February 13, 2014 – Gogebic Area Trails are in very good to excellent condition as we head into Presidents weekend, the last “holiday” weekend of the winter. And by holiday, I mean that there will likely be families up for the weekend and some of these kids may be inexperienced. Do your part by riding at a safe speed and always staying on your side of the trail at all times. The groomers have been busy knocking back corners where they’ve become banked up, making our trails even safer for riders in the area. No problems to report on any trails. We’re expecting perfect conditions over this weekend with high temps in the teens and night temps just below zero! We’ve received about 6-inches of new snow over the last 24 hours…all is good.

We have a request to make; on a couple of instances recently our groomers have had to drive on a portion of a highway shoulder to get back to the groomer garage. Once was because the driver fell ill and once was because there was a mechanical issue with the groomer. Unfortunately some snowmobilers took this as an invitation to ride these roadways. You cannot ride along the highway, at anytime, anywhere for any reason.

I’m happy to report less snowmobile traffic riding on the railroad tracks through Merriweather and Bergland. I know there are a lot of snowmobile tracks running on the railroad tracks and it can get confusing…but don’t follow blindly along other snowmobile tracks. When in doubt, look for trail signs. If you see a R/R sign, guess what? You’re on a railroad track! Get off of it ASAP!! You could get stuck on the tracks and you could get a ticket for riding on them. I know the R.R. tracks haven’t been in use for a number of years now but they are still considered “active”, so you never know when you might come nose to nose with a very large locomotive…not cool. Law enforcement has been out patrolling these areas and will ticket anyone found riding on the R/R tracks.

So, the moral of this trail report is, once again, please stay on the marked trails! We go to a lot of effort and money to make sure these trails are kept in great shape for great riding.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the newest edition of the Gogebic Times, put out by the Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce, which can be found at most local businesses. Not only will you find a snowmobile map and a lake map but there are some really great articles about snowmobile riding in our beautiful area. Not to mention some really great articles about the Lake Gogebic area and lots of great information for year round fun. Take one or two home with you, there free of cost to you.

That’s all for now from Carolyn at the Hoop. I will keep you posted as often as conditions change. For additional information about the Lake Gogebic area we invite you to visit the only official website of the Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce at www.LakeGogebicArea.com or call us at 1-888-464-3242 (888-GOGEBIC). From all of us here at Lake Gogebic have a great ride as well as a safe ride.

Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce – 02/13/2014

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After the rain on Monday, we panned everything down to keep a super flat base and it worked very well. Some areas were really soaked, and turned into solid ice. The base out there is fantastic and will last well into March- which is a good thing, but I would like to see some top snow for cooling. The trails are coming back into shape, and have about 1” of workable stuff on top of the ice base. It is snowing now, and we are expected to get less then 2”. Cold temps through the weekend will kppe everything in tip top shape. The next 2 groomer runs will steel some snow from the sides and get something to ride on. All of the water hols have frozen up, and no major issues to report, except the mostly ice base in Moran – a broken record this year. At lest all of the rocks have been pushed down now, and the base is in great shape.

Weekend riding will be great. Pond Hockey is ON for this coming weekend, if you have never seen it and are in the area you got to check it out. Friday night is the Red Wings Alum hockey game at our ice rink, tickets are only $10. Saturday, 30 rinks of hockey, ice bowling, a bon fire and lots of LaBatte Blue. I will be down there for some time on Saturday for bowling. Come check it out!

Ice Bridge:
There is no ice in the crossing to Mackinac Island, and it is not considered safe at this time.

Pond Hockey:
The 7th year of the LaBatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships is on for Feb 15-17th, and will be held on the Bay downtown St. Ignace. Over 170 teams are signed up for the 2nd largest tourney in the country. 30 rinks are currently under construction. This year the beer/warming tent will be on the beach next to the bay to keep your feet try. Ice bowling and a bon fire between the tent and rinks give something for everyone to do. Live entertainment throughout the day. Hope to see you there!

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