viper2

Nice report JimP. It is amazing what they can do with the groomers out of LeCabanon. We came home from there last monday and some of the corners and trails esp. near St. Michel were pretty bad but Denis never gives up. I think he would go out and groom even he knew only one sled was going to ride.

RDL=Riviere Du Loup

Mid Range answered part of your question so I will try to get the rest. If you are heading from Chibougamau to Lac St. Jean area you must pass through LaDore. When you come to gas station at LaDore if you cross the street into the gas station parking lot then 93 goes out the back of the lot. If you want to tale the local (orange) trail to St. Felecian you would continue straight and not cross the road. (although you will want to get gas first) It is about the same distance within a few KM either way but the local trail runs more in the mountains and has better snow. Just be careful on the local trail not to jump on the ATV trail (#70) there is one spot where you have to make a left, if you go straight you will be on the ATV. Then when you come into the fields at St. Felecian you will hit the intersection with 373 and 93. Take 373 toward Roberval and St. Prime at this point the snow will be very thin, but go a few miles and look for an intersection in the middle of a field. You will want to make a right toward St. Hedgewich do not go straight to St. Prime. The snow will get better again pretty quickly and you go about 7 or 8 miles and you will hit 83. I would then run the 2.5 miles into St. Hedgewich(you will be making a left) for gas then come right back out to 83.

Yea we did have to pass by 2 sleds in the trough, they had to climb up the bank. I just wondered why it wasn't opened all the way into Balbuzard.

Jeff came home from there Monday, St. Michel a little thin then. Halfway to Repos it got good and plenty of snow after that. Trails were all good on 23rd from Lecabanon to Parent. From there to the 13 split is was a little rough from there to Clova was very nice. Next morning from Clova to Balbuzard was pretty rough esp. the last few miles before Balbuzard. Left Chib. on 27th. not bad to Ladore but needed to be groomed since it snowed. St. Hedgewich to Relay 22 was excellent, from there on 28th was good to Wemotaci then not too bad to 369 junction. Hey Martin why is it so bad just at Balbuzard?

When you leave town heading west you do have to run on the edge of the road for about a mile or so it's not great but but nothing to worry about, and of course crossing the 1 lane vehicle bridge has nothing on it as usual.

Thanks Alain, that means alot coming from you as your reports are always top notch. I have a few pics left here are some. An old trestle bridge on the abandoned rail bed from Lebel sur Quevillon to Chapais The trail was not groomed since the snow but still good. This is where things started going bad. My wife had stopped and said her temp. light had just come on, and I was concerned because with over 10,000 miles on her Vector and in all types of conditions this was the first time the light came on. If you look close in the foreground of her track you will see the antifreeze spot as she pulled away.

I just want to add you may have a problem leaving from St. Michel, I don't know where you are staying but it was pretty hammered there last weekend. We were parked at LeCabanon and there was def. more snow up there on the hill. If you don't want to park at LeCabanon maybe drive right to Repos. LeCabanon does have secure parking.

No problem lots of snow and no sand on roads just came through there last Sunday.

Scorpionbowl, Don't worry about about getting into Wemo, they now have a trail that runs pretty much aside of the road the whole way. Sometimes you still have to jump on the road for maybe a hundred feet to get around a stream or something but when we went through they had tons of snow and at that time the road was only plowed for the first few miles from town out. Didn't get a pic but they are building some huge building aside of the gas station. Maybe a casino Good luck on your trip and have fun.

I haven't been watching the weather since I got home, but as long as they didn't have a terrible warm up and it was going below freezing at night you should have plenty of snow. There were no bare spots at all in that area last week. If I were you I would check the weather and try to call some of clubs whose trails you will be riding on.

WOW those were some thin conditions revct1! Much better snow to the west, we were up last week and many areas have 3-4 feet and no brown yet. I would say Lac St. Jean is about done. We actually were going to head there on our trip from 2/22-2/28 but after watching the forcast we changed our itinerary. Now we get to dream of next winter.

