JBlavl

For sure iceman I have run into this situation before as well. A couple of times in fact. Last year we were sitting on the ice near shore of Lac St. Jean when we were all talking in English a man we had passed sitting on a snow bank overheard us and came over to say hi. He said it was very rare for him to hear people speaking in English and wanted to practice with us. He was relatively good for never speaking and not being of the newer generation and we enjoyed chatting with a local. Had a similar situation when we were lost around St. michelle des saints 10 years ago. Ran across a man walking down a trail hunting when we stopped for directions. We gathered quickly that he had a hard time with English but we worked through it with him and got the information we needed and thanked him and went on our way. I can come up with a few more scenarios but my point being I know where you are coming from and I at least find that is part of the appeal of going to Quebec. Learning about the language and culture but understanding I am in the minority end of the language barrier and more often than not feel like the fool in the conversation than the french speaking person, and that's ok. It's part of the experience to me. I wish I was better at French so I could practice my French with them. But the experience I mentioned above was very different. The waitress had an attitude anyone could pick up on. More or less laughed at us when we were trying to use google translate. After finding out later she knew at least some English and picking up and thinking about her body language more after the fact made me realize she had done it on purpose. It was deception at it's finest.

This article reminds me of going to the snack bar in St-David-de-Falardeau last year. When our waitress came over we politely in French asked if she spoke English. She said no and got rather cold to us. Granted we know very little French we were tying to be nice in asking a couple questions and using google translator and the waitress was clearly very annoyed with us and paid very little attention to us after that when we were the only people in there. We were being very respectful and doing our best to bridge the language barrier but when we went to pay she gave me back my change and said what my change was in English. I said you do know English and she just smiled and walked away. She must subscribe to this nationalist movement the article talked about. If she knows English and just doesn't want to speak it thats fine but I didn't see any justification in her attitude after she knew we did not speak French. I mean we were there spending money in her establishment. We didn't have to be there. In general I've found that speaking English on the western part of the province is more accepting. The farther east I've gone I've encountered similar situations to what I just mentioned.

Ding ding ding Alain you nailed it. Thanks. Looking at the trail map it doesn't look like the trail goes right through there now but it is close. Was so long ago its hard to remember but maybe we skirted the road to find the place. Mystery solved!

One week to go before my guess comes up. Suppose to get cold this week. C'mon big snow big snow big snow no whammies!

I don't think so. Canada Adventure I remember going to and it was at night. This place is on a small lake, it's on the other side of the building. Trail came right through here. I recall the people invited us to come inside and have a drink. It seemed more like a house than an outfitter.

I remember stopping at this place in 2006 on my second trip to Quebec but can not recall the name of it. Was somewhere around St. Michele. Please fill me in.

Gone for a weekend and poof! I'll be more optimistic this year and say Dec 11.

Speaking of the groomer going by. When is the date of the groomer going by contest starting?

Does anyone else get the error message Gateway time out frequently like I do?

Do you need to know the dates you will be riding for the daily, 3 day, and week passes?

Yeah no problem. We had an F-150 with 4 place inline trailer. Was a little crowded when we got there but found a spot near the indoor swimming pool and left it there the whole time. Nobody bothered it. There are a lot of people around in the area and it's well lit.

I like the sounds of this!

