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Last evening together pow wow splits the group in 2. Jackstraw and a Eric head east to Mattawin while Phil myself and Scranton head north for the hills (more snow colder temps and no towns). Our 6 am departure from the Roquemont would put these boys at the trucks early enough for their long haul home so I pass the message to Mrs.Trailblazer I’ll be home early. Trails are freshly groomed from the night before and are hard as a rock as temps went well below freezing overnight. Well that’s it I jinxed it with the premature message cause not long into the morning departure one of us loses a scratcher and begins to overheat. While stopping every 2 miles to wait 10 minutes for thing to to cool down is not an option, out comes the spare scratcher and we jimmy rig it to the A arm with some hose clamps twist ties and tie wraps, not pretty but did the job for a while. 11:30 arrival at Mattawin we all take care of business and say our good byes, Scranton and Phil are on the black top while I’m just finishing up I see Jackstraw and Eric pull in, did our good byes (hugs’n kisses NOT) and as I’m walking past the Auberge I see 3 sexy looking A/Cs parked in front. 73 LT1 355 360. Snow storm just kicking in as we were arriving. Not long long after black top departure I stop for a lunch break while and while chowing down I’m scrolling through FB, I see a post from low and behold Towing non the less saying he’s stopped in Mattawin for lunch and his sled parked beside those sexy triplets from the photo he posted. Time on the post puts him there about 10 minutes after we left. If we had of known.

Here is the ride Kristine and I made yesterday Saturday, March 30, 2019 On friday night the weather forecast was really bad announcing a mix of snow ice/rain even for the north of our area from the beginning of the afternoon Saturday, so we canceled our sled ride plans and decided to stay at home. Having nothing on plans for early saturday we had gone to bed late after midnight, and on Saturday morning, looking at the forecast, the weather cocktail was delayed to the end of the afternoon to 4or 5 pm ... Ok change plans again, hook on the trailer and go to St-Zenon! We managed to hit the trail around 9:45 It started to snow just as we started our ride. Freshly groomed trails from the beginning, not brought back perfect but it ride very well. We passed by the Cabanon The #345 trail was beautiful up to the intersection with the #23 east toward the Mastigouche reserve. Then pretty bumby up to the junction to the Dam that we took. The trails after this point were all nice with only few bumps in some curves here and there Sorry for the white spots in the pics, we had forgotten to turn off the camera flash that reflects on the falling snow flakes... it gives some style! The Taureau reservoir is already lowered to its lowest, ready to receive spring water. Water goes near the base of trees at its summer level The #360 was nice and fast as usual And the river's views are even nice under this snowy weather We arrived for lunch at Marineau around 12:45 with 102 miles on the dreammeter. Learned today that we just missed a part of the 6 amigos crew by just few minutes...too bad it would have been so nice to meet them completely unplanned over the trail, sometimes the world is really small!!! . After a very good meal, we left and retraced our steps up to the M20 trail that we took to loop on The M20 was beautiful, as nice as usual to do. There was already about 4-5 inches of new snow over the trail and it was snowing hard some moments At the end of the M20 we took the #345 trail toward St-Zénon And then went back on the #360 as on our morning path It was starting to fall something other than snow that was begin to freeze in my windshield Halfway on the #345 the rain became more present. It must have been very close to the freezing point because it was freezing on the sled but my heated visor was ok, just had to wipe it every 10 seconds! We did a last refuel at Le Cabanon and passed through #63 trail (village of St-Zenon) to return to La Glacière. Apart from the very bigs hills that were deep bumpy, the rest was nice Here we see the ice in the branches and the clouds hitting the mountain We got back to the trailer around 5:40 PM with 220miles on the dreammeter Very happy with our ride but a little wet and icy! The Venture pass the 20 000miles mark during this ride, still running strong! Grumpy Santa asked on my last report what would be the next one ? no decision taken yet other than the venture should be strong enough to give me one more season... as for new touring sled choices, not much options other than taking a turbo or not! [/URL] So we were really happy with our final decision to having went for it, despite the not perfect weather because at this time of the season the remaining riding opportunities are on the low side... In summary still a lot of snow in the area but we board in April tomorrow ... some clubs will close, some others will leave the signs in place but stop grooming: in sum we really arrive at the end of the season. It will still be possible for die hard one to do some miles but you will need to do your homework before leaving because it can change quickly depending on the weather. The snowmobile country trail conditions site is always a good place to have last informations on snowmobile clubs: https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/ happy season's ending! Alain

