Signing today with about 1-2" of wet snow.

New culvert markers were installed on Parker and Flat Rock Road.

Field Signing along Tontarski Road:



Grant Road:



Montague Inn:

i cant help but get that tingly, kid counting down to Christmas feeling!!

Trail Work this summer (report and pics below thanks to club president Gary Stinson):

During the summer, club members have been busy improving three sections of our trails. In Jefferson County two sections of C5A under the power lines have been improved by filling low lying wet areas in with crusher run over geo-tex fabric. Total cost of materials for these projects was approx $3000.

The 3rd area under improvement is again on C5A on the Tom Sawyer trail in the Town of Montague. This work is quite extensive and is nearly completed. The scope of the work was to fix the huge wet hole located on private property just before entering State lands.

The area consists of a huge wet area about 100 feet across and nearly 60 feet wide. Just getting to this area required the club to rebuild the old woods trail due to numerous wet and muddy areas. Materials for this project included 2 loads of logs, 2 1/2 rolls of geo-tex fabric, 28 10 wheeler loads of number 4 crusher run. We are utilizing Moulton Construction (George Moulton) of Adams Center to help , with assistance from club members, to place the materials. The project once we got to the huge wet area,was to lay fabric down and place logs over it. Then another layer of fabric was laid over the logs with gravelplaced over that.

Sign poles were set on either side and the project should last for years. Total cost of this project will exceed $12,000! Funding for this work was made available thanks to the most successful SNIRT run the club has ever had which was held last April.

Tom Sawyer Trail work results:

NICE and thank you!

THANKS. Cant wait to ride your trails again this year, BEST ON THE HILL. THINK SNOW!!!!!!

The Sno-Pals crew spent Saturday putting the finishing touches on signing and machine maintenance. We're waiting for snow and ready to go. The ground is starting to freeze up but areas with water will need several days of cold.

Clocked 60 miles today riding from the groomer barn at Barnes Corners to Montague for lunch then down to the Mad River Club East Gate where the Sno-Pals system ends and Redfield starts. Gary and Brian ran the Pisten Bully on a trail maintance run as we anticipated downed trees and limbs due to high winds earlier this week (there were fewer trees down than I had anticipated). We also opened the gates on the Ognibene trail (S57 between Waite Road and Horace Forward Truck Trail) As far as the conditions...typical early season riding...some laying the first tracks of the season, some water on dirt based trails, some cowpaths, some moguls and lots of fun great riding especially on seasonal roads. I'll let the pics do the rest....

Barnes Corners Connector



First tracks of the season on Denning road





Montague


Parker Road


Flatrock Rd


Pitcher Road


Salmon River Road (Plowed Section) at Pitcher Road


Tree down on Salmon River Rd

Mad River Club East Gates (saw evidence the Redfield Groomer had been through)




Cow Path on Salmon River Road


Forks Rd


Horace Forward Truck Trail


Barnes Corners Connector



Back to the groomer barn

THA!! AWESOME PICS! Heading up friday!

However, do you think with the minor warm up and possible rains showers, trails will still be OK for next weekend? Suppossed to turn cold and snow after tuesday...Hopefully next weekend can be my first ride...

If conditions are right to groom I'll be running the John Deere groomer on Thursday so I should be better able to answer your question after that

sweet! hopefully the minor rain doesn't screw things up...but there is so much snow, im sure it can help a lttle packing it down...

Right now cold, cold, cold temps is what is needed

Nice pics TugHillAddict!

was great satuday started out breaking in my sled getting stuck in powder...lol. after that was well worth the ride trails had a couple spots to get dirty in, but other trails were smooth and fast (ohh yea watch yer speed got cought in speed trap/reg check) cant wait till we get more white stuff!! sorry cell pics btw i love my new sled!. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l103/lan...Hill81north.jpg http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l103/lan...dingdropoff.jpg http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l103/lan...ingflatrock.jpg http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l103/lan.../new09600ho.jpg

actually a little rain might not hurt at all, it will give that fluffy lake snow some moisture content to it