Check out my report in the general section. We left LeCabanon on Tues. 23rd for a saddlebag trip and returned Sun. 28th. They had got about a foot of snow in that time period but the temps. were warm. The 318 close to St. Michel was pretty beat, but above Taureau toward Repos and anything north of there was good. I would call up to LeCabanon and ask, you may have to drive right to Repos if it stayed warm.

We did most of the same trails last week, glad to hear the conditions are holding up. I think it's now or never for anyone who's thinking about it.

Thanks groomer, the wolves seem to really be spreading in Quebec. Last year we saw 2 together in the fields outside of St. Felician and at the time we thought they were coyotes, but when we got to the spot where they were we realized just how far away they were when we saw them and also got to see their tracks and knew we had just seen wolves. A few years ago one crossed the trail in front of me above Létape near Mt. Apica. He stood broadside in the trail for a few seconds and the hair on the back of my neck stood up, what a sight. As for this guy after I took the first pic we waited a few minutes then I went up the trail slowly for about a mile and there he was still running. I would have liked to get a shot from the side but he probably would have taken a bite from my leg.

Good luck and have fun.

Glad to hear you guys made it back OK. We only had 1 minor problem, my wife's Vector had a problem with the TORS so we had to bypass it other than that it went good. Nice pics

More pics Entering Abitibi Amos area Another pic of the wolf More later :D

We call the road trail "R" They are done logging for the winter so they don't sand it anymore, in fact on Monday when we came back it had not even been plowed yet. Quick way from Repos to Kanawata only 35 miles!

Sorry I screwed up the captions I don't know why but I was deleting each picture after I posted it and when I did the edit it put everything at the bottom. I will do better next time. :wacko:

Here are some pics Just before Clova at intersection with Lepine Rd. Everyone trying to get a look at the wolf! A closer look at Mr. Wolf More later

Like dooright said Chez Marinou in LaTuque. If starting at relay 22 I would not be worried, no locked fence or anything but just pull the starter and fuel pump relays and be on your way. Not the type of place that sees alot of through traffic. As far as the route, as long as they don't get alot of sun or any rain you can pass by the west side of Lac St. Jean just watch the weather. I would def. stay on the local orange trails when you can. If you come down from Chib. to LaDore stay straight at gas station onto local trail (just watch you don't shoot onto the ATV trail #70) then when you get into St. Fel. to 373 go towards Roberval and at St. Prime make a right at the intersection in the field toward St. Hedgewich. I would reccommend running the 5kms into St. Hedgewich when you hit 83 so you have enough gas to get to Relay 22 without worry. It is about 80 miles from St. Hedge. to Relay 22

When you get to the gas station cross the RR tracks and make a left, the Tamarac is down there a few hundred yards on the right.

I know it would be alot more driving in the car, but the best conditions right now are in the Abitibi. I rode through St. Felician on Sat. afternoon and the fields were very thin, like 6"or less. Up in the mountains there is plenty of snow. You could leave from Latuque if you wanted or Relay 22. From relay 22 you could go to Senneterre then ride around the Abibtibi (93 is awesome) then head back the third day. Check my trip report for more details.

