Well, trails turned out to be in much better condition that what I had expected. A lot of icy corners and definitely rocks showing through......but well worth it!!!

Saturday:
We started out Saturday morning in Duluth and took the North Shore trail up to the Moosewalk trail. Both were in good condition and were smooth. There was snirt here and there...and some corners were icy, but overall the trails were good and the Moosewalk was of the better trails of the weekend. We took the Moosewalk up to the Tomahawk and stopped to eat in Isabella. From Isabella we took the Tomahawk towards Ely and there was a section between Isabella and the Yukon trail that was beat all to hell (probably the worst section of trail all weekend). The rest of the Tomahawk to Ely was in good condition. Corners were icy (as could be expected) and some areas of ice here and there.....but overall decent riding and no problems keeping the sled cool. 190 miles total for the day.

Sunday:
Took the Taconite trail from Ely to Tower and that was nice. We were the first ones on the trail so it was smooth sailing to Tower. We rode Vermilion over to the Casino and took the Arrowhead back down to the Taconite. The Taconite between the Arrowhead and the Iron Ore Trail was a little bumpy. Jumped on the Iron Ore Trail (heading south) and were the 2nd set of tracks down that. Nice.....smooth...and fast! We then jumped on the Taconite Spur Trail to head towards Aurora. This trail was beat to hell.....the groomer must have not been through there all weekend. Jumped onto the Pequaywan East Range Trail and went through Aurora and over to Hoyt Lakes. Coming out of Hoyt lakes the trail was in Excellent condition and was very fast. This was probably the best riding I had all weekend. Plenty of snow and wide sweeping turns for miles. It was a blast. The trail got a little more tiring once you get south a ways into the woods. I don't know if they could have possibly made any more turns in the part of the trail.....LOL. Came across a couple and the wife had slid out on an icy corner and was facing the wrong direction. Made sure she got turned around and then kept on down the trail. Stopped for lunch in at Pequaywan Lake and came across a group of about 16 sleds. Got back on the trail following a couple XC's that had also just got done eating. Had a good time running the trails following these guy and were going at a decent pace. They stopped and took a breather and one point and we continued to. Jumped on the North Shore Trail heading back towards Duluth and it was smooth and fast. Ran that at a good rate to finish off the weekend. 170 miles.

All in all a good 370 miles for the weekend and good trail conditions. A little snow will go a long way to improving the trail conditions up there.......but it's still worth getting out!

Sounds like a nice weekend. Thanks for the updates on the conditions. The more info the better!!

Thanks for the update. My wife and I are thinking about making our 2nd trip up there this weekend also. Depends on snow conditions. Might start in Virginia instead also, not sure yet. Where did you leave from on the north side of Duluth. Trying to find a hotel on the north side that has direct trail access. We started on the south side of Duluth and went to Hinkley our last trip.
Thanks much
Chris

A few more decent pics I found......

Nice smooth trails Sunday morning up by Ely!!!


Coming back on the North Shore Trail towards Duluth:

nice pics, looks like conditions are a little better over there then by Grand Rapids

We started at a parking lot up by the airport. Not sure the exact road it was....but it was the road that goes to Island Lake from Duluth.

Sounds like you started from the Sunset (corner of Rice Lake and Martin Rds). The parking lot there is slightly east of the Rice Lake Rd on the Martin Rd and is marked as snowmobile and Green Bay Packer Fan parking. The Rice Lake Rd continues north to Island Lake.

There isn't an official trail from that parking lot to the North Shore Trail, although there is a pretty beaten down path that takes the power lines there.

There is no hotel that offers trail access to the North Shore Trail in Duluth that I'm aware of - the trail starts pretty much on the outskirts of town.

Dont you guys have studs?

Why do you ask?

You said you were sliding around corners alot.

I wasn't sliding much myself....I am running studs on the Gade. I did slide in a few corners....but was carrying a little speed or just got kicked over a little. The two guys I was with did not have studs so they were sliding around quite a bit. The Crossfire was brand new....only had 2 miles on it when we left.