Jackstraw

Yep!
Thanks for the reports, Always love reading your trail side escapades , especially when I can't ride. I'll give it one more year before I give up and sell the sled. March riding is the best!! To add insult to injury. My seasonal boat slip on Lake george went from $3500 to $4000 last year to $7900 this year. Can't do it so boating is also done! 

Yep!
Thanks for the reports, Always love reading your trail side escapades , especially when I can't ride. I'll give it one more year before I give up and sell the sled. March riding is the best!! To add insult to injury. My seasonal boat slip on Lake george went from $3500 to $4000 last year to $7900 this year. Can't do it so boating is also done! 

Incredible photos. Hope they let purebloods in next year. Need some groomed trail therapy for the Winder and some Chic Chocs for the Backcountry. 

2 April Saturday  End Game
 
Out to face this last day for this adventure and for this incredible season. Feeling especially thankful this morning for having great friends like these two to spend time with doing things we love together. Teamwork makes the dream work. On and off the trail. 
 
We are on sleds and rolling out around 8:30. Was one other sled in corral. Gentlemen came from St Raymond through Lac Edouard up to St. Felicien. Today he was going over the Lac and to Chicoutimi tonight. Back to St Ray on 23 Sunday. 
 
The plan was, as usual, mutually agreed upon. We leave uo 373 through Relais Buttes. The cold overnight has made it all crunchy. Not icy, but scratchers are deployed. Amazing how a little bit of heavy flurries last night can be emptied outof fields by the wind onto the trails making nice fluffy drifts. We get to 93 and head toward La Dore. Tank em full. We head off on 93 direction Sciere 54. Leaving La Dore near groomer garage. Two guys are there they look like club guys. I pay no real attention other than notice them sitting there. Trail All drifted here has not been touched in a while. We plug on. It gets better then sketcy. Not far up i arrive at right turn and there is no more trail, been opened up by a bulldozer. Game over here. Playhard arrives and says he got flagged down by guys at groomer garage and from what he got from conversation with them was fermer, no go that way. Sounds about right. So like all other times we pivot. There is talk of going around through Resto du Chef and trying to bypass the bulldozed section. However we decide juice aint worth the squeeze. We were going to do 45 miles up and turn back just to check it out. Not today. 
 
Next.....back on 93 to 373 across through Normandin and over to 93 again up to Girardville all mint trails here in our “honey hole” no need to look any further. We initially plotted plan b as riding the 373 passerelle trail east from Girardville opposite what we did the other day. Got some gas in Girardville then up 93 to 373. Passed one two uo and saw 2 other sleds headed west near Normandin. Ripping fast and smooth all the way to Chalet Relais there. We start to head down other side and we were feeling it. Not gonna do it. It’s just not uo to our standards. It was a solid 7-8/10 trail but I knew as did my brothers that back in the “honey hole” were all 10. Back we go down 373 to 93 then its a small part of 93 up to Lac Jim we have not been on yet this run, this is perfect as it will help complete the Pac-Man. After Jim we stick on 93 down the bump out. Up the orange a bit to gas in St Thomas. Then retrace our steps to 93. Getting warm now. Trail has started to turn to mush. Time to get this over with we have ridden the good out of it here. Back to local orange past site touristique chute d’ours and hook up with orange across river back to 373 and down through Relais Buttes. Squshy trail now sun is making things very melty. Soft but good all the way home. 
 
Wrapped uo a fine 2 weeks. 
End of the season 21-22 that started for me in December just after Christmas and finishes today 2 April. 
Nice to have the boys back in country. Just missing one. Next year we fix that. 
 
Thanks all for being along for the ride.
 