Actually I was surprised yesterday...the snow was NOT dry, light, fluffy snow. It was a high moisture content packy type of snow...perfect for base building. But a little rained mixed in right now followed by cold will make it even better

yes there was some moisture in the past lake effect system, the drifts are HARD....be aware

nice update THA, thanks

ill pin this one to make it easier for you and everyone to get the updates

Thanks....never been pinned before

You'd be surprised what Scotty can, and will do.

im not sure how to take that






or that

Headed out of Barnes Corners at 8:30, back at 1:30 after a 133 mile ride under very cloudy skies and temps in the high 20's low 30's. Rode 49 miles before I saw another sled, saw 7 sleds on the trails all day.

Broke Trail on Ognibene (s57) in Worth


Waite Road


Salmon River Road Banks were ridable


Eastern end of Redfield Sno-Rec's section of Salmon River Road


The gates at the east end of Beaver Creek Trail were open...but tracks were minimal (didn't ride it)


The section of Olin Road that Sno-Pals worked on this fall to resolve water problems is fixed


Valley Sno-Travelers had recently groomed their section of Flat Rock Road...it had set up like concrete


Valley also had Poore road in PERFECT condition



Met up with the Valley groomer on Rector Road



STH had not groomed McGoldrick


Found the new trail off Smith Road going to C-ville...no gate and fresh tracks so I took it


Within 100 yards of Smith road there was blowdown (managable)

Then the tracks I was following turned around at a downed tree


Headed to Lyons Falls for fuel


Then headed for Brantingham but found a gate closed so returned to BC


Noticed earlier that the Railbed was freshly groomed so I did a down and back nice job Timberview


Where the Railbed crosses the Whetstone Reservoir the trail is now staked...nice addition...should help keep the groomers dry


Graves Road is plowed from end to end


Culpepper and Worth Road were freshly groomed on the return to BC



If you ride out of Barnes Corners you will find the trail behind Tuggers muddy in many spots, but it can be navigated. Needs more snow and cold.

nice
thanks for the info , i might be up tomorrow

stop by the Sno-Pals groomer barn Saturday afternoon for the second annual Pig Roast

mmmmmmmmmm pig roast!!! ... I am planning on stopping by Dana.

dropped of at highmarket around noon
did a quick 70 miles
rode to flatrock and montague, and a lot of side and secondary trail
trails were in real good shape for this time of year
the trail heading back to h/m was real choppy

the best trail of the day was POORE road, it was mint

if the groomers go out tonight, it will be real cold tonight, the trails will be in great shape tomorrow

The BC Sno-Pals John Deere went on an abreviated Copenhagen trail (C5 and S56) maintenance/grooming run this morning. The dirt base trail from Rte 194 to Corey Road was avoided due to assumed water issues but all the area seasonal roads were groomed and cleared of downed trees. 4* and sunny in Barnes Corners at 1PM. Not a lot of snow up that way but it is a nice solid base.

Turned around where the groomed section of Pinkney Road ends and the trail turns into a hayfield behind the Tug Hill Sports Lodge...the snow cover on fields was significantly windblown


There was a little of this:


And this:


But it all turned out OK

THA you mite want to change your avatar picture read about your troubles on trail conditions lol

144 mile route today was: Mohagany Ridge (Camden)>Redfield>Osceola>Boonville (great lunch at the Boonville Hotel)>C-ville>Highmarket>Mohagany Ridge. Found most dirt based trails to have minimal cover and very rough terrain. All water holes were locked up and easily passable. WE NEED MORE SNOW!!!

The new trail from Nice and Easy to Smith Road is great thanks to all the landowners for making this happen.

Smith Road is PLOWED from end to end.

The northern end of Trail C4G is plowed for logging on the Swanscott Mills end. The south end of this trail has several downed trees. It has not been groomed this year (I’d speculate due to the logging)

Typical dirt based trail through the woods


The new TC Riders/Redfield Sno-Rec Bridge GREAT JOB!!!


