revct1

What a nice day. Joe and I left this morning with no big plan. Lets head east on 5. There was quite a bit of grooming last night. Sandi gave me the OK to take her sled, the new 2021 MXZ X 600. Remember we didn't ride at all last year. She wants me to soften it up. A few extra cheeseburgers helps to fatigue the springs a little. Off we go. Once again the trails are groomed and smooth. A little fluff from the overnight flurries. I've got Sandi's sled with the suspension set pretty soft. I notice its a little heavy in the handlebars. We get to the junction with trail 5 and I decide to put a little more pressure on the center shock to lighten up the front end. Off we go and it is better. This is starting to feel like her old MXZ. Riding along the front end does feel lighter. Of course the smooth trails makes the ride exceptional anyways. Joe and I swap sleds. I would like another opinion. Joe rides the MXZ from the former Relais Verte to Relias Trois Pistoles. A nice variety of trail from straight and fast to twists and turns in the woods. We stop at Relais Trois Pistoles. Joe gives his nod of approval. He said Sandi is lighter than him, yea, but her sled is good as is. We swap back and bail off of 5 and head down 571 towards Trois Pistoles. Another fresh groomed trail with an inch of fluff. Turn right on 518. FarmerOld was on this last week and said it was great! I haven't been on 518 in a long time. Boy I should take this more often. The less traveled path is sometimes the better one. Most people run 5. You got to get on some of the green and yellow trails once in awhile. They are many times the best kept local secrets. 518 is one of those secrets. It runs close to the river thru woods and farm land. Not much change in elevation but wonderful lefts and rights with a few camel backs. Lets run it Joe. The sky is clearing and it is warming up, -15 to -12C. The snow dust is in the air and we are moving. We get to St Eugene de Ladriere and there is a Crevier station. "How much gas you got Joe?" "About 3/4 of a tank. I'm good." A mile later and we are at trail 5 at Relais Moulin. I didn't realize how close this gas station was to 5. Remember that just in case. It looks like the relais is closed. I have an idea. I discuss it with Joe and he agrees. We turn right on 5 and start rolling. You can sure run the speed limit here on the power lines! 😁 I rarely see it this smooth. As Commander Cody would say about driving his hot rod Lincoln, "The telephone poles look like a picket fence!" My apologies to those of you that don't know that song. We get to Relais Trois Pistoles. "Joe, how are you doing on gas?" "Good. I can get 140-150 miles on a tank." "OK. We will have 140 miles at the next gas station." We continue on 5. A little over an hour later and we are at the gas station in RDL. Joe takes 34 liters and I take 32. Not a lot left in the tanks but we made it. We go to the Universal. Here is our lunch stop. Since the relais' are closed, we decided to go back to our rooms at the Universal for a lunch break. Something different heh. We both have a light lunch and watch a little TV. We are full, the snowmobiles are full and there is still plenty of daylight left. We are back on the sleds and heading west down local 45 that runs along the river and parallel to auto route 20. Another fine example of the yellow local trails that are superb. About 10 miles out and we get to the Shell station. Here you can cross over route 20 on the local auto road and hook up on trail 561 which we do. Once again, 561 does not disappoint. We run this to the merge with 5 and continue on. We turn right staying on 561. The trail just keeps getting better. We get to Relais Exploratuers and turn left onto 526. Stay straight on the local 44 to pick up 544. Like I said, these green and yellow trails can be the best. 544 takes us to 85 where we turn right for a couple of miles and then a left staying on 544. This is slightly longer than 85 but a different ride than the railbed. 544 breaks off to the right and we stay straight on local 44 to go back to 85 and ride it all the way back to the Universal. What a nice day. Forget about work and all those other things. Enjoy the ride! Tomorrow it is forecast to be cooler. A high of -19C. A few flurries falling out there now. More rigs in the lot too. Mostly Quebec and Ontario. I did see a couple of Massachusetts trucks. Until tomorrow, be safe and think about coming up here for some of the best riding in awhile. Jack

Thanks Jay. I sure hope that pans out. It would be so nice to take a lunch break during the day. Jack

Hi Jay, I'm at RDL this week. We will be going to the Delta Feb 7th for the week. Going to the Sag is the same as it has been. When we were there in Dec, the groomer hadn't made a pass at that time. Before we left, the groomer did come thru and filled in the gullies. Just follow the signs as in the past. The trail stops at the Sag. In past years it used to continue thru the back parking lots to Hotel Montagne. Have a good ride. The trails have been great this year and minimal traffic. Jack & Sandi

