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Sledding Winter 19


Fozzy

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5 minutes ago, Fozzy said:

This year myself and three other buds we bought NY State passes for a change instead of Quebec passes. Tug Hill is less than an hour and half from us. Heading there for the first time on Thursday and Friday. We heard all the horror stories of the traffic and trails being beaten to hell but hope riding during the week might be different.

Has anyone ridden there and can give some insight?

Never rode there, but I have rode with a couple of Americans a fews years ago who road with us here that were from there....and unless they were telling stories & exaggerating, the drinking and riding that went on there reminded me of the stories I heard of riding the Haliburton forest 10+ years ago, and trail conditions compared to ours was night and day difference, with our trails being soooo much better.

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Tug is not as bad as its reputation can be on line.  It is however, a bit if a 'bar to bar" scene there still. 

Yes, it can get bumpy in the late afternoons Saturday or Sunday. 

What makes it different from the Muskoka's or the Haliburton Highlands?  Nothing.

Those two areas of the this province can get the same way.   Large population in the NYC and NJ areas fill Tug Hill on the weekends just like GTA does to the north in Ontario.

And this winter, that there is no riding south makes it worse than it seems.  (anybody remember the winter of 14-15 when we had lots of snow south and all the lodges and resturants in the north of Ontario were pissing and moaning about no business?)  

We ride WNY a lot.  I'm less than 50 mins drive across the Peace Bridge to be in good conditions on good trail loops.  Sure I have an OFSC pass as well.  But as a Road Sales Rep, I spend more than enough time fighting GTA traffic.  I don't need it on the weekends if there is rideable snow in WNY.

Make sure you don't dick around and get on the trail early, get to lunch before the places fill up, and back to the trailer before it goes bad.

Good news about NY State Riding is their trail pass is reasonable at $45 per sled if you join a club that costs $30.  Fuel for the Truck and sled is always less than Ontario.  Lunch on the trail, sometimes, in some places we have stopped is enough for 2 guys to split.  And they have a reasonable speed limit on their trails of 50mph so you really have to be stupid or work really hard to get a speeding ticket down there.  Unlike Onterrible, where almost have to have a nap behind the bars to ride at 50kmh on something like the Sequin.

Have fun, Stay right  

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On 1/28/2019 at 10:24 PM, Fozzy said:

This year myself and three other buds we bought NY State passes for a change instead of Quebec passes. Tug Hill is less than an hour and half from us. Heading there for the first time on Thursday and Friday. We heard all the horror stories of the traffic and trails being beaten to hell but hope riding during the week might be different.

Has anyone ridden there and can give some insight?

How was Tug Hill?

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2 hours ago, Stoney said:

How was Tug Hill?

It was really good but we only rode on Friday as the drive up Thursday was insane with the lake effect. Never seen it snow like that before.

We stayed at the Ridge View in Lowville which is a great spot to stage from. I didn't see any of the horror stories of what everyone talks about with Tug Hill. Trails were very nice considering what they had to deal with in regards to the snow as it easily snowed 2 to 4 feet. 

A few pics from Friday...  we did about 260km for the day.

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1 hour ago, Fozzy said:

It was really good but we only rode on Friday as the drive up Thursday was insane with the lake effect. Never seen it snow like that before.

We stayed at the Ridge View in Lowville which is a great spot to stage from. I didn't see any of the horror stories of what everyone talks about with Tug Hill. Trails were very nice considering what they had to deal with in regards to the snow as it easily snowed 2 to 4 feet. 

A few pics from Friday...  we did about 260km for the day.

IMG_4137.thumb.JPG.a4f683ea686f48d08b5de0c836888024.JPG

IMG_4138.thumb.JPG.2ec29833a7a4159696e0bfc75e411543.JPG

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IMG_4148.thumb.JPG.1ad52758d20f9c54ec10ad54f6c0bcd7.JPG

Looks great and nice to hear it was all good!

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1 hour ago, bladefever said:

Found on the. snowmobile trail today.

20190202_115824-1.jpg

I usually see one or more like this on the Trails around Port Perry or in the Ganny. One year an old lady made it in surprisingly far. Said her GPS said to go this way. It's hard enough watching out for other sledders and groomers let alone vehicles you never expect to see!

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On 2/2/2019 at 8:03 PM, irv said:

I usually see one or more like this on the Trails around Port Perry or in the Ganny. One year an old lady made it in surprisingly far. Said her GPS said to go this way. It's hard enough watching out for other sledders and groomers let alone vehicles you never expect to see!

 

GPS thing happens. I had my GPS tell me to turn on to the sled trail before Christmas. It wasn't even a summer road. It was the old railway line, now a walking/sled trail. I was like WTF?

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2 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

 

GPS thing happens. I had my GPS tell me to turn on to the sled trail before Christmas. It wasn't even a summer road. It was the old railway line, now a walking/sled trail. I was like WTF?

Esp if you use Siri.:lol:

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16 hours ago, smokin george said:

A few years ago the groomer stopped an SUV up in the Hali Forest almost 6 miles in and the driver said he was following his GPS. The one that tops it was a tour bus on a sled trail

I remember seeing that pic, George. I think it was Blake who use to post here that posted the pic, IIRC? 

