largedaryl

Put up a sound wall just like highways do to replace the trees that were cut, light up the stop signs/driveways for good visibility.. done deal.

Man.. would have liked to swing into QC more time the last two weeks but the stars did not align for me this spring. U make it back up yesterday as planned?

Might be a day too late with this... but. 1: There is a nice large bridge here the 386 heads north 2: Don't take this local orange trail unless you like up/down/twisty Lots of downhill from 2 - 3 3: intersection is a Y... might not be marked as a trail ( orange was not groomed last year.. possibility was this year ) L - Gas @ Lances easy to find. - last 5 miles into Lances is road(but usually perfect) ... only 1 small bush section just before town.

So, we did the trip as planned.. .Meekos, Kanawata, and CanadaAdventure. 95% perfect trails and awesome weather! St Micheal des Saints was no issue Sat afternoon.. a few bumps the last 30km once the 360/33 met.. but we just ran the Manawan Road between lodges. Smooth and ice covered. The 345 out of Repo was marked as the 33 over and over until we hit the local 20. That thru us for a loop as the paper map we had was incorrect and showed the 33 T off the 345. Gassed up at Auberge Du lac Taureau .... 145 miles from Kanawata... 3 800/850 Poo 40.6 to 44.9L, 800 Cat. 39.9, 850 Doo 34L so the Poo were maxed out with 45.4 L tank. We had spare gas on board if needed. 345 was best trail of the trip IMO. 63 over Tremblant also nice.. but first 25 miles on the east was in need of a groom Sunday AM My 800 Poo died 30 miles from the truck Sunday... 5900 miles... only got 700 miles out of the last rebuild. Super happy this did not occur east of Parent Friday evening! All in all very happy... tons of snow of course, that is a given, and superb effort to groom, and sign the corners.

Sounds like bad news to me.... Temiscaming club has an active FB account.. ping them. I would be avoiding it... long trail if rough... beauty when groomed. Take the 386 to La Verendrye Pavilion instead.. or on to Trout Lk if V is full. Depends on your full weekend plan???

The temiscaming FB has been saying both their groomers have been down a while.. as in close to a week ... I would expect Swisha to Temiscaming trail to b worst than normal. Jeff should know as he likely ran that today. We got snow even in Ottawa today(Saturday) ... 10cm plus... so this area may have got a fair bit more as snow radar showed it came for the west. Makes for a sloppy ride.

There was a landowner issue when I spoke to the club 2 weeks ago. Perhaps resolved? Should be a crap load of snow in the area. We took the 322 and across the Baskagtong for 15 km. 322 is pretty OK running. Superbly marked across the Bask. gas/food at Point David. A touch of frost bite on the cheek coming home.. 60km N wind adds up after a while on the lake.

Thx for the reports.... in the area last weekend for 3 days, and headed back end of Feb into March for longer sun and warmer temps. Hope we have success as u lads did.

The 4 strokes staying beside us at Rabaska had issues Sat AM ... those in the open did not go until 1 pm.. those on the covered trailer were OK we were told Water temp said -18F on startup Sat AM. We rode until 6 pm... amazing came in warm at 6pm ... and temp said -29C. Was rather surprised to not get cold hands as soon as the sun went down.. just the right trail conditions I guess to stay active and warm on the 13 south of Fer a Cheval.

Sunday AM going through Fontbrune's yard we saw 20 plus sleds all looking the same... perhaps they did a test run Sunday. It would have been a wild first ride for them Sunday... cold and snowy ... hard to see the trail when not well marked. The 13 from Rabaska ( via the 236 not on the map ) to Fer a Chavel was sweet Saturday.. much more snow here than south of the Baskatong. Elevation was up to 1399 ft on the Poo GPS .. that has a lot to do with the snow I imagine. Glad to hear the 83 is already in top shape.. headed there the end of Feb into March when the longer days and warmer sun arrives.

yep.. I saw the same on FB ... should be back in business starting today, Dec. 17th . The delayed grooming shows there has been a pass there and back last week from Swisha. Also a post to help clear severe ice damage(hanging brush) from 10 mile lk up.. which is 40 miles from the Pavillion. I was there in April 2018.. and @ that point it sounded like the 2019 sled season was in their plans.

Thx all for the input. As I understand... 63 is an open logging rd and no outfitters.. that was the main question here to shorten the last day. Plan is trailer to Meekos Thurs - do a local loop Head north Friday and stay at Kanawata Friday night. South Saturday to St Michel area or just north, a few trail options here to adjust mileage.. then back to Meekos Sunday and trailer home. Doing this the last week of Feb/first weekend of March .. so spring sunshine hours should be starting up

Doing a 3 day loop north out of Meekos end of Feb... so Meekos is the end target on Sunday on 63 heading west ... looking to make it an easy day due to 4 hour trailer ride home + unload. Ya....lots of options around St Michel ... just hoping there is some unpublished place a litter further west to make Sat longer and Sunday shorter Any comments heading to Meekos from St Michel? New terrain for our group. More familiar with western QC

Any place to say in this area that is not on the QC map? It would work good distance wise for a trip we are planning... make for an easy last day to trailer home. Being a volunteer, I know there are long list of reason why not all resorts show up on the official sled map... hoping someone has local knowledge to share. Cheers, large

How has the trail clearing progressed midrange? We in west Ottawa ( BEAST club) are in the same boat.. club had 40 volunteers out last weekend cutting... every bush trail is the same as your picks. About 12 core volunteers work much of the two weeks over Christmas. The field trails are awesome due to the snow levels. Was to come to your area this weekend ( Lac Blue Sea ) but the trail status and pending +5 temps.. think I will save my travel time for better conditions. Sorry.. would make the weekend and help but two under 5 @ home .. hard enough to get out locally

Coming up to Lac Blue Sea Jan 12th weekend.. south of Maniwaki...hopefully a handful of trails are cleared and open by then. Please report what you see. We are busy here in west Ottawa clearing fallen trees after the heavy wet snow last week. Ottawa has more snow on the ground( close to 2 feet ) then we have had in years.

That is great news. How about the warmth Jan. 23/24... minimal damage I assume? Heading to Gracefield/Lac Blue Sea area this weekend(28th) to a buddies camp. Anything to avoid/see/changes to know about? Two years back we toured up to Devil's Mnt. and back via Mt. Laurier.. not sure the plan this time around.

You have to go on the ottawa river at Quyon for about 5 or 7 miles to the east to Constance Bay. The river is well travelled, but is touch and go in front on Quyon. It is more solid as you head east. There are no great markings on the Constance Bay side.. there is a bar called the Point.. if you can find that you areon the trail. There may be a tree line near there as well... I have never really followed the tree lineFollow the main tracks, cross to the south ( Ontario side ) after the river widens ( it is narrow in Quyon ) and you willfind you way. There is lots of activity out there on a weekend day.Not to be done at night or in a snow storm! The ottawa river claims a few lives every year. This maps shows a more direct crossing east of Quyon. Come to think of it... this may be what the tree line represents. Click it to zoom in.http://district1ofsc.ca/map.htm