Salmon River Reservoir (did not see any tracks)


Start of the north end of the plowed section of C4G


Plumber Road


My new 509 goggles that are too small for my helmet but fit the helmets my sons use

Good day on the hill. We left Timberview > Flatrock > past the Sportsman where the dec was set up. They where ok doing that jobs. All in all 100 miles. Trails where great not alot of traffic. Thanks to all that do the grooming and to the land owners. Did anybody here about next year about a $100.00 trail fee for Tug Hll ?

Well, right now Lewis County has developed a successful ATV trail pass system. The state pays all snowmobile clubs the same way. How much snow is there in areas of the state other than Tug Hill? Is the state system fair to Lewis County? The issue against having a trail pass in Lewis County has always revolved around liability issues riding on private land...yet it's working for the ATV system...

Where do you see this heading?

HMMM....Lets see, 1+1+1=3

150 mile trip today dropped in Barnes Corners rode the Sno-Pals Montague trails (good to excellent) to the start of the Redfield trail system on SRR and turned around as the trail is in need of grooming.

It appeared Valley Sno-Travelers groomed Flat Rock, Carey and French last night and also opened up Toole Road and the west end of Graves. This has areas light on snow but all is passable. Good alternative to the plowed section of Graves.

Houseville Gulf Road was freshly groomed. Headed to Brantingham and then fueld up in Lyons Falls. Route back up the escarpment was a freshly groomed Morgan Gulf Road. Once back to BC hit the Sno-Pals trails between BC and Copenhagen. Trails groomed last Thursday have held up perfect. C5 trail between BC and Corey Road is VERY ROUGH but passable take it slow it's a short distance

Best groomed trails of the day honor goes to co-winners Valley and Timberview. Passed about 12 sleds all day

Valley was out grooming Mud Creek Road today


Nasty Section of Toole Road


Nice Section of Toole Road


I groomed this last Thursday it's held up NICE!!!


On the way to B-ham


Between B-Ham and Lyons Falls


Oh and the best part of the day a little riding off the beaten path

Nice sled, I got the same one....no studs huh?

Whats the outlook up there for this warm-up during christmas?

The two Montague routes were groomed Tuesday night. This morning we will attempt to groom a Copenhagen Run from the barn to Rte 12 and back. Additonally the Adams Route trails will be groomed west of County Route 95. For Route details go to the grooming schedule link at sno-pals.com. On behalf of the Sno-Pals grooming team, Gary, Donny, Mark, Barry, Vinny, Tim, Heath, Brian, Pete, the Brimmer Brothers Rod and Gene, Jim, Orlin, Coop, Mike and yours truly: Merry Christmas to all and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

No - Thank YOU for your support! Without the groomer guys the Club is just a bunch of people. I send money, YOU GUYS are who makes it all work.

THA

Thanks for the Local info, Dropped in BC wed around 9 and did some exploring between there and Turin.

I thought most trails where in real nice shape . started to get beat up here and there by the time we got back to the trailer at 7.

Have a merry christmas.


We will be waiting for the report after this weekends weather Its not looking so good for us is it?

Sno-Pals delivered an early Christmas gift today...This morning the Copenhagen trails were groomed from the groomer barn to the Tug Hill Sports Lodge. Adams route trails from the groomer barn to County Route 95 were groomed. This afternooon Brian and Heath groomed the 2 Montague Routes. Seasonal roads are in excellent shape. Dirt based trails such as Tom Sawyer and the Powerline trail need more snow but all water areas are frozen up.

Loomis Road


The western half of Denning Road between CR 95 and 7X9 is plowed for logging


Nothing Grooms Like A Deere!!!




I was lucky to be able to have one of the boys ride along today as there was no school....JohnnyBoy did a great job moving brush for dad

Due to the high temps, rain and lack of new snow Sno-Pals did not groom Friday or Satuday night and we will not groom tonight. We'll be grooming as soon as conditions permit.

Ahh the Loomis road! Thanks for always doing such an awesome job. We rent the house on the corner of Loomis and Hayes for hte last 4 years. We try never to go too south as you guys really groom so great we get spoiled. Thanks again. Myself and the Members of our club and websites really enjoy the hill on ATVs in the Summer and Sleds in the Winter. - JT, NYSORVA Region 3 Rep and Owner nyatvonline.com / quadtrips.com

thank God we are getting snow as we speak now!


