January 15th, 2015 – Although we’re looking at a brief warm up for today and Saturday the rest of the week looks good. We’re just now coming off of a pretty severe cold snap that gave our drivers a chance to go over all the trails and pack them as much as they could prior to the warm up. All trails are looking good once again. Unfortunately the brief warm up will be coming over a busy holiday weekend with lots of traffic. Our drivers will most likely not be grooming during the daytime if temps rise as predicted Saturday, but will be out overnight or during the early morning hours. Once we make it to Sunday temps look to be in the teens and twenties for highs with overnight lows in the teens and single digits…perfect riding weather!

As this will be a holiday weekend we’d like to once again warn you to be on the watch for young, maybe inexperienced, riders on the trails. Be sure to ride single file and always on the right side only. Also, we’ve had a couple of incidents recently of snowmobilers riding onto clearly marked private property and doing damage to the property. These are the kind of incidents that can jeopardize our trail easement grants and cause trails to be closed. Please stay on marked trails or unplowed county roads (see below) only.

You can legally ride any county road that does not get plowed, but check with the Forest Service for a map to these roads. They have a waterproof one for $10.00. Call 906-932-1330 or go to www.fs.usda.gov/ottawa for more info.

The new snowmobile maps are out and available at most local businesses. Please remember that only money put into the wooden map money boxes with the photo of the groomers on it goes back to the trails – so please be aware of this and watch for this.

That’s all for now from Carolyn at the Hoop! Keep checking back for more updates as conditions change. For additional information about the Lake Gogebic area please visit the chamber website at www.LakeGogebicArea.com or call them at 1-888-464-3242 (888-GOGEBIC). Have a great day and a great ride.

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Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce –

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There’s been no change in trail conditions in the last 48 hours, and the guys groomed last night. Although one of our two tractors is down we have made arrangements for a rental for the upcoming holiday weekend. So never fear, tractors are here. Thanks to Kenny Ginop from Ginop Sales in Alanson (a Platinum Member of our Grooming Club!) for hooking us up. Today’s temps are so comfortable compared to the below-zero numbers we had earlier this week. We aren’t expected to go above 29 degrees today so our good conditions will hold. We also have a good chance for another inch or two of snow today. It’s grey outside now and we’re looking for the snow to start this afternoon. Today’s other news is the new drag we took delivery of yesterday. The State approved our purchase and this drag was custom-made for us by the experts at Dubie Equipment in Gaylord. We’re glad to support local, Michigan business with this purchase. And since this drag will be paid for with State dollars it’s nice to know your trail permit money is coming back around. Here’s hoping you get out on the trails and enjoy a ride today.

If you’re interested in supporting local grooming efforts, visit www.justgroomit.org for details on joining the Indian River Snowmobile Grooming club with a membership donation. We have hats and t-shirts (short & long sleeve) for sale too. Even when we can’t groom we still have operational expenses like insurance, two-way radio communication subscriptions, and more. Thanks to member donations we’re putting up a groomer building ,where we now store and can work on the equipment. Your support makes all the difference! Thank you–

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Visit Indian River Snowmobile Grooming Club Condition Report >>>>

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