revct1

Hi Everyone, Just want to say, I'm in RDL once again. Sandi isn't with me this trip but JAK and I will be riding together. I have to get ready to go ride but I wanted to say, I got the prize at the border this trip, the random covid test kit. It isn't too bad. I did the test last night online like a zoom call. I'll go into detail tonight when I get back in. Don't let the fear of the random test scare you. It is just another hoop to jump thru. We can do it. Jack and no Sandi. She will be with me next trip. Nothing serious. Jack

Hi RR, This year it might be whacky. If you cross the border into Maine, Quebec would probably want a Covid test before you were allowed back into Quebec. You could go Province to Province but I'd be reluctant to go to the States. Jack & Sandi

We wish you the best. Don will need a "break" from house work 6 weeks from now. Jack & Sandi

I'm looking at the trail map to see today's ride. We were going to get gas at the Irving station halfway down Pohenegamook but decided to stay on 35 and get gas at the other gas station at the bottom of Pohenegamook. I've never been to it. It is 5 miles off of trail 35. Easy enough to follow the trail. It's another Irving. Looking at the map, to my surprise, we were 1,500' from the Maine U.S. border. The border runs down the middle of the river along the side of road, Highway 289. I've always known we were close to the U.S. but didn't realize it was that close. Jack & Sandi

We made it a short ride today. This morning it was -26C. This afternoon, after it warmed up, it was -20C, -4F. Yea it was chilly out riding today. I wonder what the wind chill was at say 60 MPH? We went out 5 to the little connector to 526 and went to Pohenegamook via 544. We got on 35 and rode to Louis du Ha Ha. There we took 85, 544 and 44 back to the Universal. It was cold on 85, the railbed. The sleds love making the horsepower on these cold days but you really feel the temps when the speed goes up. The snow dust just hangs in the air. The caboose rider in the train sees nothing but white all day. Sorry Joe! The trails are fine. They are like sidewalks with it being so cold. Even trails that haven't been groomed in a few days, don't show much for wear. No traffic and low temps, the trails stay pretty smooth. The hotel is almost empty. I don't know how many rooms are occupied but I don't think there has been more than a dozen vehicles here at any one time. I remember past years that it would be tough to get your snowmobiles near your room. Now you can put your truck, trailer and sleds all next to each other and not be in anyone else's way. I hope this restaurant shut down doesn't last too much longer. It must be awful tough on the businesses. We are grateful to the ones that have been able to stay open and understand why some just can't. So many of the relais are locked up. It would be nice if they were allowed to open with 50% capacity. You can go in and order, wait inside with a mask but then eat outside? Some day it will be over. Tomorrow we head to Connecticut. We will be back at the Universal Jan 23rd, Sunday night. We hope to see more riders then. Be safe. Jack & Sandi

Joe is right. The trails are fine. Yesterday we went up 5 to Rimouski and back 35 to Squatec. Around Rimouski the trails were a little chatter but this is compared to super smooth for all of the other trails we were on yesterday. A little chatter describes you could feel the trail. The other trails were like riding on a cloud. Fresh groomed with 2-3 inches of powder and very little traffic. Some of the trails we made the first tracks. There are drawbacks this year as Joe pointed out but the trails are fine. Our last day of riding is today. Tomorrow Sandi and I head back to CT. Jack & Sandi

Enjoy the ride. We will be reading. Jack & Sandi

Like Jak said, food is take out only. You can get room service from the hotel restaurant at Universal. I imagine the other hotels are the same. The delivery cars have been here, St Hubert, Pizza, etc. The hotel is empty now but the front desk told me they were busier towards the end of January. Jak, Sandi and myself went out for a ride yesterday. We went by 3 or 4 relais, all closed. I think some maybe open on weekends but again, inside no food. Maybe take out to your sled? Not what we are used to. As far as conditions are, the trails are in very good shape. The groomers are out. There are a few thin spots like near the river but nothing to be concerned about. All of yesterday we saw maybe 10 sleds. 6 of them were at Relais Chevalier des Frontieres. That is the one on 35 with the single arch and drag strip. We couldn't go inside, closed. Just taking a break. Gas stations are open. Grocery stores are open. You do have to wear a mask everywhere unless you have your helmet on. Make sure you have your mask on when you cross the border too. Jack & Sandi