TUGHILLADDICT: ive come to look forward to your update thread every year now. just taking the time you do to take pics and im sure write up a report as you ride is very nice of you. that in itself is a bit of volunteering!

i am a member of the Taberg Trailblazers, on the southern outskirts of the hill. they doo a nice job down here as you guys do up there. but im going to have to plan a new trip up there to check your area out. it looks great! iv always loved the turin/lowville/brantingham area. cheers! and let it snow!!

Our plan is to resume grooming today. Adams run during the day today and the two Montague routes tonight assuming the conditions permit grooming (translation: no grooming in total whiteout conditions). Route details can be found at the grooming schedule link on www.sno-pals.com

At this time the Pisten Bully is disabled. Murphy's law is in effect, it's in a tight spot on the Tom Sawyer trail (trail that runs behind the Montague). The John Deere, minus drags, is enroute to remove the machine. Use caution on this trail.

The Pisten Bully will be down until further notice. The timing isn't good...lots of new snow and holiday week traffic. We will be doing our best to groom the 100 miles of Sno-Pal trails with one machine. Your patience will be appreciated.

Yesterday the Pisten Bully was extracted from the Tom Sawyer Trail and trucked to the barn. Sno-Pals will be operating with one groomer until the Bully is repaired. Happy New Year and ride safe ride right.

i went down that Tom Sawyer Trail yesterday to see where groomer broke.

Update on the Pisten Bully from Sno-Pals President Gary Stinson: Got the oil pan off and found a gash approx 1 1/2 inches wide by 6 or 7 " long. Much larger than what it looked like while laying in the snow. In the pan was lots of metal filings and several large pieces of metal about the size of your finger nail. One of our members who is a diesel mechanic got under it and disconnected 2 of the connecting rods and found that the crank is torn up which means the engine has to come out. No estimate yet but he thinks it will be in the $14,000 area! Not sure when (or even if) the Bully will return to service. It may be several weeks. Grooming: We have redone our grooming schedule which should leave our trails in excellent condition. We'll have what some may call a "hot seat" as there will be times when the John Deere comes back for fuel then goes back out with a different operator. Our goal is to continue to provide the trail conditions which you have come to expect from the BCSP's.


Changes to the grooming schedule:

SEVERAL YEARS AGO WE USED TO HAVE A MONDAY NIGHT RUN AND WE CALLED IT THE BARNES CORNERS lOCAL TRAILS IT CONSISTED OF THE DENNING ROAD, LOOMIS ROAD , HORACE TRUCK TRAIL TO 7 X 9, BACK TO OGNEIBIE TO WORTH AND TURN AROUND AT THE INTERSECTION OF WORTH & FORKS. WE'LL BE PUTTING THAT RUN BACK IN OUR SCHDEULE ON SUNDAY AM, WED AM AND FRIDAY AM.

WHAT WE CALLED THE MONTAGUE A & B RUN WILL BE COMBINED AND WILL BE DONE ON SUNDAY , TUESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THIS IS NO CHANGE FROM THE CURRENT SCHEDULE ,HOWEVER IT WILL BE DONE WITH THE DEERE AND OUR GROOMING TIME WILL BE LONGER. USE OF THE LOCAL TRAILS SCHEDULE AS SHOWN ABOVE WILL SAVE SOME TIME.

ADAMS WILL STILL BE DONE ON MONDAYS AND AGAIN DURING THE WEEK IF NEEDED.

COPENHAGEN WILL STILL BE DONE ON SUNDAY,TUESDAY AND THURSDAY.

HOPEFULLY YOU'LL SEE THE SAME LEVEL OF QUALITY IN OUR TRAILS.

WE WILL BE OUT ON THE MONTAGUE TRAILS DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS AND WE ASK THE YOU RIDE WITH CAUTION.

Bummer - but once again The Sno-Pals come through. Sure makes for a lot of extra work...