Random pix, here you go. Some questions are better not asked. 😂

Only 40 km range, but maybe one day

I have a first generation Volt and just recently bought an electric fat tire bike that I now have 130 miles on. Absolutely love them both. I was hooked on the electric bike after the first 10 seconds riding it. With 5 electric assist modes and 7 mechanical gears you can customize it to whatever level you want to achieve desired fitness level. The thing that I feel is the biggest benefit is (coming from someone who hasn’t biked in 30 yrs) is the ability to go on long rides and not getting “disenchanted” with the whole thing. I live in an area with quite a few hills and a normal bike would require a physical output that I’m not willing to put out at this age in life. I wouldn’t last 10 miles around here on a normal bike. This new one I regularly do an 18 mile “loop” around our Lake that takes me about 1.5 hrs. I’m starting to decrease the electric input up as I build up my endurance. Who knows...maybe this summer I will be leaving the heavy battery pack off and just go normal sometimes. The other great thing is when I “pimped” my bike out with accessories is was only 5 dollars here, 20 dollars there. Unlike snowmobiling where it’s a 100 here and 200 there...LOL Sadly, I probably won’t live long enough to see electric snowmobiles become “reality” as in “ go 100 miles plus” on a charge but IT WILL happen someday. Just as none of us thought years ago we would see 4 strokes in sleds, half on the snow are nowadays. Again, I strongly recommend an electric bike (made in all kinds of bikes) to anyone even remotely interested. I got this one on super special at 799.00 shipped to the house (normally 1,000) and less than two months later still think it’s the best 800 bucks I ever spent. I’m going to start riding it to work every day when the weather really breaks. Mine is a 500watt 36V setup and that is plenty for most people. Ecotric is the brand. They are on the west coast and they were great through the whole process and even sent me some free accessories and stuff after the fact.

4' x 8' Solar-panel helmet? Could also be an emergency safety system? Double as a hang gliding wing on you head if one bonzais off a cliff?

hi gutz !!! sure !!! even on the beaver on the other post !!! well , very windy today + temps up to 11 c ....went to check at the '' school bus ''....water everywhere on the road...raining lightly right now .... few moose and deer from the sur trac days !!! still 10c at the airport !!!...just lucky it has been cloudy all day !!! jean-guy

I'm having trouble figuring out which one is Eric?

bonjour playhard !!! thx for the link !!! like old car ...the '' station wagon ''....my favorite....pic taken at the '' brandy brook '' in the gaspesie !!! all kind of weather since yesterday afternoon...snow.....freezing rain ...rain this morning ...mix of sunshine and clouds...and 6 c right now !!! my '' sport car '' is getting closer to downtown albertville !!! old pics from march 31 th .....2014 !!! jean-guy

When you say bio-stuff are referring to ethanol? Be careful because fuel with ethanol in it will go bad long before you use your sled again. Also, there is no fuel tank condensation when the tank is plastic, only with metal tanks. IMHO use the Stabil. For all it costs it gives peace of mind but only if you let the sled run long enough to get it through the whole fuel system.

He's ALIVE!👍

BIG thanks again to the Amigos for humoring-tollerating-shepherding me on this one! Great memories will last a while for sure!

Speaking of just can't ever get enough... Got some lunch-time face-time with the hardest working lady & gent in show business!...

Mmm kay! Can we go back to?...

Jack, best I can tell it comes with LinQ base kit, especially for that price.

