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January 12, 2009

Trail alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable conditions on all land trails! Modest traffic, lots of snow, upwards of three feet, temps. around zero to +10 and excellent grooming by the clubs and the state has established all land trails as exceptional. I expect that some lake trails will be groomed after this next cold snap starting Tuesday.

All land trails are groomed and most are in excellent condition. The Arrowhead trail is in excellent condition from Tower to International Falls.

The VNP Green lake trail from the Rainy Lake Visitors Center to Ash River is now marked. Crews will be checking ice conditions on VNP lakes and are expected to groom from Rainy Lake to Ash River this week sometime, motre to come after ice checking is completed.

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Anybody been riding the Vermilion or Pelican Rivers? I have been riding the past few weeks around the range and near VNP and the lakes have all been terrible so I assume the rivers are not very well traveled either but don't have any first hand experience.

Hopefully the lakes will tighten up this week.

Happy and safe riding.

KZ

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Vermilion River good all the way between Vermilion and Crane Lake. Not a lot of travel so plenty of powder to play in. Hit a little slush but nothing too terrible. Don't know of anybody coming across yet on the Pelican River. Asked at the VRT and no word there either on going on the Pelican River.

Trails are great.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Trails around Kabetogama, Ash River and I. Falls held up pretty well during the warm spell and rain...plus it's snowing now. At least a new 1/2" out there.

This was sent out by the Park Service on 2/10/09...

This past weekend provided vastly improved trail conditions with the warmer

temperatures settling and packing snow on the park trails. Slush conditions

have been minimized with the warmer temperatures, overland trail portages

were groomed and snowmobile use was occurring on all staked trails within

the park. A few large groups were observed enjoying the weather with

Crappie fishing and a BBQ lunch on the ice.

The arrival of freezing rain today should further pack snow down on the

trails and new snowfall expected the remainder of the week should provide

good riding conditions for the upcoming Presidents Day weekend. Plans are

in place for park staff to groom ski trails and overland snowmobile

portages before the weekend arrives.

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North end of the Arrowhead (Orr to I. Falls) is in pretty good shape as it didn't get as much rain as to the south.

About an inch of snow has fallen today and it's snowing again now - more expected from Orr north. 3-5" possible. Groomers will be out on Kab and Ash River area trails in the evenings.

Check out the ash river - kab snowdrifters site for area condtions updated yesterday.

LET IT SNOW

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Sweet. I will be up to Crane this coming Wed to do some fishing and we wanted to try a few different lakes and possibly get some riding time in also. Looks like we need to head north if we ride. Keep the updates coming!

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Trails held up pretty well during the long weekend and are still o.k. 3" of snow on Monday, another inch already this morning and still snowing.

From wunderground

Today

Light snow likely. Snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches. Highs 18 to 23. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Snow likely in the evening...then a chance of snow after midnight. Snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches. Total snow accumulation 2 to 6 inches.

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On saturday we took a family ride from Jims Ash Trail down to Ash river, then down the land trail to Crane, then took the lake route back to Ash river, and had decent riding the whole way. The lakes were a bit rough in spots from frozen slush, it was actually better a ways away from the stakes where others had not ridden.

With the xtra snow they got/are getting trails should be good. There were a few icy corners, overall a nice ride.

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From the trail grooming web site:

February 17, 2009 6:30PM

Nine inches of new snow in the last 24 hours, my wife got stuck in the driveway with a 4X4 Trailblazer and more on the way, another six to eight forecast. Several people have emailed and asked if the warm-up hurt us like the rest of the state? The trails along the Border are perfect. They were near perfect over Presidents Day and actually the lakes in Voyageurs are now near perfect as the slush that existed off the groomed trails is now frozen. Trails and lakes are near perfect and temps are to be perfect for snowmobiling this coming week and weekend, Friday +14, Saturday +14 and Sunday +19 for highs. Come and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grooming tractors will be running twice this week, conditions permitting on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, after dark.

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From the Ash River - Kab Snowdrifters Trail Report

ARROWHEAD STATE TRAIL - thanks to the MN DNR

2/18/09: With the recent snowfall and cooler temperatures trails are in good condition. Groomers will be out again this coming weekend, as needed. Riders can expect to encounter some icy stretches. High traffic areas and corners may have bare spots. Riders should beware that mid-season conditions can change day to day. Stay to the right and slow down in the corners. Some trail segments are being used as logging roads. Trail conditions are likely to be very poor where there is active logging. Use extra caution if you see logging activity. Lake conditions are variable with reports of slush, and frozen ruts.

ASH RIVER/KABETOGAMA AREA - thanks to VTSI

2/19/09: If you aren’t up here this weekend we will be having all the fun!

Nine inches of new snow in the last 24 hours, my wife got stuck in the driveway with a 4X4 Trailblazer. Several people have emailed and asked if the warm-up hurt us like the rest of the state? The trails along the Border are perfect. They were near perfect over Presidents Day and actually the lakes in Voyageurs Park are now near perfect as the slush that existed off the groomed trails is now frozen. Trails and lakes are near perfect and temps are to be perfect for snowmobiling this coming week and weekend, Friday +14, Saturday +14 and Sunday +19 for highs. Come and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grooming tractors will be running twice this week, conditions permitting on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, after dark.

INTERNATIONAL FALLS AREA - thanks to Int'l Voyageurs Snowmobile Club

2/18/2009: Yesterday's forecast for "scattered snow showers" turned into almost 8" of new snow! We are pretty much back to where we started before the melt down seven days ago. Groomers did not run yesterday, but will be out the rest of the week fine tuning the trails for the weekend. Land trails will be in excellent or close to excellent condition. Plenty of new snow to make things nice. Lake conditions have greatly improved! Most of the hard crusty stuff is now buried under the new snow. Lakes are in good to very good condition. Have a great weekend!

CRANE LAKE AREA - thanks to Crane Lake Visitor & Tourism Bureau

2/16/09: The holiday weekend riders had plenty to say about the trails. By and large the majority of the comments were that trails were in great shape. Groomer's were out in force to lay out the trails riders were ripping up. Since the warm up we have had an additional 5 inches of fresh snow, a welcome addition for lube! Lakes have tightened up again and the fresh snow will make for a softer ride. Midweek riding is fantastic, with less traffic and freshly groomed trails. Don't forget about the Crane Lake Challenge (previously Hyper Viper) snowmobile speed run March 7th, right here in Crane Lake. Over 45 classes and a one lunger shootout!! Call early for room reservations!

VOYAGEURS NAT'L PARK UPDATE

2/12/2009: All snowmobile trails in Voyageurs National Park are open and staked. Riding conditions on the staked trails will continue to improve with the forecast of snow throughout the coming weekend. Trail grooming may occur tomorrow if adequate snowfall is received. The Rainy Lake Ice Road has been temporarily closed as unseasonably warm temperatures have created areas of deep slush and marginal ice.

Please remember that the snowmobile speed limit within Voyageurs National Park is 45 mph on frozen lake surfaces and 25 mph on all overland portages. Speed limit signs are posted at trailheads and overland portages.

Snowmobile Trails

International Falls to Kettle Falls (Purple Trail) – Open & Staked

Black Bay to Kabetogama Lake to Ash River – Open, Staked & Groomed

Ash River to Crane Lake (Green Trail) – Open & Staked

Chain of Lakes (Dashed Black Trail) – Open & Staked

Ash River to Kettle Falls (Yellow Trail) – Open & Staked

East Namakan Lake to Sand Point Lake (Blue Trail) – Open & Staked

LET IT SNOW

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