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1850 miles with no issues. We road 228 miles today from Forestville to the Delta and I NEVER took fuel......The MPG conditions were variable all day but I found that range to be quite impressive. (9.5 Gallons) plus 4 Gallon Jerry The low fuel light was on in Jonquire but I did have a gallon left in the tank. We were also carrying all the gear for our 8 day adventure. Range translates to safety in QC when saddlebagging. Realizing a two stroke isn't for everyone....myself included if this thing grenades. If it doesn't and Doo engineers got this correct. It's something to really consider in the future. Sled is such a blast to ride. My 2 Cents #NOTBRANDLOYAL BJ

Day 7: Thursday Jan 19th Woke up this morning to 2" of fresh powder snow & 26*F. Had breakfast with Bill & said our goodbyes. Pulled out at 8:00am & headed back over the Saguenay at Shipshaw to the north side. Took 367 to 328 thru all the potato fields to Begin & Labrecque. Then took 555 to 93 & crossed back over the Saguenay in Alma. Got on 23 & continued down thru the park stopping for fuel at Mont Apica & L'Etape. Continued south on 23 to Saint Raymond & checked in to the Roquemont. Don't you just love the water pressure in the showers here. NOT! I think the pressure was much better years ago when the place was Hotel Coline. Trails were excellent all day with the exception of the short feeder trail to gas in L'Etape. I always enjoy 23 going downhill (southbound). The scenery & views are stunning. 253 miles

Day 6: Wednesday Jan 18th The plan for today was to sleep in & wake up without the alarm clock. Got up to 22*F & overcast skies. Had breakfast & suited up. Pulled out on the sleds at 10:30am. Took 373N over the top of LSJ & got on 93. Continued south to Sainte-Monique & got onto 367. Went by the old ScoobyRaid (Relais Mont Vilain) to see how it looks these days. They have put in some much needed capital $$$ improvements there. Continued on 367 & crossed the Saguenay at Shipshaw. Decided to go to the Delta for the night so we could check up on Bill & see how he's doing after this past mondays mishap. We spent an hour with Juliedele & Bill on the sofa in the lobby of the Delta. He's one tough dude! No hospital for Bill. He's sore & a little bruised but will recover quickly. Lucky he had his Tek Vest on! I won't ride a sled without mine on. Had a good dinner & crashed out in the incredibly comfortable beds. Nice easy day. 233 miles

I recently learned of a feature on the iPhone that all iPhone users should take advantage of, ESPECIALLY if you have a pre-existing condition of ANY TYPE! It's FREE! We have found it very useful in the volunteer fire/rescue service. The app is already on your iPhone and it costs NOTHING! It is one of the icons on one of your home screens right from Apple. The icon is called Health and is a white square with a red heart in it. Click on it and find the app you want to complete called MEDICAL ID. If you open the app and fill it out with all of your information it could save your life. The app can be opened EVEN IF THE PHONE IS LOCKED! When you click your phone's home button and it brings up the pad for you to enter your password, you will notice on the bottom left the word EMERGENCY. Touch that and it brings up the dial pad to call 911, once you have filled out the MEDICAL ID information it will show as *Medical ID on the bottom left of your screen. First responders or friends can touch where it says *Medical ID and all of the information you entered comes up. I have found that sometimes opening it once all of your information will not appear, simply touch DONE in the top right and re-open and everything is there. First responders are now becoming aware of this app and your riding partners should know about it as well. If you have any questions please let me know and I will try and help anyway I can. Have a GREAT RIDE!

Here's a time saver but requires a little math (some may already do this) - our group is 6, we all ride roughly the same sled, eat about the same, and drink about the same. I'm the "Banker". ONE bill for everyone, and I pay for everything. When the bank is out of money, everyone throws in $100, and on we go. Pull into the gas pump 2 by 2 on each side of the pump. Fill one, and while you're moving it out of the way be filling the next, and so on. Again, one pump (you can use 2 or 3 to speed things up), one bill, one guy cashing out and we're out of there. Lunch, the bar, the rooms, etc. it all works for us. Want to see an outfitter's eyes light up with joy - tell them one check for EVERYTHING - all the rooms, the bar tab, the gas, etc. 6 individual guys checking out of an outfitter trying to figure out who had 2 beers and who had 3 could take you an hour. It usually takes us 10 minutes. Watch 6 or 9 guys fill up and pay individually at the gas pump - you might be there a while. At the end of the trip we divvy up any money left in the bank. One year we had 5 1200's and 1 E Tec. I figured out the total miles, gas mileage, and the E Tec got a gas credit back from the bank. Anyway, over the years we've learned that it all works out in the end for us, and saves a ton of time. You have to have a good group though . If you can't do all 9 on one, at least make partners (roommates, or similar sleds, or something). Anytime you can cut down on the number of transactions, you'll be much better off. Good luck!

