The last few days were a blast of all weather sorts. Snow, rain, wind, clouds and sun. We got some snow, we lost some snow, and in the end, we still have snow! The quality of snow is good for making a base. So that's a good thing. All of the gates have been opened. Trails are opened for the adventurous ones but please go out with caution and ride slowly.
None of the trails are groomed yet. There was a bunch of wind so it is possible that you will encounter freshly downed trees, and there is a good chance of ice, snow, mud, rocks, running water, poorly covered washouts... you may even find a sweet spot... basically all sorts of conditions. Underneath what you see could be a washout (on any trail in Vermont), but more so this season. We got set back a bit by the December mini-flood. Be especially careful on the back of Okemo for bigger washout areas. There is not enough snow right now to totally smooth it out. Volunteers went above and beyond with getting trails passable but we will not be able to fix them more until the spring/summer. With the ungroomed snow and such, the chances of getting stuck may be higher than normal. Bring a shovel and a chainsaw if you can. Be part of the team -- we would appreciate it if you could report issues back to the club. We need your help scouting out the trails. You can message us via FaceBook, or website or email ludlowshc@gmail.com.
One of the hesitations to open trails was that bridge 4 on Corridor 127 near car Route 100 (near Ludlow Transfer Station) is still closed (but not for long!). It essentially, divides our trail system in half and we cannot groom the Okemo side of Corridor 127 without it. Tomorrow's Trail Work Day, Sunday, 1/14, will remedy that. This week, M&M Excavation did the work we needed to stop the water from flowing over the bridge and they lifted it up (thanks, M&M!). It is up to us now to get the railings back on the bridge and fix the approach and exit. By end of day Sunday, the closed bridge situation will be remedied. There is also a bad washout on Corridor 127 across Route 100 from the bridge heading toward 5th Dam (a.ka. "The Bowls") that will be dealt with tomorrow as well.
Please note that the Darcy Trail will be closed for now. It has some rough areas and the main restaurants it leads to (Darcy's, Sam's Steakhouse and Subway) are closed due to flood damage. The Calcutta trail was being worked on and we will have report on that soon!
Please check other area trails to make sure they are open before venturing out of Ludlow.
Thank you to all of our landowners, volunteers, members and supporters! Think snow!
Picture of bridge 4 today and the trail heading towards Route 100 (bridge 5).
