mrgrumpers

Thanks as well heading up Sunday as well. The report is really appreciated.

Alain, the camera I use is a GoPro Hero Session 5. It doesn't do great in the cold but after using it for 30 minutes I can put it in my pocket to warm up. For the mount, Polaris stock bumper has a middle support which we just put the handle bar mount and then connect the camera to that. Never had an issue with it moving or worry about it falling off. Teet 8SFP, the only day trails were bad was that Friday. They groomed everything but from the Saint-Damien hut to Real. It was busy but not the worst I have seen before. There were days were I passed 5 sleds all day. Doonali, I completely understand what you are saying. I have gauntlets on my sled as well, and we always assume there is another sled coming. Just wanted to put it out there, not upset or anything. We always ride right, and didn't come across people cutting corners or anything at all.

Hello All, wanted to share my trip like last year with everyone. Will give as much detail about everything I can remember and share some pictures as well. Will go day by day, and then give an overall recap. Day 1 - 2/4: This is our typical Sunday run that my family has been doing for years. We always end up doing it as it seems to be always green on the map. Rode up to the dam then west on 360. We stopped out Lac Taureau for a little break and enjoy the scenery. From there we went down the reservoir towards Saint-Michel and grab some gas. We made the decision since it was still early in the day to head back out 63 and down towards the relay where 33 & 63 connect. From there we left and headed our way back to Real Masse. Overall the trails where great, even around Saint-Michel. Overall give the trails a 8 out 10 especially with how much traffic we were passing. Day 2 - 2/5: With the snow we received Sunday into Monday, we decided to do something different and head south. Everything seemed to be groomed the night before. Once we started to get into the fields around Saint-Gaberial there were a good amount of drift points from all the wind. From there we headed more south towards Joilette before turning on 43 towards Saint-Alphonse. These were probably the most wind drifts fields all day, we were breaking trail throughout them until we headed back up the mountain. They put in a new trail since the one between Saint-Alphonse and Saint-Come was closed. It was shared with an ATV trail for a little which wasn’t bad at all. We were planning on heading to Black Mountain in Saint-Donat since they put up a tower on top of the mountain. I missed the turn to head that way so we ended up in Saint-Come. From there we just decided to do another loop around Saint-Gaberial then head back to Real. Overall give the trails another 8 out 10, not for how they were but there were a couple of times where the signage down south wasn’t the best. Day 3 - 2/6: For a while now my father has been afraid to going to Lac de Repo because back in the early 90’s he heard “horror” stories of bad gas up there. I told him that everything will be fine. I know a ton of people on QuebecRider that go up there and they have no issue. What I didn’t tell him was that the ride was going to be the longest he has ever done. We left Real and headed toward Riveire-Mattawin. The trail was smooth and I knew we could do it rather quickly. Once we filled up on gas we turned around and headed towards the Repos. This was out first time on 345 towards the repos from 360. It was different but freshly groomed and perfect. The trail is amazing, going from full on woods to long straights. We literally passed two sleds right before the repos. Got gas there, and it started to snow pretty good so instead of coming back down 345 we came down 33. We got a little confused with the lakes but 33 was just as amazing. Found some stuff on the trail, met up with the gentlemen that has lost the stuff, handed everything we found and informed him that the jumper cables were on a sign a couple of miles back. Got gas in Saint-Michel again and then headed back to Real. Overall give the trail a 9 out of 10. Day 4 - 2/7: We were planning on something different this day but decided since 345 and 360 were all freshly groomed we would just run it again. Did the same trip minus the repos part as the previous day. We stopped for gas and then had lunch a Hotel Marineau Mattawin, since it was a nice little snow and it was a little cold. Headed to the dam after lunch and crossed it since you now can go back over it. The entrance is way easier now and much wider! Overall the trails were a perfect 10 out of 10. Day 5 - 2/8: Woke up the next day not knowing what to do but noticed that everything around Saint-Donat was groomed, so we made the call to head over to Black Mountain. Trails were perfect, and I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. Passed a good amount of sleds throughout the morning but trails stayed perfect. Finally reached the trail for Black Mountain and headed on up. My dad and I have never been so it was something new for us to go visit. Passed more sleds coming down the mountain which was nice so when we reached the summit we were the only ones up there. The new lookout tower is amazing, gives you such amazing views in every direction. From there we grabbed gas in Saint-Donat then went down Lac Ouareau and up 310 towards Coin Lavigne. There is a bring on 310 that seemed to have boards there were pulled out or something. There were foot gaps between each board and made for an interesting ride of them. Otherwise the trails were again amazing an 9.5 out of 10. Day 6 - 2/9: Today was our last day of riding so we decided to do a small loop. We headed up to Le Cabanon then out 23 towards Grand Mere. We decided to make the right towards Koubek and then head to Mandeville. From there we just decided to head to Saint-Gaberial and then to Saint-Damien then back towards Real. By far the worst trails I have seem were from the Saint-Daimen warming hut up to Real. I mean they weren’t like 5-10mph bad but every turn was 1 foot bumps with some ice in other turns. Overall the trails were a good 7.5 out of 10, would have been perfect except for 23 towards Real. Overall: Overall the trip was pure amazing like always for Quebec. People are friendly and kind no matter who you met on the trails. Now lets go with the good, bad, and amazing. The good, is that again we did over 1100 miles on amazing trails all week. The bad, would be that it seemed that people did not like to signal at all while passing them. I understand while in a turn you don’t but when you on a nice straight just knowing that this is the last sled is great to know. The amazing, what can I say no where else has snow but Quebec. Go from inches in NY to feet in Quebec its pure amazing. If we passed you on the trail at all or met you, thank you for being so friendly. We are heading back up in a couple of weeks, so if us then, stop us and lets have chat. Kyle and Mike

