I headed out for a ride to see how the trails held up from the warm stretch of weather we had hitting some St. Germain, Eagle River and Sayner trails. None of the trails I rode had been groomed but were smooth overall with a few bumps here and there. The temperature has dropped back into the upper 20’s and things are starting to refreeze. We had about an eighth of an inch of snow last night. The trails I rode held up pretty good from the warmth and rain, meaning there’s still a good base out there. Some insides of corners are thin on snow with bare spots and plowed road trails vary from still a good ice base to bare pavement showing. Trails were “rutty” from sled tracks that froze up so they had a hard, twitchy feel to them. As more sleds run them and the groomers go out, this will go away. One issue will be lack of loose snow for the slides and to cool the sled. Again, as more sleds are out, it will help loosen things up. I stayed out in the woods and didn’t hit any town trails – those will probably be thinner on snow and have more bare areas. I didn’t ride any lakes but they are very slushy. The colder temps should freeze the slush back up.
It would be nice to get a little snow for cooling and the slides. With a grooming, most trails should be in decent shape. There will be some bad spots but most should be good. Temps look to stay cool this weekend but next week looks like there’s a warm up coming. Better ride now or you might be waiting till next season.
