snowfarmer

So Wednesday night we are Sante Plein -Air in Pohengamook . We all forgot to take photos of this place but it's very nice. They have three and five bedroom log houses to rent . Well equipped and very nice. We have dinner in the dining room it's just us. Well the food was outstanding. The duck pizza and wings were fantastic! So we had to ride our sleds up to the dining room I never gave it much thought but my sled temp reach 125 degrees on that 1500 foot ride. Well it does the same thing back. I never really looked all day at the temp gauge because we were riding powder . So Thursday I go to load up Nora's sled the battery's dead and I've lost the tool package along the way so I have to find the maintenance shed to see what I can get for tools to get the seat off. I also check my overflow bottle on the 850 and it's empty so off to the store to get antifreeze. I get the tools and the antifreeze and get Nora going next me. Well , crap fill the bottle but antifreeze is leaking out the bottom of the sled but where? This is where Sans Plein Air shined . There was a language problem but they got on the phone and started to make calls but unfortunately no dearler had time or a free trailer to pick me up. Also no one could guarantee that they could even look at it. So we are at 10 o'clock and they don't have the kitchen open today but they call call in the cook to make us breakfast while we plan out what to do. Funny thing is while I'm eating breakfast I get a call from BPR and I think holy Sh@" what great service . How do they know I'm broke down! Well it was a lady from head office and I say wow this is great service what dealer called you? She says what do you mean im calling doing a survey on how you like your new 850 and what other accessories could we offer you. Well I said you are not calling on a good day to ask me that!!! Any way she try's to help but we have already called all the dealers she suggests. 
So I don't want to get trailered back and I know our next stop looks really nice and it has a steak house and I don't want to miss that! So I figure let's go for it and if it over heats in the first five minutes I'll head back and the rest goes on. I lower the scratchers and put Nora ahead of me to chew up the trail because she is fresh groomed and hard packed .I pay attention attention to the temp gauge the first ten miles she stays below 150 has long has o keep it under 50 mph . We are on the 35 railroad bed so it's hard to do . When she reaches 175 I pull over and add coolant. I do this all day and the next day too. About every 15 miles I do this . This sled ran on Ram antifreeze, no name what ever I could buy and store in my saddle bags. We got to our destination on Thursday and it was a good place. The sister hotel to the new one in Thetford Mines . The hotel was in Scott near Saint Marie . Beautiful place large rooms,  king beds and a great steak house. They also have 2 bedroom cottages with a pull out sofa you can rent. Dinner was in the steakhouse and the cook over wood charcoal . 

The third day was to RDL and this area would be a first for me. It was an IB day as Bill would say . Clear, cold , sunny and every groomed to perfection. Took 5 all the way . Made a quick trip of it to RDL so Nora and I took a little tour around . I can see why Mike loves this area! Wide trails , nice relais and great grooming! On Wednesday we woke to fresh snow and knew we would have a great ride to our next destination of Lake Pohenegamook. We took the side trails made a nice loop and pretty much broke trail all day . It was perfect!

The first day we headed to Montmagny on a variety of trails all good , fast and well groomed. We stayed at a place on trail 5 just east of Montmagny that we had past on our first trip and thought it would be a good place to try. It's called Auberge Le Petit Manoir ( its on the iMotoneige17 map) . The place is a two hundred year old house that was dismantled and moved twenty miles to its new home on the golf course by its owner Gino . Gino is a great guy and try's to make your stay the best he can! He sold his first beer in 2013. There are four bedrooms , dining area with a wood stove and a bar. The food is homemade , delicious and plentiful! The place is very reasonably priced at like 65$ a night per person with all meals! You can't beat it.

This trip was one of the more stressful trips that I've put together due to The impending farmers strike . It was then it was off , places canceled , area change , then we ended up staying with our first plan and I'm glad that I did. We are home now , I was sick for the first part of the trip and almost bailed but didn't. So daily reports weren't an option because I just wanted to eat and go to bed. It was well worth sticking out ! I will tell you that all the trail conditions were great ! So with that being said this will be mainly a picture sriryvwith a little commentary. This trip is with three couples  , Nora and myself , Rob and Sherri who did the Quebec trip last year with us and Giff and Gail . When planning this trip mileage wasn't much  of a concern but we wanted good food and nice accommodations. We arrived early on Sunday at Lac William and decided to take a little tour around the area for lunch. All the trails had pretty much been groomed the night before so we made a quick trip of it and got back to the hotel to enjoy what it had to offer.
to be cont

