Patriot

I am not sure, but I believe it is steel

I am thinking about bring my son camping up in Pittsburg over Fathers Day weekend. He can do some fishing, I can do some beer drinking, and we can both look for moose. How is the weather up there this time of year? How cold do the nights get? We have a pop-up with a furnace, so unless it rains the whole time, I am not too worried. We would stay at Ramblewood. Anyone been there?

Well, we made the trip up last week and camped at Ramblewood. We had a great time, although the horse flies were brutal at times. It was funny, as long as we stayed right in our site, there were very few horse flies. But as soon as we walked out into the open field or into the woods, they were all over us. The first day we walked up a hiking trail and started following some moose tracks. We didn’t get very far, the bugs were too much, even with bug spray. All said, we had a very relaxing 3 days, the campground was basically empty, and the campground staff was very quick to offer us anything we needed.

Thanks, looks like that may be a good place to canoe, fish AND see some moose. Trifecta!

2 years later we are finally going up to Pittsburg for some camping. We will be there July 7-10, staying at Ramblewood. My son loves to fish, so now I need some suggestions on fishing spots. I am sure he will venture out on First Conn Lake with the canoe. He also has fly fishing equipment. So where are some good fishing spots in the area?

Dave, believe me I understand and think it is a great idea. The part that gives me pause is the part where the state of NH could be handling club membership funds. Clubs would have no way of knowing if money never made it to them.

That is all true Dave, but I was really only referring to the membership fees.

It IS automated-for the dealer/registration agent. It used to be a totally manual process (paper-based). I think this is a great idea, BUT... Would you want the state to be the middle man for YOUR clubs $$$$$$$$?

It is a win-win IMO. Dealer spends less time processing registrations. The line at the counter should move along quicker. I am sure there will be a little bit of a learning curve, but it is good. I am sure some will debate the need for F&G to charge an additional $2. With the way their budget has been slashed, it doesn't surprise me, nor does it bother me. I will gladly pay an extra $4 a year for my 2 sleds to reduce the time I spend at the dealer on that first snowy Saturday

You can, you would come up through Dunbarton and Bow. The first part of the ride (from Goffstown to Kimball Pond in Dunbarton) would probably be pretty rough. I have never seen that power line trail groomed south of the pond. Let me know if you do that, I could meet you over by Kimball Pond and get you through Bow in no time.

I doubt it will happen anytime before it is mandated by the Govt.

That is an excellent point about the membership apps. Great idea.

I could not agree more about off-trail riding. In NH, it is pretty simple. Unless an area is posted OPEN, it is illegal to ride it. To the letter of the law, the clubs should not even have to post the "stay on trail or stay home" signs. But we have to, in order to keep the peace with our landowners. Stay on the freakin' trail, unless YOU have WRITTEN permission to ride off the trail. It really shouldn't be this hard.

Not trying to be an ass, but how many accidents have been caused by people using hand signals in the last couple of years?

Looks like someone is going to get a pretty big storm. Unfortunately, I think the fish will get it. Hence the marine warning.

Not exactly. There are only a few companies that make the vaccine. Those that do have to put time, money and research into the vaccine each and every year. That costs a ton of $$. They would much rather discover a drug that will cure a major disease, a drug that will they will be able to get a patent for. That way they can sell that drug exclusively for the next several years. I highly doubt the drug companies make all that much money off the flu vaccines. I am sure some do, but many don't.

I rode Lancaster area last week, there is not enough snow for them to groom. What they have is ice, and lots of it.

The person that was passed was going 50. The guy passing him had to have been going at least 70. Just so you know, the speed limit is 45. With that said, if I notice a sled coming up fast behind me (I don't have mirrors so I don't always notice), I move over so they can pass SAFELY.

Our club (Bow Pioneers) has a 1969 Tucker that looks very similar to that one. It is getting difficult to maintain, so I suspect it may be for sale in the near future, as it is just not reliable to use frequently.

The drug companies make each years flu shot based on input straight from CDC (US Govt). CDC tells the drug companies what strain of flu they think will be most prevalent during the upcoming year. Since there are dozens of different strains of flu, it is impossible to develop a flu shot for each strain. They just go for the big one.

