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Similar article in the l'information du Nord ( Mont-Tremblant )paper today and a picture of a trail side sign. This paper has the date as the 1st of February for the closures in the Laurentides if there is no movement on the government's part. The article does go on to quote the president of the local snowmobile club as saying what they are hearing from the local farmers is they will not participate in this blockage. Let's hope for the best, the season is short enough.

Besides the map(s) and their trail condition status I like to look up the face book page of the individual clubs whose trails I will be running on and book mark them on my phone and look them over the night before or morning of a run. Not all are as active as others but often times you get up to date info you can't get on the map such as this lake is slushy but marked and safe, the groomer will be out tonight on this trail etc.

No info on the route yet. Only info I have is the the post by the club. Looks like it will not be open till next season but if they start posting the projected route I will post.

There was a press conference this past Friday at the comfort inn in Tremblant to announce the openning of a new trail that will link St Faustin to Tremblant re establishing the the route from St Agathe to Tremblant lost by the closure of the Petit Train de Nord a number of years ago. Here is a link to the announcement roughly translated on the Diable et Rouge club FB page. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1085133484930832&id=115355755241948

Sat Jan 21. We did not get the -5c weather Fri night that was predicted. It was cloudy and a slight foggy drizzle with the temp around 0 to +1 c Sat morning but all the trails had been groom dispite the mild weather. We got going around 9:30 and the plan was to head from Montcalm over toward Lake Macdonald down the 317 to laurel. Then decide either to go to Pine hill and beyond or scoot back up 16 island lake and get on to the 43. There was a press conference Fri at the comfort inn concerning trails in the area and a 45 sled caravan of club and FCMQ people was leaving Tremblant and doing the same loop we were considering in the same direction. 317 had not seen much traffic when we arrived at it and that meant we were ahead of them. Last thing we wanted to do was follow in the tracks of 45 sleds chewing up the trail in mild temps. We decided to basically do the same loop going back up 16 island lake and taking the 43 past fort west ( relais des pins ). 317 was surprisingly good as was the 43 till fort west. The lake was slushy but passable and I had visions of my brother driving my wife's little 121 in track XC getting stuck or getting the machine sideways in the bigger pools. We stopped for lunch at fort west and there were lots of sleds but vacant tables inside. While they do serve weekend meals of hamburgers fries, poutine, soups etc, I found the food lacking from the days when it was a good spot to eat on some major trail junctions and not a paint ball park serving a few meals to passing sleds on a secondary trail. After lunch we pull out and the temperature and passing sleds had done some damage to the trails down to brown here and there but mostly soft loose wet snow on a hard base. We decide not to take the time to ride into Tremblant and gas, relying on the spare gas we are carrying. We continued up 43 by passing Brebeuf and it was clear the 45 sleds plus all the regular traffic had passed before us. Don't get me wrong I have been on way worse trails but they need cold weather and a groomers touch. We branch off of the 43 and down out of the mountains to St Remi and onto the railway bed along the Rouge river to Arundel and down the lake to home. As I roll up to my garage my low fuel light flashes on. I dip the tank on the XC as the fuel gas is not very accurate when low. 1 inch in the bottom. A 3rd machine carried on back to lake Macdonald with not much to spare in his tank but a gallon left in a jerry can. The wet snow really sucked the ⛽️ milage.

Good idea!

Jan20th. just came home last night after a couple of days down in Montreal. Wednesday morning we woke up to a couple of inches of new snow here and as we headed down toward Montreal it turned to freezing drizzle around Hawkesbury. I was told similar weather up here but returning last night there is little evidence of any snow loss or crusty snow. Light dusting last night and disputed the mild weather the 317 was being groomed as we passed. -5 for tonight and Hebou Blanc says all trails will be groomed tonight and again Sat night ( nothing like the free weekend to get the clubs putting the spit and polish on the trails). Supossrd to be +1 Sat and 0 Sun with a 40% chance of drizzle for a few hrs on Sat, not the best but I feel that given the rock hard trails we had last week, the should stand up well through the weekend. Time will tell headed out tomorrow with a few of the guys.

Hiding in plain view JG, grin. Yes trail conditions were very good considering the mild weather a few days before. Railway bed from Arundel to st Remi was hard and smooth with just enough loose snow to kick up a good dust at speed. Over the mountain on onto the Lac des Plages trail was hard well covered no rocks or icy spots. A few icy sections that had been water on the lac des Plages trail but marked with tape. Lake des Plages it's self was hard frozen slush if you kept to the trail. To that point little or no traffic. It picked up after Lac Dore and the trails were still good. The rock hard base should keep us in good shape through the coming mild spell.

Or you might have to pay his outstanding bill!😃

Interesting to see they offer a bistro lunch menu, may have to check it out next time we are passing by on the sleds.

I honestly don't know any details, bridge over what? The first season after the trail closure, we went to St Agathe via St Adolph and took the petit train de Nord from St Agathe to the closure at St Faustin. Not wanting to turn around we took the meadian up the 117 to where the trail started again near Tremblant. A little tricky in places and at least 2 SQ cars passed not bothering us. It really was not that far took us maybe 15 minutes.

The snowmobile club in the Tremblant area seems to think so too. They mentioned a while backsomething about the Ville de Tremblant putting aside money to help fund it.

