Ferris Lake Wilderness: 1/9/16

Big thanks to all of the knowledge laid down in my "Touring Setup" thread, especially Mike!

After a lot of confusion and loneliness in a sea of information I pulled the trigger on a pair of Madhaus Epochs, with Voile 3pins & Ended up received Scott Excursions by mistake (originally ordered t4's).  I decided to just keep the Excursions as they felt comfy.  ORS is a great company, and being in NY I received my order the next day... That's SWEET.  Also, John there was really great to work with.

After a quick jaunt in our backyard woods during out big 3" sleet even a couple of weeks ago my wife jumped on the wagon and found a pair of BC70's at the LG LL Bean Outlet for a great price.

She then went up to see her big crush Drew at the Mountaineer and had them mounted with Voile 3pins and got fitted for T4s.

We skied our local club's snowmobile trails on Saturday and had a blast.  We crossed Pleasant Lake and hit the trail from East Shore Rd toward Third Lake.  

Once at Third Lake we took secondary trail to our left to skirt around as I didn't feel confident enough to trust the ice that far into the woods.  We then skied another 2 miles to Spectacle Lake.  Conditions were... variable.

Had to be careful of rocks.  Snow was 3-4" of half melted frozen sleet with about 2" of old LE on top from last week with rocks melted through to show themselves.  Luckily the Snowmobile Club had been through earlier in the week prepping the trails for grooming and cleared dozens of downed trees.  We skied everything from Rime covered lake ice, to powder, to snowmobile tracks, rocks, sticks and sawdust.  The total ski was about 8 miles roundtrip.  Wait, do Nordic guys do everything in Km?  Or is that just Hinterlanders?  Can someone do a conversion for me if that's the case?

Once we were done with the ski I was able to convince the wife to have a cocktail at the recently reopened Pleasant Lake Inn the place has a nice fireplace, strong drinks and if you Snowmobile they're selling fuel.  

Closing Note:  This skiing thing is really a great activity to get us through the swing periods when Snowmobiling is out of the question up to camp.  Also, saw a lot of neat things that you tend to miss when blasting through the woods at 55mph on a snowmobile...

Whether on skis, snowmobiles, mountain bikes, in canoes/kayaks or in hiking boots it's a beautiful thing that we can all coexist and enjoy this place with such an selection of transportation.





Pika dropping a Knee like her old man.   Would you just look at those Adk Powder 8s?

Whoa cool!

km's, miles, who cares... I never count.  Don't count vertical feet either.  Sometimes it's like 2...  specially around home.

This is just as I expected.  The dog LOVES IT!  Look at that maniac!

Hey glad you like the setup.  I think those Excursions may be a happy accident BTW.

Nice Chris. Love the whole dang approach.

I've never skied the Excursions but heard they are very similar to the T4s.  I think I mentioned I bought my girl a pair of T4s and I'm very excited to get her out in our woods.

I love my excursions.  

She really has a crush on Drew???  

ScottyJack wrote

I love my excursions.  

She really has a crush on Drew???  

Yeah when Wes isn't around!

These days, touring is looking more like the option for all of us. This looks like a great area.  Did it rain where you were this weekend?

just punch Wes out!   No one will care if you do.  

Fri Night we got 1/4" of snow.  Saturday's temps were hovering around 32.  Just spit a few balls of graupel and then a 1 minute bout of very light rain...

Saturday evening the south wind picked up and started eating the snow, and then of course Sunday happened and it the rain let loose in a big way.  Heading back home on Sunday around noon there was still 2" of slush left which is now probably solid ice again.

  Hoping some LE shifts south and hits that area and all areas of Adks

Good for you!  I am desperate to get some form of nordic.

Almost time to learn the telemark turn!

Add one more to the tribe.

mattchuck2 wrote

Almost time to learn the telemark turn!

Add one more to the tribe.

I'll be getting in touch with you regarding that!

mattchuck2 wrote

Almost time to learn the telemark turn!

Add one more to the tribe.

Matt are you skiing exclusively tele now? Can't remember see you on fixed in a while.

congrats on the setup, can't wait to get out my epochs

Chris wrote

mattchuck2 wrote

Almost time to learn the telemark turn!

Add one more to the tribe.

I'll be getting in touch with you regarding that!

nyskiblog tele clinic with a focus on bcXcd skilz! sign me up!

gorgonzola wrote

nyskiblog tele clinic with a focus on bcXcd skilz! sign me up!

Man if somebody starts a class like that, I'd sign up.  There's always a zillion things to learn, and not just tele... just freeheeln'!

And hey Chris, I've been wondering how much snowmobile traffic do those trails get?  Are there ones that aren't really used anymore?

Don't mean to sound like a snob but I don't like skiing on trails that snowmobiles are using.  Some of it is quality of skiing, some of it fear for my life.

MikeK wrote

snowmobiles

Wait what? Snowmobiles in the Wilderness?

No, no, I know. Wild Forest.

Harvey wrote

MikeK wrote

snowmobiles

Wait what? Snowmobiles in the Wilderness?

No, no, I know. Wild Forest.

Yeah - Ferris Lake is Wild Forest... I didn't want to be 'that' guy though...

It's actually one of the units I don't know that I've been to.  That part of the Adirondacks escapes me...

At any rate I have a few books that talk about skiing those trails, and one doesn't make mention of it being snowmobile trail from Rt 10 past Good Luck Lake to Spectacle Lake, but I checked the interactive mapper that the DEC has up now and it shows it being a snowmobile trail.

If it's not used anymore, or very rarely, I'll ski it.  If it's a highway I'd rather stay away.

Yea I guess I'm that guy. Actually I had to google it. Never heard of Ferris, I'm more or a wilderness guy.  I feel like the air is so clean in the woods and once you are breathing it I get super sensitive to exhaust. In 1996 I spent 17 days in Pharoah Lakes and when I got back home I actually changed my route for walking to/from work to avoid the cars.

Haha - no I'm that guy too... I'm just trying to hide it to keep the peace.

There's lots of good areas to visit in the Wild Forest units, some of them are as clean and remote as the Wilderness areas.

I was a little hesitant about going to Carpenter Rd a few weeks ago.  Lots of sleds up there but once I got into the woods a bit I didn't hear them anymore.