This is a map of some of the loop we will be doing. In many areas we will use Team Maines own tracks as Rob has several different route options developed. We begin tomorrow.
RR

Our Cote Nord/ Lab loop trip starts this coming Wednesday. I plan to get a few picks and adventure reports on when we can. 
The itinerary looks like this, but certainly subject to change based on weather, mechanical and snow and ice conditions.
We have 8 guys going on this trip, 3 from Maine, 2 New Hampshire (603 backcountry),  1 from Mass, 1 Nova Scotia, 1 from Lab.
Feb 22 Wed  Depart Forestville for Sept Isle
Thurs Sept Isle for Havre St Pierre
Friday Havre to Chevery
Sat Chevery to Lance au loop Lab
Sun Lance to Mary's Harbor
Monday Mary's to Cartwright
Tuesday Cartwright to Goose Bay
Wed. Goose to Churchill
Thurs  Churchill to Lab City
Friday/Sat Visit in Lab
Sun Gabriel or Port Carter
Monday Forestville
 
Hoping for favorable weather, mechanical and riding conditions for sure! 
Happy Trails
RR
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Left Real Masse at 8:30am. 
Fresh groomed and white asphalt. Today was gonna be much different than yesterday. The clubs have had time to catch up from the weekend onslaught. They are catching up on the grooming and things are shaping up. 
We head up and take a perfect 350 east its love. And then to 349 just as sweet. And to 23 again just great. This is awesome. 23 is great all the way to the River in Shawinigan. We cross the River and continue on 23 up and into St. Tite. All good. We cruise on into Lac Aux Sables and stop for a quick top off of gas. We continue on and after Lac Aux Sables 23 is rerouted this year and thus part is bad. Really rough, not groomed in a long time. We soldier on to join the 302/23. It is much better now. We run the 302/23 to 353. 353 is just dreamy. Really nice. We run it up and then right turn down 23 and surprise its perfect. Down to join 3 and go 3 east. Its also in great shape. Been awhile since i been on 3 this far east. Near here. Its looking good and we go. We continue on and take 73 up and to St Raymond. This 73 is in need of some love. Not too great compared to what we saw elsewhere. Up to Gas on 23 next to Roquemont. It's 4:30 too early to stop now. Up 23 and this trail is good too. We go to the Relais and take the Local Orange trail back up toward Rivere a Pierre. This is a real gem. Fresh groomed. I'm thinking the groomer is up here he has to be in front of me. Sure enough just over halfway up he is here taking a break. We sneak on by. Thus trail is in great shape. He is grooming a perfect trail. Hey no problem. We head on up and join 73 then down to Rivere a Pierre. At the road crossing is some action. Flashing lights....SQ and Tansport Quebec directing traffic. Uh oh...
on closer inspection we got a bad accident here. At the road crossing to go to Rivere a Pierre. Car vs Sled. Mazda 3 vs an Apex or Venture, hard to tell from what was left. Car smashed and into the snowbank, sled mangled and in the right lane several hundred feet from crossing, this was some impact. I have learned there were 2 on the sled a man 75 years old has survived, his wife i believe was 80 years old and did not survive. RIP. The SQ were doing the accident reconstruction. We took this opportunity to show Nick the consequences of what can happen. Sad. 
Onward we take a fast 73 railbed back and into Roquemont at 6:15. 
No 300 for the boy again he needs to settle for 260.
Windigo Tomorrow.
 

Sunset Pier....Key West, Florida

hi stan...phil...jeff and sandy !!!!
 
like those night pics when trees are full of snow !!! great mood !!!
little reminder from a friend.....early morning gaspesian traffic jam.....at the bottom of the hill  next to gas station where i park the machine !!!
very quick run...trail was still in good shape....and not much pics...light was very poor ,so , i did nt stop much !!! saw the first sled in ste marguerite on my way back !!!
always call the waitress after every runs ....took a nap ...did nt hurt ...ahha
local trails tomorrow !!!!
 
had dinner with jeff and sandy last night ...many thx !!!
and mikerider and brandon stopped to say  hello !!!
 
