RoadRunner

Switchback has layed out a very nice 600+ mile ride. Great trails, nice scenary! RR

Groomer, that snow you have in front of the dozer blade is the best christmas present we could have Happy Holidays to you too! RR

I think when you do get a chance to make the loop, you will say that it is, it not the most- at least one of the most scenic snowmobile trips that you have ever taken. Pictures dont' do it justice :) RR

Great report GKW, sounds like you had a great trip, how was the prime rib at the Ben Arn?? That is the best prime rib in the north east!! RR

Chris ,I would definitely stay on 35 to 526 to 5 near saint antonin, the trail 5 was closed just east of the d"lxworh 533 trail jct to almost St Pacome area. Alot of mud, ice problems.. Most likey after this week of cold weather and some snow it will improve, but not sure if its ready yet. Have a great trip Howard

GKW, looks like it will be hit or miss on the money at par exchange, I suppose each business has its own Policy. As mentioned early, we didn't have any problem, but we did gas up at the Petro before the Universal. Great to hear that your trip went well, the conditions are prime!! RR

I second the WOW on the pics of the fire, thanks for giving the link SB RR

D00Braap;; Last weekend Margot had mentioned a b&b type place that is open and not on many of the maps, It is on Lac St Pierre near St Pacome, She said they were nice people and good food. I don't remember the name but if you called Margot and asked her I 'm sure she will give you the number. The only issue is unless more snow is on the trail, I would recommend to go in and out on trail 5 from the Mont Carmel Side, ......West of that point needed more snow last week. Also, I have friends who have stayed at the Lac of the east on 557, south of Margot's, they have a menu type style of food but also are good people and the the report was that the food is good as well. I know you have the map, but here is the number for those that don't; Auberge Lac of the est 418 498 2223, (I have stopped there during the day- but not stayed overnight), I believe his wife spoke very good english also. Plain Rev; The photo may not do your height justice as you say , but great shot of the Manoir Lac Etchemin!! RR

It may be helpfull for all of us to post our experiences in the various regions on great places to stay. I tend to be a creature of habit and stay at many of the places that I have had a good stay. But would also like to hear about other options and experiences. Here are a few of this area Gite L Oasis De La Bretagne; B&B: adjacent to Relais 540 Great food, super host with Gaetan and Margot, comfortable beds: 3-4 rooms available 418-498-4059 Hotel Universal: Riv du loop Big Hotel, with access to handy access to Riv du loop, two dining rooms good food, buffet breakfast, pool, easy access, parking garage 1 800 265 0072 Motel Royal 418 854 2307 Cabano Nice family run motel with good pub style restaurant with in 200 yds walk the pub down the street Hotel Levesque Riv du loop Big hotel, Great food and trail access, further in past the Universal near the river 800 463 1236 These are some common ones , Lets see if we can build a list of good experiences. RR

smclelan, Sounds like the saddlebag forum could work, perhaps try that for the first month or so and see how that develops? RR

That is unfortunate ER, I heard this weekend for Damanchad, Knowing you and as you have said, you will get this behind you fast and onto the winter activities and preparations for the race. Best regards RR

Sorry for the previous post, Don't know what happened but it was a mess And I wasn't making up for the loss of the crown! Try it again? NH Vector, Good to see that your ride was a good one sunday, it was a little cool sunday am, but no mosquito's smashed into our shields though We really enjoyed connecting with the two of you guys and it would be great if we could connect sometime for a ride. Noticed from your report that you found the reroute around the block between st george and beauceville!! I already am working on secure packaging for the crown royal issue, its not fun crying when its that cold out, the tears freeze on the checks!!! Your comments on Gator and Margot are right on , great hosts, super food and conversation. Doo Braap, have a great time with them this weekend! Gator and Margot at the B& B Switchback, we must try to connect next time around all the best RR

quote name='NH Vector' date='Dec 10 2007, 12:08 PM' post='2681']NH Vector's trip report - We left the Jackman clubhouse on Saturday morning and headed for the border. Once over the border trails in mid season form, 80+ mph down piston alley to Armstrong club. We were told at the clubhouse that 75 was closed north of St. George by Notre dam des Pins, so we headed up the 545 trail to Lac Etchemin. Most of 545 was Good except for about 15 miles thru St. Cyprien but we did pass the groomer and they were packing and filling. Once onto trail 55 conditions were Good to V Good except for the upper end like Road Runner has previously stated. Once we reached 35 we headed north east and decided to stay the night at Margot's and Gaetan's B&B 212 miles for the day. Awesome place and the hosts were excellent - highly recommended. I was also lucky enough to meet Road Runner and his crew, great guys and fun to drink with. Sunday morning -12F, a tit bit nipply. We headed back down 35 toward tourville, notre dam de rosaire, st damien to 549. All of 35 was excellent 90 miles worth. Down 549 to 547 over the mountains 4+ feet of snow and perfection. Back onto 55 west to Beaceville, a litle rough in Etchemin but once onto Beacueville territory 80+ mph. Headed south on 75 toward St. George on powerline come to a fence totally blocked off. At this point I'm not turning back. Good thing I met Road Runner the night before and got educated on the Road Runnin!! We jumped onto the road and I figured if we could go around the closure by the plowed road we could get back to the powerline, so about 5 miles later sure enough we find the trail and it's opened and groomed. All the way down 75 to the border was great. Back to the truck by 3:30 pm 231 miles for the day, 443 miles for the weekend. Great to get out December 8th and be able to do this type of riding. Hey Road Runner next time pack the Crown in a plastic bottle, I could have used a few belts of that!! I think they call that alcohol abuse!! And thanks for the education at Road Runner University, it was a great help on trail 75. We'll have to meet up and ride together sometime.NH VectorKrisNH Vector, Good to see that your ride was a good one sunday, it was a little cool sunday am, but no mosquito's smashed into our shields though We really enjoyed connecting with the two of you guys and it would be great if we could connect sometime for a ride. Noticed from your report that you found the reroute around the block between st george and beauceville!!I already am working on secure packaging for the crown royal issue, its not fun crying when its that cold out, the tears freeze on the checks!!!Your comments on Gator and Margot are right on , great hosts, super food and conversation.Doo Braap, have a great time with them this weekend!Best regardsRRGator and Margot at the B& BSwitchback, we must try to connect next time aroundall the bestRR

