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Day 1: Monday Jan 15th Jackstraw (Jim), Eric & myself drove up to Quebec after spending Sunday night in Lake George NY. Unloaded the sleds, parked the trucks, got geared up and left Shawinigan at 2:30pm. Dropped onto the river and rode it up to Mekinac. I wish that Richard would open that place again! Headed up the 355 (Scorpionbowl’s favorite trail) to Lac Edouard for the night. That was 3 firsts for me. I’ve had lunch there many many times. But I never had dinner, had never spent the night, and had never had breakfast there. Gassed up the sleds & checked in. Jim will tell the rest of that nights story. 105 miles

yes sir !!! no matter what the size !!! jean-guy

We had one severe thaw this last Friday! At home near Joliette we had heavy rain, 11C in the afternoon, water everywhere, lost about 2/3 of the snow we had... and next in the night and Saturday morning a big foot of new snow... Mother nature is weird !!!! In sum we had finished with near the same snow to the ground we had before. But with all this water that not had time to retreat before being covered with a foot of new snow we had to expect few days to restore all the trail system especially in the south of the region, that's why after a little research and checks we opted for a start from St-Gabriel de Brandon to go north up to the reservoir Taureau dam. Here is the track of the day we did: Sunday morning, sunny with -30C! We had the whole four seasons in one weekend, we were back in winter I guess! After fighting with the frozen trailer (frozen padlock, coupler, chains, top cover) and getting to our drop point we did a late departure from St-Gabriel passed 10:30Beautifully freshly groomed trails Some water holes here and there mostly frozen, here other traces of the thaw like this glacierFurther on the #23 trail the section maintained by the Club of St-Charles Mandeville was not grommed yet but ride very well. We met the dozer at grooming it when we returned at the end of the day ...We passed Réal MasséAnd continued on the #23 north The amount of new snow was less in the north but the trail conditions were good A few water holes here and there like this one, in the worst we seen. Can be cross easily, not deep at allOtherwise very snowy sceneryWe stopped to refuel and lunch at the Auberge Le Cabanon around 12:15After we continued toward the taureau Dam on the #345 NorthThe club had done a good job in this sector there was not a single bump, a real magic carpet rideStill have to be careful with the frozen water spotsAnd places that have been more flooded but no risk of breaking through the ice it's hard frozen back in this areaWe dropped the #345 to switch toward the dam, a section of trail newly reopened this yearThe Taureau reservoir damThe catwalk that was closed a few years ago was redone a little wider than before at 62"and the big difference they removed the cement stairs in front which was forcing us to turn short on the corner of the building, a real great improvement Otherwise a nice place to revisit that have some charmAt this point, we took the #360 east to loop through the Mattawin River Bridge. again a carpet ... The light vapour on the river who betrayed the freezing temperature even on the pic Here the view across the bridgeWhere we took another little break Before continuing on the #345 to the south ...here again top notch conditions with a little dazzling sun at some pointsWe stopped at this gang to see if they were needed any help with a tow and during this time a first dozer that started his run passed. Sympatic english peoples in this gang, maybe some boys on forum here?Let's say they keep that grooming top notch there We passed the Cabanon and continued on the #23 south by our morning path. They were also at grooming there Here a small rear shot after passing itThe sun was falling down and the temperature tooWe stopped to take a warming up break at Real Massé And continued then towards the south. The section groomed by Mandeville had been did during the day and we cross the returning dozer. We finally been back to our starting point at St-Gabriel de Brandon around 6pm with 160 miles on the dreammeter. In the end a very nice ride, with the intense cold the trail conditions were at their best they would be and this cold already helps to accelerate the reopening of trails further south but there is alot to do with fallen stake under the snow and rivers/ice bridge to check along the St-Laurence river sector. You can take a look here to check the last snowmobile clubs updates on theirs trails: https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/ Bye! Alain

IT IS ALIVE!!!! No one is more surprised than me!! First Start Up... Lots of Oil..... After it ran for 10 minutes it cleaned up and runs good so far..... Couple leaks and adjustments. RR-Vid1.MP4 More Testing Tonight. GutZ

That must be the Artic Cat part of the sled. 😜

Looking good Mike and Terry. Wish we were still there but we have to tend to business every now and then. We made it back to CT without any mishaps. There was a light snow thru VT and MA. CT was still clear. The snow came in overnight and only a couple of inches. Jack & Sandi

We stayed at Mont Vilain ( old Scooby Raid) last night and rode over to Onatchiway then took the 477 & 267 & 93 to Chapelle for lunch. All trails were a 10. Left there and rode the Pelchat trail to Les Escoumins trail was excellent as well.

Today Terry and I did my favorite loop, 5E to Rimouski, 35 S & W to Squatec, and 171SW to RR bed 85. Beautiful along the river before Squatec, and same along lake on 85. 250 mile day, in by 4:30. Almost every mile on the whole trip freshly groomed. Met maybe dozen on-coming sleds all day. 5E on the power lines was smooth fast and oh so much fun, as were the rolling hills thru the fields of Rimouoski. mike

Rode up to Chenail du Nord today for lunch, some of the best riding I have done. Beautiful scenery! Trails are again 👌

Ah Tom , you ended going earlier then you thought ! Lol . I knew you couldn’t wait till February!