Thanks Dave. We got in a little while ago and got in touch with Joe. Glad you guys had a good ride. Hi Mike. It looks good up here. Not a ton of snow but more than what was up at the Sag a couple of weeks ago. The groomers have been out. We are waiting for Joe to come over and give us an update. The ride up in the truck was good other than freezing out there. -15F on the top of Sheffield Mountain, VT. A few snow flurries on the way too. Crossing the border was fine. A couple of questions (all good) about what we were going to do for food since the restaurants are closed. We pack food now. Jack & Sandi

Hi Dave, I'm glad to hear Joe Jak made it. Sandi and I are leaving CT tomorrow am. We have been boosted and tested and we are ready to go. We will see you tomorrow night or Wednesday morning. We are bringing supplies (food, Advil, drinks). Jack & Sandi

Hi Dave, Keep posting the great conditions. We are heading to RDL Jan 11th. Thanks for the pics and info. Jack & Sandi

Good article. Lets hope they are correct in that this surge will drop off as quickly as it came. Jack & Sandi

Hi Jay. I sleep like that on my good side. I tried it with the bad shoulder and the shoulder just doesn't fold up the same. I think the arthritis is preventing it from bending all the way. I'll see what doc says next week. Jack

I just looked at the grooming map. A lot of activity here. If the snow comes towards the end of the week, some of the ugly stuff will disappear. Happy trails.

Hi Steve, we were on Kenogami yesterday. Many tracks on it. No signs of wet spots anywhere that we were at. We ran the tip of the lac for 83 to Relais Grenouille. RR & Je me souviens, thanks. Part of snowmobiling is sharing it. Maybe I was able to put a smile on someone's face. Northbound, we will be at the Delta. You can tell us about your boat adventures. SnomoGary, you and Pat will have the most hoops to jump thru to get here. I know Pat is nervous but has it all under control. You on the other hand are sitting back, waiting for the "Come on Gary, we will be late!" To everyone else, thanks for following along. Jack & Sandi

It is. It went from Scooby Raid to Mt Vilain. You can see the signin the photo. Jack & Sandi

We are having breakfast in our room again. I guess we have to get used to the new norm. Bring your Danish and donuts. A little chilly today, -18̊ C. Dress warm Sandi. Our last day. We won't make it too long. We have to pack up tonight. Lets stay on the south side of the Saguenay River. Out to 83 and turn right. We are heading to the Delta. The few centimeters of snow covered up some of the snirt but not all. 83 was groomed last night. We stop at the Delta and we make reservations for the week of Feb 6th and the week of Feb 20th. I know February will be busy so I want to get our room now. That is done and we continue on 83 west. Some good some bad. Some clean white snow and some snirt. All in all the trail isn't too bad for early in the season. It will only get better as more snow falls. We get to Relais Grenouille at the top of Kenogami and the groomer has just made a pass. There aren't any tracks on the trail yet. Go Sandi. Follow the groomer towards St Bruno. At first the trail is fine but as we get into the fields, we realize how thin the snow is here. Well smooth snirt is better that rough snirt I suppose. Lets keep going. 10 miles and we are at the south end of St Bruno. The groomer kept on going but we have to decide. If we continue up thru Alma and get on 93, we will have to take that bad section thru St Charles or we can turn around. Lets turn around. We know what it is and its OK. A u-turn and back to the Relais Grenouille where we pick up 83. Across the top of Lac Kenogami. A few sleds here and there. Not a lot of traffic. Still on the cool side but a nice day for riding. We pass the Delta and head back to the Sag. We turn left onto the spur and as we cross the railroad tracks and round that first turn looking at the back of the Ultramar, we see a lot of emergency vehicles at the intersection of 175. Slow down Sandi. What is that? A vehicle on it's side, in the parking lot to the right of the Ultramar. The color of the vehicle is safety green. That's an ambulance Sandi! Wow! The ambulance appears to have been heading into Chicuotimi with the Ultramar to its right. There must have been a vehicle or two in the intersection or pulling into the intersection and with nowhere for the ambulance to go. Avoiding the intersection, the ambulance went to the right and then rolled over on its side into the parking lot. Hopefully there isn't a fatality. Traffic is backed up and the power is out to the businesses. Wow! Back at the Sag, we park the sleds for the night. It was good to be riding again since covid closed everything down last season. We hit some good trails and some not so good trails. Changes have been made to the trails but that happens every year. I hope the restaurant take out only mandate is lifted before the end of the season. Like MikeRider said, the social life is a big part of snowmobiling. Until then, we will have to bring our food and drink and have small gatherings in our rooms. Maybe we will see you in RDL Jan 11th. Take care of each other. Jack & Sandi

