[rickzach]

Twin Mtn going east to Gorham via trails 11 & 12

Saturday 2-27-2010: Fresh snow and a decent base but grooming was very poor... actually non-existent all day on Saturday day. We later heard that the upper elevations near Berlin were in pretty good shape but we went to Gorham.

Trails were OK from Twin Mountain and Fabians to Jefferson Notch, then Notch towards Gorham trails were strewn with heavy, wet, HUGE moguls. Not good for kidneys and other body parts. We saw three groomers on the trails, none of which were using drags. Maybe they had to remove trees (not a lot were blocking the trails by that time, though), maybe their grooming plans do not recognise heavy weekend traffic, maybe they were waiting until night. Not sure but any way you cut it, a miserable day!

We went to downtown Gorham for lunch and followed the excellent welcome signage but without any "you are here" stickers (maybe they un-stuck in the rain). Once off the main trails, only a very few in-town trail signs could be found. We followed a small orange off-main-trail sign for Union Street. To our amazement, once we got near to town we entered a "field" because the main road entrance was plowed high and could not be passed. After a few hundred feet we came to the shocking realization that the "field" was actually a cemetary and we were riding between tombstones! How embarrasing and utterly disrespectful. To say that we felt mis-led is an understatement! We weren't all that far away from the intended route because upon exiting the cemetary we immediately saw an orange "go left" trail arrow. We are very concious about keeping good trail manners but this time I'm not all that sure how we could have avoided the cemetary without finding adequate signage plus cutting through at the impassable end of the access road. How embarrassing!

This post has been edited by rickzach: 01 March 2010 - 12:26 PM

[Oldtimer]

Too warm to groom.

[rickzach]

So noted on the warm temps. Thanks to a Facebook update, I do know that the Squam Trailbusters had a good day of grooming on Saturday so go figure...

Pix of the Saturday trail conditions between Fabian's and Jefferson Notch. Plenty of trees drooping into the trails.

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This post has been edited by rickzach: 28 February 2010 - 03:27 PM

[PolarisBrian]

There is tons of snow up on Sandwich Notch, many sleds up there today from what I heard, I posted some pictures of the conditions in another thread

[Oldtimer]

A close look at the pics of the Sammich notch grooming shows it was too warm to "groom" there too..they were compacting more than grooming..the drag is running on the pan.
DRED doesn't like clubs out on saturdays as a rule...could also explain why they were not out..

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[iinsure]

Oldtimer, on Feb 28 2010, 04:54 PM, said:

A close look at the pics of the Sammich notch grooming shows it was too warm to "groom" there too..they were compacting more than grooming..the drag is running on the pan.
DRED doesn't like clubs out on saturdays as a rule...could also explain why they were not out..

Honestly, yes the moguls were deadly as I got close to the Twin Mountain Parking lot, so much so I got tossed off trail into a tree. At 9:30 at night, it wasn't much fun at all. Finally my partner came back 30 minutes later and another rider stopped around the same time to help me dig out.

With that said, I am just happy to have been able to ride at all. I have never seen so much snow as I did on Friday and Saturday going into Gorham and Berlin. we did 200+ miles in two days and being in the lakes region where we had exactly 1 day of riding, It was the best I could ask for.

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[Oldtimer]

Welcome to Slednh iinsure!

[iinsure]

Oldtimer, on Feb 28 2010, 06:58 PM, said:

Welcome to Slednh iinsure!

Thank you. I've been lurking for years...... Finally took the time to register.

[rickzach]

iinsure, on Feb 28 2010, 05:44 PM, said:

Honestly, yes the moguls were deadly as I got close to the Twin Mountain Parking lot, so much so I got tossed off trail into a tree. At 9:30 at night, it wasn't much fun at all. Finally my partner came back 30 minutes later and another rider stopped around the same time to help me dig out.

With that said, I am just happy to have been able to ride at all. I have never seen so much snow as I did on Friday and Saturday going into Gorham and Berlin. we did 200+ miles in two days and being in the lakes region where we had exactly 1 day of riding, It was the best I could ask for.

Agreed! I'm sure that no matter what happened, the trail crews were busting their humps out there.

[AUTOMOVER]

rickzach, on Feb 28 2010, 10:53 AM, said:

Twin Mtn going east to Gorham via trails 11 & 12

Saturday 2-27-2010: Fresh snow and a decent base but grooming was very poor... actually non-existent all day on Saturday day. We later heard that the upper elevations near Berlin were in pretty good shape but we went to Gorham.

Trails were OK from Twin Mountain and Fabians to Jefferson Notch, then Notch towards Gorham trails were strewn with heavy, wet, HUGE moguls. Not good for kidneys and other body parts. We saw three groomers on the trails, none of which were using drags. Maybe they had to remove trees (not a lot were blocking the trails by that time, though), maybe their grooming plans do not recognise heavy weekend traffic, maybe they were waiting until night. Not sure but any way you cut it, a miserable day!