Hi Chris, I've only crossed on Rt 91 into Quebec. I would think it would be the same but maybe not. My test went to Laval near Montreal. Ontario would probably have a lab of their choice for processing. It would be interesting if you had an Ontario kit test positive but you were snowmobiling in Quebec. I'm sure Canada has an aswer. Cross wherever you normally would and let Canada figure it out. One last thing I forgot to mention. I asked Greg my test observer, What would happen if I just had my old flip phone? He said they have done the tests verbal only if that is all they have to work with. It is much easier with visual but they work with what they have. Jack

About the random border test. I got the random test kit at the border this trip. I was by myself. The Canadian border agent asked me a few more questions than usual and said I'm the lucky one, I get the random test. He gave me a box and said the info is inside. You need to perform the test within 24 hours. The agent was fine. No extra info from me because it is all in the computer from my passport and ArrivCan form. So when I arrived at the Universal in RDL Sunday 5 PM, I got on the Dynacare Covid testing border website. Keyed in info about me and the numbers on the test kit I was given. Then made an appointment which was in about 20 minutes, 6:30 pm that same night. The website listed me as "appointment pending". That sat on the screen until 7:00 pm. Then my appointment started. The first part of the appointment is automated with how to prep for the test. No surprises there. The test is the same as the NAAT or PCR test in the States. After I went thru the automated prep part, Greg came on the screen. It was kind of like a zoom call I guess. I haven't done these live things before. All of it was on my laptop. I'm told you can also do the test with your smart phone. So Greg, went over the procedure with me. The kit has the swab and test tube with the preservative liquid in it. You wash your hands first then swab each nostril with the tip in front of the computer. You put the swab in the test tube, break off the long end of the swab stick and close it up securely. The test tube is bagged in a zip lock "hazmat" marked bag and then that bag is placed in a courier pick up bag. My courier was Purolator. I don't know if Dynacare uses other couriers. I told Greg I was in a hotel and on vacation snowmobiling. I asked If I could leave the pick up bag at the front desk or do I have to be there when the courier arrives. Greg said leaving the bag at the front desk is fine. Note: There is a place in the Dynacare website form to put this type of info for the courier. Greg asked me to refrigerate the test sample overnight and leave the bag at the front desk in the morning. I did and the front desk said that they have done this before. I wasn't told that I have to quarantine or do anything else out of my normal routine while the test is being processed. The test results are going to be sent to my e-mail in 3-4 days. At that time I'll look at my e-mail and see the results. If the results are negative, no further steps to do. If the test is positive, then I would think I would have to quarantine and it might get a little more complicated. At that point, I would see if I could drive back to the border and return to the United States. I could do that without coming into contact with anyone. One self service gas station and I'm in the States. For me, the random border test was easy. Just one more hoop to jump thru so I can snowmobile. Like I said it is that same procedure as doing the test at I did at Walgreen's and CVS. Jack

I'll say today was a fine day of riding. Cool temps, great trails, no traffic and fantastic company, JAK and two of the GutZ guys. We went west on 5 then took the connector to 526 and to Relais Explorateurs (single arch). The trail was firm and smooth. We got on 35 west and this was even better. The railbed went by quick and before we know it we are at the junction with 557 that goes over the mountain. You know guys, 35 is good but look, 557 was groomed last night and there isn't a track on it yet. 557 it is and off we go. The first 20 miles is a nice mountain trail with gentle twists and turns as you climb in elevation. Beautiful! Then the trail is on a road for 15 miles. It doesn't get much better than this. Just cruising along, blue sky and sunshine. We can feel the heat from the sun thru the shield. Snow dust in the air behind us. The relais in St Pamphile is closed like most of the others. We continue on into town and gas up. U-turn back to the relais and left on 55. Another trail that was groomed last night. Wow. Perfect all the way up to 35. Turn right on and it is still groomed. We are making time now. The kilometers are ticking away. About 15 miles in and we are at the little connector that takes us up to 5. Off we go on the connector and then right on 5. A little choppy here but that is comparing 5 to what we were just on. 5 is still fine. We stay on 5 the rest of the way back to RDL. Quebec really knows how to take care of the trails. Thanks! Jack

Good to hear. One less item you have to deal with. See you soon. It has been a long two years. Jack & Sandi

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