I'm not sure how the other States post appointments for the Covid testing. CT does it one week in advance. Since we are heading back to Quebec Jan 11th, I wanted to make sure we got appointments in time. I went on Walgreen's website yesterday and Jan 9th appointments weren't open yet. 4 AM today, viola, there they are. Sandi and I have two appointments for Jan 9th in Enfield! Yea. We don't have to drive an hour to North Haven this time. Plan ahead for all the prep work, the Covid testing and the ArrivCan site or app. As far as I know, the Covid testing is free. Make an appointment and get tested before you have to. Sandi's first test failed because the test tube leaked. Go thru the ArrivCan site and then you can delete it or cancel it at the end. Sandi didn't make the first trip because her test failed. I was turned away on my first attempt because I didn't have all my ducks in line. I didn't finish ArrivCan. It didn't ruin a snowmobile trip because I was just making a day trip to bring the sleds up. If it was a snowmobile trip, we would have had to cancel everything. The season is too short to chance missing a trip to snow country. Be safe. Jack & Sandi

Good morning Gemma, Thanks for the info. I think that will be part of our travel package from now on. The Ibuprofen we have is old and didn't do anything. I guess the expiration date does mean something. I'm seeing my shoulder doctor Monday. I know he isn't going to do any surgery but at least have him take a look at it. He x-rayed it last year and said it wasn't ready for a replacement at that time. If he does another x-ray, he can compare images. Jack & Sandi

I know I have been in the ditch. What happened to this guy is the exact same thing that happened to me about 15 years ago. I was by myself. As I approached a road crossing, I stayed to the right and the snow collapsed from under me and the sled. I was four feet deep in the culvert. A pick up truck stopped with a tow strap and popped me up out of the ditch. My boots were full of water but luckily it wasn't a cold day. I was on my way to Motel Bernieres. Appreciation knows no language barriers. Jack & Sandi

Great reporting RR. Good riding for Lac Etchemin area in December. Looks like there is good snow cover in the hills on Gaspe. Lets hope the border stays open and the snow stays on the ground. Jack & Sandi

Its still a little sore but the Tylenol has taken a lot of the pain away. And, I can sleep at night.