You can also use this if you want. http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html?ql=station&zoom=&zoom3.x=11&zoom3.y=10&loc=Latitude%2CLongitude%3B+City%2CST%3B+or+Station+ID&var=ssm_depth&dy=2018&dm=1&dd=24&dh=6&snap=1&o5=1&o6=1&o11=1&o10=1&o9=1&o8=1&o12=1&o13=1&lbl=m&o7=1&mode=pan&extents=us&min_x=-76.758333333335&min_y=44.416666666662&max_x=-69.250000000002&max_y=48.633333333329&coord_x=-73.00416666666851&coord_y=46.5249999999955&zbox_n=&zbox_s=&zbox_e=&zbox_w=&metric=0&bgvar=dem&shdvar=shading&width=800&height=450&nw=800&nh=450&h_o=0&font=0&js=1&uc=0

Great report thank you for posting. Heading up in 2 weeks for the Saint Zenon area and you did most of the loops my dad is interested in doing. Looking forward to the snow they are going to receive in the next two weeks so it can only get better one hopes.

Starting off Friday at midnight the temps will slowly drop and hopefully freeze everything up. Will probably start to snow late Friday and Saturday during the day. No one knows what track the storm will take yet. EURO and American models differ on which direction. This is my take, which might be right but also could be wrong....

It is def up and running and looks like clubs are already grooming...

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I would have posted it day by day but the wifi at Real is the best for posting videos. Trailblazer, I just hope the image on a different site like imgur. Then when you click on an image you can select what size you want (went with large thumbnail I believe). It gives you a embedded link to use in any forum. So it looks something like this [/img]linkto.jpg[/img] (remove the slashes in front of the img part to make it work) this just puts the image in the post without having to host it on the server. As far as the video you just copy the link and the rest is magic. If someone needs help with it shoot me a message I can give a hand. Here is the rest of the videos from the week if you want to take a glance. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGzWL8mgXjQWKLiNdBYnVtw

