Jackstraw

leave it at RDL instead

here the ride we did Sunday January 29 under a temperature of -12C with snow

Left St-Thomas near Joliette around 9:00 AM to go have a lunch at the Lac Blanc outfitter near St-Alexis des Monts.
Despite the snow, the visibility in the distance was correct, we could easily see the stakes, but it was difficult to see the relief of the trail. Luckily,all trails had been freshly groomed and with the deep cold night the conditions were perfect.

As usual in these snow conditions, visibility was almost perfect in the woods

Since the snow had just started, we chose to do the most fields section in the morning before there were too many snow blades. Here on #3 in St-Cuthbert.

This weather reminded me of when I was a kid and the school closed due to snowstorm and i was spending the day at playing in the storm.

It ride extremely well, perfect trail. We went through the #63 and then took the #350 in the St-Paulin sector.

To note in this sector, the gas station in the village of St-Paulin is closed on Sundays.

The trail was nice and beautiful snowy scenery


We arrived early around 11:15 for lunch at the Auberge du Lac-Blanc

It was wise to arrive early, the service was fast and impeccable and it was more busy when we left an hour later.

Although we had to come back home early for a family dinner, since it was still early we were able to stretch the ride a bit by going north on the trail à Gaston (#350 northwest).

Again, very cold temperature helping, the trail was mint and the beautiful 3" layer of snow that gave a smooth ride in powder

The little 900 ace is a lot of fun to ride in these mint wooded trail conditions.

The snow cover is getting impressive in Lanaudière/Mauricie, in the good ones that we have had for several years

We quickly pass by  Koubec 

And went back down south via trail #345 which was perfect.

We went through the Mandeville sector

I was tempted to take the marked trail on Lake Maskinongé but with the snow and the wind my sweetheart was not very comfortable with my plan so we kept on the land trail

The trails were a bit more rough in  St-Gabriel sector but I was not surprised because I had read they had a major breakage on one of their 2 dozers at the end of the week and they only have one left to groom their entire territory.
We went back down to the St-Cuthbert sector where we resumed the morning trail path to return home. There were more snow blades in the fields but it was still riding well

We were quickly back home around 3:40 p.m. with 232kms of happiness on the meter
The season is now with outstanding conditions and we finally have some real cold to freeze the trails and make them more solid. I expect the few rivers that were not safe yet to be ok by the end of the week with the weather forecast ahead.
Gentlemen, start your engines and go!

29 January Sunday 
We get our 3 radios straightened out. We get out of the house not so early again. But off we go snowing lightly. TQ3 it is East this time direction Shawinigan. Trails are surprisingly very nice. Not many sleds at all so far. We cruise on up into Shawi then through Turtle Lac and try to run the local trail in St George next to the CN yard but are snookered as they are building a freight train putting the cars in order and have the crossing very blocked. Oh well, back on a near perfect trail it’s snowing for real now and we are loving every minute. I decide its 351 through Relais Station and onward to St Tite. We join with TQ23 here and so far so good light traffic and great trails. 23 to 351 and we are happy. Rolling along nicely here. Lots of evidence of all the trees they had to cut. Crazy. We love this run and today it does not disappoint. What disappoints is the condition of 355 from the 351 junction to St Joseph de Mekinac it is another Ukrainian battlefield. But gotta take the good with the bad. Barely made it to gas pump in St Joseph she sputtered on me coming into town shortcut up road to gas station did not feel like having to dump in my gas from the roto pax. I made it. Greta would love me that run just 171 km and took 36 liters. Not stellar but lots of cream cheese on trails not hatd frozen trail,
St Joseph 360 back to TQ23 has held up real well. And 23 is sweet. We catch 3 sleds near Rivere Des Envies where they had all the trouble because of it not freezing early on. They let us pass. On we roll, great run back to St Georges in shawi and this time no train blocking the track we cross and return through Turtle Lac and down through Shawi Sud. Trail very good for a Sunday headed home. New snow cushions the ride. All in with around 150 miles. 
 
Time for nice dinner at home with great friends. 
 
Tomorrow we say chow bye to Mrs Ice and the kids and head of somewhere to continue this adventure.
sorry no pics on this snowy day 
Mrs Ice is the master of photography for sure we missed her today. In more ways than one. 
 
