Greasemonkey

I know we really don't have a choice, but, is the gas quality safe? I know there was some water issues at times.

TOO FUNNY. :D

I have to agree with you Sled Dog. I just got back from the LaTuque/ St. Michel area. Got down to -42. Out of 8 sleds in our group, the 5 Ski Doo E-Tech's started and the 3 Yamaha's didn't. I think the Yamaha's need some sort of decompression mechanism for cold starts.

Too bad. That was a nice pit stop, nice location. We use to like the Lumberjack Special dinner they served. Bringing up the subject of Cabana Hill reminds me of one of those "I'll never forget this time" stories. We were running late one night and still had to get back to LaGlacier. One of the sleds blew the rear clutch on the river. We were able to tow it to Cabana Hill. We went inside, explained what happened and wanted to know if we could leave it. Long story short, one of the women made a phone call and told us not to worry, help is coming. She tells us to tow it down to the road and someone will be there with a trailer and will fix the clutch for us. The guy shows up, doesn't speak a word of English, and motions us to load the sled on the trailer, which we did. The guy, along with the sleds owner go to his house, about a mile down the road, and the guy proceeds to rebuild the rear clutch, (new spring). While they were gone, we ate the most food 4 people could possibly eat. The ladies working there were laughing at how much food we ate. It was about 10:00pm by the time we were up and running again. That guy that fixed the sled didn't want a dime for his efforts! My buddy literally forced him to take a $100.00 bill. This was just one of the many, unique adventures, good or bad, that we snowmobilers always remember. Funny how 99% of the time, a resident Canadian or 2 is mentioned in these stories because they went out of their way to help a snowmobiler. Think this would happen in the states as often? Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble, just re-lived an adventure related to Cabin on the Hill.

Hey Scorpionbowl, at the end of the river, if you turn right and head inland, is the Cabana Hill relay still there? I haven't been in that area in years and don't see it listed on any of the maps. As for the northern end of that river, I don't recall ever seeing anyone running it. I've seen tracks come off the shoreline out a little ways then head back onto shore, but that's it.

Please say that's not true. That's the area I first started riding in up there and every once in awhile, I like hitting the are4a just for old times sake. I'm talking about the St. Michel, St. Zenon, Repos, Manawan and surrounding area. The areas north of St. Michel were always nice rides. I would hate to see them be forgotten. :sad:

I believe it's the new "Stealth" sled.

I MIGHT have made a slight mistake with the translation post above. You might have to have the Google Toolbar installed with Firefox. I'm not sure if this is a Firefox xtra or a Google item. Hope I didn't drive anybody nuts trying to find the translation button.

Thanks for the info, and thanks for carrying on the reports from your area. Planning a possible loop from your place up around the north side of Lac St. Jean over to Parent, down to Mt. Laurier and back over. This total area seems to be the only area that has good conditions through out. Hope to see you soon.

Just a hint for the French to English problems people are having with this site. If you use Firefox for your browser, and have the latest versions, if you right click any page that might be in another language, scroll down to where it says "page info" and click on that. You will see a tab to "translate page into English". When you click on that, the page you are viewing will come up in English. Makes it kinda easy to surf on many Canadian only websites.

Just my 2 cents, I do know that it can get annoying being behind a guy that gives the "all clear" hand signal. On the same note, I've been behind guys that were last in their group, "add" the guys that have ridden up behind him in his signal. Now, I personally like it when I see hand signals from oncoming sledders. There are many times that I will go around a corner, or, crest a hill with even more caution because the sled I just passed signaled me that there was at least one more sled coming. I actually get mad when no one gives hand signals. Even though I know to stay as far to the right as possible, if I know someone else is coming, I'll be xtra cautious because I can't trust the guy coming the other way. I don't know if he's hammering down trying to catch up to his group. Usually, if someone gives an "all clear" sign,and there are more behind him, you usually can see them, also, the next guy will start a new set of signals. This to me is no big deal, and, I still like knowing how many are coming my way. jmo.

Hope eveyone has a happy and healthy New Year. Hope everyone gets the miles they shoot for this year.

Just looked at a few web cams from various places, and, I saw SNOW!! in New England!!! Not much, but it sure does get the old heart pumping. Farmers Almanac calling for below average temps for most of the country, including the Northeast.

Oh Man, what a loss. This man bent over backward to lend a hand. He represented what we all know Quebec riding is all about. His contributions to the sport, and to this forum will surely be missed. I just hope his memory lives on in whoever takes over overseeing the sport in that area. I stayed there once years ago, and try to stop in once in a while for a pitstop, if you know what I mean and always had a good time. RIP Bernard and keep the snow gods working hard every winter for us.

4,850, All but 200 in Quebec. The 200 was in Old Forge, NY. I must say, it was the best riding season I can remember. Even in Old Forge, the trails were always smooth, for the most part. Hope to crack 5,500 next year.

When you stop and think about it, it's hard to realize getting ready again in half a year! I just prey that this year wasn't a fluke. Hopefully, it will be a nice, long cycle. Oh, by the way, nice addition to your pictures!

I'm jealous!!

Happy Birthday, Bill. 70 years young, eh? Hope I can do half of what you do when I'm 70. Hope to see you up in Paradise next year.

So, that was you hogging the trail. eh? Just kidding, actually, I never made it there this year yet. I just know from past years, as a general rule, usually that area has the most traffic. I call it the Old Forge of Canada. This year, seems to be light all over, I think due to the escalating cost with the exchange rate where it's at right now. The days of 1.5 to 1 are gone. :sad:

IMO, St. Michel-des-Saints/St. Zenon area has the best area for accommodations, snowmobile service, gas stops and restaurants. Only problem is also the most traffic. For shear riding, it's a toss up between Saguenay and Gaspe', check for reservations in Gaspe', though. Again, IMO.

It's a couple of miles off of TQ5. it is a little tricky to get to it. The trail to the place winds through a couple of business yards and down a couple of streets. It's right near where the ferry is. You have to jump on the tracks across from the QI and head west for about a mile to get gas. Hope this helps.

Great story, by the way, my Yamaha gets close to 150 miles out of a tank. Any way, I might have that one beat, and Sag. Bill was there when we got to the HI. I had just done the Cote Nord area and my last stay was at Hotelier Pelchat in Les Escoumins. While we were there, we made friends with Martin, the owners son. We told him where we were headed the next day as he drove us to the Ski Doo dealer to get oil for one of our guys and to see the new 600. Anyway, the next day we leave and head over to Monts Valin to head to HI. We stopped at Relais Chapelle, I think I spelled it right. While we were there, the phone rings, the lady comes up to our table and asks if anybody here was named Leon! Now let me tell you, that's a real scary feeling to be in the middle of the woods in Canada, 750 miles from your home and the phone is for you. Well, apparently, I left my pouch with my Passport, license, American money and snowmobile registration in my room and they were trying to find me! After some different scenarios, they decided they would ship it by bus to the Chicoutimi bus station. Well it was raining so hard by then that the rest of the group wanted to stay at HI. When I got to my room, I called the bus station, nobody knew anything about it, oh boy. I called Martin in Les Escoumins and explained my problem. He called the bus station, found out it was there and made arrangements to have it shipped to Jonquiere for me. I had the package in my hands by 8:30 p.m.! Can anybody say that that would happen in the States? I don't know what I would have done if I didn't receive that call at Chapelle's. I never knew I left it behind. Well, goes to show how they do go out of their way.

Rode down from HI to St. Raymond this past Thurs. and there was a ton of snow on TQ 23. Started 9:30 a.m. and got there 3:45 p.m. with a break at L'Etape. Believe they got more snow that Fri.