Lake Ice, Trail, and Snow Conditions

December 17, 2024

This past Saturday, 14 club members met at the Lake Louise Lodge to form a work party and set the trail markers on Lake Louise. We all met at nine that morning armed with our sleds, chainsaws, and scoop shovels. We then collected all the markers and the “You are Here” map signs from storage. On the lake, we broke into small groups with a couple riders marking the trail by dropping off a stake every tenth of a mile. The rest of the party followed, sawing a slot in the ice then standing a stake in it. The map signs were also stood up at their appropriate locations along the trail. 

In past years work parties would have to have marked Lake Susitna, and Tyone at the same time, but not so this year. Many kudos go out to members Jody French, John Dawson, Pete Probasco, and Mike Sweeny for doing the job. Jody and John over a couple weeks marked all of Susitna and Pete and Mike came to the lake last week and marked the trail down on Tyone Lake to the mouth of Tyone River. 

Marking this trail is no small task. The entire trail loop is approximately 65 five miles around, requiring 300 plus markers to be installed. I may add they all must come out in the spring. That will be another work party. So, a great big THANK YOU to all who have taken the time this year and helped set the trail once again. 

I would also be remiss if I didn't thank the Lake Louise Lodge for all their continued support and thank Savanna for the very delicious warm soup she served everyone who helped Saturday.

While we were setting the trail Saturday, the temperature was right around 5 degrees, and it snowed most of the day and into the evening. Sunday morning, it appeared to have snowed 3-4”. The weather is predicted to be colder this week. NWS shows daytime temperatures around 0 and nighttime temperatures -13, with it being party sunny becoming cloudy towards the weekend. After the weekend, the weather will warm up into the teens and single digits. One good thing, winds are predicted to be calm all week.

Talking with local fishermen, they report the ice on the lakes is between 14-16”. Still, use extreme caution when traveling off the packed trail. There are open leads at the channel between Louise and Susitna. Absolutely stay on the marked trail if you venture down into Tyone. There is lots of overflow, open water, and thin ice. 

The overflow on Lake Louise and Susitna is everywhere now. The trail on the lakes is reasonably smooth and hard. It's mostly hardpack snow and ice. There are many, many sections of super rough frozen overflow. The kind that can tip you over or flip whatever you are towing. Off the trail, you will encounter overflow to be anywhere between 4-8” deep. Just be prepared when traveling off the trails.

The trails in the area have not been groomed yet except where folks have been using their own or one of the Club's pull behind groomers. You can find the club groomers on the lake in front of the lodge. Club members can help themselves to them. Use them all you like, all we ask is you bring them back for someone else to use. They work very well making a smooth hard trail to your cabin and around it. We'll have groomers parked by a sign at different locations on Lake Louise and Susitna in the next couple weeks. At Lake Louise, you can find them now in front of the Lodge on the lake. Another one will be at the Crosswind trail head sign soon. On Susitna there will be two. One at the south end at the east/west trail intersection at the channel. Another one will be at the north end of Susitna by the trail intersection going to Tyone and the Back Bay. 

Today we dug out and unwrapped the PistonBully in preparation for grooming. Jimmy Johnson, Gary Swan, Mel Mathews, Gabe, and Jordan all joined in on the fun cleaning off both snocats. The groomer for the PistonBully has been modified by Great land Welding and Rob Miller pulled it back to the lake last week. The plan is to begin grooming right after New Years. We'll start with the Crosswind and Tolsona trail preparing for the CB300 dog race on January11th. 

The goal will be to have all the trails groomed at least once by the end of January. It's a tall order but I think it can happen. We're still looking for volunteers to learn how to groom. Get hold of me if you are interested. You can catch me at the lake or text me. 

You may wonder why we don't start sooner. There are a couple reasons; our trails cross many lakes and swamps and we need to be sure there is thick enough ice. Another is our permits require we have enough snow to protect the ground.

Remember!!!!!!   Check you emergency gear and let someone know where you are going and when you plan to be back. Leave a Travel Plan..........Ride and Drive Safe!!!

Thank you for everyone’s support

Happy Trails, 

Harry Holt, Trail Boss 

Lake Louise Snowmachine Club

907-232-9080