Groomed the West Side trails tonight. With yesterday's snow conditions are excellent, the best of the year. The East Side Trails are closed for the rest of the year because of a timber sale. Logging is to start next week. Please remember to support the Land O Lakes Fish and Game Club for trail and equipment maintenance.

(Bob Turnquist)

Groomed all trails this evening.  I did some widening and leveling on the east side on Tuesday so the trail was fairly hard.  This resulted in tracks not being full depth everywhere but still in good shape.  The west side had some loose snow so tracks are deep everywhere.  It was snowing during grooming so the tracks and corduroy will not look crisp but still skiing should be great.

(Bob Turnquist)

Groomed all the trails this afternoon since conditions were a bit soft after the last grooming. If things firm up tonight as expected, conditions should be great. Full depth tracks everywhere.

(Bob Turnquist)

Groomed all trails Friday afternoon. Everything looks great after the snow Thursday. The 3 mile loop is good for now. They plowed it just before the snow so maybe they will hold off for a while. The parking lot is cleaned out.

(Bob Turnquist)

Finally got the groomer out of storage today as there seemed to be enough snow. And it is not even February. Groomed the East Side trail from the parking lot to the snowmobile trail this morning. I did not feel it was possible to groom the 3 mile loop since it was recently plowed but I did ski it this afternoon. The couple of inches of snow put the 3 mile loop back is skiable condition. There are no bare spots and while the track set on Friday is wallowed out a bit it is not bad. So the East Side is back in business. Groomed the West Side early this evening. It should be in good shape with cold temps tonight.

(Bob Turnquist)

Groomed all trails late this afternoon. The west side looks like it should be very good. Surprisingly I was able to set full depth tracks on the portions of the 3 mile loop that was recently plowed for future logging operations. Unsurprisingly there are many places where the base of the track is below the level of snow. Tonight’s low temperatures should make for firm tracks so if we get evens half inch of snow, skiing on the east side will be fine.

(Bob Turnquist)

After grooming the East Side from the Parking Lot to the 3 mile loop and all of the West Side this morning, I skied the West Side this afternoon. For the most part the trail was is very good shape, however the 2" of snow that we got recently was not quite enough so there are a few thin spots yet. There was a lot of traffic right after grooming but the tracks held up well. Skiers report the 3 mile loop on the East Side is not good due to the plowing of large portions of the trail in preparation for future logging operations. Since we have no donation collection box please support the trail by mailing a donation to the Land O Lakes Fish and Game Club. Thanks.

(Bob Turnquist)

A large portion of the East Side was plowed last night in preparation for timber harvest.  There is maybe a half inch of snow left on the trail. I skied some distance on it just before noon and while it is possible to ski it is very thin.  Use old skis only.  There will not be any grooming done unless we get several inches of snow and they don't plow again. I am hesitant to try grooming on the West Side for fear of making that worse as it continues to be quite skiable. Temps look good for grooming on Sunday.

(Bob Turnquist)

This trail is entirely located on Forest Service land. You may have noticed trees painted for a timber sale on the East Side Trail.  Tonight activity will start with plowing large portions of the East Side Trail.  Actual timber harvest probably will not start until approximately March 1, but that is subject to change.  Those folks plowing the trail have been instructed to leave a "mat", i. e. not plow down to the dirt.  We will have to see how they do.  Since the trail is already packed I hope they will do nothing right now, but if wishes were fishes....    If they do leave a thick enough mat it is possible that I can still set a track until such time that they begin the actual timber harvest.

(Bob Turnquist)

No lying, things are very thin in Northern Wisconsin, and only a little better here, but devotion to the groomer's craft, and a relative lack of use, makes this one of the more pleasant opportunities, until such time as real snow, really falls. Track is weak on the west, but the amazing "old school" narrow section of the East trail, is as pretty and skiable, as can be hoped for.

Photos:

(Bob Nussbaum)