7 days ago, 4 days ago, 1 day ago.

It's been one heck of a crazy week here on the East Coast. Just seven days ago French and I enjoyed some of the most amazing backcountry snowmobile riding we've done here on the East Coast in many years.

We found tons of snow absolutely everywhere and lots of ice on the ponds, just ideal conditions. Beginning the following day, Sunday, we had a week from hell for winter outdoor enthusiasts.

We experienced heavy rain, double digit warm temperatures and high winds. Even sunny clear days were very warm which just did a number on our accumulated snow.

By Saturday morning our four foot snowbanks and buried garbage box were reduced nearly to nothing!

Saturday afternoon I pulled Project Foreman out of its temporary winter home to be pressed back in service for a winter/spring ATV ride.

Trails in Torbay near the airport were a mixed bag. Many parts of the path were undercut by running water, some of these were hidden under bridges of fragile ice where the bike broke through suddenly and often.

In some places there is still a ton of deep snow anywhere it's protected from wind & sun by surrounding trees.

Another fifty yards up the path and we're down to bare gravel, which is a definite no go for me for a snowmobile rip.

Friday and Friday night we experienced winds  gusting well over 100k/ph. I was glad to have my trusty CS 2500 mini chainsaw with me today to quickly clear away blow downs along my journey.

The snow here is still about three feet deep. The area that was packed down by snowmobiles and tracked vehicles all winter long was great to ride on, but veering off to the left or right would have the tires digging to china and probably stuck.

Water crossings were a total crap shoot. Areas that looked sketchy were often crossed with ease, while many sturdy looking ice crossings ended up like this! Thankfully four wheel drive, a locked front differential and great tires allowed Project Foreman to ride out with relative ease.

Just once I had to pull out cable on my WARN Pro Vantage 2500 winch to get the bike back on the hard packed trail. The bike kept going forward but needed a pull to the left to get back on solid snow.

Keeping well into the throttle in 2nd gear kept me mobile through the rest of the worst sections of trail today!

Another trail, more fallen trees. I like to cut everything well back so larger vehicles such as side by sides can pass without clipping stumps or limbs of fallen trees.

All in all it was a tangly day of riding, definitely no good for skidoo with all of the bare ground. It's also a hard run for track equipped bikes as climbing out of deep water holes meant cutting trees to form a ramp to get back up on the ice. With another 15-20cm snow in the forecast for tonight it's going to be an interesting rest of the week for sure!

Cheers, MIKE

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