Perhaps Quebec province could be quarted into 4 regions, Northwest of the river, north east of the river, southeast of the river ect. : with the specific sections currently listed under each specfic region. Those that run in the whole region could post their trips in this section, more specific info like club info, motels, specific trail info could be guided into the specific sections uner each region?? Keep the ideas flowing, I think will come up with blend that will work. RR

Mid range, I think that is a good idea, to keep the trail condition posts to the regions. I had posted some condtions in the chaudierre and bas st laurent regions last night. One thing that popped up was as I was doing this was that typically many of us run several different regions in one trip. So the challenge becomes when we do extended runs with many regions encountered during the runs. Do we post trail conditions and trip reports in one region at a time and break the trip up in regional segments or do we copy the same report in each segment that we run. It does seem redundant to repost the trip report in another segment but breaking up the report by section kind of looses the flow of the trip? Not a big deal, and I do believe that the trip posts belong in segments not in general discussion, curious if there is a solution to tie segments together for the extended runs? Best regards RR

Plain Rev; The club house in St Eugene is relatively new, I believe it was built in 2002 or 2003 but not really sure, it sets on the left heading east on 5 down over a small hill right of the hi tension line. The old one also sat off the power line on trail 5 as this one does but I remember it in a little different location.. The trois pistols club house was open, but did not get a pic of the club house. It was great to see all the activity going on. Best regards RR

This weekend, we used the us dollar , most everyone was good with that at par. We did not bother to convert. fyi RR

Here are a few shots from this weekend St Magloire club house: Chaudierre The trail near the hydro dam on 5 before trois pistols: Bas St Laurent A Water crossing on 518 near ST Eugene: Bas St Laurent Trail 557 near ST Omer: Chaudierre Very nice conditions for Dec 8-9 RR

Groomer, we headed out your way this weekend, had great conditions for early dec in chaudierre and bas st laurent. Many of the clubs were out signing, grooming and opening up the trails, a real sense of excitement for this nice early snow RR

Switch back, we were back through st magloire around 11 am today, I noticed the club house was not open? many of them were this weekend, are they getting a slow start? Hope to catch you on the next run. Best regards RR

Bib braap, as you can see from the posts, you will find very good riding conditons, enjoy RR

Trip summary from this weekends trip. The Chaudierre and Bas St Laurent is open in many areas and great mid winter conditions: and its only Dec 9! As I posted sat am , we left beaucville at 11:30 friday rode 55 east to 35 at tourville, 35 east to st Eluthiere, 526 north to 5 and 5 east into rivere du loop, saturday am we rode 5 east to trois pistols, 518 east to st eugene, 5 west to 571 south to saint jean de dieu, 544 west to saint hubert and back to 85 in whitworth, back up to 5 west through mont carmel, through to 553 south to d lxworth, 35 east back to the the relais 540 and stayed at Margots B&B for the night, We met up with NH Vector at the Margot's- Gite Oasis de la Bretagne- for a very fine dinner, conversation, breakfast. We enjoyed talking with NHV, he has traveled the same areas over the years as we had, great guys. Sunday AM 35 east to 557 down to lac of east, over to 55 in st pamphile and 55 back to Beauceville at noon. By the end of the weekend all of 55 was open with plenty of snow. all trails were in fair, good to excellent condition We had a nice trip of 575 miles- great for the opening trip on Dec 7-8-9 The exception--- ((Trail 5 from Saint Pascal west towards Mont carmel and on towards la pocatiere, this piece was broken out but not open so we picked our way through here- (not ready for traffic yet). Use 35 the rail bed as the trail for this section.)) Pic of trail 55 between ste sabine and st magloire Gasing up in st pamphile Towing in a down engine- at the end of 35 Hotel Universal St eugene club house over near rimouski Margot B&B Trail 557 between lac of east and st pamphile trail 55 between st pamphile and st lucie trail 5 the ugly west of mont carmel

We rode from beauceville to >Rivere du loop yesterday, 55 east to 35 to 526 to 5 : the 200 miles of riding was all very good with the exception of trail 55 at st lucie »(lac frontier) and st adalbert. St lucie had not been out on the section from the club house west, the trail is packed going east from the st lucie club house and is in fair condition. A total of about 10-15 miles of below grade riding.. The rest is like mid winter conditions, very good. fyi RR

Thh trail conditions in Bas St «laurent are very good, we rode from Beaceville to Riverre du loop yester day , very good conditions on trail 35, 526 and 5 into rivieere du loop. <Very much like mid winter conditions and trails excellent. Met another couple from edmunston nb, ride up from there was also perfect We are heading east today for a while and than back towards montmagny for the night. fyi RR We checked on >Andre and margot, and they are doing well FYI RR

Bib Braap, the elite is my fathers sled, he really enjoys riding around in the twin track, goes very nice rr