snowfarmer

We will be in RDL Saturday to begin a week loop. ETA 3 - 4 PM last time we met was at RDL. Dinner drinks giddie up. 

One last ride.  We are at Motel Bernieres tonight, Friday.  Sandi, myself and two of the Gutz brothers will be arriving at Universal RDL tomorrow night, Saturday, for two nights.  Anyone else going to be there?  Plenty of snow here.  The last storm dropped 50-60 cm.  We will post what we find.
Jack & Sandi

Mmmm..... gotta love the outdoors.

 

Jg I love the pictures of the old sleds it brings back so many memories. It was 50 years this winter when I first rode a Ski-Doo. I can close my eyes and still smell the 2 stroke!!!
 
Andy

PGA Pro (and Iceman brother-in-law) Al may return another time when it's easier to find the white balls:

Fairmont wrap/rap...
Rollin down the street, smokin indo, sippin on gin and juice. Laid back...

I'm home. Got to Trois Riveres 10pm. Left Casino 8:15am. Washing my riding clothes and back to Saguenay Tmmrw. Gotta go pick up the Ski Doo's and do a few things here before leaving. Trucking to Saguenay. Do we need to? No. But only a 4 day run so going right up where we want to be. 
 
Story of todays ride will be told tomorrow. Ice need rest. 
It was not easy. But we got er done. Only 1 Vector stuck twice and not too crazy stuck. Charlevoix is not the place to be after a giant blizzard. But I knew that. 
I will tell you all about it tmmrw. 

Alain,
I wish I could put together a 140 mile ride out my door like that . Really like Koubecs. It's a great stop with lots of old charm . Glad to see you two back in the saddle again!
David

My Krikri had her last ride exactly one month ago and then got knocked out by a pneumonia. She now feel much better but obviously she's not completely reestablished. She had already started working again (too early in my opinion) and she had request to ride.

So accompanied by our partner Snowcruiser, we did a relax ride (much smaller than usual) with late start and early return. The Mastigouche wildlife reserve that we had not yet ride this season was just perfect for that purpose.

Here is the path we travelled:



Sunday morning -17C under a cloudy sky, starting from the highschool of St-Gabriel de Brandon a little before 10:00 am



Viewpoint from the Belvedere just north of the village.



Trail #23 just north of St-Gabriel, not alot loose stuff but it ride well.



Fields in St-Damien de Brandon direction



Once a few miles up in the mountain the trail conditions are even better, less icy


Beautiful fast trail
  We passed  Réal Massé
 
And took #350 trail north-east





We arrive at the beautiful outfitter Centennial Koubec at around 11:30 to have our lunch



You know you're in a real snowmobile spot when the entrance mat is a snowmobile track!



The magnificent big double fireplace , they could make fire at the back too. We do not often see fireplace like that.



The outside view from the dining room


 
After lunch we took #350 trail north-east





And join the #23 trail in the heart of the Mastigouche reserve that we took west towards St-Zénon



The clouds had dissipated and with the sun it was really beautiful



Very nice trail



And very fast





There is not much people passing there, yet one of the most beautiful spot to ride .





We reach the #345 trail  north from the Cabanon and then went south



We took here at the Auberge Le Cabanon a little hot chocolate break as well as our fill-up of the day.



We then took trail #23 south



Still alot snow in this area



And very solid trails that are not wear out even at the end of the day Sunday





We recrossed  Réal Massé pourvoirie. We had not stopped but I have been told by other snowmobilers that it was their last weekend of operation. It is very likely because it is their usual way of doing in past years: They close in the 2nd week of March, snow or not, and take a vacation time before the beginning of the fishing season. It's not bad, given the traffic that begin to reduce on that date, it gives a chance to other service providers that continue to be more profitable.