I hope you checked their Trail Passes!!! I don't see one from here. LOL GutZ

OH!!!! wasn't knowing I was so near to meet you gang!!! 😲 We arrived there around 12:50, very sorry to have miss you. We had at first cancelled our saturdays plans on friday evening because of the wheather forecast and kick back in on saturday morning, a bit late. We hit the trail from La Glaciere around 9:45... We should not look at wheather forecast!!! 😄 It was very nice to virtually following you gang on this long trip through your pictures and write up. happy season ending!

Tell it Roberto! Prevents...Piss Poor Performance! (Sorry about this off-topic stuff! Ya see I resisted asking if the e-bike has an accessory cup holder for Yammi fire extinguishers!)

There are others. https://taigamotors.ca/snowmobiles/ https://www.facebook.com/taigamotors/

Need a 4 stroke Ray.

First Farmer Old switches to Doo now you? What's going on in western NYS??? lol

Amen brutha! Instead of a few seasons of renting a sat phone one could own this tough little mutha: https://www.roadpost.com/iridium-extreme-satellite-phone.html And with the Roadpost Iridium monthly plans the unit doesn't just quit after a bucket of minutes like prepaid plans: https://www.roadpost.com/satellite-phone-monthly-airtime-plans.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi4-tiMCs4QIVCK_ICh377QtYEAAYASABEgI1_fD_BwE These guys may not deploy a chopper for every belly-ache, but they have ground logistics dialed in all across PQ, and now super-affordable with the seasonal bundle: https://www.airmedic.net/en/

Enjoyed the tales from the trails. Thanks for sharing !

We took that muddy single road for less than 1 klm and were back on the trail, saved us an hour of riding down through Portneuf, skiis were punished for sure! Wish we had a pic cuz I know someone here that would’ve been proud of me. Lol!

Just getting broken in.😁

That's some miles on your ride playhard when do you get a new one?

Yes it was something totally different and was sprung on us last minute couldn't turn the opportunity down.

On Wednesday the 27th. Our friends took us off trail towards hotel roquemont. We were in the middle of no where lol. Only way to this camp is snowmobile our float plane in summer. He says you can canoe to it but with the portage's it takes all day. Wednesday it was warming up a lot and when we finally got down to the trails they were mashed potatoes but still fairly smooth yes we had to deal with some snart ran 23 down to three in the Quebec City to Hotel signature same place play hard was at. All in all just over 600 miles for the trip to the Ender for the year with some good friends.

Ok finish up time lol. Tuesday the 26th we left Mont vilain and headed west on 367. Trail was smooth and hard. Scratchers needed last two days. Ran this down to the local cut over to 328 these two trails just let you motor on not to tight not to straight just right. Took a left on 93 to 23 all is good in life cruising along. In Alma things were getting thin but not terrible. We got down to 383 turned right to jump over to 83. Hard trails here but bare spots in the fields. Right on 83 to 355. Trails are flat with just small chip in corners I'll take it. Cruised down to lac edouard and met up with some friends to go to a cabin 11 miles in off trail. 355 had small chater in it nothing terrible just not great. Heads up we heard lac Edouard would not be grooming anymore. We got to have a great experience of enjoying a rustic cabin off grid with some great friends.

I wanted to mention this, When Mrs GutZ and I were there last weekend we rented a sled from these guys. *** SM is IN the Hotel, the one in the parking lot is their competitor ** *** The one in the parking lot is closed for the season, that is the way I found this out ** I left a card with the rep at the counter (Not Holding Out Hope that it was not put in the trash) Later GutZ

No rush. One lane is fine. Smooth crossing.

Remember Stabil? No need now with the bio-stuff in the gaz today? And no space for condensation? Less than 300 days before this fill up gets burned! A few weeks ago this crossing right near the shop had 30" drop offs. Uh oh! Looks like Ferme signage on THE OTHER SIDE with 3 industrial blocks to go! Thought for a second about taking chances with hammering over the (very tall looking) tracks and bust thru the barrier on the far side. How hard could that snow be?! Sorry for the mud run baby. Did a trainyard reroute-go-around and she got tucked in nice. Needs a day at the spa for sure.