I melted down a 600SDI on a Gaspe trip very close to the rock several years ago. My son towed me to the nearest relais at about 6pm. The folks at the Relais called the owner of the Doo dealer in Chandler. Half hour later the dealer picks me up on a ramp truck, brings me to our Hotel. Next morning at 730 same dude picks me up at Hotel and brings me to dealer. At 8am they had the sled apart, but didnt have the parts. The mechanics then dragged a sled off showroom floor, pulled the engine and pirated the piston, and a few other necessary parts. During this time my buds were off riding, dealer looked sad for me and sent me out to play on his side by side. At 4 pm sled was fixed, and I was back on the trail. It wasnt cheap, but at the same time no charge for all the ferrying around of me and dead sled. They even took me out for Lunch!

Exactly why I ride my 2011 Apex. Ultra reliable. 24,900 miles and not a single problem. Never getting rid of this sled.

We rode the lake last week and it was not staked. The last few times we did ride it, it was staked, maybe just to early?

I always like hearing those stories. I have seen in happen on a couple occasions. The truly understand the impact on the economy, no part you might trailer home verses finishing the trip.

Pelchat trail

The nights story was no phone, tv or wifi which led to a very early night. Did discover that there are exactly 86 boards on the ceiling, lol! Next morning the plan is the 355 to 83 and then deceide to either head west or north around the lake then out to valins. 355 plenty of snow but Not groomed to Lac bouchette. Not bad considering. At this point I realize the air suspension is losing air. Which means no rear suspension. Deceide to head to the skidoo dealer in Dolbuie. Take 83 to local orange to avoid Roberval. Bad move, super thin snow a combo of snow, ice and frozen dirt. Once back on the 373 better into st Felician for lunch. Made it to the dealer in dolbeau. They pulled it in right away and confirmed it was the compressor. Being they didn't have one in stock. They pulled it out of a new sled on the floor. Out of there at 5 and at the la diligence fo the night. East bound today. Plenty of snow from st felician on up. No pics battery doesn't like the cold

6 hours gets you to St-Zenon, Sainte-Anne-du Lac or Rivière-Matawin, plenty of snow in all of them..

250 miles today going west to Tourville, over to Sp Pamphile, From there started over the mountain on 571 but met someone saying its a no go. Went back to RR bed #35 and made our way east and then south to Chavellier Club on #35 and stayed on 35 to 85 to RDL. Lots of fresh groomed trails that again weren't on this morning's grooming report. When we left the hotel this morning we took 526 east up along the St. Lawrence, the section I call the shortcut to 5 or the 'bypass'. I would avoid this for awhile. One field is now a frozen lake but may be some time before the groomer dares to trust the ice. A very good site for checking conditions early in the season or after a meltdown is Sledmagazine.com, hit trail conditions, then scroll down to regions like Bas St Laurent. This gives a condition listed by every club in the province, listed as red, yellow or green. Right now Chaudierre is showing almost all red. As for RDL riding, there is good riding, lots of excellent riding (I haven't been to Rimouski so not sure about that area which is on of our favorite loops). If Lac St Jean area is better, I would go there instead due to some important trail closures in this area. Mike

bonsoir !!! short run today...st alexandre...lac saumon !!! a bit warmer...- 25c this morning ...i think jean-guy

That's what I meant. It was late ! Lol

Back home this morning but yesterday we got up and the trails right from Drakkar parking lot were groomed. We decided to just follow the groomers work for the day. We never left a freshly groomed trail. Some parts we were first tracks. Saw maybe 6 sleds all day. Beautiful day out. Plenty of snow and trails were perfect going west from shawinigan. FYI part of trail 3 from the rang de la rivière Batista nord-est towards shawinigan was groomed in front of us Sunday night (even passed the groomer) but doesn't show up on the grooming map as was the northern trail coming from 351 where it hits the same river a mile north. The gps beacons must not be working but they were groomed and were great. In fact those two sections are the only pieces that are showing white on this mornings grooming map. ?? Plenty of snow in shawinigan.

We passed you guys yesterday just South of Onatchway....Only sleds we saw all day may see you on pelchant today

I seemed to vaguely remember running down the lake in the mid 90’s but was not sure if I was dreaming it or not lol. Thank you for the feed back Jack

Yup, get up an hour earlier. :)

How were we able to ride groomed trails before the internet?

We left from St Raymond Saturday morning and 23 north had several feet of NEW snow, continued to Mt Valin via Lac St Jean and there is just great snow. The building is Passion and the ground is all white, get up here and get some.

bonsoir a tous !!! despite the rain...trails still a-1...tq 5 + 1 local trail 12 hrs run ...low traffic.....cold.....back in business tomorrow ...local trails !!! jean-guy

The Eastern Chaudierre region will survive the rains of Friday. The 1 3/4" of rain that hit this area opeed up a lot of streams and rivers but trail 75 from the Maine border to Armstrong club house was fine, 545 to 55 had 2 bad wet holes, but otherwise was good. Word is groomers should be back out tomorrow night in many places from lac etchemin east. We did find one groomer out today. Beauceville east should be very passable for all riders by mid week. The club houses were busy today with locals. (Armstrong below) It's awesome how they all come out to support! Happy Trails RR

I think these guys usually have conditions: http://www.sledmagazine.com/actions/showHome?request_locale=en GutZ

Yes we usually do ride with Ed W and 603 Back country. Also, we had a very nice ride today from Levis to the Maine border below Armstrong. We took 75 all the way and it was near perfect. It always amazes me what they can do with a snow storm. We ran some similar areas earlier in the week and they were worn down very thin in places. Riding in The Chaudierres is looking really good