St. Ignace Trail Report – 02/24
The Thursday/Friday storm had more impact then I thought it would have. They closed the bridge and us-2 on Friday for quite a while, and US-2 was still closed through Saturday. High winds knocked out power all over teh place, including my house for 10 hours, Moran for 12-14, and some place in Epoufette on and off for 2 days. The Groomers had a tough time of it on Friday night, with over 40 trees having to be cleared from the trail, and heavy drifting all weekend. The lower loop took 2 full passes on Friday night just to get the drifts knocked down. The upper loop as a ton of trees down making Bob’s trip long, and as a consequence he did not have time to do the Caffey. With Cut River out of power, he couldn’t plug in the groomer to keep it warm, and it would not start on Saturday afternoon. So the upper loop did not get a good groom until Sunday afternoon. The good news is that the trails all groomed up very well with the good snow snow, which packed well. We are working on widening out some sections of the trail in anticipation spring as the trail edges will become dangerous fro the groomer when things start to soften up. The storm added more then 5′ to the base on the trail which is now easily 20′-30′ over the entire trail system. Off trail is just crazy, and our whole coverage area has snow like you have seen along the Superior shoreline in recent years. Besides the groomer breakdowns, you really can’t ask for a better year for sledding! The forecast for the coming week has the buzz words ‘Polar Vortex’ in it again and that means more bitter cold, but not really a ton of snow (not that we need it!) Temps over the next week will only be in the single digits and then maybe the teens over the weekend. Things should remain in great condition, as both groomers are running and there is tons of snow to groom out there. The City of St. Ignace would like me to remind you that snowmobile are NOT ALLOWED on city sidewalks or main street. If you want to access the ice bridge to Mackinac Island, then cross Main Street at right angles, and use the access points at the Mackinac Grill or beach next to Star Line. Base: 24 inches Snowfall Past 24 hours: 0 inches Last Grooming: Every other weekday, and all Weekend. Current Trail Conditions: Good to Excellent ———