We went down on the #23 trail which had stay very nicel. Here, going down the big hill in St-Damien



And in the fields before St-Gabriel


 
We returned to the trailer at 5pm with 140miles on the dreammeter. My Krikri thought it was a bit short but I think it was just right under the circumstances.
We are in the snowstorm right now Tuesday evening and already have good snow to the ground so it will revive the trails around home and add some cream on the north trails that were already nice. Most important, temperatures will remain cold for several more days/week to encourage our clubs to continue to groom the trails.

Already mid-March, it's now or never the time to enjoy it

Alain  

Ah , need to learn French to find that out ! Dam those wings looked good too!!
lol

So more ideas
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrBTzD_TslYP7IAqbU5ByI5;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNmViazNqBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDTU9DQTAxXzEEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1489616767/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2ffr.tripadvisor.ca%2fRestaurants-g499346-La_Malbaie_Quebec.html/RK=0/RS=vFRGisYJWF6lojF40d9TznRiIHw-

http://www.maisondubootlegger.com/
I have always thought this might be a cool place to check out ? Grab a taxi it's not to far . There a a bunch of good restaurants in the area.

Did they have that big buffet breakfast this morning? One of the best around !

Wrap up on Tues was the carnivore mayhem, it must be a thing when the guy in white presents them himself?...




 
Tomahawk for REAL!...

 

Mmmm hmmm... with the maple crepes!

Ah , need to learn French to find that out ! Dam those wings looked good too!!
lol

Seems Florida Snowman and Scorpionbowl with Marty, decided to give it a go. 
I think they will be back or maybe not. Taking the road was discussed, might not have been a bad idea.....
just here trying to get out of the Hotel Property

Thats why I'm watching TV deciding what time to have lunch and hit the hot tub. 
 

Great running into Iceman, Playhard, Al & Andy at the Fairmont Richelieu!
Today should be a little more challenging navigating with the new snow, heavy winds & drifting.  
Destination is ...........................?
Snowmobiling is always an adventure right JG?
 

As the picture below shows we have "WHITE-OUT" conditions in La Malbaie this morning!!

Gotta love the trails when they are at thier best, today will be a little more challenging guys but not as challenging as Havre, they have sticks and signs in Chalevoix.
2 ft of snow in MTL with lots of wind through the night and still snowing lightly, biggest one we had all winter. 
Okay Ice are you guys camping out at the Faitmont or busting trail to Shawini today?

Ok Ok day 4 goes on. 
Off at Chalets and Spas Chambord. Looks like they had a fire here as one of the buildings is burned right to the ground. Hmm. Well trail is groomed fresh all the way up to 83. At 83 the beat goes on. Its table top smooth and no tracks. Fresh groomed. We head for Hebertville. I have never in a long long time seen this section so perfect. At just before Desbiens where trail is back on lake forvthat short run, i cannot believe my eyes. I've never seen the lake ice groomed before but maybe i am wrong. It's perfect groom right over and thru the woods there to the next crossing under the two bridges and up into Desbiens. Great trails and no traffic. (Well we do see 2 sleds) I know i've said thus before but just as a public service announcement i feel i need to ask nicely, PLEASE do not give me Hand Signals Thank You for your co-operation, If you could see yourself struggling for control trying to signal me and corner with one hand on the bars it really is not a good look for you. Scary shit. Handsignals are useless information. Like buying a cassette player to put in your car.....WHY?  But no matter what......Yup it's good to be us today. 
Continuing on 83 is all groomed and stellar right to 23/83 and we are off throgh Presbytre and up and left on the 83. Down 83 and to the sector with the "Sentier Donald" trail of the day of course. Wow! We are spoiled. Happy Campers. Easy cruise into gas by the Delta. Just before noon. 
Out of there and yes 83 it is. Down through Chicoutimi and we roll. There are 3 fighter jets circling around La Baie. Very impressive to say the least. Into Bec and Cie for lunch at 1pm. Jets still flying around their sound is the same as my Apex. 
Nice Lunch and still no other sleds. On down 83 and she does not disappoint. Great Time through the "Clermont Express" madness. Near Clermont much more ice under loose snow. Surprisingly like the trails going to St Raymond day 1 from Shawinigan. They been tearing it up round here. Trails are good but slick. Gas in Clermont and up to 378 beatiful run up and into Fairmont at 4:30. 234 miles i think. 
Into garage and what do you know i'm parked next to Scorpionbowl and Florida Snowman. We hit the outdoor pool and hotbtub and have a few drinks. The Snow is starting. Nice time outdoors in the water on way up to room we take a side tour for some photo ops. Time to get changed, dinner is 8:30. I run up to see mr Scorpionbowl and we have a drink and discuss plans for retirement. We have a drink (thanks for the beer my friend) and discuss how if we had to be stranded it might as well be here.
Off to the Dinner of a lifetime. Two Words "Tomahawk Ribeye"  yes please. (Cue the pics Playhard) get you some of that.
The way the wind is blowing and with the amount of snow forecast. Let's just say we shall see. 
The Curse is real. 
Will we make it to Shawinigan tomorrow? Bonne Question. I'm not a betting man, if i was, hmmmmm odds are not favorable. 

