iceman

Sat Feb 9 12F cold Had about 2-3 inches of snow overnight. Blowing all over. No storm of the century but we'll take it.

Good Stuff Mark. Love that 386 very nice run there. I'm amazed at how many people I saw last week with no reservations that is nuts. Especially in the region with the best trails right now. Have a great trip.

Viper 386 was great all fixed up saw nothing like you were saying. All good to 83 on 386.

Day 6 Barrage Gouin to Shawinigan Sleds started right up today was much warmer only -20. Time to make the run for home. Was dreading it a bit anticipating seeing alot of sleds out there. Took the east trail from the Barrage Gouin back to 83. Arrived on the 83 and saw the first 6 of many others out there. Rolled east to the trail to Casey and down to Kanawata. Stopped for Gas at Kanawata. All trails Mint very nice. Left Kanawata and out the driveway to the express trail to Repos. Enough snow to take the express but just barely. Got to Repos at 11:15 am looked like they were giving stuff away. Crazy how many sleds were there. It was a Zoo. I could not get away from there fast enough. Topped off and headed on down the 345 to 360 passed another 30 sleds headed up at least. Reached the 360 and was glad to be headed away from Cabanon and all the traffic coming from there. 360 was simply great and no problems all the way to Mattawin. Stopped for gas and late lunch had a discussion and decided we would try the River to Grand Mere. Headed out of the resto and caught a group of Tourists on Rentals. Watching that is enough to make you wonder how they survive a day out there let alone a week. Scary stuff not just riding the middle but all on the left side. Totally crazy. Anyway trail was great right to river. Got on at Mekinac and was just enough snow to make it no problem all the way down. Arrived in Grand Mere and found the trails in awesome shape really great all the way to the house. Looking real good. Great Day and great trails. Alot of traffic for sure. Not sure but around 250 miles i think today. (i don't keep track) the guys usually tell me. I know overall for 6 days and 2 with late starts we got 1581 miles for 6 days riding. Happy Trails

Day 5 Lac Faillon to Barrage Gouin Very Cold this Morning -34 yeah not great. Alot of sleds had no go go today this morning. The cold did not discriminate was every brand represented. Needless to say we got them going and headed out on 83 east on a freshly groomed trail toward Balbazard. Absolutely awesome to Balbazard. Continued on and came to the spot with the bad 30 Miles. Little did we know(we know now) about 5 miles past Balbazard the 83 takes a left so we did. However if going east you can continue on the straight trail and there are no trees trying to take your head off. This should be marked as detour and its not. Note anyone headed west on 83 from Clova its 24 miles to where 83 goes to the right toward the trees of doom, stay straight to detour around the bad section. Anyway I have certainly seen worse but no fun for sure. All great after to clova and stopped for gas and lunch. Left Clova continued toward Parent. Some Icy corners for sure near Parent but real good trail. Gassed in Parent continued on awesome conditions all the way to the west trail to Barrage Gouin. Trail to Barrage was great little hard but flat and nice. Great stay as always up there great people and good stop. If you have not been there give it a try. Go there. All in all good stuff. 239 miles.

Day 4 Wed. Royun-Noranda to Lac Faillon Left Royun Noranda around 9am today needed a little hot water on the Vector fuel pump to bring her to life. 3 apex started right up. Cold Cold Cold Trails out of town fresh groom. Hooked onto the 83 west and cruised toward Val d'Or. Stopped in Cadilac for a little gas and some warmth. Trails Superb absolutely great. Continued to Val d'Or on great trail by-passed the city and headed for Louvincourt. Took the gas and a late lunch to warm up and headed out for Lac Faillon. Took the 386 south then east to 83 and on to Lac Faillon. All trails great conditions and excellent snow. Super cold. Group of 6 came in to Lac Faillon around 7pm no reservations, guess what? No rooms. On they went west. Would not want to be them tonight. Wicked cold to be out night riding for sure. So far so good headed east on 83 to Gouin for Thursday night. Stay tuned.

We're hot on your trail GT Rider, following in your foot steps to Gouin for Thursday night. Thru Kanawata then Repos to Shawinigan Friday. Thanks for the update and good to see you guys again. Happy Trails.

So true viper.

Day 3 Tuesday Feb 5 Well the plan was a easy day with a run out on 83 to Royun Noranda and beyond to set foot in Ontario. Remember I said it was cold here? Well 2 out of the 4 sleds felt like going first thing, one we massaged and used some unconventional heating methods, namely my sled cover draped over hood with the exhaust from the running Vector to warm the Apex. Got one going the other was not so co-operative. Made a call at 9:30am to RM Sport Yamaha in Val d'Or and 10 minutes later the sled was in the truck headed to the shop. (we almost had it going) I think a little more patience we would have got er done. Well of course loaded it off the truck at the dealer and not even 5 minutes in the door it fired right up. Oh well it needed some slides and got an oil change while there also. Big thank you to Roch the Owner for helping us out and getting us back on the white trail. for the fast response. Great service and very friendly if in need in Val d'Or go to RM Sport. Headed west and found 70 miles of pure love on the 83 west. Very very nice. The rest of the way to Royun Noranda was very rideable just the corners bumped up. This is where its at right now. Abitibi is the promised land. Great snow and always awesome trails. So many trails so little time. Unfortunately its not a long trip here so headed back east to Lac Fallon for wed. Night. Maybe a jaunt to touch ontario in the am before we head east. Overall looking sweet out here wish I could stay a week right here.

