Got up at 4:30 AM Saturday March 29th and was on the rode at 5:10 AM heading for Groton. I live in Belchertown MA which is a ride of 160 MILES due North to Groton. Picked up my buddy in Greenfield MA at 5:50 AM who took over the driving the rest of the way.
Leaving early paid off as we were the first ones on the trails when we unloaded in the Butterfield lot!

Unknown to us at the time, this is what took place during the night before we headed out (from Buckaroos site):

"Dave Wheatly climbed into the SurTrac at 7PM To groom all night. Dave went from CA 10 to CA 5 onto etc...etc...etc.... Where he turned the key off at 6:54AM. That is almost 12 hours of grooming. With Dave and Buzzy's grooming trips today all the Buckaroos of 302 trail system has been groomed for the week. We want to Thank Doug Wilson, owner of Mt. Grooming, for providing us with Sur Trac Grooming equipment while our Sur Trac is in for repairs. Doug is dedicated to the VAST trail system During his very busy day Doug called us several times to make sure that the Sur Trac and Buzzy were working ok. Thank you Dave. Our trail system is still snow covered and we will keep grooming for as long as possible. Come and enjoy."

Enjoy we did....probably the finest and smoothest groomed trails I've EVER ridden on in my life. Plenty of snow and it was nice and cold out which helped maintain the trails. I couldnt believe it was March 29th! We did 120 miles and had a good breakfast at UpperValley Grill served by a cute waitress. We probably saw 15 sleds on the trails all day. VERY low traffic for a Saturday! At one tim we tried heading into Cabot but were met with quickly depreciating trail conditions so we turned around and continued to ride th white carpets of Groton. It was a day to remember...

Thanks to all that maintain the Buckaroos trail system!! GREAT job!

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The riding was incredible and also had a great breakfast at the valley grill.

I walked off the side of the trail and snapped this pic of a beautiful untouched fast sweeping turn. The riding could not have been better....its simply not possible!!


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PULLED INTO THE PARKING LOT AT ABOUT NOON. SEEN YOUR CHEVY TRUCK WITH HCS STICKER IN THE WINDOW PARKED MY TRUCK NEXT TO U. WE RODE 1OO MILES AND WHERE BACK IN THE TRUCK BY 6. WE DID THE SAME TRIED TO LEAVE GROTON AND FOUND LOTS OF BUMPS SO TURNED AROUND AND JUST KEPT SAYING THANK YOU BUZZY. THIS WAS OUR THIRD TIME IN BUZZY LAND THIS YEAR AND EVERY TIME ITS FLAT AND PERFECT.

Yep - that was us! Here's Dougs tow vehicle on our last trip. HCS sticker representing!!


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what exit is groton off of 91. I usually head up to derby , but groton looks like a good place to ride.where do you usually ride from there?? Is this place near burke?? how is that lynn burke motel to stay at??
thanks
yamadude

Groton is exit 17 off 91....Take a left and go about 10 miles or so and the Butterfield parking lot is on the right. The GROOMED trail leads right into the parking lot.

The Lynburke Motel is in Lyndonville which is exit 23. That pic above wasnt from our trip to Groton - but to Lyndonville a couple of weeks ago. The Lynn Burke Motel is a great place to stay for snowmobiling beecause they have DIRECT trail access from your room. Burke is a short 15 minute sled ride right from the motel. You can get anywhere in the NEK pretty easily from the Lynburke Motel. Island Pond, Derby, Caanan, etc... is all within a afternoons sledding distance. It's no Hyatt but then again, (besides Killington) nothing in Vermont is. However, its pretty clean and reasonably priced. We stayed there twice this winter.

have u riden this area before? do they usually get that much snow? this is the first year i have riden in that area last year we rode over by chittendon.

Thanks for the info, I usually stay at the border motel so I know that is not the Hyatt either, but I want lower level rooms where I can park my sled right in front, and not have to drag my stuff up an elevator and down the hall. I rode down to the burke area and ate lunch at baileys, near pub outback and rode around maybe glover area, coventry?? I think cles filling station was around there.I have to check that area out some more. From derby I usually hit the pipe and power line, and ride around canaan ,derby area, but that southern section, so to speak has nice open meadow and field riding which is nice,
thanks for the info
yamadude

We always stop at Baileys for either lunch or breakfast. Great place... The Pub Outback isnt bad either. The Lynburke Lodge is REALLY easy to get to from Baileys. There is a BUNCH of wide open field riding in the greater Lyndon/Burke area where the VAST trails cut through farmers land, etc... Those fields are always a blast.

We haven't been to Derby from Lyndonville yet, definitely next winter. We usually headed into Island Pond instead - I dont know why - we just ended up going that way. The pipeline 5N towards Derby is my favorite trail I've ever ridden, but then we hooked towards IP instead of going to Derby. Do you cross lake Mempremagog in Derby? Whats that like?

I also would like to send thanks to Buzzy, Betty and all the Volunteers in the Buckaroos of 302. And a Big Thank-You to the landowners for allowing this outstanding trail system throughout Vermont! What a great day of riding. I went up to the Butterfield lot with 09600e-tech on Saturday. The snow was DEEP and groomed to perfection, we arrived about noon and went to the Upper Valley Grill and had a great Burger, then put on an easy 100 miles and back toward the lot were we noticed a fresh groomed trail from OE78, to WN94 which we followed until the needle on my gas tank just stopped moving any more and decided to head back to the lot, why ruin a perfect day with a tow back to the lot. I wish we had gas in the trailer, I think we would have done it a second time. THANK YOU ALL.

This area is my playground... I ride there at least once a week. Theres always tons of snow and it stays around longer because much of the trails are hidden in the mountain shade. This is usually where I complete my first and last ride every year, I'm guessing that even after this warm and rain for the next couple days you'll still be able to ride the 4-5 mile loop trail. Thanks to buzzy the trails are ALWAYS smooth and well cared for. I'd have to say that I know where I'm gonna give my club dues to next year....BUZZY IS THE MAN......

I agree - my money goes to Groton next winter...

I am sick of giving my money to another un-named club only to get there and see ungroomed trails hammered to hell and a local business man with an extortion attitude towards snowmobilers.

We`ve had property in the GSF for 50 years, very rare to not have ridable snow, the trail maintenence has always been outstanding, Thanks to the buckaroos.

Betty,


Check this out: http://www.hardcoresledder.com/forums/inde...howtopic=333206


Good morning:
We checked the HCS page you forwarded to us. We appreciate all the good words and praise. Hard to believe that sledders would take the time to write about this area. It makes all the late nights and work worth the effort. Buzzy is just getting ready to leave in the Sur Trac to groom the Gore OE 76. Last night it didn't just rain it poured. Driveway and trails are icy. Hope the weather will hold for this week-end. Doubtful if there will be another week of grooming. But there are still a few good rides left in this area. Rides will be limited though.
Thanks
Buzzy & Betty

still pretty good today.

I notice this thread is linked on the buckaroos webpage. I emailed them all and told them I was flattered to see it there. What a great club. I am unfortunately done for the season and I already can't wait until the first drive up next winter!