What should we do this morning? The restaurant is take out only. Lets have some of the instant oatmeal in a pouch. A little hot water and some of that 35% heavy cream Sandi found. None of that light duty 10% stuff. If the snowmobiles command 91 octane, I can certainly command 35% fat in my heavy cream. Yum yum! ☺️ Not much was groomed last night but that was expected for the holiday. We can't expect the groomers to work 24 / 7. On the sleds and out of the hotel. At 83 we turn right. Lets go north of the river Sandi. We cross the two bridges and turn right onto 134. About half way to the junction with 93, Hydro Quebec is installing another set of power line towers. These things are massive when they are lying on the ground. They are big standing up but lying on the ground you see how huge they actually are. We get to 93 and turn left. This has been closed for a few years. Lets see where it goes. It follows the same route it did many years ago. A few miles in and the trail crosses a river with a lot of fast running water and water falls. You would recognize it. The trail conditions are good. Before it gets to the potato field in St Ambroise, the trail turns right. We follow this along and at the next junction is where we were yesterday coming back from Relais des Lacs / Begin. It runs along with the VTT trail. Don't stay on 93 Sandi. We will end up in that bad stuff at St Charles. Sandi turns right towards the north end of the potato field. All nice riding. Oh, did I mention it is mild today with light snow. It looks so pretty. The snow is sticking to the helmet shield. I have to wipe the snow off with my glove every mile or so. Keep going Sandi we are doing good. We turn left onto 328 heading towards Begin. 328 is fine up to Begin. The trail that goes north from Begin to Lamarche and ScoobyRaid is closed. There are tracks on the old trail but two big stakes in the shape of an "X". We carry on and 328 gets pretty rough. We were on it yesterday and it is only worse today. Slow down and tough it up for the next 7 or 8 miles. Finally we are at the junction with 554 just a stones throw from Relais des Lacs. Time to take a break. We look at each other. That wasn't much fun. We turn right staying on 328. A little improvement now. We get around the lac and the trail gets better. We are approaching the blueberry fields and they are almost always good. Today is no exception. This is more like Quebec. Too bad we had 10 miles of bumps to get here. Just cruising along. The snow is still falling. It has covered up some of the ugly stuff that has been on the trails. Looking and feeling more like winter. We make our way over to L'Ascension. The Sonerco gas station is open. I figured it would be. It is on a main road. Choices. Continue on towards Alma and pick up 93. That means going thru that horrible section at St Charles. I wonder how the ice crossing would be. It has been cold but why bother chancing it and then have to put up with St Charles' bumps. We turn around and head back the way we came in. No surprises this way. It is still snowing. A few centimeters have accumulated. Not a lot but every little bit helps. Thru the blueberry fields with smiles on our faces. We get to Relais des Lacs and stop. OK Sandi. Time to beat ourselves up for a few miles. Bump after bump. We go by the farm that is about half way to Begin. Not too much further. Keep going. At Begin we stop and agree, that is behind us now. It may not be pristine ahead of us but it certainly won't be any worse. The trail continues to get better as we approach the big fields before St Ambroise. Instead of going back the way we came in this morning, we stay on 93 to St Ambroise, Le Geant Trailer. Distance wise there isn't much difference whether we go thru St Ambroise or head towards St Honore and take 134 thru Pickle Park. At the end of the scrubby pines, the trail turns right and runs the edge of the road for a 1/4 mile or so. As we approach where the trail goes to the left back into the woods, a sled is stopped on the side of the road. We slow down and take a look. Oh oh. There is a big two up sled in the ditch. He was heading north towards St Ambroise and slid into the drainage ditch along the edge of the road. I get off my sled and myself and the two French men are tugging and pulling trying to get this beast to move. We hook up two tow straps to my snowmobile and the other snowmobile and try to pull the one out of the ditch together. No luck. The two upper is half on its side. One guy takes a shovel and starts digging out around the sled. He gets enough snow removed for us to muscle the sled back on its track. We point it parallel with the road and one of the guys gets on the sled and manages to get it moving. He runs along the ditch for 100' and then pops back up on the road. Yea! Success! I don't know why Sandi decided to go that way but we did our good dead for the day. A couple of high fives and all of us are on our way. A few more miles and we are back home at the Sag. Its still snowing and the wind is picking up. The temp is forecast to drop tonight. That is fine. We will be tucked into our nice warm bed. One more day of riding and then back in the truck. Jack & Sandi

Looking at the groomer's map, it does show the changes in the trails. 93 west from St Ambroise takes a southern turn to St Charles. That was the very rough fresh cut trail yesterday. 93 east from St Ambroise used to go due north to 328 thru the potato field. Now it goes east and then comes back to the 328 junction. I didn't look close enough the other day. The lookouts at Mt Valin are in red. Does anyone know if they are closed? Jack & Sandi

It was a quiet night here for New Year's Eve. No young ones running up and down the hall. No partying adults until the wee hours of the morning. There are trucks and trailers in the yard but not much for cars. It is strange. I was worried about getting my truck near the room so I could plug the block heater in. Ha, plenty of room. I could park it sideways and not interfere with anyone else. We are leaving Monday morning and the forecast is for -27̊ C. The two tents are here for the snowmobiles. The front desk had me sign a waiver this year so I would not hold the hotel liable if something happens to the snowmobiles while they are in the tent. Hmm? I remember firewoman Sandi waking me up a few years ago when there was smoke and fire at 2 AM. Some equipment was lost but it could have been a lot worse if it spread to the other tents and then the trucks. I don't even want to imagine it. Thanks Sandi. The forecast is mild today -3̊ C then dropping to -17̊ C tonight. A couple of cm of snow. The forecast is showing more snow for the end of the week. Jack & Sandi