We went to downtown Gorham for lunch and followed the excellent welcome signage but without any "you are here" stickers (maybe they un-stuck in the rain). Once off the main trails, few in-town trail signs could not be found. We followed a small orange off-main-trail sign for Union Street. To our amazement, once we got near to town we entered a "field" because the main road entrance was plowed high and could not be passed. After a few hundred feet we came to the shocking realization that the "field" was actually a cemetary and we were riding between tombstones! How embarrasing and utterly disrespectful. To say that we felt mis-led is an understatement! We weren't all that far away from the intended route because upon exiting the cemetary we immediately saw an orange "go left" trail arrow. We are very concious about keeping good trail manners but this time I'm not all that sure how we could have avoided the cemetary without finding adequate signage plus cutting through at the impassable end of the access road. How embarrassing!

You sure have a way with words Rick. Sounds like you need to enroll in "Snowmobile Club 101", time to get involved and gain some knowledge on procedure's, you would be surprised. I bet the three "groomers" you saw on trail were "track packing" and clearing blow downs, part of the process of grooming. Depending on the new snow depth and temperature a drag could not be used. If you were heading out on the trails the day after a large storm expecting perfect conditions you got a big surprise, it sometimes takes the volunteers days to open things up and the snow needs to be processed several times to get the air out and actually pack. I could go on and on , I guess my point is that this is the wrong site to bash the volunteers when you do not have a clue what you are talking about.

[rickzach]

AUTOMOVER, on Mar 1 2010, 08:49 AM, said:

You sure have a way with words Rick. Sounds like you need to enroll in "Snowmobile Club 101", time to get involved and gain some knowledge on procedure's, you would be surprised. I bet the three "groomers" you saw on trail were "track packing" and clearing blow downs, part of the process of grooming. Depending on the new snow depth and temperature a drag could not be used. If you were heading out on the trails the day after a large storm expecting perfect conditions you got a big surprise, it sometimes takes the volunteers days to open things up and the snow needs to be processed several times to get the air out and actually pack. I could go on and on , I guess my point is that this is the wrong site to bash the volunteers when you do not have a clue what you are talking about.

I'm sorry that you throught that I was bashing the volunteers out there... quite the opposite as noted further down in the thread:

"Agreed! I'm sure that no matter what happened, the trail crews were busting their humps out there."

If you look at my other posts, you will find a LOT of praise for the vounteers of all types... and I do volunteer when possible.

http://www.zachfamil.../quebec2010feb/ <-- scroll down

If the conditions were poor, that is not a bash on the volunteers, it is a reporting of the factual trail conditions and facts are what we come here for. In fact it usually means MORE work for ther volunteers. Tell you what (and meant as a true benefit for all)... maybe you can help by posting a write-up on the types of grooming, when the types are used and why. I'd sure like to better understand what goes on.

The pictures below are from one of my earlier posts so I'll post them again:

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This post has been edited by rickzach: 01 March 2010 - 10:00 AM

[Skip]

Auotmover raises some good points....and if anyone wishes to learn more about grooming and how it is done correctly, please point your browser HERE and download the on-line version of the grooming "Bible"....

This is one of the best resources for trail riders & groomer operators alike to understand the complicated process behind producing an excellent trail!

[rickzach]

Skip, on Mar 1 2010, 10:13 AM, said:

Auotmover raises some good points....and if anyone wishes to learn more about grooming and how it is done correctly, please point your browser HERE and download the on-line version of the grooming "Bible"....

This is one of the best resources for trail riders & groomer operators alike to understand the complicated process behind producing an excellent trail!

EXCELLENT... much appreciated. Going there now...

[W8in4SNO]

Sweet - Reading material for my next business trip/flight!

[Thomas Motorsports]

also went up to gorham this weekend the storm had left it quite slushy but during the day from 12 to lowes wasnt bad at all followed 2 groomers out of lowes and up thru lookout ledge snow was still very wet and a drag would have just mashed it and made it icy the trails were definatly rideable with the exception of the rails up to berlin we actually headed out a 9 am this morning with 2 inches of fluff on top of groomed trails from last night trails were smooth and a pleasure to ride .also with the amount of snow on the ground up there im sure they will get better for the weekend .
Thanks for all the hardwork to all the groomers,you guys have salvaged a really crappy winter yet again

[iinsure]

Yeah just to touch on the Groomers. As we made our way back to twin mountain parking lot, we encountered some problems and the groomers stopped and asked if we were okay. They were certainly busy, but took the time to check on us and let us know exactly how far we were from Route 2 I think. At that point about 7-8 miles.