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

 

GPS thing happens. I had my GPS tell me to turn on to the sled trail before Christmas. It wasn't even a summer road. It was the old railway line, now a walking/sled trail. I was like WTF?

I don't own a GPS but want to get one for sledding as I'd like to venture to areas that are unknown to me. I borrowed one from my boss a few years ago for my son's hockey tourney in Buffalo. We had pre-setup the route and everything and still it tooks us past our turn once we got close to the Motel in Buffalo. We travelled quite a distance past our destination relying on the GPS to get us there. It failed us bigtime, which was a disappointment, but the turn we were suppose to make was a quick one once we just got into Buffalo so it may have popped up and we didn't see it but we didn't get any alerts, (if they do that?) that we missed our turn? I don't know enough about them but I assume newer ones are much better? 

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1 hour ago, irv said:

I remember seeing that pic, George. I think it was Blake who use to post here that posted the pic, IIRC? 

I don't own a GPS but want to get one for sledding as I'd like to venture to areas that are unknown to me. I borrowed one from my boss a few years ago for my son's hockey tourney in Buffalo. We had pre-setup the route and everything and still it tooks us past our turn once we got close to the Motel in Buffalo. We travelled quite a distance past our destination relying on the GPS to get us there. It failed us bigtime, which was a disappointment, but the turn we were suppose to make was a quick one once we just got into Buffalo so it may have popped up and we didn't see it but we didn't get any alerts, (if they do that?) that we missed our turn? I don't know enough about them but I assume newer ones are much better? 

Android works much better.  Standalone GPS failed miserably in Portland where it just did not provide enough "heads up".

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2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

 

GPS thing happens. I had my GPS tell me to turn on to the sled trail before Christmas. It wasn't even a summer road. It was the old railway line, now a walking/sled trail. I was like WTF?

How far did you get...... Lol

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4 hours ago, ArcticCrusher said:

Android works much better.  Standalone GPS failed miserably in Portland where it just did not provide enough "heads up".

I need to start looking at them and decide what will work best for me for mainly sledding. The simpler the better as I just want it to show maps that I can preplan/upload then follow those to do loops. My concern is obviously getting lost and not being able to make it back to the truck or a motel if I am staying a few days. I hate to admit it, but I am so far behind with today's tech it's not even funny. 

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20 minutes ago, irv said:

I need to start looking at them and decide what will work best for me for mainly sledding. The simpler the better as I just want it to show maps that I can preplan/upload then follow those to do loops. My concern is obviously getting lost and not being able to make it back to the truck or a motel if I am staying a few days. I hate to admit it, but I am so far behind with today's tech it's not even funny. 

Well for sledding, you really can't beat the Garmin Montana's with the AMPS mount, no USB crap.  Load the OFSC maps or the OC ones, but you need to be a bit more techy.  Install the OFSC app on your phone as backup and you should be good to go, just keep the phone in a pocket where it is relatively warm as the batteries drain fast in the cold.

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1 hour ago, ArcticCrusher said:

Well for sledding, you really can't beat the Garmin Montana's with the AMPS mount, no USB crap.  Load the OFSC maps or the OC ones, but you need to be a bit more techy.  Install the OFSC app on your phone as backup and you should be good to go, just keep the phone in a pocket where it is relatively warm as the batteries drain fast in the cold.

My son, if I am riding with him, will definitely have that on his phone. He was shown a couple years ago and uploaded the app right away without any issues. I am sure he will be a great help with a GPS as well, but I think once I am shown once or twice, I will get the hang of it and will be all set. Around 5-6 yrs ago, a few buds of mine headed to North Bay. The trail boss, as I like to call him, had each day's rides all planned out on his GPS and it worked great. None of us, especially him, were afraid of getting lost as we just followed the route/trails he had pre-uploaded to his GPS. From that trip, I remembered thinking I need one of those but due to shitty winters and my son's hockey schedule, it got put on the back burner. With retirement coming up this July and the hopes of doing more sledding next winter and in years to come, I definitely want to get one. What kind of money am I looking at for the one you suggested with the mounts and everything else I will need? 

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On 2/4/2019 at 6:12 PM, irv said:

My son, if I am riding with him, will definitely have that on his phone. He was shown a couple years ago and uploaded the app right away without any issues. I am sure he will be a great help with a GPS as well, but I think once I am shown once or twice, I will get the hang of it and will be all set. Around 5-6 yrs ago, a few buds of mine headed to North Bay. The trail boss, as I like to call him, had each day's rides all planned out on his GPS and it worked great. None of us, especially him, were afraid of getting lost as we just followed the route/trails he had pre-uploaded to his GPS. From that trip, I remembered thinking I need one of those but due to shitty winters and my son's hockey schedule, it got put on the back burner. With retirement coming up this July and the hopes of doing more sledding next winter and in years to come, I definitely want to get one. What kind of money am I looking at for the one you suggested with the mounts and everything else I will need? 

I would figure about 600.

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16 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

I would figure about 600.

Figured somewhere in that neighborhood. Where is a good place to shop for them? On line or a store locally or in the GTA?  

Thanks :bc:

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