March Riding
 

Is there any riding in the lakes region?

From the threads I have read, looks like the lake is not safe :(

Local weather man says you guys have been getting a few inches and more to come tomorrow, but is it enough to actually ride on?

If not, anyone know how far up 93 you have to go to find a covered trail?

I hear north of the White Mountains is good, but I'm hoping to get in a day trip,,, Hoping,,,

Havent been out this year and really dont know if I can fit in more than a day trip and thats not looking good :(

Thanks - George

There are quite a few sleds riding the lake right now in the area by Diamond and Rattlesnake islands. Not sure how safe it is, but the riding looks good.

I just came back from Pittsburg and the riding was great Friday (we put on about 130 or so miles) but completely washed out and DONE Saturday. Rain and warm temperatures just wiped everything out. They even stopped grooming trails. Without more snow I do not believe you will find good riding anywhere except at the very higher elevations. The only problem with that is you still have to find trails to get there!

Good Luck! My sleds are going in moth balls till next year...

Dan

WOW, the rain went all the ways to Pittsburg!

Thats just wrong,,,

I like boating as much as anyone here, but we should have another 4 - 6 weeks of riding,,,

Man what a crazy winter,,,

Thanks, I hold out a while longer befor throwing in the towel, but it doesnt look good,,,

George

Went out today
 

The riding is highly variable...some of the trails have decent cover and other spots are bare ground with rocks and sticks. The snow is very soft and if you get into deep spots, you can get stuck. A shovel or a buddy is an absolute must.

Some of the trails have trees that have fallen (woods on the Laconia side). The prision loop has some really bad areas.

The temperature is in the 40s, so conditions are degrading fast. If we get some snow during the week there will be hope for next weekend.

Jetskier :cool:

Highly variable appears to be case, I was just Squam Trail Busters site (http://www.squamtrailbusters.org/trail-conditions) and they are reporting "loads of snow",,,

Can anyone confirm from this site?

Cant say I have ridden in that area, spent plenty of time on the other side of 93 around between Andover and Rumney NH, but not the Squam side.

Generally speaking what are the trails like over there? And wahts the best way there/good place to park trailers if there are reasonable conditions??? (and by reasonable conditions I mean ANY snow coverage,,, LOL)

I'm really hoping to get at least one trip, hoping being the key word,,,

Thanks - GH

Maybe not
 

Hold on everybody. Just checked Cannon Mt website and they have gotten 10-12 inches last night and this morning and its still snowing hard. Could be riding again in the Franconia/Twin Mt area.

Twin Mountain
 

Rode Twin Mountain yesterday. Conditions were some of the best and some of the worst I've ever ridden. Some of the lower stuff was wet and slushy.. Then once you got some elevation it was downright amazing!!! Lots of bumps in some areas, where were the groomers? Some areas, that were groomed were so amazing I wanted to ride them back and forth over and over again! :laugh:

Overall an 8 out of 10, would've been a 7 but I had some great company!

Logged just shy of 70 miles. :)

I think I'm feeling a sick day coming up,,,

Sounds like elevation is the key???

Any of you folks ridden in the Sandwich Notch area that the Squam club is reporting about???

Thanks - GH

I really can't imagine you are going to find anything worth riding south of Franconia. Just my opinion. The warm weather beat up whatever we had yesterday and by the end of the day it there was some slop we were riding in. Rumor has it Twin Mountain got 6+ last night into today. So your best bet would be that area. Just my opinion of course.

Guess I'll have to wait and see what happens Wed, but I think your right, its not looking good,,,

Used to trailer up to Bretton Woods for a day trip years back, makes for a long day from MA, but its an option,,, maybe,,,

Thanks - GH

They also recieved 10-12 inches into Monday.

Saw two snowmobiles, yesterday late afternoon, Saturday March 6, out zooming the lake ice. Skimming across the 150' open water between Horse Island and the main looked very easy....like an experienced waterskier....piece of cake.....just zoom across the water and slide back onto the ice.....all very smooth.....with two on one snowmo.....made it look easy....the passenger waved to me as they zoomed away...the lake looked like it had been making some new ice the night before, as well...

Anyone who skims should lose their sled. The state should confiscate it if they get caught doing that. Why? Because the rescue squad has to risk their own lives to save these clowns. Millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on having to rescue someone because they were doing something stupid like that. I say pass the bill onto the clown they have to pull outta the lake and confiscate the sled. They are a danger to other people who are using the lake and everything responsibly.

ha,
 

And you all thought that NH was the "live free or die" state!

live free not live stupid
 

I can see if skimming was a necessity like it was last weekend while crossing Moosehead Lake for us. But to just go out and drive over open water is pretty ignorant. Same applies with riding and helmets. Yup it is your choice but why should we feel bad when someone dies when they are not wearing a helmet or doing something like skimming?
We witnessed a guy who pretty much scalped himself when he went over the handlebars of his ATV up in the Forks area of Maine 2 years ago. He went over the handlebars on a rough section of trail because he grabbed front break going down hill over bumps.
We assisted in the rescue of this person by posting people at intersections so rescue equipment could be brought in.
Had the guy been wearing a helmet he probably would have ridden out with some bad scrapes and bruises. Instead he took more than a dozen people away from their Labor day plans just to pull him out of the woods. Oh and the cost of the med flight on top of that.
Just like hiking they should charge the person for the rescue if they are negligent, and not wearing a helmet falls under that category as does skimming.
As for sledding we just rode 270 miles Saturday and another 110 Sunday up in northern Maine. We had great spring riding Saturday until afternoon then about 75 miles of bumps.
Long track sleds tame them down at about 60 while standing up but still a workout.
This has been a really crappy year for riding no matter where you rode from the reports I’ve heard.
We were spoiled the last 2 years with above normal snows throughout the winter.
Now it’s time to start working on the trails to get them ready for ATV (mud) riding.

March riding
 

Spent the past 2 weekends in Twin Mountains sledding. We had to trailer there but at least we got some riding in this year. Twin Mountains got dumped on and has a base of about 1' to 3' of coverage. This may be the last week of sledding unless we get more snow.

Maine did also but
 

The warm temps took there toll on the trails last weekend. It was 44 in Jackman Maine on Saturday with a lot of slush and bare ground opening up. We figured we could get this weekend in for off trail riding but with the rain coming it should just about wrap it up.
What a bummer.
After last year being a record milage year we are lucky if we rode 3000 miles this year.

Bad Year
 

3000 Miles?
I am lucky if i got 300 miles this year...Good for you;)

I put just over 200 miles on my brand new Doo. :(

I was wrong on milage
 

My wife went through the GPS this weekend and added up the miles for this year.
3376 mileswhich was much more than I thought we rode.
We also ended the season a day early last weekend with my wifes 800 powertek loosing the left cylinder. I suspect the crank seal went.
What a bitch it was towing it the 40 miles back to the trailer.