St. Ignace Trail Report – Straits Area Snowmobile Club – 02/05
Same thing up here. COLD temps, and now new snow. We are working with what we have, and I am ready to say that the trails are about excellent condition. For a groomer’s perspective, the trail, especially the Grade is thin, but a sledder would hardly notice unless off-trail. You are going to find a few rocks here and there that have worked their way to the surface – there just isn’t enough snow to cover all of those, but there is a good ice base with 3-5′ of hard packed snow on top of that to ride on. There are absolutely no issues to report anywhere on our trails, and I am happy with the way things are going for this season. The forecast is saying maybe a couple of inches late tonight, and again on Saturday. Some pick-me-up would be good to thicken things up a little. Soo I-500 Mackinac Island: Make your plans for the LaBatte Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships held in St. Ignace on February 14th. 32 ice rinks carved out of the wild Lake Huron Ice, overlooking beautiful Mackinac Island. A full semi-load of LaBatte beer. Ice bowling. Live Music. A fun weekend for sure. Come check out the second largest tournament in the country! Thursday Picture Day: The third pic is an example of the rocks that I am taking about. As you can see a perfect groomed white trail with no snirt, and a random rock sitting on top. With under a 12′ base, you will find that from time to time on our RR Grade. Perfectly ridable, and you will hear an occasional click on the skis. Enjoy the weekend, and keep the track side down. ———
Groomers are running everyday, and all of the trails are widened out and ready for this weekend heavy I-50 traffic. If you are going to day-trip to the Soo of the I-500, of course you can stay at one of the area motels and ride from there. If you are trailering in for the day, you are welcome to park at our downtown trailhead and ride out of Iggy from there. Take the first exit off I-75 and take a right, go downtown and turn left on Marquette street at the blue NAPA building. The trailhead is there on your left, with overflow parking on the North end of the ice rink.
There has been a couple brave soles that have crossed to Mackinac Island, but no treeline yet, and I do not know the ice thickness out in the middle, (nor will I report it, or advise that it is safe to cross) When and if a treeline goes up, I will let you know – it is your responsibility to determine if it is safe to cross yourself.
Trail candy for you this morning taken just outside of Iggy on some of the trail that breaks down the quickest. As you can see, it may be thin, but there is no snirt at all, bright white and ready to rock.