This past week my father and I spent a week riding around the Lanaudière & Mauricie regions. We have been regulars of the area for a good amount of time but life got in our way and we haven't been back until now. We stayed at Real Masse as this has been our home away from home for a good amount of time. We haven't been to Real in roughly 10 years so it was freshing to walk in and have everyone remember us as we were there yesterday. I can't say how amazing this place is, no matter what they will help you with whatever you may need. So lets get onto the import part of the trip the riding.... Day 1: 2/4/17 We arrived at Real around 2:30pm, checked in, changed and took a quick ride. My father had to break in his new sled for the first time so we though why not. The ride wasn't long but we rode out to La Glaciere then up to the intersection of 23 and 350 then back to Real. Trails were good, bumpy in the corners but that is what you would expect for a Saturday. Day 2: 2/5/17 Sunday's ride was a relaxing 175 miles. Left Real around 8AM headed up towards the dam and then over towards Lac Taureau. After that rode the reserver down to Saint-Michel-des-Saints and then over to Koubek for a nice ride. Trails were great even by the afternoon they were smooth and didn't pass much traffic for a Sunday. Also dinner at Real I believe we were the only people there for about 2 hours until another couple showed up. Day 3: 2/6/17 Monday's ride was a nice trip of to St. Donat and then south from there. Trails were fully groomed the night before and were flat and fast. Another 175 miles done for the day with passing maybe 8-10 sleds all day. Stopped for a rest before heading towards St. Donat at Coin Lavigne Stopped for a little rest in Entrelacs. Video from the day. Day 4: 2/7/17 Tuesday's ride is a familiar one with almost anyone who rides the area. We took the trip up to Riviere-Matawin and then back since the trails were so smooth. Took a little break at the river crossing. As you can see the trails were smooth. Video from the day. Day 5: 2/8/17 Tuesday into Wednesday they were calling for snow and ice, we received way more snow then ice. Received about 6-8 inches with a very thin layer of ice on top. Decided to head into the Maurice region and down to Lac Blanc then head up towards Saint-Alexis-des-Monts. Took the 23 that comes out above Le Cabanon back. Trail was good, needed to have the fresh snow packed but passed 2 groups of sleds. Enjoying the fresh snow on top of the great trails. Day 6: 2/9/17 Thursday we took a look at the grooming delay and realized everything was bright green so we took the best run possible back up the river again. Woke up to an amazing view from Real Stopped at Le Cabanon for a break in the afternoon and got to watch a plan take off on the lake. Day 7: 2/10/17 Friday was our last day, we covered over 1,000 miles already so we decided to have a nice ride and take in some different area. We headed south towards Saint-Gabriel to view the look out and run through the fields. Overall what can I say, my dad and I had an amazing time again and we look forward to heading back. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I will continue to post videos from the week. Father on the left (Mike), mrgrumpers on the right (Kyle)

Well coming up Saturday, happy that most of the Northern Trails are staying open in the Lanaudiere region. Safe riding everyone!

Little update for the Lanaudiere/Mauricie... http://snowmobilecountry.ca/en/medias/item/400/access-to-farmlands-now-prohibited-along-recreational-trails

Made it easier for everyone... The Quebec Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (FCMQ), following numerous articles published in the newspapers of the different regions of Quebec in view of the conflict between the Union des Producteurs Agricoles (UPA) and the Quebec government, wishes to express Its extreme discomfort with the two parties involved in this dispute, since both are prominent partners of vital importance. The FCMQ does not have the competence or the knowledge to take part in this conflict and in no case does not want to judge. The FCMQ is indebted to farmers for the integrity, interconnectivity and sustainability of its trail network and the Québec government for the financing of its operations and activities through royalties levied on the costs of Snowmobile registrations and redistributed in its programs to help Quebec's snowmobile federation and clubs. The FCMQ recognizes the UPA's right to claim and defend the interests of its members and supports its request to postpone the implementation of the reform of agricultural property taxation without however being in agreement with the means of pressure used, The closing of snowmobile trails. Club voluntary administrators will respect the decision of agricultural producers to withdraw access to their land but at no time will the initiative be taken by snowmobile clubs. If the Federation of Quebec Snowmobile Clubs supports agricultural producers in order to reach a negotiated agreement to the satisfaction of the parties involved, the FCMQ does not sanction the closure of snowmobile trails since its primary mission and Is to offer snowmobilers, from here and elsewhere, access to the network of 33,000 kilometers of trails maintained to ensure their quality and safety through its 200 member snowmobile clubs, Non-profit managed by thousands of volunteers. The closure of snowmobile trails on UPA members' lands would have a major negative impact on the economic impact of this important winter tourism activity, which maintains more than 14,000 jobs annually and generates several billion dollars for Quebec. Farmers are important and essential partners who voluntarily and voluntarily allow snowmobile clubs to maintain snowmobile trails on their lands for snowmobiling. The FCMQ is very grateful to them because without their concern to ensure the economic development of their region, the existing network of trails interconnected and provincial could not exist. If we all want to take advantage of the benefits that this winter activity brings to Quebec, the collaboration of all the various players in this file is required in order to maintain this precious jewel that is the network of snowmobile trails in Quebec. It is midnight one and we are asking the Government of Quebec to sit down with the UPA representatives to agree on a negotiated agreement to the satisfaction of the parties involved. Thank you to all of you, volunteers, landowners and all the various organizations and departments in Quebec who have contributed and participated for over forty-two years in this wonderful adventure.

Well the FCMQ has finally release a statement.. http://fcmq.qc.ca/fr/nouvelles/le-conflit-upa-gouvernement-du-quebec-place-la-fcmq-dans-une-situation-tres-inconfortable/