Passed north of Maniwaki and was barely a go near there. Further south i would imagine is worse.

No Maniwaki Mid-Range sorry for the confusion 322 to bypass Maniwaki till Classic. Classic to Domaine yes loose snow to be had but the section between the two had a frozen berm in the middle from refreezing after being ridden on soft. Groomer was at Classic not sure where he was headed but he was going out.

Day 2 Mont Laurier to Val d'Or Left Mont Laurier about 8:30 am still first from the hotel. Too many superbowl partys i guess. The dusting of snow was much appreciated and served us well to get out of town and hook onto the 63 west. Not terrible but Icy near Mt Laurier. Maniwaki area yes I can see was much more hard and without the dusting of snow might have been a bit of a challenge. Ran the 63 to Lytton then from there things greatly improved not great but 2 steps up for sure. Trail was much more snow covered but was real messed up from riders on it when it was soft. Then refroze and there you have it. Gassed up at Le Domaine and set out for the rest of the trip to Val d'Or. Groomed trail from there about 40 miles then caught up to the groomer doing an excellent job. Merci Club Ours Blanc doing a fine job. Even after passing the groomer trail was good and ran up to 386 passed on the gas at Pavillion Lavendyre and kept on trucking. 386 very very nice. 120 miles (from Domaine) to Kitchisik for the gas a soup and a little warmth. Continued on up the 386 thru the rollercoaster hills and sailed into Louvincourt. Grabbed the 83 west and cruised to Val d'Or wicked fast as usual and very nice. Its cold out here for sure. 282 miles many smiles.

Day 2 Monday Feb 4 We Ride Sleds still here, always a plus. Time to get out of dodge city.

Happy Happy John. Hope you had a great birthday. Did you wish for snow? Wait don't tell me keep it secret.

Day 1 Sunday Feb 3. Left the house to meet the guys at the intersection on TQ 3 from the Gouvernor Hotel. TQ 3 very nice yes hard but flat with crumbs. Hooked up the the boys and headed for the Rivere St. Mauricie, all good. Jumped on the bare river, no snow at all, all ice took the trip up to TQ 23 23 all the way to Cabanon yes, Ice on turns and some hard trail but no cooling or slide issues. Hooked onto the 63 and ran toward St Michel. As expected the worst part of the day snirty and dodging boulders all the way from Cabanon to St michel. Took the gas in St michel by the ski doo dealer continued on 63. Big open water behind the restaurant by ski doo in st Michel. Nice water skip there. 63 thru the parc not bad some washouts to watch for but very good. One tree down at the end with an improvised go round thru the bush. Rough going after the parc lots of icy spots until the Petit train du nord section. Smooth sailing to Mt Laurier. Little fluff here and yes icy near town but not bad at all. 251 miles door to door. Without studs or Iceripper track you need to be brave or stupid. Better have good Carbides too. Stay Tuned. Headed on the 63 to the 386 to Louvincourt then to Val d'Or.

Will report. Sunday to Mt Laurier thru St. Michel is the plan 23, from shawinigan. Then over to Mt Laurier. 83 is the way back end of the week then down thru Kanawata to Repos to Matawin on Friday. Going for it.

I guess the guy who mashed up the Apex should stick with a 600, maybe just a bit too much go go for him. A man's got to know his limitations.

Right now that is the plan. Waiting on the guys from the states to get here today. Gonna give it a try.

Gonna head out Sunday Am. Will post as I go. Headed West.

I'm saying I see others out Riding, I have not been out personally by sled yet. What I have seen from the trail heads looks ok its not wiped out to dirt. Groomers have been out. As far as if its worth it that is up to you, its not as great as before the rain for sure. I'm leaving sunday headed west to abitibi. Trail definitely good enough to get out. That's all i can tell you. From the sounds of others its much worse in Saguenay with many places down to dirt. Not here. Options on where to go limited for Saddlebagging for sure. Hope it helps

Went out by car to spot some trails, looks not bad to me. Guys are out saw about 4 riders. Groomers are out and traffic will loosen things up for sure. The fact we had so much snow here before this rain saved us here. Other places not so much. They got junk now.

Feb 1 9am 12F Mother Natures hot flash is over for now. Thanks Again Mother Nature, much appreciated.

Its over here until more signifigant snow.

Jan 31 9:30am 43F Heavy Pouring Rain Last Night. Taken a beating here. Still raining and windy . Very Sad.

Jan 30 Wed. 7:30pm 37F Heavy Rain Earlier has ended. Light rain on and off now.