Went out with Sledzil today up to Groton. The riding was great. Had a blast. Some areas still have snow measuring in the feet. Stopped by and said hello to Buzzy and his wife. Thanks for the great grooming. Hopefully Sledzil will post some pics!! Last ride of the year and it was one of the best ones.

Today was FANTASTIC. All I can say is, make a groomer donation or join the club next year. Buzzy turns snow into white gold. Thanks for the great memories. Pictures to be posted later. This is a view of our ride using a GPS tracker.

We parked at the Upper Valley Grill ( Thanks for the parking spot! ) and headed north based upon the opinions of the local riders inside. We headed out 302, which was fast and smooth, and picked up the 232 loop. The Logging area was about 1/4 mile with no snow, but it was frozen that early in the morning ( If you are going through, do it early, before it thaws ). At CA 18, we decided to head towards Cabot, but turned around to to the thinning snow. We continued to 2 and headed north, but at the junction of 2 and 145, the trail was trashed by a 4 wheeler. we turned around and headed south and hit 302A, 302C, and 2004. We found the Butterfield parking lot. The snow in this area was beyond description. Where the water ran under the trail, you could look down and see 6 FEET of snow depth! The whole area between CA7 and OE78 is packed with 2 to 6 feet of snow and should last through next week. The only place where the snow was thin was the last 2 miles of 302 near the Grill.

If attempting to ride next week, park at Butterfields. You should be able to get in about 40 miles as long as you stay in the Buckeroos 302 area, as long as it still gets below freezing at night to firm things up.

We went through 4 police check points, which I was happy to see. One guy got a $601 fine for no insurance. I bet he will have it next year!

This whole ride was fantastic, smooth, fast, and little traffic. Buzz does a fantastic job and does a lot more work than people outside the club realize. I got to talk to him, and it sounds like he will be working harder after the season closes than during the season. Thats true dedication and love for the sport.

As late as this ride was, I would say it was the #2 ride for the year , and in the top 5 for all time. Thanks to all that support the Groton trail system, it is truely shangrala in VT!

You wer happy to see 4 check points in one day?? Sounds like their a liitle unorganized to be so redundant.

I think there were so many check points because there are not that many places to ride. They still have to work so they just come out in force where the snow is.

now if we can get the clubs intergrated with the gps and when they were groomed it would be heaven.
sometimes one wrong turn one mile from the next intersection can ruin your day.
Glad you had a good ride

They were moving around. I talked to one of them for a while. The theory is that as as the riding area gets smaller, its easier to provide the enforcement required. I had a safety sticker for earlier in the year, so I was waved through. Shaggygreenmachine was inspected and given a sticker. After that, a quick glance and we were on our way.

I've seen more enforcement this year than ever before and I thinks its a good thing. Its a minor inconvenience and really needed in certain high risk areas. The cop I was talking to told me about one person they grabbed who had been riding across someones signed property and caused damage. The landowner stated that if the person hadn't been caught , they WERE going to close the trail that ran across the rear of their property.

Here are the promised pictures:



There really was snow



The snow looked so firm, but Shaggy should have known...



Pretty



This is the magic machine that Buzzy uses to make white gold



I was quite surprised to see this passenger




Sledzil at a scenic view







These pictures don't really do justice to the snow that was out there. Once we were on the loops, there was as much as 6 feet of snow in spots, but I didn't want to stop to take the pictures because I was having such a blast. What a way to end the year!!!!