Stay Tuned

Said it before, Beach bars, Bikinis and Golf are looking more enticing every year!

*84 toll booths? LOL! Good lord. Be like the garden state parkway!

*84 toll booths? LOL! Good lord. Be like the garden state parkway!

*84 toll booths? LOL! Good lord. Be like the garden state parkway!

Here is our last ride path

It is under a very cloudy sky and a little snow that we left Saturday morning around 9:00 am from Champlain (east of Trois-Rivières) to go having a lunch at La Tuque accompanied by our friend Snowcruiser.

The trails were very nice at start, here in the very long straight stretch on trail #3

Once near Grand-Mère we got on the St-Maurice river...

Because of the temperatures that have been too mild so far, the 28kms marked trail on the St-Maurice River north of #23 trail has not been done yet, not safe. So we made it on land through #23+#360 trails towards St-Joseph de Mekinac.
For those who doesn't know, this bridge we pass under is on the #155 (road between Trois-Rivières and La Tuque) and have been closed last year during 7month after being inspected and realized it was not safe anymore!.  Here we can clearly see the steel pillars and reinforcement cables that have been installed on the bridge(had just concrete before) to reopen it at the end of last summer. It is a temporary fix and a new bridge construction is supposed to start at spring 2023 and last 3 years!

We passed through St-Tite

The famous Rivière des Envies which took a long time to freeze is now crossable and safe

just before switching onto #360 trail at the junction there was an SQ police checkpoint. I thought I would have to dig off in my pants to get all my papers out but no, we mustn't look too suspicious, we passed through in less than a minute with only a visual license plate check and a brief chat.
Here just leaving, my partner Snowcruiser on his new Enduro

The #360 was superb and very fast

The #355 on the Gazoduc section was a little bumpy but it still ride well

The next section of #355 between the junction with #351 and Lake Wayagamac was very ruff, good snow cover but just really due to be re-regroomed, Kristine had not liked it. We notice that the lack of deep cold and the general mild weather+ frequent new snow since the beginning of the season affect the grooming efficiency and trail toughness compare to what we are used to in january.
We took a break under the Railway Bridge of Riviere du Milieu

Past the junction south of Wayagamac lake the conditions came back correct and it was riding well

Arriving in La Tuque, the trail is on the pedestrian bridge instead of the river which is not safe yet...

We stopped to eat at Marineau auberge at the entrance of the city around 1:00 p.m. with 180 km on the meter

It was our first ride with Snowcruiser this season and the lunch break pass like flash by chatting in very good company! We then went to refuel in town, here along the endless 30km/h zone along the airport.

And here in town...

We had 2 options for the return, either to retrace our steps on the #355 and then take the #351 in the Zec Tawachiche or take the #73 and do the Zec Jeannotte / Rivière à Pierre which is longer run. It is my back seat passenger who made the decision and we set off for La Jeannotte around 2:30 p.m. Here along Lake Wayagamac

The jeannotte did not disappoint us even if the detour in the center was a little more bumpy, very beautiful and fast

It was beautiful up to the ZEC entrance

Then, the traffic of this Saturday had done its job and it was getting more rought as we went down

Like an oasis in the desert, we crossed our first dozer just before Rivière à Pierre

The track towards St-Raymond was ok

But #353 was very rought. We took a little break at the #23 trail junction which we then took east towards St-Alban and it was really better. We had a couple more rought stretches  but were also lucky enough to cross 2 more dozers on the way back.


We crossed St Anne and Batiscan rivers which are both staked and safe and finally returned to our starting point around 7:30 p.m. with just over 220kms in the afternoon for a total of just over 400kms for the day. I admit that we slept very well that next night!!!
So another great ride for us this season, the trail network is almost complete and the snow is here, I hope for even more cold in the next few weeks to optimize the quality/solidity of the trails. The weather forecast is really promising, hoping they will be right.
Bye Alain

Motel Drakker in schawinigan is secure
 

Does anyone trust saddlebagging on a Polaris?

Does anyone trust saddlebagging on a Polaris?

Does anyone trust saddlebagging on a Polaris?

HaHa, if that's a rental group in there it will take them an hour to get out! Especially all facing different directions! LOL! Beep, Beep <Beep!

