SNOWMOBILING IN SOUTHERN ONONDAGA

Two weeks after my Tug Hill trip, Syracuse finally got some snow accumulation worth of snowmobiling. I have to admit that the wintertime period has a different feel for it when you own a snowmobile. Snow is no longer a pain to just shovel and the cold is more inviting than ever before. Although Syracuse has barely seen much snow and cold this winter, it has been a good winter overall so far. Its only the end of February and its always an adventure for the fellow Syracusean when the winter will actually end. 

The next day after the heavy snowfall Alexis the oldest child is my partner in crime when it came to sledding. I'm hoping we will have many more adventures on the sled. Her favorite part is going to grandma's house which is only 15 minutes by sled. We take a nice break at grandma's house and head back. We have slowly been increasing our rides together whenever we get some snow. 

We had to take a little scenic viewing break in grandma's woods to look at the snow covered tree bark.

A LONGER ADVENTURE TO SONG MOUNTAIN

We continue to accumulate more snow and my neighbor across the street and I took a little ride down to Song Mountain in Tully. The "little ride" turn out to be a 2.5 hr adventure but it was nice to see some different trail in my part of the county.

We rode down the right side of Otisco lake down past Song Mountain to Preble. The trail conditions were borderline bad in the Tanner Valley golf course with a field of mud that had to crossed. Once we made it to the top of the first hill overlooking the valley the conditions improved significantly. We only saw people at the larger crossroads but for the most part we were riding alone. 

In Lafayette there were some really steep ravines we had to cross and riding on the side of a steep slope was a new experience. 

I had to stop a couple times to take a photo of great views. 

Song Mountain Ski Resort

At Preble I realized that I had taken way to much time going that far and my neighbor said if he could lead on the way back, maybe we can return a little faster. We encounter more riders on the way back and the trails started to deteriorate because it became significantly warmer. However despite the conditions we made it back faster.

Plenty of mud close to home

DAVID & IRYNA ADVENTURE

On the day we had 50 degree weather and the snow drastically started to melt, David and Iryna took a last minute opportunity to enjoy the sled for a short adventure. Going beyond Route 175 meant getting into heavy mud so they stayed in the nearby fields.

I can see the trail from my second story window, which is is just to the right of the last house on the left, 75 yard run on the road.

It was so warm that it was nicer to ride with the visor up and the jacket unzipped. However, these conditions are ideal for sledding. Syracuse weather alway throws surprises and we had at least one more month of official winter before the trails also close officially. I'm still hoping for one more ride before I summerize the sled.

SNOWMOBILING IN THE SOUTHERN TUG HILL REGION

Winter may seem like it's over for Upstate New York but that's not how a few people felt a mere hour north of Syracuse. One of the local weatherman traveled up north and post the following two photos which give a great appreciation what it means to that much snow. On the other side of the country eastern California saw some record snow fall as well. 

 A fellow co-worker, Joe, invited me to ride with him in the Tug Hill Region, know for the snow and great trail system. I'm always up for a new adventure, so we headed up to Williamstown, during a small break in the heavy snowfall. 

We parked at the gathering grounds in Williamstown which had a good 2 foot base and headed it out toward Redfield. From there we went southeast towards Florence and took a few minutes off the sled at the Florence Hotel. 

Paper tape on my nose prevented the latex in the rubber guard from irritating my skin

Joe and I

Beautiful Ski-Doo 600's

My ride for the day

From Florence our intentions were to head toward High Market and loop back down. However at one of the cross roads we consulted another rider who said, "put away the map, let me tell you how to get there." And then proceeded to instruct us to go a much longer way to our destination. When riding one quickly realizes that there could be a lot more trail markers to provide a more clear path from point A to point B. Before we knew it we were by Lee Center which is located just outside of Rome. We also noticed the significant decrease in snow on the ground. Fortunately we didn't have to ride on a muddy trail for more than a couple miles before we saw feet of snow again. 

From Lee Center we went to Osceola were we stopped at the World Famous Osceola Hotel for a quick bite to eat. It was nice to be off the sled and relaxing but the meal prep did take longer than anticipated but it tasted better than expected. After a good 60 minute break we walked outside to find a nice snow band overhead dumping a lot of snow. It was pretty and all but riding wasn't as fun when visibility was 20 feet. 

Thankfully as we got close to Williamstown the snow tapered off and we had a little break and another opportunity to enjoy the ride before hitting the trailer. 

Overall it was great ride and it was wonderful to appreciate a whole new world of snowmobiling. I only scratched the surface of the Tug Hill trail system and hopefully there will more opportunities to explore further north and the northwest.

Thank you Joe for trusting me with your sled and showing me around the Tug Hill region. 

We rode 100 miles exactly according to my GPS. The mapped out ride is seen below. 

YOUTUBE VIDEO OF OUR ADVENTURE

CLICK LINK HERE