Forestport - Old Forge - Speculator - Forestport

All the stars and moons aligned for this trip. The weather was perfect and 95% of the time we were riding ribbons, we did run into 17 miles of bumps between Inlet and Indian Lake that were torture.

It all started in Forestport at the Track Side Trailblazers Pig Roast --- what a great time, they know how to put on a party.





After the days ride it was back to our lil cabin

Next day it was off to Old Forge


Great burgers here for our lunch stop


It was snowing pretty good that day



We had dinner at the MIll. Not only was the food fantastic but they had really cool shit to look at. Kinda reminded me of my house.





The next day started off snowy but then quickly turned bluebird. The run from Old Forge to Speculator was incredible!!! To rip 10 miles of Indian Lake at a cruising sapeed of 90 MPH is unforgettable.

Did I say it was bluebird?



We ended this day with dinner at the Oxbow Inn



And drinks at The Inn



We spent 2 nights in Speculator because an old house mate of mine from VT lives there. He took the day off to give us a tour of his home turf. We all agreed that BY FAR the best conditions and trail networks were found in Speculator. If you ride sled it's a must that you ride Speculator, it's even better than Old Forge.

It was bluebird again






Lunch at Oak is  must



The next day was back to Forestport --- we rolled into town just before dark and had well earned dinner. Pounding sleds for just under 1000 miles one can work up an appetite.



Great trip --- great friends --- and too many laughs to even talk about

I'm ready for the next one  

Nice photos.  Probably too small to take a pic but would love to see the inside of that little cabin!

This looks awesome camp. I could totally get into an adventure like that.

When you compare riding a ribbon to brutal bumps are the bumps like braking bumps on a dh trail or wash boards on a dirt road?

That pike on the wall looked like a monster!

Nice!  Great report, the riding has been great

Whoop di does.  They can be brutal for old people and don't do the sled much good.

Wash board ---- you have 2 ways to attack them

1. get on top of them and stay there. This requires a sled that can take the punishment, balls enough to go 40 to 45 in 2 foot whoops, and body enough to hang on.

2. just roll through them at 10 mph like a roller coaster

I did a combo of both

at the end of that stretch we were all ready for a break

Harvey wrote

Nice photos.  Probably too small to take a pic but would love to see the inside of that little cabin!

Lone Ranger FTW

Nice report!!

Great report.
Thanks

Excellent pix, very atmospheric!

After my two snowmobile excursions in France last season, I totally get it.

It was a cool/diff feeling having a sled as our only mode of transportation.  I've never experienced that before. Everywhere we went was on the trail. We'd get gas, then make plans to go get gas!

Chris wrote

Nice!  Great report, the riding has been great

Jealous that you get to ride up there all the time. It's another world up there. 100 miles on a sled here in CNY and you worked for it. 100 miles up there and it's nothing.

Have you ever ridden out of Oxbow towards Speculator? Not sure what trail my buddy took us on but it was approx 8 miles long of bobsled run. We rolled through there at 20 to 25 and it felt like a 100. Totally standing up and everything was a turn. Front ski on a rock or tree and same thing with the back of the sled. It was a night so that certainly added to the excitement. My buddy said 2-ups have a tought time even getting through there.

camp..great report!!!

That looks awesome. 90 on a sled - too scary for me.
Thanks for the photos.

Thanks all

X -- you don't even realize how fast you're going. It's super smooth up there and when the sled is hooked up you feel like you're on rails.


Funny side note. We hooked up with this guy (joe) in Old Forge at breakfast. He asked where we were heading and if he could tag along. Being a friendly group we said sure, the more the merrier. Turns out Joe is from Virgina and drove up to get some riding in. He used to ride but it had been quite some time.

Anyway, several hours later we arrived in Speculator and were having beers at Logan's while waiting for my buddy to close his shop up. In conversation Joe asked when we thought we would be heading back. Whoops . We never mentioned that we weren't returning to Old Forge that day. We all got a good laugh out of that, including Joe. We gave him our #'s and told him to call if he ran into any trouble. Never heard from Joe so I guess he made it. That dude had one long day!

campgottagopee wrote

Thanks all

X -- you don't even realize how fast you're going. It's super smooth up there and when the sled is hooked up you feel like you're on rails.


Funny side note. We hooked up with this guy (joe) in Old Forge at breakfast. He asked where we were heading and if he could tag along. Being a friendly group we said sure, the more the merrier. Turns out Joe is from Virgina and drove up to get some riding in. He used to ride but it had been quite some time.

Anyway, several hours later we arrived in Speculator and were having beers at Logan's while waiting for my buddy to close his shop up. In conversation Joe asked when we thought we would be heading back. Whoops . We never mentioned that we weren't returning to Old Forge that day. We all got a good laugh out of that, including Joe. We gave him our #'s and told him to call if he ran into any trouble. Never heard from Joe so I guess he made it. That dude had one long day!

Dude! Holy shit! I wonder how he made out.

We can only assume he made it. We gave him one of our local maps and my buddy (local) highlighted where he needed to go. The trails up there, for the most part, are marked incredibly good so I'm sure he made it back. He had a mega miler day tho!

I don't remember a snowmobile trip report here before but this jogs great memories from the early '70s at Old Forge and Speculator. Remember on my dads 775 Blizzard( '72) as a 13 year old going down the Thendara airstrip wfo and had no idea how fast I was going but that sucker with its twin tillotsons vibrated like a beast.
My dad rode the tracks to Lk Placid and Malone. Had great memories of the hardware store in OForge and there used to be a Howard Johnson there.

The only day that beat the Old Forge day's was at Togwotee Wy

Campy's Most Excellent Adventure !!! 😎👍🏻👊🏻. Way to "get after it " big man , great pics , ambiance and friendship the elixir needed to make life more complete !