January 15, 2014 – UPDATE–2:48 p.m.: Just talked with the groomer who did the Hobart, McGuire’s, and in-town trail today. He indicated the trails are in Good condition with lots of ice. The groomer who groomed Trails 35 and 37 south of M55 said the trails were Very Good to Excellent today. Haven’t spoken to the Boon driver but expect conditions there are at least as good or better than those south of M55.

YIPPEE!!! The new snow has arrived. The Cadillac/Cadillac West area received 4 to 5 inches and the Boon area received 7 inches. Just what we needed and in time for President’s Day weekend sledders. I don’t have a trail conditions report from the groomers yet but hope to when the first shift gets back in. You can bet they all have big smiles on their faces today as they finally have something to work with. Stay tuned.

January 14, 2014

The recent warm temperatures have taken a toll on the trails leaving water and slush in spots along with ruts from normal usage of warm weather riders. We’re expecting temperatures to drop and new snow to arrive later today so the groomers are doing the best they can to smooth things out before the trails freeze up. When asked about trail conditions in the Caberfae area this morning, the groomer reported them to be fair because of ruts and ice. We’re hoping that will change with the new snow and colder temperatures expected to arrive later today.

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To better access the forest trails, you’ll want to use one of the Staging Areas below:

33 Rd Staging Area–S of M-55–approx.. 3 miles west of Cadillac on M-55 (watch for signs)

Caberfae Staging Area–approx.. 12 miles west of Cadillac on M-55 (watch for signs)

Boon Staging Area–park in plowed area south of Boon Grocery

Note: The porta-a-johns were removed from our staging areas today as our contracts on them expired 3-15-13.

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VIA CADILLAC WINTER PROMOTIONS
http://www.cadillacwinterpromotions.org/trailconditions.html

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Good news, the little storm that we were supposed to get dumped a good 5-6″ of workable snow onto the majority of our system. We were able to get about 80% of the trails leveled out before it hit, and will start packing things in more today. Overall the trails are in really good condition. Don’t fear running anywhere on our system.

Mackinac Island treeline is up and being used. Proceed with CAUTION.

Waterhole on RR Grade up by Trout Lake is FIXED. Signs will remain for now.

Red Creek Road, on teh Cedarvill connector (trail #47) is being totally closed, with no re-route this week from 7am to 11am. It should be open after Friday.

Groomer update: #5 is down with engine problems. Lowboy is picking up tomorrow, and will will in all likelihood loose it for 2 weeks for repair, assuming parts are available. They don’t know for sure what happened, but the cylinders are at 75% compression, and one is down to 15%, and we are loosing oil. The groomer drivers are doing a very good job at handling our system with only one machine, however there will be times when outer trails like the Cedarville and Rexton connectors will have to go ungroomed for 3-4 days. Please be understanding and thumbs up a groomer when you see them – as it probably has been running for 18+ hours!

Forecast for the coming days hints at some more snow, between 2-4′, and a really nice weekend for a ride. We are heading into the heart of the season, time to lay down some miles!!

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