Sourlands Mountain Preserve Conditions
- Thread starter clarkenstein
- Start date
) Upper trails smoother and dryer but still some ice puddles scattered around. Ride early when frozen and you should be good, just be careful with the ice.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Bump - looking ahead at the forecast for the rest of the week with the thought of bringing the NICA team to SL this Saturday afternoon... is it possible it will be frozen and ok to ride?
Based on the deep freeze we're getting, it should stay frozen, minus a few spots on the lower trails maybe. Better to start late morning before the bottom softens. There will be a lot of ice and frozen footprints to contend with though. SL is hard enough without ice. Not sure you wanna subject the kids to that.
Did a loop today - up the right side out of the parking lot then left across the bridge towards maple flats.
plenty of snow, lots of footsteps, and a frozen bottom (trail bed, please)
water running at the stream crossings on the way to the 4-way (marker 9?) and a nice dense snow with footprints.
lots of work, but traction was fine. Hitting the 4-way, i took the connector trail to the fence. snow was deeper here,
and anything more than a couple % uphill was difficult. Was off the bike a few times.
up new shoes, to the cairn, and up roaring brook - the steeps were def HAB. but again, snow, not mud.
walked up the roaring brook side of 3 amigos, and hit the red - if it was flat, it was rideable. Plenty of dense snow.
if a few people went through, it would make a huge difference.
coming back down, the old trail was a mix of running water, and snow. the water was where it was expected, just more of it.
coming back down to the fence on 3 amigos->roaring brook, flow down. took the lower trail of maple flats - bad idea. it was a swamp.
would have been frozen earlier, but it was pushing 3pm, and over 30F. Stay away from there, wouldn't be any fun with all the frozen footprints
and ice anyway.
pipeline was crappy - lots of mud
in all, i'd say it will be ok the next couple of mornings, after the evening cold. it was a ton of work breaking trail,
so go ride it in. maybe we can get a couple of cold weeks out of it.
plenty of snow, lots of footsteps, and a frozen bottom (trail bed, please)
water running at the stream crossings on the way to the 4-way (marker 9?) and a nice dense snow with footprints.
lots of work, but traction was fine. Hitting the 4-way, i took the connector trail to the fence. snow was deeper here,
and anything more than a couple % uphill was difficult. Was off the bike a few times.
up new shoes, to the cairn, and up roaring brook - the steeps were def HAB. but again, snow, not mud.
walked up the roaring brook side of 3 amigos, and hit the red - if it was flat, it was rideable. Plenty of dense snow.
if a few people went through, it would make a huge difference.
coming back down, the old trail was a mix of running water, and snow. the water was where it was expected, just more of it.
coming back down to the fence on 3 amigos->roaring brook, flow down. took the lower trail of maple flats - bad idea. it was a swamp.
would have been frozen earlier, but it was pushing 3pm, and over 30F. Stay away from there, wouldn't be any fun with all the frozen footprints
and ice anyway.
pipeline was crappy - lots of mud
in all, i'd say it will be ok the next couple of mornings, after the evening cold. it was a ton of work breaking trail,
so go ride it in. maybe we can get a couple of cold weeks out of it.
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thegock
Well-Known Member
Cold doesn’t necessarily mean magic snow. Baldpate, which has a similar elevation to the sourlands, had untouched areas with around 4” this morning. Not even remotely magic snow as it was pretty much powder. Even the lower stuff that wasn’t really wet/frozen, still getting that little bit of dig in. Rip @Magic
thegock
Well-Known Member
"Check, check, yo, I know something you don't know
And I've got something to tell ya
You won't believe how many people straight doubted the flow
Most said that I was a failure
But now the same motherfuckers asking me for dough
And I'm yelling: "I can't help ya"
"But Nelly can we get tickets to the next show?"
Hell no (what's witchyou?!) you for real?!"
I was just, like, riffing on @Magic
rockgardenworld should be bone by Thursday morning.
#getsome
I think you are going to find a swamp. Lots of snow there last week with plenty of running water. I suspect that it is very soft.
agree - it's gonna be a mess. some climbers went the other day and its wet. there's still some snow, but with these temps it'll be no good.
Robin
Well-Known Member
Was hiking there Saturday and lower trails are a muddy mess. After the last two days I’m sure everything is mud.
yeah - like 3 days. unreal.
i guess it needs to balance out - think of RV and how low the water was for so long. sucker is full now (of course they have to pump water in, but that is besides the point...)
spruce run is naturally fed (i think) and it was a disaster for the four years through 2017 - it is now full.
Just finished up a short outing on foot here. The trails are a stream. The only place to walk is on the rocks. Gonna be a while for bikes. The top is drying out faster (as usual) but it still needs a solid amount of time before it’s dry.
You gotta hear Roaring Rocks though.
You gotta hear Roaring Rocks though.
Should be great to be honest. Gotta beat the rain tho.