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Back home on the black trail today no issues. Left Amos at 3am in a mini blizzard when I got to Syracuse it was 70 , what a winter. Driving though tug hill area couldn’t help but notice there was no snow at all at end of February that has to be a rare rare feat they get the most snow anywhere on the east coast thanks to lake effect. Total miles for the trip was 1500 all of which was great I love the area and will definitely be back!

Started in St Raymond last Monday, up to Relais 22 then to the Gouin for the night. Day 2 went to Val Dor/Chez Vic. Day 3 to Quebellion/Motel du Lac (had a problem with sled that took most of the day so was not able to squeeze the Matagami loop in). Day 4 the 93 through Chibougamou to Buttes for a large beer 🙂 then the Jardin for the night. Day 5 back through Apica to St Raymond. Just under 1400 miles, everything except the section of 83 around Roberval was very good. Was home in NH by 10PM!

Great time sledding with the solid boyz from New Hampshire, Vermont, and Quebec. Long last reunion with Team Vermont who are the king of Forest road travelers. Perfect weather and snow conditions 7 day Excursion. Had a enjoyable perfect 2 week season. Looking forward season 2025

Day 6 final day 230 miles. Headed out over to LaSarre this morning the first 35-40 miles was pure white carpet the type of thing snowmobilers dream about with the fresh snow from last night the sun coming out, and the snow covered trees made for an unforgettable ride. Did a couple of the loop trials north of LaSarre all of which are totally awesome then headed over to La Reine which is right on the Quebec/ Ontario border you get there by running about 10 miles of rail bed, which again was pure white carpet. At the end of the rail bad we ventured into Ontario for a bit via the same rail bed which is unmaintained into Ontario side but still a fun Boondocking experience. Then made our way back to Amos via TQ 93. Another epic day to finish out an epic riding week. Anyone who wasn’t up here missed out on some amazing conditions. Hard to believe the weather for the next 48 hours which looks downright horrible Hopefully this area makes it though. I hope everyone enjoyed following along, and I just made a few people jealous along the way!

Day 7 Sunday Great night at Windigo, drinks, conversations, stories throw in the nosh on the wings and smoked meat sandwiches. Oh yes. To Team Vermont….looking forward to next seasons rendezvous. After saying our goodbyes and loading up. Everyone ready to go. My sled loves it here so much it doesn’t fire off on the first go. Never good. This will take extra effort. Get coolant heater plugged in. Decided to hook up Daniel’s big jumpbox. Spins over real nice this go round and finally fires. Maybe 15 minutes of giving it attention, For what its worth by far not the coldest night out this week, but is the one night i did not cover my sled. Maybe nothing maybe something, Up driveway out of Windigo. TQ83 magic carpet ride back all the wsy to Relais 22 . Bridge still unsafe for groomer straight out back of Relais 22 on TQ83. 83 west this year is just north of Relais 22 its 30 km longer then going out the old trail and over the bridge. Gas n go and quick conversation with Christine at 22, knowing full well that many sleds are bearing down on this place from up the TQ83 coming for lunch on Sunday. Up we go and as expected busy trail. But all well behaved. Love the new Sena 50 really top shelf. Nice ride back up TQ83 then secret trail to 355 from TQ83 was a stunner. Said goodbye to our trail mates as they were headed to load uo and haul south today. Great guys NH Moose aka “bullwinkle” anytime anywhere goes without saying. Mark ditto do not get to see him enough. Great guy. Phil sr newest member of Team Iceman. Another rider. Gets it done solid. Loved spending time on and off trail with you all.. Until next time boys. Snohorse and I continue on TQ83 junk. And junk. Seriously not good. Big difference in conditions here. We suffer on to local orange to Saint Andre. Ok but best up. Went in another local trail tour then a retrace of our route back to 355 and Auberge Eva. Only people here tonight. Private hotel and restaurant. No one else. We stitched it together as my partner in trails Snohorse says. Successful week stellar trails with excellent company. Some new discoveries and some new memories on long cherished sections of trails. Some of our favorites, Is it the last ride? Stay tuned

Day 6 Saturday Cold this.morning. Not sure what was the temperature but a cold start. Cold makes white asphalt. I happen to admire white asphalt quite a bit and we saw lots of it Exception being the local trail from La Dore to TQ83. But the local orange was still ok. Just not perfect. Joined up with the TQ83 and at first was not liking it. Quickly changed at intersection to local trail south. Fast run down as the top of the TQ83 they are grooming the road as the trail for a god part of it and it’s fantastic. Gas and Late lunch after the rush at Relais 22. Out of there we got places to be. More sleds out today, but duh? It’s the weekend. Even so, we only caught uo to 2 sleds we easily got by. Only the second pair we had to deal with in front of us in 6 days. Sweet. Quick burn to Windigo and wrapped up a stellar day with a stellar night reminiscing and breaking bread with our brothers Team Vermont. Always great fo be at Windigo with Martine Stephanie and Daniel….even better on a Saturday night……and even better with the plan coming together to meet up. Lots to catch up on and that we did. Sure wish we could do this so much more often. Great times with Great people.

