The light snow continued all day yesterday and added up to 3 inches. It was a dry, fluffy snow but every bit helps. We both headed out for rides this hitting some St. Germain, Eagle River, and Sayner trails. St. Germain and Sayner groomed while the Eagle River trails I rode hadn’t been. Trails were soft with the new snow and didn’t pack in. Trails are in early season riding condition. It’s a mixed bag out there. There’s some good stretches that are smooth with a decent base, there’s lots of fair which will have the carbides doing some scraping and are bumpy to some poor where the carbides scrape a lot and you want to get off that stretch asap. There are areas of ruts left from the trucks driving on them in the warm weather that will need more snow to fill in. There are also some bumps that need more snow to fill in and smooth out. You will find rocks that got stirred up from sleds and the groomer (if you see a big one, please pull to the side, get off your sled and move the rock off the trail). Some corners are very icy so if you carry any speed into them, you’ll push right through. Lake accesses are rough and don’t have much if any snow on them. Road trails don’t have much of a base and your carbides will scrape a lot.
Most lakes are reported to be in good condition being smooth with plenty of ice. Not all lakes are marked so if you don’t know that lake and it’s not marked, probably shouldn’t cross it.
If you really want to ride, trails are ridable. I’d rate them overall in fair condition. Since we don’t have much snow, it would be nice if riders slowed down and didn’t spin their tracks to preserve the snow we have. Unfortunately, there’s already riders out there acting as a street sweeper blowing snow off the trails. While this snow did help, we can definitely use some more snow.
Note: Due to the fresh snow, in some pictures trails will appear whiter than they are.