28 March Monday 
 
Started the morning off with a car ride to get breakfast from Mc Donald’s. No breakfast at hotel on Mondays. At the same time I decided to scout out a bit of trail. I have used the trail that goes behind Du Jardin to get to the gas station and depanneur right near Mc Donalds. I do not remember it going any further. However I Motoneige is showing it crossing the bridge and winding through the neighborhood and out into the woods joining the other local trai, I am very familiar with. It also shows at the bridge in St Felicien just near Mc Donalds the trail also goes on river and goes back toward St Prime. The gate is closed to enter the river. So no problem but there is plenty of signage and sticks to follow the other trail it crosses on bridge(unplowed) sidewalk. Then left around through neighborhood and back across main road through more neighborhood then off into a field to the woods. Surely much easier with snow on pavement but with wheels was not an issue as we left the hotel this way this morning 3 strong. We will come back for Mrs Ice around noon. Stupid nice trail everywhere. Yes wind has been blowing nonstop so in the ooen areas a bit of drifts but they are soft like pillows. Just like my breakfast “i’m loving it”
I dont think I am the only one as Playhard and NHMoose are smiling big too. We debated over whether to even leave RDL or just stay there another week. We stuck to our original plan and bailed out. No regrets. Did not see one trail like any of these are here. Yes rode groomed trails in Gaspe. But not like here. Snow there is soft and not frozen even after its groomed still soft. Does not take many sleds to make it seem like it was not even groomed. Not the same here. Rock hard base with cream cheese on top. Ripping fast. Just how I like it. Orange trails to Normandin full 10/10 gas in Normandin then onward. Quick run up to 373 then short spin to the “middle orange” as we call it. We rode this trail twice today once up in morning and once back down this afternoon. One of my man Snohorse’s top runs. That was for you Philly. Up to 93 and its all been a stunner. Delicious trails and we are eating it up. To Lac a Jim quick hello and down 93 to orange again this time back to 93 then to 373 and backtrack to Du Jardin through Relais Buttes. All 10+ trails. All of it. Playhard is taking care of things this afternoon with Canadian Tire and NHmoose, Mrs Ice and I head out. No need to complicate things. We ride exactly the same route but backwards now the lefts are rights. We know it’s fantastic. We put Mrs Ice in rocking chair and we are in group chat so all three of us connected on the radio. Very cool. Destination Lac a Jim. We make a slight change by taking what we refer to as the 93 bump out. Makes the run up to Lac a Jim a bit longer but why not. This trail great also but the end is a bit bumpy up some of the big hills. This is easily forgotten and forgiven with the conditions on the other 99% we rode today. Into lac jim we have now seen 5 sleds today all locals for sure. Late lunch at Lac a Jim. Private relais to go with private trails. Mrs Ice’s first time on Sled in LSJ so its all new for her. i Love showing her around. Lac Jim across 93 middle orange it is down to Normandin gas it again. Back down orange to trail, to Relais Buttes. Not showing closed river must be good still, it is good we cross no issues. Even smooth here on river it’s crazy. Back to 373 and back to Hotel just after 5pm. 
Great unbelievable day. 

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27 March Sunday 
West bound from RDL light flurries all night probably almost 2” new snow. Black trail is wet but not slick. Back to Quebec City over the bridge and east to 73/175 Direction Saguenay LSJ. Smooth ride uo through L’etape and across 169 by Mont Apica and then west again to St Felicien. Colder up here wind biting cold. Much colder than any day over in Gaspe. Lunch St Hubert in Roberval. We leave there last short leg to St Felicien. Taking it easy as wind is pushing the trailer around here a bit. My phone is ringing. It’s a text. Audio message. It’s Mrs. Ice telling me to hit the gas as I am holding up traffic. We have her back. She is with us for 2 days to knock the cobwebs off and embed some solid memories to get her through the long off season. Ankle not 100% but we will adjust to her level of comfort. Into hotel the convoy rolls. Mrs and I suit up we drop sleds and her and I are off to see how this ankle is doing. Full February like trails except for parking lots and by road. Hard packed but still enough lube for slides. White asphalt all the way to Relais Buttes. She is adjusting. She is not fully recovered but she is doing well. Saw 2 other sleds. Trail mint entire way. I think it’s gonna be better here as far as smooth flat trail than it was in Gaspe. 
Tomorrow we will see more. 
Very quiet here at hotel might be 2-3 other guests here besides us. 
Just the way we like it. 