jean-guy

So Wednesday night we are Sante Plein -Air in Pohengamook . We all forgot to take photos of this place but it's very nice. They have three and five bedroom log houses to rent . Well equipped and very nice. We have dinner in the dining room it's just us. Well the food was outstanding. The duck pizza and wings were fantastic! So we had to ride our sleds up to the dining room I never gave it much thought but my sled temp reach 125 degrees on that 1500 foot ride. Well it does the same thing back. I never really looked all day at the temp gauge because we were riding powder . So Thursday I go to load up Nora's sled the battery's dead and I've lost the tool package along the way so I have to find the maintenance shed to see what I can get for tools to get the seat off. I also check my overflow bottle on the 850 and it's empty so off to the store to get antifreeze. I get the tools and the antifreeze and get Nora going next me. Well , crap fill the bottle but antifreeze is leaking out the bottom of the sled but where? This is where Sans Plein Air shined . There was a language problem but they got on the phone and started to make calls but unfortunately no dearler had time or a free trailer to pick me up. Also no one could guarantee that they could even look at it. So we are at 10 o'clock and they don't have the kitchen open today but they call call in the cook to make us breakfast while we plan out what to do. Funny thing is while I'm eating breakfast I get a call from BPR and I think holy Sh@" what great service . How do they know I'm broke down! Well it was a lady from head office and I say wow this is great service what dealer called you? She says what do you mean im calling doing a survey on how you like your new 850 and what other accessories could we offer you. Well I said you are not calling on a good day to ask me that!!! Any way she try's to help but we have already called all the dealers she suggests. 
So I don't want to get trailered back and I know our next stop looks really nice and it has a steak house and I don't want to miss that! So I figure let's go for it and if it over heats in the first five minutes I'll head back and the rest goes on. I lower the scratchers and put Nora ahead of me to chew up the trail because she is fresh groomed and hard packed .I pay attention attention to the temp gauge the first ten miles she stays below 150 has long has o keep it under 50 mph . We are on the 35 railroad bed so it's hard to do . When she reaches 175 I pull over and add coolant. I do this all day and the next day too. About every 15 miles I do this . This sled ran on Ram antifreeze, no name what ever I could buy and store in my saddle bags. We got to our destination on Thursday and it was a good place. The sister hotel to the new one in Thetford Mines . The hotel was in Scott near Saint Marie . Beautiful place large rooms,  king beds and a great steak house. They also have 2 bedroom cottages with a pull out sofa you can rent. Dinner was in the steakhouse and the cook over wood charcoal . 

The third day was to RDL and this area would be a first for me. It was an IB day as Bill would say . Clear, cold , sunny and every groomed to perfection. Took 5 all the way . Made a quick trip of it to RDL so Nora and I took a little tour around . I can see why Mike loves this area! Wide trails , nice relais and great grooming! On Wednesday we woke to fresh snow and knew we would have a great ride to our next destination of Lake Pohenegamook. We took the side trails made a nice loop and pretty much broke trail all day . It was perfect!

The first day we headed to Montmagny on a variety of trails all good , fast and well groomed. We stayed at a place on trail 5 just east of Montmagny that we had past on our first trip and thought it would be a good place to try. It's called Auberge Le Petit Manoir ( its on the iMotoneige17 map) . The place is a two hundred year old house that was dismantled and moved twenty miles to its new home on the golf course by its owner Gino . Gino is a great guy and try's to make your stay the best he can! He sold his first beer in 2013. There are four bedrooms , dining area with a wood stove and a bar. The food is homemade , delicious and plentiful! The place is very reasonably priced at like 65$ a night per person with all meals! You can't beat it.

This trip was one of the more stressful trips that I've put together due to The impending farmers strike . It was then it was off , places canceled , area change , then we ended up staying with our first plan and I'm glad that I did. We are home now , I was sick for the first part of the trip and almost bailed but didn't. So daily reports weren't an option because I just wanted to eat and go to bed. It was well worth sticking out ! I will tell you that all the trail conditions were great ! So with that being said this will be mainly a picture sriryvwith a little commentary. This trip is with three couples  , Nora and myself , Rob and Sherri who did the Quebec trip last year with us and Giff and Gail . When planning this trip mileage wasn't much  of a concern but we wanted good food and nice accommodations. We arrived early on Sunday at Lac William and decided to take a little tour around the area for lunch. All the trails had pretty much been groomed the night before so we made a quick trip of it and got back to the hotel to enjoy what it had to offer.
to be cont

The Tamarack is open again?

