MrsGTRider

Steve, I have BCBS supplement to my Medicare. I don't have a clue which "plan" it is. Is this something you requested extra? I'm not worried about a heart attack but I am worried about hittin a tree trying to keep up with Mike.

bonsoir !!!
 
talked with a friend today on my way back from work at the grocery...
he works on the duniere reserve....east of here.....still drifts 3 -5 ' high !!!
duniere reserve border park matane and block faribault....faribault camp...
 
jean-guy

bonjour !!!
 
went to see the belvedere in st alexandre this morning ....
did nt like much the '' spring '' effect !!!
 
jean-guy

Here is the latest from the club in charge of the project.
Basically what it says is the submissions were opened studied and awarded. Work will commence in the coming weeks and will be finished for the month of October 2019, ready for the 2019 2020 season following the contract agreement.

With the new snow fallen during this last week, we went for another last ride with our friend Luc yesterday, April 13, 2019 in Lanaudière



On this exceptionally snowy season the trails of northern Lanaudière were still surprisingly good,  here on #23 trail south of Cabanon




The temperature was very mild since a few days, no freezing during the night so we got very soft trail. Here passing at Cabanon in the morning



We left in dam direction. The whole reservoir loop had been groomed during the week!





The conditions were nice for an April 13th but very good from the dam trail junction(on the # 345) and for all the reservoir loop up to St-Michel des Saints





It's not visible on the pictures but it was so windy there that I had hard time to stay still the time of the pic, I almost went with the wind!



The #360 around the reservoir  was candy to ride, just superb. We did very good tempo on this stretch...






The reservoir is always impressive to see once emptied ...



I read from a buddy that the emptied reservoir shortcut was still ok on Friday, so with the good visibility we had, we tested our luck despite the wet conditions



It was not for the fearful ones,  alot of surface water on the ice. It looks worse than it realy was because even if there was water, we ride on ice already leaning on the bottom of the reservoir on more than 90% of the way but the rivers(yes there are rivers in there) where worrisome. I would suggest every body to go around by the trail, I personally would not do it again this season!



Luc learned the risks associated by following us too closely ... he arrived on the shore a little wet!



We arrived for lunch at the Central in St-Michel around 12:15



After a good lunch and a great talk with Luc we headed south on #63. The strong sunshine combined with good winds at 10C made the trails tender and juicy !



Without surprises, we found some dirt spots near St-Michel village on the larges south-facing hills



But a little further it was still very snowy





Back in the Cabanon courtyard, we could see how much it had melted compared to the morning pic



We  switched into the Mastigouche Reserve on trail #345 to loop back. As I expected beautiful conditions, very snowy ,almost no traffic and not a single bump





Among the best conditions of the day. We also saw some fresh moose tracks on the trail. A nice spring ride for us at its best!





We stopped a few minutes at Koubec (which was closed)



And we came back on #350 trail which was also in very good condition


 
In sum a beautiful spring ride of 170miles for the three of us. With the reservoir loop groomed during the week, it was definitely a record in the area to ride recently groomed trails on a April 13th. A big thank you to the clubs involved!
It could close our season with 4830 miles on the venture dreameter...unless Kristine twist my arm for another last one somewhere !!!

 

Alain

Happy Birthday JG, 1st pic (real time) from flatland Ohio. Next pics from west shore of Lake Huron then Georgian bay, last pic from Kincardine ont, on east shore of Huron. Pics for you groomer. Order may be messed up, remember it's the thought that counts.
 Have a good day!!!
     Jeff and Sandy 

Amen to that.
Bill told me in February that he wasnt on because the Delta wasnt an advertiser, and he stays there,... something to that effect. Still makes no sense, Why would he care?
I know his last post was about his on board fire extinguisher, a couple of folks replied and i dont think he liked the replys. That was Last year...
Ice took exception to a reply someone gave him on his trip in early February and he replyed back. His reply was removed and I guess that was enough to cause him to go MIA.                 
Its a real shame because we all go to this site for real time info from the serious riders who live there.  Their knowledge, stories, advice is what made this site. I cant offer diddly from down here in Cow Hampshire about anything current up there.
The reality is we are rewarded by Iceman, Bill and others being on here, They dont really get much back in return, so when they go, its Our loss. 
 
 

Before asking to get these people to post here we should be focusing on trying to get Iceman and Sag Bill back.
Not sure what the hell happened to Iceman or who pissed him off but the site is not the same without him or Bill.

Day 5 from Manicouagan reservoir back to km 31, pushing miles and miles of snow, snow was really sticky and we were chewing up fuel and oil faster than whimpy eats burgers.  Arrived last night into km 31 around 7 pm with 300 miles for the day a big day for sure.  The teamwork of this group led by Team Maine’s Early Rider is nothing short of amazing.  After 1,000 miles of extremely adverse conditions not being on any marked trail this is truly an adventure not for the faint of heart.  Take care signing off from km 31.
603 Backcountry 
 

Some more pics from day 4 up they the gorge trail and even came upon a nice herd of Caribou.  Huge country up here and big big areas of nothing.

First time I have ever climbed an 80’ high set of falls with water ripping below the shelf ice and many holes to avoid.  Definitely have to be on your game.

8B213D96-8B95-4DD5-BE75-825E63AB4CED.MOV

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

Day6
Woke up to an awesome sunrise this morning nice place the manoir but food not so good! Tq3 east still in great shape into the relais in escoumans for lunch. Other then some sections hardpacked and icy trails super for almost April. Into tadousac to catch the ferry, trail pretty well baked. Right on like they waited for us. Off the ferry tq3 through the twisty section flat as could be and into st Simeion for the night 240 miles. 