Just got back from 6 days of riding. We left tuesday morning from LeCabanon at St. Zenon, we headed down to Lac Taureau and took it to Canadventure where we picked up 33 north to Repos. From there we took trail R to Kanawata where we gassed up and headed to Casey then onto 83 west. Everything up to this point was good and 83 to Parent wasn't too bad. From Parent to 13 split it wasn't too good but after that it was as good as I have ever seen it. 270 miles for the day. We stayed at the Tamarac, Martin was a good host and he has a nice rustic place. Day 2: Clova to Amos It started pretty bad with the trail not groomed in quite a while. It was really narrow and rough just before Balbuzard, but past there it had been groomed and was pretty good to Lac Fallion. From there to Senneterre it was pretty good and Senneterre to Amos was excellent. 215 miles for the day, stayed at Amosphere which is really nice. Day 3: Amos to Matagami via LaSarre. 93 to LaSarre then 396 up to Matagami all trails were very good but the trail markings beyond LaSarre were almost non existant. Got gas at Beaucanton then at lumber camp Tembec which was 60 miles up the trail. This is the only gas before Matagami and is 84 miles from Matagami. It is strongly reccommended not to pass by. The trail goes right through camp, so you won't miss it. We came upon a Wolf on the trail about 25 miles before Matagami and he didn't want to leave the trail. We tried giving him time and a head start then we tried pushing him, finally I told my dad he should just try to pass the wolf. When he did the wolf tried to grab his leg, but then luckily he ran off the trail, I don't think my wife would have passed him. At times this thing was going about 18 MPH and we probably fooled around for 6 to 8 miles before we got around. I got a pic I will post later but it's not that great. 260 mi. for the dat stayed at motel Matagami. Day 4:Matagami to Chapais Took 396 down to Lebel Sur Quevillon where it started freezing drizzle. We headed up toward Miqueon and the rail bed was not groomed since it snowed. It wasn't bad but not as good as normal. Gassed there then headed toward Chapais. 1/2 way up railbed where Chapais club takes over the trail was groomed and was excellent. Looked like it was going to be an early quit and my wife was happy for that. We called ahead to outfitter JC Bou and made a reservation so we would be 15- 20 miles ahead for Saturday which we knew would be a long day. Just after we got off the rail bed disaster struck. My wife through a stud through her front heat exchanger, and till we figured it out we were at the Chapais club. While we were trying to get ahold of the dealer in Chib. a local guy came to our aide. His name is Steve and he went for his truck, he hauled my wife and her sled into town and we met them there. He led us to his house where we unloaded the sled and he took me to the auto parts store where I got some antifreeze and gas tank/radiator repair kit (the epoxy stick ) or as Steve called it "quickmetal" We went back to his house and he helped up perform the repair. We left the sled in his garage overnight then he showed us how to get to the motel. In the morning he met us for breakfast then we went to his house and filled the antifreeze, bled the system and luckily no leaks. I gave him some cash for his time which I had to twist his arm to take and promised to stop by the next time through town. These are the kind of people we constantly meet in Quebec and truly make for a great experience. If only we were all this giving. 225 miles for the day. Day 5: Chapais to Relay 22 miles from Chapais to barrier nord trail was good. From there to sawmill was not bad but not groomed since it snowed. After Scicerie 54 in the twistys it was poor not groomer for awile. Trail got pretty good at LaDore down to St. Felician but once we got out of the mountains and down in the fields it went from 3 feet of snow to about 6 inches of slush. Once we left St. Hedgewich trail was really good through park to relay 22. 305 miles for the day. Got to talk with Greg du Vermont at relay 22 but I didn't even realize it until the following morning when we were all leaving and I saw it on his saddlebag. Day 6: Relay 22 to LeCabanon via 83,369,33,318 83 west to Wemotaci was good, but when we left Wemo it was poor, so we jumped on the road (plenty of snow) and took it all the way to Casey where we gassed up and lunched at Petite Gare, nice place to stop and a good lunch. While we were there the passenger train went through heading toward LaTuque. The owner of the Auberge told us it goes from Montreal to Senneterre up one day down the next. From there we went through Kanawata and back down trail R to Repos then down 33 to Lac Taureau and onto 318 to LeCabanon. Trails near St. Michel DS were beat but they had got about a foot of snow while we were out thursday or friday? All in all good trails but a little too warm. Plenty of snow on 83 and anything north. Abitibi was excellent but from what I saw of Lac St. Jean I would stay away from there. General opinion from almost all the business owners up there is going to be an early quit this year only about a week or so yet. 1500 miles for the week, I have some pics and I will try to post tommorrow.