Get rid of 5 guys. Just kidding, kind of. The last time we had 10 guys on a trip, we had a hard time doing 100 miles a day. Not to say it cant be done, but somebody with a gun better be in charge. One or two slow goers in the AM and gas stops and meals can really slow thing down to a crawl. Plus 10 sleds,if not all in good shape? Now if you really know all of your group really well and think they can do it, go for it. Your day trips dont look too long, and there are many hotels and services on your route. Take some time on this site, many posts about the places you want to go,If you drop down a few posts there is a great write up on things to take saddlebagging. Good luck and have fun.

Getting a late Canadian start this season. Heading to the Delta in the morning until Friday. Already have 1,575 miles on for the season, all in NY and NH. Well, I actually lied. When in NH with my son Blake, we rode through Customs and into Quebec for lunch and back again for the experience. I had told him many times about doing the same when I was his age and wanted to give him the same experience, so I actually have indeed logged a couple Canadian miles. Looking forward to some more comfortable temperatures than the norm in the Saguenay this time of year and really looking forward to the AMAZING trails and people in PARADISE! Additionally, looking forward to seeing friends old and new. Safe trails everyone and hope to see you soon!!!! Shane

Here's some update for trail conditions in La Tuque / Parent area! All trails are open for La Tuque,and in good to great conditions, since we didn't get rain in the area this week.(actually almost didn't get any this year) There will be a little detour on the 355 next week between St-Joseph-de-Mékinac /Mattawin and La Tuque. And there is a detour on TQ 73 towards St-Raymond because of logging (extra 30 km). TQ 83 Toward Wemotaci / Parent / Clova is in good condition as well! TQ 13 towards the Fer-à-Cheval is great and the Bazin ice bridge is safe (they started to use it with the groomer before Christmas!) Tons of snow in Barrage Gouin area (snowpack is 4-5 ft deep alrealdy). Fresh powder everywhere and all the sweet spots for backcountry are still untouched!!! Also the access trail is in very good condition from the TQ 83. The 345 through Kanawata toward Lac-du-Repos is open and in good conditions: but: From Kanawata going south, it uses the main road (not sanded and fast) toward the Repos. Can it get any better ? The 345 between Kanawata and Casey, on Jan.18th! The Manawan Club (Kanawata) have been working to open the official trail all week and it should be ready on Saturday (21st) through Lac Chateauvert. Finally, the TQ 83 is open and in good conditions from Clova to Senneterre; but forget about the Woodrunner trail, for now, (going South from Clova). Some guys did it but it's very rough and hasn't been groomed and cleaned. They should be able to get on it next week!

hi eddie !!! hahha...sure...but , i was too tired !!! temps still at - 8c !!! grooming tq 5 for the free weekend...expecting many bumps late sunday night !!! broke the little pole for the light on the drag while cutting branches...i ll fix it tomorrow...guys were too busy at gas station to weld it !!! pics from last monday night !!! jean-guy

'' razor day '' in lac saumon !!! mild temps...snowing when i left ..2-3 '' of fresh snow.....-8 c right now !!! group of 6-7-8 before arriving to main street behind me !!! tq 5 later tonight !!! can t tonight ...but tomorrow ...i should celebrate 5000 posts with rouge maybe ??? jean-guy