I did the woodrunner loop a couple years ago starting at Draveur in Maniwaki. It's good enough to take a shower and lay your head down. Nothing real exciting about it. There is a complimentary breakfast each morning which was mentioned. I remember it being a decent meal. We did the loop in 3 days and it was 780 miles the route we took. It was a lot of riding in 3 days but it was a lot of fun. Day 1 we stayed at l'Ombre du Vent in Parent. Don't let anyone tell you there is no place nice to stay in Parent because this place was awesome. Easy access to town, very nice clean cabins, and the owner was very attractive. Only complaint I had which was not a big deal was the beds were hard as rocks. Hotel Central and 4 Saisons don't hold a candle to this place. http://www.ombreduvent.com/ If you wanted a place closer than Parent to stop I thought Fer A Cheval looked like a nice place to stay and the woman working the bar when we stopped for lunch was very nice. Day 2 we took 83 to Val d'Or. 83 really takes you out in the middle of no where and that appealed to me. On the loop we had 2 occasions where we rode 100+ miles and didn't see a person, house, car, road, nothing. Just remote wilderness. On 83 we actually came up on a wolf running down the trail. The snow was so deep it wanted to stay on packed trail and was just running. It ended up stopping and turning broad side in the trail looking at us. It was a huge animal really cool sight, wish I had my Go Pro on but it was so cold that day the battery would have been dead by then. The wolf ended up jumping off the trail and instantly sank so far in the snow you could barely see it's head. It was a great experience. We stayed at the Forestel in Val d'Or. Very nice big hotel type place. Lots and lots of sleds there. Trail goes right to it. Between Parent and Val d'Or make sure you have your gas stops lined up and don't miss them. There are a lot of flat fast wide open stretches that'll have you chewing through a lot more fuel than on 13 which was a little slower paced wooded trails. There is gas in Clova. There is also an old school house there to stay at. Can't comment on it as I didn't stay there but some other people we met in Val d'Or stayed there and said it was fine. There is also gas at Balbuzard Sauvage but you better have a lot of cash with you. It was equivalent to $10usd per gallon the time we were there. Balbuzard is worth the stop for lunch. Great meal there and the place was very nice. Although they make you take your boots off as soon as you get in the door. Never had that experience before. You can also stay the night there. Lac Faillon was not open when we went through but I've heard since there are new owners and it is open again. Can't confirm this, maybe someone else in the know can. Day 3 we went all the way back to Maniwaki via 386 and 63. Be real careful on 386. There are a lot of places on the trail that look like a steep uphill with a table top on the other side but they are not. They are bonefide snow cross jumps. Straight up one side and straight down the back side. They were not very well marked either. The first one caught our whole group off guard and each one of us looked like Blair Morgan going over it. I was the leader and when I landed I turned around and waved my arms to the next guy to slow the group down but the mogul is so high they couldn't see me. When we were use to running fast flat trails the 2 days prior this came out of nowhere. Just be mindful of that. There are quite a few of them for a long stretch before they go away. There is gas in Kitcisakik. In America we'd say it is a native American village. Maybe it's a Native Canadien village eh? 386 had a lot of long straight fast flat sections on the southern half. We stopped at Pavillion la Verendrye for lunch. It was nothing more than a ham sandwhich. Nothing exciting. They also have gas. They have rooms but they didn't look like anything too exciting. A place to stay warm and lay your head. Stopped at Le Domaine for fuel on 63 and made it back to Maniwaki. Long trip but a lot of fun you will enjoy yourself. I'd do it again.

iceman how did your sister make out?

I spotted 6 iceman stickers on our trip.

Thanks for the tip. We went to Sports DRC and they only had 3 passes. They made a couple calls for us and we got the 4th pass at Centre Du Sport Lac-St-Jean right down the street.

At Hotel Universel and they do not have any trail passes. Any suggestions on where to get one in Alma?

Sounds like they have a tripped planned around the lake. I'll be sure to share this info with the guys. Thanks. And I'll be keeping my eyes open for Iceman stickers.

Oh yes I already have the app. Figure that is going to come in handy. Usually I am the one planning trips but this time I am a late minute addition. Looking forward to checking out Saguenay area. Thanks for the help.

Oh ok so the parking lot is bare. I thought you meant there was bare pavement road riding to get there from the trail. I am tagging along with some friends that have planned this trip. I have never been to the Lac St-Jean area. I've rode St. Michele-Des-Saints area twice, and last year I did the Woodrunner loop starting in Maniwaki going to Parent, Val d'Or, and back.

How much pavement are we talking? Looks like the trail gets fairly close to the hotel. Would the Delta be a better choice?

How much pavement are we talking? Looks like the trail gets fairly close to the hotel. Would the Delta be a better choice?

Was thinking about heading to Alma this weekend for 3 days. Looks like it is suppose to stay cold from now through the weekend. You think it's good enough up that way to make a trip?

Did the wood runner trail last year. Great experience. Tons of untamed wilderness on trails you will hardly see another soul. I'd do it again. It's not a 7 day loop though. We did it in 3.

No question about being in god's country. On our trip of the Woodrunner trail last year on 2 separate occasions we rode 100+ miles and didn't cross a road, see a house, pass another sled, nothing but wild wilderness. It was fantastic. We'd stop every 50 miles or so just to take in the scenery.