Saturday ride

 On Saturday 1-30-21 the regular crew (Art, Gib, Jean) and myself decided to take a ride south on trail 18 all the way down to the Chippewa Flowage. They rerouted part of trail 18 this year from near the dam on the Tiger Cat flowage down to Chief River road. We made a stop at Arts house for some refreshment and then continued our ride using trail 3 across the flowage to trail 9 to head back home. The ride covered 47 miles in a clockwise route. We took trail 3 until we got to Sisko's (the black circle with number 81) then we followed the shoreline to the boat launch. From there it was only about a 1/3 of a mile to Arts house by road. We encountered one slushy area on the flowage about 50-75 yards wide. When you encounter slush you just keep the power and speed up, don't stop because you may have trouble getting going again. The trail conditions remain not very good. There was alot of sledders out enjoying the day. We did run into a few snow showers but they really didn't amount to much, not enough to make a difference in the trail conditions. We need snow.

Todays route. Arts house is the X on the map.

The new dam that regulates the level on the Tiger Cat flowage and the boat landing where we leave this flowage.

The Chief river just alittle ways downstream of the dam.

Trail 18 in the woods and crossing Callahan Lake in a light snow.

Trail 18 running next to Cty rd CC. We turn left here to get down on the flowage 1 mile down the road at the R&R Bayview Resort.

Down on the flowage, stopping at intersection 95 to discuss the best way to get to Arts house.

Getting ready to depart Arts house after a refresment break. Nothing better than a Crown Royal and Coke to go with a couple mini donuts. Then it was back on the road.

At intersection 89 where trail 3 and 9 split.

Crossing Osprey lake on trail 9.

Crossing Little Round lake. Not far from home now.

This was taken at the north end of Round lake after running the length of the lake at a nice 70-80 mph.

Lots of sledders taking a break at the Blackiron Resort bar and grill. I would say that there were 30+ sleds in the parking lot. So much for social distancing. This year we decided that we would not be stopping at the bars and restaurants because of the Covid Plague. We do miss stopping for a drink or a bite to eat but it is not worth the risk.

This is one of 3 Bald Eagles we saw sitting near the shore in front of Jean and Gibs. Gib got some deer carcuss parts and has been putting them out for the Eagles.

That was our ride for today, all in all another good ride.

Hope to get out again on Wednesday.

 

 

A short loop

 On Friday 1-29-21 we ( Art, Jean, Gib ) and myself took a short clockwise ride of 37 miles. We were most interested in the shape of the trails. They are still in just passable condition. More snow is surely needed. We covered 37 miles.

Todays route.

Just a quick stop at intersection 34. There were a fair amount of people out enjoying the day.

Running along trail 77.

Intersection 37 where we turned right and headed towards Spider lake on trail 22.

Spider lake golf resort waiting peacefully for summer to return.

Riding on trail 22. Not sure which resort is in the background. Had to stop here for a nip of Blackberry Brandy and to work a charlie-horse out of Jeans right arm.

Intersection 43, pretty much on the homeward run now. we will pick up trail 5 in a little bit and follow that all the way back to the Tiger Cat flowage and home.

Last photo of the day. Its been very cold the last few days but the flowing water just keeps flowing.

Headed out for another ride on saturday. We will be headed south this time.

Enjoy.

Sunday ride, fresh snow

 Sunday 1-24-21 Art and I headed out from my house at 11:30 am for a ride. Our first stop was to pick up Jean and Gib at their place on Upper Twin Lake. We had gotten 3-4 inches of new snow saturday night. It was enough to improve the trail condtions but we still need about a foot more to get them into great shape. We covered 53 miles in a counterclockwise direction. The lake and fire road running was great with the fresh snow. The trails through the woods were  just ok to good. They needed grooming after the fresh snow and the pounding they took over the weekend. There were alot of sleds out for the weekend. We had a very nice mostly sunny day for our ride.

We had a great sunset on Friday the 22nd.

Our route for today, great day to be out.

Ready to head out. Art keeps his machine at my house. He lives close by and it's easier to leave from here being as I'm so close to the trail system. About 3 blocks from my driveway. Very easy access.

Trail 9, heading south across Round Lake.

Heading through the woods on trail 29.

Taking a break at Intersection 61 where we turn left and head down trail 30.

Running along on trail 3. It was great to see the sun shining and some blue sky.

Intersection 89. Jean and Gib discuss our route.

Entering the Chippewa Flowage at Squaw Bay. Sorry the pic is a little blurry. What I wanted to convey is that they do a draw down every fall which exposes rock and tree stumps. You need to be aware of the obstacles out there.

Intersection 90 where we turned left onto trail 3. We would stay on this trail all the way up to intersection 42 where we turned left onto trail 5, 25 or so miles later.

Intersection 92. It's great having all this signage on the trail system. It will help you figure out where you are on your map and what goods and services are available along with the mileage to them.

Intersection 95 this is where we start heading pretty much due north.

Intersection 66 we turned right here and soon we were leaving the flowage behind.

At intersection 69 we jump on fire road 319 for some faster running.

After crossing Moose Lake road the trail number changes to 320.

These are the last 2 pics I took before my phone shut off. It's to bad because I missed a couple shots of running creeks that looked really nice with the fresh snow.

It's supposed to get pretty cold this week with no snow forecast not sure when the next ride will be.

Thanks for looking.