Hi Terry.  The trip is turning out great.  What a season.
This morning we have a change in cast.  Farmer Old and Michigan Rev have bid their farewells and are off on the black highway.  Have a safe trip guys.  Sandi and I are looking for volunteers to ride with.  Not everyone wants to ride "lady miles" but we find John and Ethan from CT that are willing to go with us.  They asked me to say hi to Sig who couldn't make it this trip.  We miss you Sig.
So with the new team we head off.  It looks good to the north.  383 to the two bridges and 134 it is.  About half way up 134, the groomer came out of the cul de sac on the left.  Good show.  At the junction with 93, the groomer stayed straight continuing on 134.  Guess which way we are going.  This part of 134 can be really nasty when it is drifted in but right after the groomer it is paradise.  It is relatively flat, nice turns and long straights.  Time to book.   Quick work of the 134 and we turn right on 328.  At 476 we stop and look.  328 isn't fresh groomed and either is 476 but 476 looks better and we are off to Onatchiway.  The lower part of this is twisty to say the least but Sandi loves it.  Sometimes I think she had power steering installed when I wasn't looking.  She is gone.  About eight miles into the 476 and it eases up and straightens out some.  The trail is in good shape.  Traffic has been on it but that gives the trail some texture for the carbides to grip.
We pull into Onatchiway for a short break.  Too early for lunch.  Mont Vilain would be a good choice for lunch.  Lets check out trail 484.
We get on the sleds and go to the edge of Onatchiway's parking lot and yes, it was groomed last night.  This will be good.  The four of us are off and running.  484 doesn't get used much and it is one of those really fun trails.  Not a high speed rail bed but you can get up a good pace and just lean back and forth thru the turns.  Before you know it we are dropping down onto the river and heading down the last stretch to Mont Vilain.
Wow.  For a Tuesday this place is has a lot of sledders.  It is just after noon and there are a lot of wide track utility type sleds here.  The locals that have their camps in the surrounding area are all here for lunch.  Another nice place for lunch.  We didn't beat the noon rush today so it takes a little longer for lunch.
After lunch we get back on Lac Tchitogama and head west to pick up trail 367.  This is more fun than running 367 thru the woods.

We get off the water and on 367.  Another fun trail with its gentle curves and rollers.  Off we go.  We work our way down to 328 and stop at the Sonerco in L'Ascension for gas.  We continue down 328 to 93 and on into Alma.  We are early and the trails are great so lets take a little detour and cross the river in Alma on 23.  We then get on local 563 which is great and then 562 and this isn't so great.  This has been drifted in overnight and is choppy.  OK we can put up with 8 miles of some bad stuff and we are on 383 and this is good again.  At Lac Kenogami we pick up 83 and scoot back to the Delta.  83 is fine other than the 500 meters that isn't getting groomed.  I haven't heard why but it must be a land use issue.  Back in the corral safe and sound.
One more day for this trip.  This is so much better than work.
Jack & Sandi

Saturday 11th.
Myself and limesqueezeaxys set out on a trip west starting in Maniwaki. Taking 63 e to 322 w and back to 63 w continued on to the 386 intersection and  lunch at La Verendrye Lodge. Then up the 386 to 83 and looking at the time we might as well make a small loop to north local orange across to 313 s to Val-d'or and the Forestel. 
As a reminder that 63 now drops down to La Verendrye Lodge and adds approx. 20mi to the past 63-386 intersection.
311mi.

1600 miles , at least you know if it starts to leak you can drive it. I put 300 miles with it leaking.(and extra antifreeze of course)

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)
 
 
 

The first day we headed to Montmagny on a variety of trails all good , fast and well groomed. We stayed at a place on trail 5 just east of Montmagny that we had past on our first trip and thought it would be a good place to try. It's called Auberge Le Petit Manoir ( its on the iMotoneige17 map) . The place is a two hundred year old house that was dismantled and moved twenty miles to its new home on the golf course by its owner Gino . Gino is a great guy and try's to make your stay the best he can! He sold his first beer in 2013. There are four bedrooms , dining area with a wood stove and a bar. The food is homemade , delicious and plentiful! The place is very reasonably priced at like 65$ a night per person with all meals! You can't beat it.