I hope they judge who are the early and late risers. 

When we leave RDL we decide on the fly with the weather forecast. Clockwise or counter clockwise depending on weather to hit the North shore with clear weather. 10 trips around the Gaspe, never booked ahead. Always go end of march and have also done first week of April. Only time for me, no need for crowds!
 
 
 

When we leave RDL we decide on the fly with the weather forecast. Clockwise or counter clockwise depending on weather to hit the North shore with clear weather. 10 trips around the Gaspe, never booked ahead. Always go end of march and have also done first week of April. Only time for me, no need for crowds!
 
 
 

Here is the ride we did last Sunday

With the good snowfall on Friday followed by a mild temperature night, we already knew that the trails conditions would deteriorate  quickly under the effect of traffic, so we postponed our departure to Sunday. We launched directly from the home in St-Thomas de Joliette on Sunday morning under a beautiful sun and a temperature of -15C.

Superb winter conditions, very hard frozen groomed trail  giving ideal conditions. Here on #3 towards Berthierville

The wood sections were very snowy

Nice encounter on this winter morning


The La Chaloupe river is ok but stay in the marked trail!

We continued on #3 to the east with perfect conditions

Another great encounter! they weren't nervous at all, just happy to run outside

In the St-Barthelemy sector where the trail get souther the snow was a little swept but on an icy base it ride very well

I chose to keep #3 and go through Maskinonge village instead of #63 which goes through St-Justin. It's good but there is a section of 500' swept away where you can see the dirt. In the afternoon we came back by St-Justin on #63 instead and it's more snowy

Here Ste-Ursules sector


We are used to heading between #3 and #63 via St-Sévère but the Rivière du Loup that we have to cross direct on the ice is not safe yet so we opted for #63 trail

We took a break on the beautiful site of the Magnan Falls in Charette

The falls are usually completely frozen but this year you can still see the water flowing


We continued on #63

And took the #3 towards St-Étienne

And crossed the St-Maurice on the #3 at the height of La Gabelle. A few slush spots but it's marked and rides well

The east side of the St-Maurice was a little rougher but still ride well and the snow cover is very good

We stopped to eat at pizzeria du Lac at Lac à la Tortue near Grand-Mère.

After a good meal break we left and retraced our steps on the same route with a few exceptions. Here in the area of Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel

We did a pitstop in St-Étienne. Unlike past years where the trail passed in the yard between the gas station and the BRP NC dealer, the trail this year passes behind NC and you have to take a very short trail to go to gas or at NC

We saw this impressive dogs team on the way back, there are 2 wide...

We took a break again at the Magnan Falls in Charette but at the top of the falls this time

As I said at the beginning it's rare to see the water in the falls it's usually all hard frozen

We then continued west. The trail conditions had deteriorated a little since our lunch but from the fork of the #350 St-Paulin sector it became very beautiful and fast again until St-Cuthbert.

Here a snow bridge not far from the village of Ste-Ursules

We took the #63 to go through St-Justin, it was superb

We came across the Dozer de St-Barthelemy without the drag which was at finishing some work on the trail

We went through St-Norbert to come back, the trail was more bumpy from the traffic but it was ok

We were back home around 4:30 p.m. with 322kms (200miles) of happiness on the meter!

I know that most of you won't ride that south but the good news is that the trail network enlarge and is getting more and more connected to spread the traffic through. There are few rivers mostly along the St-Laurence river that are not ready yet. St-Maurice river is crossable but the trail on the river is not ready yet. The interactive map seems pretty accurate now on the trail condition. 
If we can keep getting January like temperature it will be perfect...
Bye!
Alain

Maybe Mike was the winner.  That's why he isn't going to RDL.  Mike is flying to Germany to snowmobile and drink beer there.
Jack & Sandi

Well I guess it wasn't you who won the 1.3 Billion mega millions in Maine! One lucky son of a bitch!

Well I guess it wasn't you who won the 1.3 Billion mega millions in Maine! One lucky son of a bitch!

I think the cabooses have a better suspension!😂

I think the cabooses have a better suspension!😂

I think the cabooses have a better suspension!😂

We call ahead at lunch when we know where we are going