I did not get home from work in Albany until after midnight last night, and church is coming up fast. This blog will be much shorter than yesterday‘s.
I’m not going to talk about the weather because there is no change and no hope of snow this upcoming week. Above freezing, especially tomorrow, will make for a slow melt. Expect riding conditions in areas riding to continue to go downhill. Hope of the pattern change middle to end of next week after the New Year is still there. I’ll go indepth tomorrow.
Saturday morning was the first time I ever attempted to ride Tug Hill on a weekend. It had been years since i’ve ridden the hill. 2014 was the last time. I have always had other places to go. If you have questions on the hill, this blog is worth a read…
I was given much assurance by my friends at the Southern Tug Hill Sno-Riders And the Turin Ridge Riders that if I parked at Barrows at first light and hit the hill early, getting out between 10 and 11, I would find great trails with Traffic that would not be superheavy. they were spot on with both accounts.
Zack and I set out with our friends Aaron and Ben Deragon, close family friends and fellow Ski Doo riders. Aaron lead, and figured we could make a loop of the hill from Barrows to Montague via Osceola then back through Turin on our way home to Barrows.
The first 10 miles from Barrows he lead us over to hit Camp Four, which STH said was good. It was more than good, it was magic! It was the best trail we hit all day, with tons of snow on it, Little Traffic, groomed flat as asphalt. We then tried C4K to Osceola which was a mix of good and ice, and a little thinner than camp four. We then hit C5C, and C5D to access Montague, both trails were awesome on the seasonal roads, but rough going through the woods. We then got over onto the Valley Snow Travelers system and shot down flat rock for a ways, then kept making right turns until we ended up at Tabolts Corners then hit the “Northway” as I’m calling it. North road was super wide like the Northway, flat and fast. It was a fun rip all the way back to Highmarket to hone base at Barrows with 72 safe and fun miles spun off with lots of smiles.
You may have an assumption the hill is completely overrun 24/7 and full of crazies that disrespect other riders and hammer the trails way too fast. It was blown to bits to me. The clubs said early bird gets the worm. They were 100% correct. We hit it early, got the worm and a great ride without super high amounts of traffic and the best conditions possible.
When we set out from Barrow‘s at 7:30 AM there was only one other group unloading besides us. The first 45 miles of the ride, until we got close to Montague, around 9:30 AM, we saw a grand total of less than a dozen riders in those two hours. I think 9 or 10 total. There was a noticeable increase in traffic once we got to Montague and got on the valley snow traveler system between 930 and 10 AM. We hit maybe 30 sleds in that stretch, they were mostly in groups of 3 to 6, riding together safely (under 55 MPH and staying right). In our experience we only came across one rider, a lone rider, cutting a corner to the left going fast that got close to us. We were riding defensively as always and were fine.
I can see where North Road is the “Northway” and I can see why sleds are easily going way above the 55 MPH limit on that road. Given how nice wide and flat it was, I get it. Just be careful. Barrows and Highmarket were filling up as we returned at 1030 with 72 miles spun off and we were back to home base by Noon.
The lessons here:
Listen to the clubs. They know exactly what they’re talking about when they say there is room on the hill, even on a Saturday, if you know where to go and when to go. Ask them where. Ask them when. They and the businesses up there want your business and for you to love to come back. Obviously midweek is better but if you are forced to a weekend, get out of bed early and hit it like we did at first light and get out in time to have an early lunch at one of the great businesses on the hill. You won’t be sorry.
Early bird gets the worm…