Skip RDL it’s done!!!! Go to Matane we b leaving Matane now!!!

I hope this rain down here is some snow up there or we're going to be forced to cancel for next Tuesday.. checked with the universal and it's still just a very fair 24-hour notice for cancellations.

Yo Ice! We were talking about maybe runnin into you out there this year , turns out we were lurking in the same trail system. Was at Buttes Thursday night coming back from Western swing. Small world…trails were great aside from the junk on 83 😎

Outstanding trip reporting as always ! So glad everything went well for all of you👍

Definitely enjoyed following along, jealous is an understatement. Nice rip. West is best

Day 8 Monday Trucked it to chez Ice, touchdown home 3 hrs from Lac Bouchette. Snowing up there messy to La Tuque almost 3” new snow overnight there. Less as we drove south. Yamaha off the Snohorse trailer and Freeride back in. Unloaded gear and said goodbye to the Snohorse and he headed on south. Timing is everything and the timing and planning were on. The rest of the team had a smooth run back to USA Sunday. NHmoose said he was home by 10:30. Nice until next time mes amis

Always fun hooking up with fellow Quebecriders out in the bush. Iceman runs with an amazing crew. Windigo never disappoints. Plenty of snow up there. It’s just the access points are dissolving fast. A little creativity and there’s a lot of riding to be had still.

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Day 7 Windigo to Lac Bouchette

Day 5 215 total miles. A bit of a snowy day today so not as many pictures they don’t look as pretty haha. Tons of sleds today guess everybody is out anticipating, perhaps the end of the riding season unfortunately. Since all the traffic trails were a bit more bumpier than normal, but still not bad at all. Decided to head down to Rapide 7 so left amos south to Rivière-Héva then to Malartic then continued down the 309 to Rapide 7. Back up 309 then into Val’dor and then snaked our way back to Amos the long way!

Peek-a-boo Sunday 5:30...

Drag strips-anyone around?

Day 5 Friday Woke at Pouvoirie La Dore. I like it here. Snowing again. Not super cold as my gatorade aint frozen on porch. It’s cold thought This will hold me over until getting some coffee. Boys are stirring around looking like the warm has lost the battle this go round. Wind picking up still snowing on and off. Enjoyed talking for a long time with Stephane last night. Quite interesting as I learned alot we all did asking hunting and fishing questions trying to get an understanding on how they do it all year. Great place and super hosts. Go and stay they have one big chalet with four bedrooms So 8 singje beds max, only chalet insulated for clients thus winter. Next year probably 1 more. But this will remain an intimate place. More personal to stay here. For lunch they have been doing well. Many clients. They make their living May to November. Like i said before there is just something about this place. Stephane met us after a great breakfast and we took a ride out and up the lake and back. He took us out the back over the bridge and showed us the way to join up with the local orange trail branche ouest. Interesting. But not as fast as the TQ93. He showed us another nine mile loop around the lake by the lodge. This has Team VT written all over it as he said no problem go and explore, their are trails everywhere. We had to say goodbye for now and bailed out the backdoor to La Dore. Still snowing on and off temps already noticeably colder, wind is biting. TQ93 to Gas n go La Dore. Trail mint. Been 95% all week. Very little traffic. This being the “Tour to nowhere” we got nowhere to go to. All day to do it. Now those of you that pay attention know what is next……if you guessed trail bingo = winning. 👍 Stayed in the sweet spot. All around above lake. St Felicien to Dolbeau. To 373 then back across 373 searching for red sticks with wind howling in the fields. One of those days you think about where to stop for a break and finding somewhere tucked in the trees to block that wind. Temperature has plummeted and with wind not great for the hands being out of the gloves too long. Only real rough spot few KM between middle orange trail and TQ93 up near Lac a Jim. Everything else very nice. Likey likey. Bingo card full it’s time for early happy hour. Into Girardville. Happy campers.

Screen just too small and not bright enough for me.

Driving home now left Matane at 7am yes 45 & rain!!!