Not sure on the cable I don't see them holding on to any tow rope, maybe the ground has a greater slope than the video depicts. funny you should post this, my neighbours son loves snow boarding and builts a ramp with some jumps on a part of their property that I sometimes use to access the trail via their lake. Last week I passed beside it and was impressed with the size, especially when his mom said he work 2 days on it with a snow shovel. This week I passed and almost fell over. He had graduated in a big way, massive jumps and the snow had been taken from all over that part of the property. He had taken his dads mini excavator to do the job!

Depending where you are in St Agathe it is a fair size town. I have not been there by sled in several years, both the town of St Adolph and a section of the petite train de Nord at st Faustin have been closed to snowmobiles cutting us off in the Tremblant lac des seizes Ile area from St Agathe but I do imagine sledding from there into st Donat and beyond is still good. I'm sure others will know and a look at the map will show the closures I am talking about.

Fri /13 Diablo Rouge reports that their 3 groomers will be on the trails today and all night, 20-23 hrs to surface all their trails. Lac des trois montagnes remains closed due to slush but will be tested this morning. The ice bridge river crossing near Brebeuf is safe. looks like we should be in pretty good shape for the weekend.

Fri morning, Temperature dropped to 20f last night. All the wet snow is crunchy. Hebou Blanc club just announced both their groomers are on the trails this morning. No word from Diablo Rouge but I imagine they will be out there today or tonight.

We got some rain in the night but not a real lot. No rain at the moment just mild and foggy. plowed snow covered roads are now ice with water on them. Lakes are slushy.

Just a quick weather up date. We received 3-4 in of new snow last night and then some rain late in the night. Enough rain to make the new snow wet and heavy, also more slush under the snow on my lake. We drove to St Jovite by car today and all the trails visible from the road had not been groomed and little or no tracks on them. I imagine the clubs are waiting it out till after the predicted rain tomorrow and temps drop Fri. If we don't get too much rain last nights snow should protect the trail base.

If you are considering the Mont Laurier area and want a really nice place to impress the wife check out the village windigo not far from Devils Mountain. Super nice place 4 stars with package deals condo, supper, breakfast and all tips and gratuities included. Lots of nice trails and of course Devils mountain. I stayed there with the wife on our last trip to the area and we both were impressed. http://lewindigo.com/

Yes Brebuf is sort of a dead end at the restaurant. The municipality did not want sleds crossing the bridge on the side walk any more. If you look at the map this year it indicates a local trail out of town that brings you back on the 43. Never took it last year or know if it existed then. The hut you talk of is further down the 43 closer to ville deTremblant ( st Jovite ). The split there takes you to either Tremblant along the 117 hyway or the other direction 43 continues past fort west or what was named relais des pin. On a different note during talks of a possible trail closure near ville de Tremblant this fall I learned that ville de Tremblant worked hard with the club to find a solution with a land owner and also that it seems they have been putting money aside for a new bypass to reconnect Tremblant with part of the pitit train de Nord trail that dead ended after the closure due to a court case many years ago. There has been talk for a number of years about it and the info I got seems to indicate the idea is not dead and Tremblant is interested in snowmobilers not just tolerating them.

The relais des pin is kinda out of the way the way the trails got shuffled. Now called fort west. The guy who owns it now had the bad luck of buying it just before two major trails closed. Still served food on weekends and can rustle up soup and a grilled cheese in the week. His main business is paintball and rents space for a dog sled tour operation.

Really not much up there in winter. The hotel Chasseur you guys went to, 16 island there is a restaurant and expensive gas. Taking the 317 out of 16 island, it turns into 43 and there is a place called fort west that was a big restaurant on the trail and very busy when several trails merged there. These days a bit quiet but they serve food on week ends. Brebuf has a good little restaurant. Tremblant all kinds but a bit of a haul and a dead end. headed toward St Remi there is a bar/ hotel but we never stop there much, but they did serve food. If we are going in that direction we either go to Duhamel and eat or Labelle and eat in the train station, or a Tims right on the petit train de Nord trail. That pretty much covers my eating habits in the area.

It would probably be a safe alternative to leave a truck and trailer and saddle bag from there. Mont Laurier would be doable from there in one day via Montcalm / st Remi/ Labelle and up the petit train de Nord, the trails are nice.

Nice, I know most of those trails from lachute north quite well and certainly Carling lake, never stayed there though I don't live to far away. I heard they were openning again and looking to attract snowmobilers. Sounds like your having a good trip.

Yes trail is a little tight and needs more work but beats running back roads. Hebou Blanc grooms that a through the village of weir and a little ways out the other side then Diablo Rouge takes over. Two ways to go once you cross a railway bridge on the far side of Weir, cross the road on an angle back toward Weir and the trail goes up a hill and up behind some houses and comes back out to cross the road again or turn left after the bridge and go down onto the lake stay close to the bushes as you get on the lake and follow the tracks parallel to the shore and you come up through a field to the Diablo Rouge trail. I find Diablo does a far better job of grooming, much more often and very quick to make almost daily announcements on Face book on their conditions. Club with deeper pockets better equipment maybe, I don't know. Yes PM me I'm 5 minutes from wher the trail comes out the far side of Weir.