Picture perfect, report #18

Sorry for the late report.  Happy to announce that all trail ski conditions are again excellent for the 2nd day.   I even got a few good photos.  Yes it's quite a few photos, but light conditions were great for photography this morning.   Please do let us know if you like them.

This photo was at 1st light and not very bright.

On St. Urho's with more light!

Tracks looking good in the gorge.

Yes, more photos taken in the prettiest gorge in the whole Keweenaw!

Now on the new and improved Mud Lake loop. Some light does help!

Along the picturesque lake.  Have you been out there yet?

Crossing Spring creek in Churning Rapids.

Late today, skiing along our favorite creek.

Best repor yet! #17

Please forgive this late post which should have came out around noon but I left the camera on a work machine.
Yesterday NOAA predicted modest snow amounts with wind that would be diminishing over the course of the day.   With that forecast, we'd planned to do Churning Rapids first with the idea that by the time we got back to town, the wind would be reduced with snow ending.  At sunup today we had nearly no wind and the snow had ended.   It was because of this forecast, that the city and gorge were done later than we normally would.   Nonetheless, the river trails were drug this morning and for the 1st time this year, I'd now call all our trails excellent for the 1st time this season.

Dragging of those rough river trails.  Starting to be smooth!

Oh Ya!

On Christensen road.

On trail #9, east side of Mud Lake.  This is what we strive to do.

Rolled and dragged, repor # 16

Late this afternoon, we headed out to roll the entire system, plus drag many of the rougher sections.  This snow was quite dense and did the trails much, much good.   Happy to say, they're looking better and better with each pass.  On Friday we'll be out to roll again and of course set tracks.

On the new river trail. This is a rough section which is now looking much better.
That's the magic this wonderful implement does.

Sorry we didn't get many photos today.

Today's snow extreme. Report #15.

With the depth of snow NOAA predicted today, we'll roll this afternoon and not set tracks.  Of course we will be out on Friday to make them again.  This extra volume will help to level the trail out much.

Good grooming repor #14

NOAA had predicted only modest snow overnight, so we planned to do signage maintenance today.  We awoke to 4" of low moisture snow which forced us back into grooming.   I guess that's a good problem to have :-).   So we rolled it down, albeit much later in the day than normally groom and reset tracks on all trails and found it covered the tree debris well, plus made the remaining ice go away.  The new river trail #4 upstream from Tomasi gravel pit road is so rough, that portions of it will remain untracked until more snow arrives and it's leveled with the drag.

After today, we'd call them varying from good to excellent.

Along our beloved creek.

This is some of the nicest tracks made to date

We of course are still throwing tree debris off the trail.
This is how it gathers in the Ginzu teeth.

Among the branches, a deer leg.

Report #13

The minimal snow we received since yesterday, was rolled into the base.   It wasn't really enough snow to cover over the ice or the tree debris.   Nonetheless, the trails looked reasonably good after the ginzu did its thing, making new tracks.

In case you wondered, this is the Ginzu.  
Because of the icy base, 60lbs was added to it.

Not bad, for this little of fresh snow.

On Christensen road.

A tree on its way down on Thoroughfare trail.

Night run

As many people realize, the 40 degree temps we seen yesterday is a challenge to work with.  After the Candle Luminary ski last night, we headed out to soften up (drag) the ice crust which will help hold onto any snow, plus level our rough trails more.  As soon as enough snow arrives, we'll reset tracks on the entire system.

This is what night operators see.  Do note how uneven the trail looks.
The drag will help level it out some

Branches and whole trees came down from the wind we had.
We stopped over a dozen times to throw tree debris off and that was
just a portion of it.

On the narrow river trail.

Reflectors seen on the reopened Mud Lake loop.

Crossing a narrow bridge.

Implements view out the back.

Sign work and water.

As mentioned here earlier, with the wet fall we had, water has been melting the snow on trail 4 and doesn't want to stop.  This is upstream from Tomasi pit road.

 

This is how it looked when we arrived.

Then we added a few sticks.  This is a different location, slightly lower.

Then capped with lots of snow.

Wallah!  After scooping on the snow cover, we ran the drag over it twice to smooth it out.

We also changed out signage today.  This is the "old" trail to Churning Rapids, trail #8.

Are these your snowshoes?

Holiday Candle Light ski

Holiday Candle Light ski, or snow shoe, or snow bike this Monday Dec. 26th at 6 PM.

This is a FREE, family friendly event. Please join in!

Bring the whole family out for a fun evening.

The route is lined with beautiful luminaries.

Don't leave the 4-legged family members home!

Warm up by the bonfire...

Roast a brat or marshmallow!  Christmas treats will be offered.

You'll want to check out these luminaria.

Everyone has a blast!

Don't miss Jeanne's ice candle creations, always sure to amaze.
Hope to see you Monday evening!

Map holders help!

Do you have some basic wood working skills, a table and a chop saw?  Then we could use your help building some new map holders.  They're easy!   One is shown here and we'll supply the plans and all materials needed.

Just get in touch if you can help. arlyn.aronson@gmail.com or 370-2911

Grooming repor #11

NOAA missed the overnight low by 6 degrees and was 31 out when we awoke this morning..  So we hit the trails with low expectations and found the snow still packed reasonably well.   Despite the warmish temps, the tracks looked good to excellent!

The sun did come out but the light is flat in this photo.  Sorry for this poor photo.

The sun is out!

On the new and improved Mud lake loop #4.  Do get out there and tell us what you
think of it sometime.

In Churning Rapids.

The new snowmobile still needs some tweaking.
Factoid, we've got over 30 hours into its setup to date.

Multiple water holes remain open on the new river trail #4.  This is upstream
from Tomasi RD.  This is just the thing a tractor and backhoe can fix.