Yes it is!
we hit it perfect
 

Yes it is!
we hit it perfect
 

I could care less as I haven't fallen for the propaganda!

24 March Thursday 
 
Breakfast at 7am in motel. Out and running just after 8am. Up out of town very hard trail frozen overnight. Near the 5 junction NHmoose says on radio he is smelling my hy-fax I stop and deploy the scratchers problem solved. 5 is groomed we head west for the 595. Racetrack down to 595. Slotcar handling it is wonderful and we are eating it up. Very fresh groom headed up 595 we have a discussion and decide this groomer is not far ahead. Sure thing. Beautiful trail but we soon catch the machine. We slide on by. It’s still fantastic he is grooming a very nicely groomed trail. We push on. No Moose sightings. Up further in the areas more open or recently logged we see why the groomer is headed this way. All blown in and one sled wide through 3-4’ drifts in places. This must be a full time job as the wind alone is filling the trail. Just the open areas are affected. The rest is super duper. Smooth run into La Cache. Gas and some quick small talk with Keeve and the ladies inside. 4 other sleds just left from Murdochville we talked to them said all good to Murdochville. No dice for us we are headed south down the 595. Two other sleds arrive from the south they say 12/10 headed to New Richmond. Really? We shall see. Trail from La Cache to junction with Murdoch trail best I ever seen it. We are loving it. It is excellent this trail. However not 12/10 as it has some drifted sections too but much less than the other side. I give it a solid 8 on 10 overall. Nice rip down to New Richmond like I said no moose but lots of Bambi as usual near New Richmond. Saw about 5 there along tge run into town. Trail has changed since I was last at Francis. Dedicated trail to Francis and trail to gas is further west on 5. Gas and go still headed west on 5. Nice trail here too definitely more icy than up in mountains and we cruise oer toward Carelton. We pass through Carelton and continue to junction with Local loop. We stop and make a call to verify shocks for NHmoose have landed in Amqui they are ready for us and will install them tomorrow when we arrive. Off we go up the beautiful local groomed this morning it’s swell. Icy but big wide and fast. Run up then trail to lookout. This trail not groomed in a few days for sure but we go anyway. First time i been up here. Pretty sweet view. Back down and we continue up to the top of the orange loop all Beautiful grromed. Loop down and back to the 5. Gas there Neuvllle(probably spelled wrong) long time since I been this way but suspended bridge by the gas is gone reroute of 5 all new to me. Gas it up and rocket back down to Carelton lots of Bambi near Carelton easily saw a dozen near turn to cross tracks to hotel.
Into Baie Blue. Saw a red fox too earlier. After 3 practice days we finally played a complete match. Solid miles today but it’s not about that at all. 
 
Nice dinner at the new improved and much bigger Pub St Joseph here. Been a few years since I stayed here. All good. Snowing nicely here.
 
Until next time

I could care less as I haven't fallen for the propaganda!

3 day run for the 4 of us . Doubletree Quebec to the Delta on day 1 . 304, 369 , 23 , 83 .. all perfect into the Delta . Had a great dinner after meeting up with a couple of fellow Vermont guys at the Pizza joint.  
Day 2 Freezing rain action in the morning,  oh well , head to the mountains ! ..  Delta to Auberge du Ravage , Lac Moreau. We took 367 out of town across the bridges to the local trail on the right  . Hit the 93 , total snow globe from the ski area  for the next 50 miles  . We did a quick stop at La Chappel to day hi to everyone  .  Lunch at the truck stop then off to the the boat ride  on the 3 . First time ever I think we hit it just right with a last second ride straight on the boat a minute before shoving off shore  .  3 to 383 north,  to 83 south to the Ravage turn  .  Awesome lodge with even more awesome food ! And the home of Borris 🐕 too . 
Day 3  Back to the Doubletree,  83 to 3 .. simple enough  . Mix of conditions this day from smooth concrete to bumpy mashed potatoes but we'll take it as a 10 of 10 ! 
Get out and "get it now"was the the theme of our tour 😁

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