Got into Lancaster (stayed at Lancaster Motor Inn) on Monday afternoon. The snow right at the motel was frozen solid, so we kept the sleds on the trailer. After unpacking and asking around where to park, we headed out to park at the Lancaster Snodrifters clubhouse. We unloaded intending to do a couple hours on the trails. We headed up to Mt. Prospect. The trails were thin and real icy in spots, but there was enough loose snow to cool the sleds. No problem. On the way back towards the parking lot, I stopped at a small road crossing. My son, who was behind me unfortunately did not stop. He slid into me at about 3 MPH, as he just could not stop on the ice. The hood of his '04 Rev shattered into several pieces. That ended that short trip. We loaded up and headed to Dalton Mtn Ski Doo to try to find a replacement. They didn't have one, neither did Garneau's in Twin Mtn. Lemieux was closed. So that was Monday, we did about 8 miles. Tuesday I got up and called Lemieux up in Colebrook, not only did they have one, but they had several colors. Beautiful. So we trailered back to the clubhouse (minus Rev hood) and headed up Corridor 5 to Colebrook. The trails in and around Lancaster were thin, and real icy in some spots. Generally enough coverage, but we had to be careful. Once we got out of Lancaster, things improved. Nash Stream area was spectacular. We got turned around somewhere, so it took us 2 1/2 hours and 60 miles to get to Lemieuxs. We did not see one single sled until we got to Lemieuxs. Spoke with Bob who hooked us up big time. He took the time to help remove the riveted brackets from the old hood and install them on the new hood. And he did not charge us for his time. So we gassed up, had some lunch next door, then headed out. We went over to see the Balsams (its a mess) and the wind towers on Dixville Peak. We started heading back after that. We rolled in to Lancaster at 4:30. Did 120 miles. Wednesday my son wanted to go to the Canadian Border. We decided to trailer up to the Groveton Trailblazers clubhouse so we could avoid the nasty trails around Lancaster. It was only a 20 minute drive, but worth it as it saved us about 30-40 mins (each way) on not-so-good trails. We rolled up Corridor 5 through Nash Stream, Coleman State Park etc. Trail conditions were fan-freakin-tastic. Nash Stream was again terrific. Going through Colebrook was a little icy in the lower elevations, but you could tell they were doing the best they could with what they had. CSP was getting a little beat up, but there was plenty of snow and quite a bit of traffic in that area. We left Corridor 5 in Pittsburg to head to Young's for some fuel. The trails around Young's were a little thin and loose, which is normal for that area from what I have seen in the past. We got to Youngs at 11, so it took us 60 miles and 2 1/2 hours to get there from Groveton. We headed up 141 (I think) to the Canadian border. From there we headed down to Diamond Ridge and rode through one heck of a snow squall with near whiteout conditions for 10 mins or so, on the Ridge it was windy and cold, but we could see pretty well all around. We left the ridge at about 12:45 to start heading back to Groveton via Corridor 5. All in all it was a 145 mile round trip, and we were back at the truck at 3:30 (7 hours). Not a bad day. 2 days, 245 miles, riding time about 15 hours total. A great mini-vacation with my boy. Thumbs up to -Lemieux Garage Colebrook for taking great care of us -Groveton Trailblazers for having a great parking area, good trail signage and great trail conditions -Pittsburg RidgeRunners for having good trail signage and unbelievable trail conditions -Swift Diamond Riders get a thumbs half up for decent but bumpy trail conditions (yes, I am being picky) -Colebrook Ski Bees (I think it was their area) also gets a thumb half up for some signage issues that got us crossed up a bit in that area Thumbs down to -Mother nature for giving us a rain storm 3 days before our trip If I can do that many miles with only a couple maps, including a NH state corridor map without getting lost, the signage overall has to be pretty good. So that's a good thing. But in some areas it could have been better (yes, as an active club member I know the whole volunteer thing, so save the lecture). One broken sign in the Colebrook area on Corridor 5 screwed us up on Tuesday. Oh well, stuff happens.

I can vouch for the report, we were there yesterday. Plenty of coverage in the area. Trails around Young's are thin and there is a little ice in some corners, but that is normal for that area from what I have seen in the past. Trails north and east of there were fantastic. Went all the way up to the border, and back down to Diamond Peak. Nice and flat everywhere, didn't find any bumps in PRR system.

I was originally going to do a saddlebag ride from my house to the north country. Changed my mind, and booked a room at the Lancaster Motor Inn. Looking for some nice loops to do from there. Day 1 we will do a smaller loop, as we won’t get up there until afternoon time. Day 2 was wanting to head up to Pittsburg so my son can see the border (how long a ride is it?). Might be too far though Day 3 we have a full day, open to suggestions

It changed to snow as I was getting on the trail. I was pretty wet when I got home, and I took the shorter route back. Next meeting is Thurs March 20. Plan ahead! lol

Sure thing. Lovely drive to work this AM, in the pouring rain. There were some pretty massive puddles along Rt. 3A in Bow and Hooksett.