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Trails were still perfect yesterday. We rode from my place in Weir to Duhamel via Lac des Plages, from there up to the 53 then onto the 63 near Val Barrette. Headed south down the Pitit Train du Nord (325) to Labelle. Then the 323 back. 340km. It was cold overnight and the trails had seen little traffic since grooming so they were smooth and fast. By noon they were getting a bit soft but no problem. Through Labelle snow was sparse but better than we were expecting dirty snow and puddles in the town. By mid afternoon you could see that with the sun trails in open areas like along the power lines were going to start showing bare spots. We encountered maybe 10 machines max all day. Cold again last night, so I think the trails we rode should hold up good through the weekend.

Baby blue seems to be the in colour for 2019.

Capes, helmet covers, must be a Flintstone and Rubble Water Buffalo meeting.

Yes conditions change dramatically so I am assuming the speed limits are on the conservative side taking that into account. 3-4 weeks ago I punched it coming out of a down hill corner, been over that trail hundreds of times and twice that week. I saw a rock poking out of the snow at the last minute and decided I would rather hit it with my ski than my track. Nothing new here so far but it turns out the rock must have been dislodged by the last groomer pass and not stuck or frozen in the base. It rolled up out of its hole, sent me across the trail and flipped the sled on it’s side. The friggin rock was round and the size of a basket ball. We cleared the rock off the trail and rode to a safer stopping place to inspect the damage. Nothing not a scratch except to my ego. That was cured later by several evening beverages.

Or imagine that scarf blowing up and preventing the the on coming rider from properly identifying you!🤨

Well that sucks big time Grumpy!

And right there is the problem, common sense is not so common anymore. Hence the need for a law against wearing a scarf on a snowmobile!

70kph is 43.5 mph. Yeah not so fast but since half the people that come at me even on a railway bed are closer to the center line with their inside ski there really not that much room for error when you are closing at each other at 87mph. I agree it seems slow and obviously do more that 70kph in straight always but back off when I see a sled approaching or back off in the tight blind corners, and there are lots of trails like that around here. Approximately 1/3 of the on coming sleds I meet on those tight blind corners are in the middle of the trail or seriously on my side. I simply do not trust the other guy anymore. They highways in QC are 100kph and everyone does 120kph or better, if you increase the speed limit say 20 Kph on the trails, people will just exceed the posted limit by the same amount that they do now. The police tolerate about 10kph over the limit on the highways when you pass their radar, maybe that should be their policy on trails, but it seems they mostly post the SQ officers with big ego’s to the trails.

A lot of parking lots, paved roads and gas stations are down to bare pavement, but it is Mid March and the sun is strong. Temperatures look good all through to next weekend, cold nights and below freezing day time temps except for a couple of days around the freezing mark.

What else can I say, the pic says it all. Mid winter conditions around here and all the trails were 10/10 for coverage and 8’s, 9’s and 10’s for smoothness.

Going up that hill off the lake I think you would remember it unless you are running studs, coming down maybe not so much although it is still a toboggan ride to the bottom. We have had two good snow storms almost back to back and it is now cold, so we expect perfect mid winter conditions this weekend. Been a strange winter.

Well I am not sure how you got to Carling or left there then especially if you were at the general store / marina in 16 Island lake on the way there. The most direct trail from that direction would have passed right through the edge of the hotel chausser parking lot. Maybe you came into 16 Island on the 43 and then down 16 Island lake then back tracked up to lake Macdonald and ran down that lake. You would have remembered that way, it has a long very steep hill up off the lake beside a stone bluff. It was icy and a tough climb on Sunday. Signage is poor down in that area I agree.

The land owner will now allow the club to finish up the season, but a by pass solution will need to be found for next year. I hope these deux watts are proud of them selves.

Retracing your trip down from Mont Laurier, there are several gas stations just off the pitit train du Nord railway bed. Depending which way you branched off of that, there are other options. If you took the 319, to meet up with the 323, there is gas in La minerve and again In Vendee. I know most nights Vendee is open most evenings, maybe 8-10 pm depending on the day of the week. If you stayed on the railway bed till it ended and took the 323 at Labelle, there is a big gas station after you cross the river and get through town and just a couple hundred feet from the trail. I would think it is open late. A lot of the small town gas stations are closed up due to the QC government forcing them to put in new tanks etc if the age is unknown and they can’ afford the expense so they close. We no longer have gas locally, lost 2 places last year. The general store you stopped at has gas but if it is closed then no go. Pine hill the gas station is closed but the Hotel Chausseur has a big tank in a shed and sells gas. You passed right by it 10 minutes before Lac Carling. Kind of the local hot spot for food and bar, so usually open late. If you were coming up from Pine hill area via lake macdonald ( 317 ) toward Montcalm ( Weir ) there is gas at Kilmar.

Nice report. You rolled just a mile from my house when you made your way down to Lac Carling on Sunday. As a matter of fact we were on a day run Saturday from Montcalm (Weir) up the pitit train du Nord on the 63 and bailed onto the 319 at Nomingue to work our way home. Sunday another Day ride down to Pine hill past Carling lake and back up the 317. Another 8-10 inches of new snow last night and today so we should be good for a bit longer.

Your right of course but at least it is something. I doubt though that anyone has ever been caught and the fine applied.

Ice I didn’t know this but my club says there is a $450 fine for circulating off the trail.

We will lose 2 right of ways this week that will force the closure of the TQ 43. Why?, because some idiots either can’t read or think “ stay on the trail” “fragile right away” does not apply to them. We lose enough trails due to reasons beyond our control, we don’t need to lose trails due to the actions of a few irresponsible snowmobilers. I am sure that most guys on here do not fall into that catagory but we need to spread the word.

You have that right, I got a back ach just looking at this pic!

Alarm been going off for 2 days and the battery is not dead yet?, I want one of those batteries.

Once you come off the bridge Kingston is approximately 20 miles west one way in the opposite direction than were your headed. Going east on the 401, there is a currency exchange in Cornwall. https://www.google.ca/search?q=currenc+exchange+cornwall+area&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari#trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:nav,rc_ludocids:14781842508027034811,rc_q:Exchange%20Corporation%20Canada,ru_q:Exchange%20Corporation%20Canada Failing that most Canadian banks will exchange US money, or can’t you exchange ahead of time at your home US bank?

I am impressed. Kudos to you and your wife.

Sure seems to be the winter for ice scratchers, I was looking around on the internet for ideas about mounting my spring ones on the skis instead of the slide rails. I ran across a cheap and probably very effective alternative to store bought scratchers. It is simply a bolt that you pop in a hole at the back of the ski and secure it with a tractor pin. I think this is the vid.

No nationality or race has a monopoly on stupidity. Most times when I encounter it on a sled I have no idea where the person is from nor do I care.

My buddies cat was often on the side of the trail, we just towed him.😁 Seriously, I am thinking they might be Canada lynx. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_lynx