Saturday January 29th, 2005

They are the best trails in the province. However, they get a bit bumpy from such heavy use.

The main #1 trail was really pounded out by saturday afternoon, but was still passable. The side loop makes for a much nicer ride, through Bauchemin and Big Whiteshell.

DO NOT BUY GAS IN RENNIE. They are gouging an extra 12 cents per litre over any other station. Premium was $0.998 per litre. That and the owner is supposed to be a big jerk. Brereton Lake resort is open, sells gas, has great food, supports the local club, and is 10 mins from Rennie.

Rennie to falcon was the roughest trail. From Rennie to Seven Sisters through Elma was good. Elma has gas too, and is maybe 30mins from Rennie.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

Parks starts grooming monday, so by tuesday/wednesday the trails are great. People have learnt this and come out in large numbers during the week. Groomers try to clean up some areas late in the week, but high traffic volumes keep them fairly rough in warmer weather. Most saturdays the groomers run from about 3 till 10 PM. They leave from Nutimik, Rennie and Falcon, and go as far as they can in 3 1/2 hours. The direction they go is usually decided last minute by the operator. There's a good chance you'll have some decent trails on the way home saturday night.

Slush is bad everywhere, but there's so much snow you wont notice unless you stop in fresh powder near lakes' edges.

No word yet on the back country areas.

February 5, 2005

Another nice weekend. Groomers were working double shifts through the weekend. Still some complaints between 7 Sisters and Nutimik, but they groomed saturday from Nutimik to White lake. Falcon lake was supposed to have resumed grooming, they hadn't for a couple weeks because of slush.

Expect high traffic volumes this coming weekend (feb 12-13) especially on the main trail, and between Rennie and Falcon. BEAVER DAYS in Falcon. I dont know if they'll have radar runs this year after someone ended up in the trees last year.

March 16th, 2005

For some reason, early mid-week trail usage has been very slow. Groomers have been running double shifts, and for the most part, trails are in excellent condition. There are some icy areas though, be carefull.

Grooming may continue untill friday if required, but unless we get a big dump of snow (not forcasted), the Natural Resource employes that maintain the trails are to be layed off at the end of this week. #####ing from the right people in the snowmo club may extend this, but not likely at this point.

Thank you very much to all who have helped to maintain our excellent trails, and we'll see you out there.

And a note on the backcountry.

We rode the north canoe route (George, forbes, echo, saddle, crowduck) a couple weeks ago when it was +4 degrees. It was beautifull. There was tons of lake with no trails waiting for playing in. Snow on the lakes averaged maybe 8" deep of loose stuff. All portages were passable.
The trees on Echo lead to a fishing shack, so if you're looking for the route, dont follow the trees.
The snow got very wet that day, so now that it is cold again, I do not know how crusty the conditions will be.

Watch out for open water in front of the Saddle shack, and also on the West side of the portage to the shack.

Originally posted by MachJeff@Feb 1 2005, 05:50 PM
Saturday January 29th, 2005

They are the best trails in the province.*
To tell you the truth I really don't see why everyone thinks those trailss are so special. I personally prefer the interlakes trails. Specifically up around Arborg/ Fisher Branch. Very little traffic, way way more snow and off trail fun every where.

I guess because of the scenery. Little blasts of lake and nice bush trails, plus a few good open spaces. Personally, it is the signage that does it for me. Everything is marked so well, every corner, bump and hill. Sometimes it seems like overkill, but you never have to be suprized by an unknown danger. Even things that pop up in the middle of the week are usually signed the next day. This is because it is a provincial park, they not only have to live up to a better standard, but they are also easier targets for liability lawsuits. There have been times where I've gotten too used to the park's signage, and forget that the private clubs dont mark everything the same - you end up coming up to a washout or other unexpected obstacle at 80mph with out any warning.
But I will give my props to other areas too, riding mountain is supposed to be good, and spruce woods is a blast to ride around.

I would like to ride spruce woods this year and the lake of the woods too...

Rick