At the breakfast buffet don't forget to try the meat pie.  Yea it is a bad name to us U.S. folks but is is mild sausage in a pie shell.  Yummy!
Jack & Sandi

Sadly, we are now back home. Had a wonderful stay at the Universal.....didn't get into any of the Sexy Red referenced by others in this thread earlier but did put a pretty good dent in the EXP Syrah stock over our 3 dinners at the Universal. Speaking of that they serve the holy grail of breakfasts in the morning there as well....eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, yogurt, fruit, crepe, tourtiere, beans, toast and the ever mysterious creton. All delicious!
Was our first time riding on that side of the river. Trails were awesome all 3 days. Will definitely be back. Still some good riding out there if your looking for somewhere to go.
Cheers
Gowser.
  

The map is so green because the Canadians are honoring the Irish this week!    And after St Paddy's Day ➩  
I've noticed some trails don't show groomed but actually have been.  I've seen this up at Lac St Jean and also around RDL.  My understanding is the groomers have beacons that are picked up by the FCMQ and that is how it is determined what trails are groomed and hence color the map.  If that is the case, maybe the signal from the beacon from the groomer isn't always received by the FCMQ.  I've seen trails on the map that show white in the morning and we have been on them a few hours later and they were recently groomed.  Just a thought.
Trails that are wide and gentle tend to stand up better to traffic than trails that are narrow and have a lot of turns and elevation changes.  The off and on the throttle creates the bumps.
Jack & Sandi

Just want to pass on some tips about staying in Riviere du Loup.
If you stay often at the Universal Hotel, sign up for reward points. I get about three free days each season based on points.
If you get massages at the Universal Spa, get the frequent flyer card. Took me quite a few years, but every tenth massage is free.
Universal Spa: outdoor hot tubs, sauna, massages, etc.
Funnest restaurant in town: La Cage au Sports on a hockey game night (and best burger in Quebec and best Poutine in Quebec)
Best restaurant in Town: Levesque Hotel (bring the wife type place)
Best wine in town: Hotel Levesque  Best Chardonay ever, and be sure to have the 'Sexy Bomb Wine'  
Rainy Day Visits: SkiDoo shop, Polaris shop, lunch at RDL sled clubhouse, old section of RDL (very mini Quebec City, full of ice sculptures), Indoor mall (known for upcoming                   women's styling trends).
Best Trail:  #35  section east of Squatec along river in Zek for about 35 miles
Best Clubhouse: Tie: Pohenegemook (place with two arches on #35) and Hibioux on #5, Honorable mention: Explorateurs on #526 at end of RR bed #35
Best trail Restaurants: New place in Squatec (unk name, awesome frites) and place on lake on #571 outside St. Pamphille (unk name) great burger, nice decor
Best Shortcut: Right on 526 behind Universel, Thru the Mikerider's Memorial Tunnels, and keep making lefts on the Mikerider's Beltway to trail #5
mike