Just wondering where you got on 3 and starting heading south.

 

[Skidoome2]

There may be a few spots that would could be not good between Calumet and Mohawk, especially just south of Copper City, but from the road crossings, there is still plenty of snow between Calumet and Mohawk. Actually, once you are out of Hancock, then all is pretty good. I cannot comment on 133.

I drove down to Houghton yesterday and took some pics of things in and just outside of the towns.
Here is the trail through Hancock. Pretty much down to the road grime.
View attachment 56497
The trail heading through $Bay is snowcovered, so if it were me, I would go that way!

Here is on the Houghton side, along canal drive.
View attachment 56498
Old Mill Hill Rd Crossing just before you get into Houghton-
Looking east
View attachment 56499
Looking west
View attachment 56500

I did not take any other pics because I honestly thought that other than it being old and frozen snow, there was enough to ride. Getting some fresh now. Probably 2-3" new since last night, a couple more today and an inch or two every 24 hours the rest of this week and weekend.

I do not get into the "is it worth it" game. That is up to each individual. But thought these would help.

-John

Thanks John for the post. Really helps. I am a ditchbanger from IA so we are heading that way. These are rideable..

 

[Sonsaditches]

We are staying in South Range at Wildlife Refuge cabins.

 

[garyl62]

We are staying in South Range at Wildlife Refuge cabins.

Thanks. Let us know how things are on 3 heading into Houghton for you tomorrow if you get a chance.

 

[Sonsaditches]

We've rode from South Range to Houghton and it's very doable. There's one stretch where it was pretty much bare, maybe couple hundred yards. Rest was fine. That was as of yesterday, today we had probably 6-8 inches up here so should be much better. Headed that way in the am. Got a sled down but we brought a spare thank goodness!!!

 

[cloud_master]

We've rode from South Range to Houghton and it's very doable. There's one stretch where it was pretty much bare, maybe couple hundred yards. Rest was fine. That was as of yesterday, today we had probably 6-8 inches up here so should be much better. Headed that way in the am. Got a sled down but we brought a spare thank goodness!!!

Whefe was the bare spot? Before or after the bridge?

 

[garyl62]

Whefe was the bare spot? Before or after the bridge?

Just in case Sonsaditches is already out today..... The area he was describing was South Range to the Bridge so the bare spot must have been in that area, before the bridge.

Sure seems like those guys encountered better conditions than previously reported, then again with that screen name they may be willing to ride conditions a little rougher than a lot of other people looking for info around here.

 

[jedoyle]

Did they get enough snow in the last day to get through Hancock? I thought I saw pictures from John yesterday of completely bare muddy ground going through Hancock after the gas station.

 

[Admin]

Did they get enough snow in the last day to get through Hancock? I thought I saw pictures from John yesterday of completely bare muddy ground going through Hancock after the gas station.

We did, the problem is the 58 mph winds we had yesterday did not allow it to stick to that area. I drove by at around 2:30 and it did not look much different from the pics I posted on Tuesday. The route from Hancock through Dollar Bay is ok. So anyone wanting to stay in Hancock or even some spots close to the trail in Houghton can do go and ride north or south of the bridge without much issue. Keep in mind, we have been through a lot...weather wise this season... so there will be some spots that are not very pretty, but will be traverseable.

We are suppose to get a couple of inches of snow tonight and again tomorrow and maybe some over the weekend. No more super strong winds.

-John

 

[ridindirty800]

That's good to hear. I don't think Houghton got that much though. Please do post tomorrow when you are out. It may decide if we are heading to Houghton, Munising, or staying home.

Got here a little later than I wanted. But we rode 3 from park view to South range. 10 out of 10 smooth a few inches of powder on top of a solid base. Then did freda loop and it was a little choppy here and there but not bad. People have been riding from mass city North. It looked like less fresh snow down there. Talked to some.guys from copper harbor and they said it was good to there. All I got for now.

 

[cloud_master]

Thanks for the update. Our group is getting together tonight to make the final determination on our plans. So if you have any other updates or info later this evening, please do share.

Also, i'm curious what shape the roads were getting up there once in Michigan. Were they snow covered at all, or all dry?

Thanks.