A rare dry weekend this past weekend. Forecasted rain staying to the north and south of us. Great riding on the mountain bike course. Rain has held off for almost two weeks after a very wet summer so far. The course is tacky and fast. Mushrooms have exploded from wet weather this summer and interesting to see the wide variety in the woods. Folks have been hitting the trail pretty much daily. A few mud spots here and there from the recent rain. We have brushed out the lakeside drops and blown out the singletrack and conditions are very good to excellent. A few areas still brushy. The water tables are are at near record levels from the wet June and July. Mosquitoes starting to multiply with the wet conditions but if you keep moving, not as bad. We have been working on the trails including maintenance work on the singletrack and have been mowing on the ski trails, preparing them for winter and cutting trees from winds earlier this month. The ski trails are in great shape for this time of year. A few areas of erosion from the hard rain but will repair in the Fall.
The trails are open for mountain biking, hiking and trail running throughout the Summer. The trails are closed to horses and motorized use. There is no charge to use the trails and there are no services in the main lodge at this time with camp going on. If you do ride, all we ask is you clear and sticks etc. if you can. The mtb course starts near the Great Northern Cabin and is marked for beginners to advanced riders. Follow the white signs with black arrows. The singletrack sections are labeled easier or more difficult/advanced. The advanced loop is around 7.4 miles, taking 50min to 1.5 hrs to complete. Please park in the parking lot by the first freight house as you enter the Maplelag property. The other mowed ski trails are open for riding as well. Enjoy!
Hanging on to Spring Conditions. Still no freeze down of the trails since Friday night. A few small areas of pooling water but the coverage on the trails remains good and very nice Spring skiing this morning. Soft and slow in the corn snow! Folks staying at Maplelag this week have been enjoying the mild temps and being out in the woods. Looks like slightly cooler temps near the end of the week with chances of light snow possibly which would slow down the melting. We will groom trails again once the snow cools down and sets up.
A great weekend so far of racing. Dry and fast conditions. Should be a great day on Sunday!
The course is open daily for riding and is marked and taped for the bike race weekend. There is no charge to use the trails. The trail starts behind the Great Northern building and follow the maintained trail and white signs with black arrows. The course will be closed Saturday morning during the time trial and open again in the afternoon for pre-riding. Please be aware of the short track racing on Saturday if you select to pre-ride instead of race and check with race officials to avoid race traffic . Click here for a map/gps profile of the Sport/Comp/Expert loop.
Map of 2009 Laddies Loppet course (drawn by Tony Schmitz!)
This Spring, just over 2500 coniferous trees were planted at Maplelag. The trees were planted near and along the ski trails and also in the remaining open areas in the skinny field. The trees planted include Norway pine, spruce and fir balsam. Over the years, close to 100,000 trees have been planted!! It is rewarding to see trees planted as seedlings 25 years ago now tower 20-30f feet high. Around 90% of the 650 acres at Maplelag has been enrolled in the MN Sustainable Forestry Initiative Act (SFIA Program) as of 2005. Photos below of this Spring.
