Blustery Day

What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday's sunshine and 42 degrees made a sloppy mess of the trail system in most spots. There was still plenty of deep white snow in the woods and on two tracks which is where many people went tothe still be able to enjoy their snowmobiles.
The forecast was calling for a cold front to come through overnight and bringing with it snow. YAHOO, for once they were right! What a relief to wake up to cold air and snow. We were in a Snow and Blowing Snow Advisory until early afternoon. Blustery wind guests up to 40 mph knocked out power lines and made visibility zero.
Several riders headed out this morning and were gone all day.
We had five rooms to clean after breakfast and the usual chores. Our plan was to get the work done and then head out for a few hours of riding to check the trail conditions.
We had finished the downstairs. Just started on the upstairs when my pager went off. Rollover on I75. The roads were awful... icy, snowy and wind blowing hard. It didn't slow up any of the traffic. They were driving like at the race track. My gosh. We just took both lanes trying to slow things down as we approached. Nothing like stepping out (truck pulled over on the side... ) and stepping into knee deep slush snow. Even when police car, our emergency vehicles were in place... it didn't slow them down much. Its a miracle there wasn't another accident.
Lucky people. Their truck was demolished. Smashed, and roof separated from the rest of vehicle, debris everywhere. Seatbelts make a difference.
We got back to the hall and got to work cleaning the truck and paperwork. Hadn't finished the paperwork when the pager went off again, and we were off.
It was now 4 pm when I returned to Rays Retreat. Mike had finished cleaning. It was time for Sparky's walk. Finally, we got around and headed out for a quick ride. At least we were able to get out for a spin on the sleds. It was an enjoyable ride.
We took trail 7 up to Mancelona Rd (a dream)... the trail base is ice with the 2-3 inches of snow on them made for a flat trail. At Mancelona Rd, we turned back southwest on trail 4. Again good riding... only one open water hole. Easily skirted. A short area where you had to be careful due to ruts from oil trucks (yesterdays thaw). We rode to Lynn Lake Rd. and then back over and up to trail 7 and home.
We stopped into The Keg for supper, and talked to a nice couple there who had rode 100 miles today. They had been over to Alba and back. They said their ride was overall good. A little more rough and a few more open spots over towards Alba... with the best riding from here to Starvation Lake.
We missed seeing tonights weather since we were out riding. But I do know its not going to warm up! Good News, and a major storm system headed this way for the end of the weekend.
We've had some cancellations for this weekend and that's okay. Bottom line is that we would rather have people cancel than be disappointed. Everyone has their own opinion of what is good riding.