I usually have a big group with me. One year I had 14 (we didn't backpack until we were down to 5), last year 4 came as a surprise making us nine and that was worse because I already preplanned a whole trip for five. And I can tell you unquestionably it is a pain in the ass. Everything you do takes longer. Getting trail passes getting gas paying for your meals checking in and checking out of the hotel. And the poor sucker who rides in the back never gets to take a piss because as soon as he shows up everybody else is ready to go. Then you have nine possible missed corners nine possible blown belts and so on. I read all the time about guys doing 200 300 miles, hell 400 miles in a day. I got guys bitching when we crack 180. It's all part of the fun. Your plan looks good to me. your last two days will be short if you divide them up to Quebec city and to Shawinigan. That's OK some of the guys might appreciate it. I would stay at the four points in Quebec City. There's a few others too such as the Quebec inn I've never been there. As long as you are resourceful you will be able to find anything you need almost anywhere when you are not in the bush. If you have some people who like specific oils or other things you should probably carry that. Otherwise a lot of places carry two-stroke oil, iso for gas, spark plugs and even belts but not hotels. Some places you will be getting gas are servicing cars as well so you might be in a town where you might be able to hit a mechanic shop or at Canadian tire or another kind of box store. In a breakdown situation use your heads and get the sled to a town or nearest road and figure out from there. Depends on where you are and what's closest. It's very common for locals to help even when there is a language barrier. It's also common to pay for a roll back or pickup ride. RIP Bernard. You should pre-plan where you're going to get your trail passes by calling ahead. Make sure everyone has all of the information they need and the proof of ownership for their trail passes otherwise some group of you will have them and some won't. That's no fun but can be exciting. There's already another recent thread about packing for bag trips and you should look into the GPS and security precautions threads. Have a great trip.

mr smith from nb...friends found your bag on tq 5 !!! for more info ...send a pm ...my secretary will reply to you as soon as possible !!! the operator !!!

Thanks for all the help, I booked two rooms for 25-29 at the delta.. Thanks again..

I look on the map and that seems to be in a pretty big city .. There is no problem sledding right from the room at Delta in Jonquiere? Good safe place to park the sleds ?

Just got home from a ride and saw this post. Glad to hear you are ok Bill plastic can be replaced! Andy

I've seen as high as 18.8 mpg

Cash is good, fill what you need and pay. I remember one year (2006 perhaps) we had to buy lots of 20 litres, we were 4 sleds some good on fuel some not. Ended up buying 3 lots of 20 litres, 2 sleds took the 20 the other 2 split the 20. Memories of Scerie 54.

Rock'n Rohlin Tom Keep burning up those trails. Last day around the corner., more adventures a head.

Thanks Jack for the links to Hotels and the conditions.

We were hoping to ride the reservoir west from Barraige Gouin last February, but woke up to this. . . no thank you. On the other hand our ride back out the access trail was about as good as it gets. Love that place.

Funny stuff mike, memories! No more racing Yamahas down the lake for you.

Here is the continuation from the Lac St Jean post for trip 2. We leave Mt Apica. The trail is good. It has some drifting from the wind overnight but easy enough to follow. Its a quick cruise to L'Etape. Not much traffic out today, Monday. We run into L'Etape to top off the sleds for the final leg of the run. We head back down 23. The trail is nice. Wide and in very good shape. We are making good time. A couple of breaks along the way. About 15 miles from St Raymond we see the groomer starting his trip north. We pull over and give him a thank you wave as he goes bye. The rest of the ride in is nice and we behaved on the fresh groomed surface. In a little early and we unload the sleds in the daylight. It was a great four day run up to the Lac and back. 23 was good and the trails up at the Lac are excellent. Now it is time for food and a few refreshments while we plan our next trip. Maybe the end of January? A ride to RDL would be nice. We haven't been there yet this season. Happy trails to all. Jack and Sandi

Good to see you last night Don. We got out for a quick 215 mile ride today. We did the loop we talked about. Up the river to Mattawin for a soup. Then 360 west to 245 to M20 back to 360 back to Shawinigan. Trails were incredible. Very little traffic. River was better than I expected too.

This just points out that if you do not properly use you're "HotDogger" or "MuffPot" to keep your Burritos warm they can start to go out of control. So don't tuck it too close to the fuel lines, if those beans start to rupture and mixed with right hot sauce.... Poof! Hibachi'd groomer. Now you're stuck, cold, a long way from home, and a burnt Burrito. So please don't chance a burnt Burrito. I'm glad the driver is Ok, that's gotta suck on so many levels. GutZ