Snowmobiling in the rain sucks

As I pulled the sled into the yard yesterday evening, the odometer casually flipped from 188.9 to 189.0 miles. Not bad considering that I took delivery of the sled on Wednesday with 0.1 miles on it. On Wednesday night I limited myself to a quick 20 mile ride to Harriman Reservoir and back. I didn't dare go any farther (or faster) since I didn't have registration or insurance yet. On Friday I spent the morning getting the reg & insurance taken care of, and then in the afternoon I rode into Stamford by Sucker Pond, over County Road and eventually came out on a logging road at the end of White Oaks Road in Williamstown. I put approximately 50 miles on the sled on small back-woods trails. Now that I live so close to the Stamford woods and also have a network of trails that connect right from my house, I really enjoy exploring and learning my way around up there. On my way to County road I ran into a guy from Pownal who showed me around over there and over toward Williamstown. Now I just need to find my way to Winchester's so that I can ride over there for lunch!

On Saturday morning my father and I went to PLT to pick up my old sled, and I promptly transferred my VAST sticker to my new sled to finish out the season. I went through Woodford all the way to Sunderland where I did a little bit of exploring and found a couple nice trails. I also found a trail that took me over Glastonbury Mt. I should have turned around when the trail got small, but I figured I'd go a little bit farther. Once I did, I found myself on a trail so small and tight that I couldn't turn around if I wanted to. The trail kept getting steeper and twistier, and I started seeing a lot of ruts from other sleds that had gotten stuck. I felt very fortunate that I had the new sled with the long track because I was able to go right through these areas that swamped other sleds. I was also very nervous, because when you get a long track sled stuck, it takes twice as much effort to get it unstuck. I continued on, going by more and more spots where others had gotten stuck. After a couple miles, the uphill turned into an equally difficult downhill. By this point, it had started to rain, which certainly didn't help things. The last thing you want is to get soaking wet, then get standed in the woods. It made visibility difficult. Eventually the trail flattened out and opened up to an old log road, which was a welcomed sight. After a mile or two of that, I found myself on the Glastonbury Loop section of the groomed trails. I headed straight home, and by this time the rain was coming down pretty good. I couldn't see with my face shield down, so I had to ride with it up, which allowed the rain drops to hit my face and eyes at 40+mph, which made it feel like a constant barrage of needles in my eyes. Riding in the rain sucks and I was glad to get home.

On Sunday I headed out once again. I met up with the Tatro clan up in the hills of Stamford and rode around a little bit. In truth, we did more sitting and talking than riding, but it was a good time just the same. After heading back toward home, I took a quick jaunt up to Woodford to get in a few extra miles.

By now the trails are almost gone. The groomer was out yesterday, but he was moving slush around more than snow. I think that the warm weather won't be too much of a problem over the next couple days, so I'll get a couple more nights of riding in, but I think that once the 50+ degree rain comes mid-week, that'll about do it for the trails. Overall this has been a rollercoaster snowmobile season, but I'm satisfied that I was at least able to get a couple hundred miles of riding in on my new sled, and now I can look forward to next winter!

Attached is a crappy picture that I took with my camera phone on the trails in Woodford yesterday.