Some of these may look similar, because the trail was MINTY-MINT all day!





 

With thaws on Thursday/Friday, it is not easy for snowmobile clubs to shape up the trails for us. It was the second consecutive week with essentially the same scenario: too hot and too wet Friday night to be able to groom. Although it was riding up north, we waited for Sunday to try it out. We left from home in St-Thomas around 8:00 Sunday morning under a temperature of -6C. Very spring conditions with hard as concrete trail. Scratchers were mandatory not an option. Another sign of spring: here on the picture near home, we can see that the trail that crosses a ditch has begun to drop a bit ... 


 
I personnaly really like hard trails, my venture ride on it like a train on rails. You just touch the throttle to ride at very good speeds and the track hangs so nicely...
Here in the fields towards St-Norbert. Joliette had not groomed after the thaw but with the 2 scratchers down, it was a race track!



And here in the maple grove just north of St-Norbert



Farther, the snowmobile club of St-Gabriel Brandon had groomed all its territory in the night giving us perfect trails. The best ones of all the ride in fact



My intention was to go to Mandeville so we went to take a look at Lake Maskinongé shortcut. Pretty much water over the ice that has wear through snow so the club had closed it



So we continued on #63 trail



And then took #345 trail to Mandeville



Mandeville had not groomed after the mild weather but it was riding well, the trails were in good condition. We took the trail # 349. There are some sections on forest road, just enought snow on the edge and it was fine. The snow banks are still impressive!



We stop at 10:00 at the Lac Blanc outfitter to refuel before going in the Mastigouche reserve


 
The lake infront had pretty much water on the ice...



We then came back a bit and took the #350(trail a Gaston) toward the Reserve. Freshly groomed trail with some new snow over gave real nice winter conditions


 
We continued to #23 trail in the Mastigouche Reserve that we took to the west to go to St-Zenon. Not groomed recently but a beautiful layer of new snow on a hard base, ride nicely even with a bit of ripples in the curves



We rode it all the way to the junction with #345 trail (Cabanon/Taureau Dam) that we took south





We then took the #63 to go to St-Michel des Saints.



We arrived for lunch at the Vieux Moulin à Scie around 12:30 with 134miles on the venture dreameter



After a very good meal and a fuelup for the venture we left on #33 trail toward the west



Had a small tear on my cheek when passing infront the Rouge-Mattawin relay closed this winter



Just across the new trail to Mont-Tremblant Park



We continued on the #33. The 2.5 miles of road side was on limit to be good, they should  trace us a sidewalk on the edge because the dirt was very near on some spots





We then took the 1st local trail (orange on the map) to go on the #63.





We pass at La Glacière



We then took the #350 trail in front


 
And catch the #23 trail down south to St-Gabriel and took the same route as in the morning. Here at the Hut at the top of the hill at St-Damien.


It was impressive the difference just 1mile further down the hill. The trail went from winter condition to advanced spring condition, very very soft. It rode well but have to hang on the bars tight!  We followed our morning path and came back home around 6:00 PM with 255 miles on the venture dreameter. Surely the last one starting directly from the home, the trailer will have to take back service to stretch the season a little more.
Riding will still be possible in the weeks coming but not everywhere, some clubs south of Lanaudière have started to close mainly because of rivers but the north is still strong. The weather will play a big part for the next, in anyway the trail condition web site is always a good place to have details on the clubs: https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/
Good end of season everybody!
Alain
 

Best sign!  Funny, not funny!

Day4
Well all I can say is this was one of those days you remember! Out of the gate Tq3 freshly groomed in stellar shape! The run to godbout was outstanding! Probably one of the nicest trails in QC. Truly a roller coaster groomed to perfection! Fuel in bae trinity and a depanaur sub. After the hills nice to have flat high speed run into sept tiles for the night at the comfort inn. Trails absolutely mint! 185 miles. Plan tomorrow is to scope out if it’s doable farther East. Awesome day!!!!

I imagine this plan will be adopted else where in Quebec but the MRC des Laurentides has made a plan of evacuation obligatory for all recreational trails in case of emergency in it’s territory. There will be 911 emergency signs at the beginning of trails and every 2 KM a sign with a location number beginning with the letter F, so the 911 operator will know exactly where you are when you tell them the F-number. This system is only going into service next season but already the signs are being installed..

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

BTW if anyone has information to send La Cache I talked to them they would like to become an Advertiser on this site for next Season!!!

Day2
After an awesome stay at the Auberge gite presbytere with the best hosts and great meals for $80 you can’t beat it! The plan is KM31 for the night. 355, 83,  383 along the lake with lunch at a relais on the lake. Fuel in la marche then up the orange trails to onatchaway.  Trails so far in great shape, super thin through Alma. From onatchaway to the 93 spanked beyond belief. Not fun but no choice. Once on the 93 to km we where behind the groomer, caught up right at the turn to Km. Tomorrow we continue to sept tiles.  Lots of great photos but WiFi to slow. 249 miles 

Ding ding ding!  Winner!
My first time inside here. Tres bon.  They've got the whole package.  
I love riding with my first-timers. I love riding with my some-timers, I even love riding with my all-tzheimers!
But even after 20 yrs of touring up here, I'm learning a thing or two riding with these QR Ninjas. 
And I'm getting the feeling that some of their stories are true!

Touché