Then "those" feelings come on, the holy crap it's over, but holy crap it was a kickass season. 33 to go, point & shoot, straight line to the barn...

Yeah sure, to be expected, snirty here & there. Then again, fresh groomed for most of the 95 miles!

Looked up, and appreciated that yesterday eve's sh*tshow was short lived! MOV_20190329_1040037.mp4

Monday the 25th. Great breakfast and met some guys from Quebec City and told them we were going to mont villain. Told us not to go threw chicoutimi it was very bare. They gave us a number for a trailer service to get threw. Was a great service guy charged 20 per sled. Dropped us at imperium ski Doo. On to lunch at relais onatchiway by way of 93 to 267 than left on 477. First time on these local trails. There hard fast and smoth two big thumbs up. Lunch was great. We fueled and headed down 484 to Mont villain more great trails. Easy day at 140 miles but lots of smiles.

hi pinkm1 !!! yaaa....about 2 hrs of rain.....a bit of wet snow...little sunshine and still grey sky now !!! was supposed to groom local trails last night ...too warm !!! still a few tourists i guess...friend of mine saw a bunch of 10 this morning on the shortcut for allbertville !!! old pics of the sut-trac days....with part of old tq 5 !!! april 5 th....07 !!! jean-guy

bonjour !!! just to let you know....started raining !!! +3c jean-guy

After the 20 miles of frozen hard twisties from the ferry I took a new (not on Trakmaps) 3 West, instead of going thru St Simeon. Nice trail, mix of big & small then cool wavy rolling along a river.

We press on.

Day 5 Thursday trails were all groomed from Amqui to RDL!! Just met 5 guys on sleds rode up from Jackman Maine to Hotel Universal said trails still good!!! Till next Season Yeti out!!!

Just a quick update of George. He has settled into what may be his forever home after I found him hitchhiking on trail #5 this winter. He keeps asking for EddieSkiDoo and SkiDoo420; wants another weekend in Amqui with them. He is getting along with everyone in the household just fine. Still likes to monkey around and get himself in trouble occasionally. Says he likes the tropical weather of Maine better than the arctic cold of Quebec. He does miss happy hour at the Universel Hotel bar. He is currently appealing his illegal immigrant status.

Do they ever But how will they look in 2 weeks when i'm back from Spain.....

bonjour !!! tq 5 yesterday ...great weather.........always windy !!! traffic very low....almost 12 hrs run !!! jean-guy

Just back from a great dinner here. One of the best parts of sledding is reliving the day and laughing with good friends after a day out on the trails. Always an adventure...and always fun memories !

bonjour !!! snowing at the horizontal since a few hrs....no accumulations in town...maybe too low...could be better up the hills !!! -1c at the airport !!! jean-guy

bonsoir !!! rain started a bit before 5 pm til 6 30 ...heavy to medium to light ...stopped then started again 20 mins ago...light to medium !!! 3c at the airport !!! jean-guy

hi steven !!! yes...on the right...road going up....field on top ..'' school bus ''...next to the road on the left ...where the gravel pit is......left side...used to go toboganing in the field...plantation now !!! and the pic on this post ... last field coming from albertville...before crossing railroad and bridge behind gas station... mountains at the back...st alexandre and lac saumon... nice sharp pics !!! jean-guy

hi nhtom !!! interesting video !!! reminds me back in the old days when dad was using his boat with an outboard motor and riding on the river and there was still a few logs... at my camp , along the brook ....there s still a few 4' long logs along the brook from the old days. forgot , the pic with the 2 old cars...back in the 70's ,there was an old house there ,right where the cars are...it was the relay of our club in town back then ... our club fell apart ..lack of volunteers... jean-guy