RoadRunner

Yes there is JTD

Today , we left. Chibougamo at -18, not anywhere near our record low, but a low for this year! Gorgeous Blue Sky day on our run to Lac St Jean. The trail from The Bou to the. sawmill54 will be great with one more grooming, but reminded us of the run we did between Clova and Fallon a couple of days ago, not perfect, but not bad! This is still a great ride, back to the truck tomorrow with an estimated 1300 on. Love it, Go west boys, it’s great going! Between La Tuque and La Dore, over the past three days, on that section of trail we saw a total of 9 sleds! Happy trails

snowmaster, we were in Chapais by 2 pm, decided to slide into Chibougamo for the night, the Opemiska looksd awesome, and we checked into the Tandem restaurant and found out it’s open until 8 pm, so that’s an option in Chapais for dinner. we had an awesome dinner at the pub, in downtown Chibougamo. There is only one taxi, so make sure you get his cell for the ride back. There is a great steak, seafood casserole and Chicken pesto on the menu and many tap beer options

Dooright and Playhard, oh the Beaver that snow master had looked like a treat, we were tempted! And yes Dooright, we had time to get to Misstassini today, but didn’t, what a fast, flawless run today. The trail was perfect all the way, and traffic was heavy😳....we met 2.....sleds all day long! The traffic hasn’t picked up any snowmaster from your trip. We did get to encounter a “registration” check at the road crossing coming into Chibougamo, huh, he must have gotten a call that 3 strange sleds were in town lol. While waiting for the check, one of our riders turned and was doing a normal nature call, when the officer came back he said he could right him a ticket for that, we said seriously, and he said with no humor, yes 😳yeah I guess I get it but we are in Chibougamo! and not even in town We cleared the check and on we went. As Snowmaster documented last week, for those looking for mid winter riding conditions, it’s here! A perfect trail day today, Happy trials RR

MarkUs, yes very good going, a good meal at The Le Mateo restaurant last night and a good nights sleep at Motel la Bell Villa. Off to Chibougamo today. We had our own private trail ride yesterday, saw 5 sleds all day long. ThinkSnow RR

We left the Gouin this morning under blue skys and heading west, where snowmaster has said all the snow is, oh man was he right. The 83 west Was awesome, the Parent to Clova was the best trail ride we have had all year. It’s was an 11 out of the scale of 1/10! Absolutely perfect. From Clova to Lac Fallon, was in good condition, as the groomers had just passed once so far this year, rideable but not perfect, From Fallon into Senneterre. Again very good. A nice 300 mile ride, our first for this winter season. Happy trails! RR

TB and Dooright, lots of activity on the Gouin express with logging operations on both ends so this is being used more than normal, Sawmill expressway is also being used commercially this year too☹️ still lots of good going!!

Chris , in Chapais, it shows a restaurant named Le tandem in Chapais, is that closed for the winter or not there anymore

Bobler , we are doing the same thing only counterclockwise! that’s awesome. Trailblazer, sure does feel good to be back to Quebec for a run. Today we left St Raymond and rode to The Barrage Gouin. A nice run as everyone has reported , the further north we came, , the better the riding got! Saw plenty of Icemans stickers and Corrinna at the Barrage is also anticipating MarkUS and Dooright this weekend. Always a great stop here, Walleye or Pork tonight! Happy trail RR

Chris, thank you for that information, we didn’t make time to do the Mistissini run on this trip. We have three traveling on this trip. So we may be dropping into Chapais on Wednesday night. See how the trip flows! Thank you again for all this info in this post and your recommendations. Happy trails RR

Blueblood, no the sled was last years backcountry 850, it had been worked on for a fuel pump issue prior apparently the plug came loose that powers the fuel pump, this time, we got a rod into that area and was able to push it back on.... back at base camp, it seems to run fine now, but it will be staying here as a back up. we should have tried to fix it in the Bush but we imagined a more complex issue lol.

Snow master, really enjoyed following your journey along last week, you may have mentioned the meal status at Hotel Opemiska, Isabelle and Pierre Lurc, but I did not quickly locate the info. Do they serve dinner and breakfast or what are the options? Thank you. Happy trails RR

We will be headed west on this route Tuesday, will have a boots on the ground report RR

I started the thread under western run, you should be good to go, especially up the 73, happy trails RR

This is the area we ride today

Our plan today was to drive to the Roquement and do a shake out ride and test the spare sled we brought as it had recently been in for repairs, we decided to run up to riv Pierre and see if the local trail was open bye chance and make a loop back st raymond club house for a refreshment and than to the Rocque for the night before heading west tomorrow . The conditions are as reported, rideable and typical early conditions. Nice hard base with a dusting of snow last night. Lots of sleds on the 73 today with many locals out, it is very rideable, once of the railbed up to the local trail you will click a few loose rocks once in awhile but still not a show stopper. At the junction of the local trail back was a sign saying trail closed, but a few tracks were heading that way anyway , so we like those types of trails. There were guys running it and in the middle of this trail is a big logging operation that is probably why they have not opened it yet this year. Shortly after the logging camp our back up sled decided to act up and fuel pump issues developed,huh similiar to what was going on during the repair. It happened to be in the worst part of the this trail, but the tow rope comes out and a 12 mile tow back to the rock finished up our day. A fun 55 miles and we look forward to heading north tomorrow with the Gouin reservoir as our destination. The spare will sit in the trailer, tested but failed the test! Leaving from St Raymond is a solid option for sure. Happy trails RR

Just arrived, yes conditions look rideable😀

I talked with the Roqumont about riding out of there this week. She said the trails are open, but not great, you can ride out of there but under marginal conditions. That kind of sounds like the conditions in and around Saguenay that Revct described in the valley. Think snow RR

Good to see you putting some Gas thru the sled, you will love that Extreme. Think snow!!

Great reporting as always REVCT, thank you for giving us real world updates. Here’s to more snow! Have a great a New Years RR

Snow master, What a fun adventure you have had on this trip, thanks so much for sharing! Think snow, we can never have too much! Happy New Years to all.

CT, We are looking at that loop next week too, as Ice says, it should be all good by next week, I hope! Happy trails RR

Awesome reporting, enjoy the crowd free trails!!

Not sure how many guys purchased the new expeditions this year but a couple of minor notes. The primary seat assembly comes loose from the tank and will chuck back and forth a few inches when riding. There is an easy trail fix by just wedging a piece of rubber, or in my case a large plastic garbage folded up and wedged between the latch and seat foam to put more pressure on the latch. Worked great. BRP is aware and has issued a recall on this issue. The fuel tank is supposed to be something like 11 gallons, but we were all running completely out at just a little over 9 gallons. For me it was 36.65 liters. We are not sure if it is an erroneous tank size issue or pick up line issue, but it seems universal on the expedition model. Both are minor issues as long as your aware of your draw capacity on the fuel situation! We just add up our loaded capacity of fuel when leave and count the primary as 9 gallons not 11. Happy trails RR

Snow master, it doesn’t matter much whether we are out in the bush on non maintained roads and trails or enjoying the awesome groomed system. Getting out on the sleds in December is a treat for sure that we both were fortunate to be able to do this month. Enjoy this fine holiday season and a Think Snow! Hope to see you on the trail “next” year! RR