** Daves 850 update**
yup leaking at the water pump out the drain hole. My not to technical explanation . Leaking at the seal and when it does it leaks out this drain whole. So couldn't have been fix that day takes a couple of days for parts .  Plus he will have to lift the motor a bit to fix it. Will be up and running by Monday . Mike the mechanic is heading today to Tahoe for the 2018 skidoo show. 

So Wednesday night we are Sante Plein -Air in Pohengamook . We all forgot to take photos of this place but it's very nice. They have three and five bedroom log houses to rent . Well equipped and very nice. We have dinner in the dining room it's just us. Well the food was outstanding. The duck pizza and wings were fantastic! So we had to ride our sleds up to the dining room I never gave it much thought but my sled temp reach 125 degrees on that 1500 foot ride. Well it does the same thing back. I never really looked all day at the temp gauge because we were riding powder . So Thursday I go to load up Nora's sled the battery's dead and I've lost the tool package along the way so I have to find the maintenance shed to see what I can get for tools to get the seat off. I also check my overflow bottle on the 850 and it's empty so off to the store to get antifreeze. I get the tools and the antifreeze and get Nora going next me. Well , crap fill the bottle but antifreeze is leaking out the bottom of the sled but where? This is where Sans Plein Air shined . There was a language problem but they got on the phone and started to make calls but unfortunately no dearler had time or a free trailer to pick me up. Also no one could guarantee that they could even look at it. So we are at 10 o'clock and they don't have the kitchen open today but they call call in the cook to make us breakfast while we plan out what to do. Funny thing is while I'm eating breakfast I get a call from BPR and I think holy Sh@" what great service . How do they know I'm broke down! Well it was a lady from head office and I say wow this is great service what dealer called you? She says what do you mean im calling doing a survey on how you like your new 850 and what other accessories could we offer you. Well I said you are not calling on a good day to ask me that!!! Any way she try's to help but we have already called all the dealers she suggests. 
So I don't want to get trailered back and I know our next stop looks really nice and it has a steak house and I don't want to miss that! So I figure let's go for it and if it over heats in the first five minutes I'll head back and the rest goes on. I lower the scratchers and put Nora ahead of me to chew up the trail because she is fresh groomed and hard packed .I pay attention attention to the temp gauge the first ten miles she stays below 150 has long has o keep it under 50 mph . We are on the 35 railroad bed so it's hard to do . When she reaches 175 I pull over and add coolant. I do this all day and the next day too. About every 15 miles I do this . This sled ran on Ram antifreeze, no name what ever I could buy and store in my saddle bags. We got to our destination on Thursday and it was a good place. The sister hotel to the new one in Thetford Mines . The hotel was in Scott near Saint Marie . Beautiful place large rooms,  king beds and a great steak house. They also have 2 bedroom cottages with a pull out sofa you can rent. Dinner was in the steakhouse and the cook over wood charcoal . 

The third day was to RDL and this area would be a first for me. It was an IB day as Bill would say . Clear, cold , sunny and every groomed to perfection. Took 5 all the way . Made a quick trip of it to RDL so Nora and I took a little tour around . I can see why Mike loves this area! Wide trails , nice relais and great grooming! On Wednesday we woke to fresh snow and knew we would have a great ride to our next destination of Lake Pohenegamook. We took the side trails made a nice loop and pretty much broke trail all day . It was perfect!

This trip was one of the more stressful trips that I've put together due to The impending farmers strike . It was then it was off , places canceled , area change , then we ended up staying with our first plan and I'm glad that I did. We are home now , I was sick for the first part of the trip and almost bailed but didn't. So daily reports weren't an option because I just wanted to eat and go to bed. It was well worth sticking out ! I will tell you that all the trail conditions were great ! So with that being said this will be mainly a picture sriryvwith a little commentary. This trip is with three couples  , Nora and myself , Rob and Sherri who did the Quebec trip last year with us and Giff and Gail . When planning this trip mileage wasn't much  of a concern but we wanted good food and nice accommodations. We arrived early on Sunday at Lac William and decided to take a little tour around the area for lunch. All the trails had pretty much been groomed the night before so we made a quick trip of it and got back to the hotel to enjoy what it had to offer.
to be cont