Scranton1

3-4 inches last night. And another 3-4 is expected today in St Ray
We are probably headed up 23....although we are Fearful the lac st Jean area is a brick of ice and we didn’t get any insight on QR.
silence is usually not a good sign😳🤞🏻😳

Mike the Delta management are very accommodating to snowmobilers.  I went thru the same thing Sunday with another snowmobiler who had the same  problem as yours.  Glad we could help and  hope to see you again.

Just got back to RDL finished a nice day ride 260 miles of heaven just had dinner with mike and back to room for night cap

bonsoir !!!
 
lake + local trail for ste marguerite !!!
great day !!!
 
jean-guy
 

I am now in RDL and between the drive up through Maine and through New Brunswick it appears conditions should be awesome. I hope to be here the next twelve days, the first of at least 3 trips this winter. Please, whenever you may be up this way try to give out up to the minute conditions during the winter. You would be surprised how many people want to know before making that long drive.
Hope to see many of you over the coming months.
mike

st alexandre...lac saumon....part 2 !!!!
 
jean- guy 

Je me souverne, and Doonali, our biggest issues were keeping air going to the engine and visibility, other than that we could have gone a lot further. The 154 track does give you a much wider range of capacity. But as Doonali says , that 1200, 137 will also get it done, just works harder to do it and is a bit less forgiving if you miscalculate and get into a bad hole😉.  Overall, we just loved getting to experience that much powder all at once, as I posted last night, this pic has the sled sitting in the middle of trail 544 and was not stuck, just needed to clear out shield for visibility. Standing up and leaning forward was the only way you could keep vision, but when you hit the drifts or extra deep spots , you lost all vision, a fun experience for sure!

That is why we always say we are not going for a RIDE we are going for an ADVENTURE!!

bonsoir phil !!!
 
oui monsieur !!!..nice one !!!
storm died ( almost ) after noon...so , i decided to go for a spin to save time for tomorrow ....turned around half a mile behind where you parked when we met last season...on top of the hill...
slow grooming ...ain t take much to down shift ...might see nice drifts tomorrow outside ste marguerite...90' corner and toward ste fidele cb !!!
that big clear cut before hill with antler ...going east.....hmmmm..better be polite ...if i down want to go down the clear cut
still windy ...
5 hrs of grooming this afternoon ....138.00 $$$ of fuel.....and i did nt use the '' blower '' ( hahah ) on my sport car !!!
 
-13 c
 
jean-guy

bonjour shore 1066!!!
 
absolutely right !!! ain t worth to take risks in conditions like that !!!
still the same conditions for now..heard on the radio should like that til the end of the day ...
no satellite tv since 8 pm last night ......boring !!! hahha
tv right now...is looking by the window !!!!
 
jean-guy
 

It was last years Scranton, with 2500 Miles, we suspect a connecting rod, but are not sure at this time?

We plan on rolling into the Rock some time in the afternoon on the 14th so we may miss you guys. I'll be with a group of 8 guys staying for a couple of nights and then back on the 19th. Things seem to be shaping up nicely . Can't wait for the first trip !!

Today we found out what the Bomb Cyclone was all about, we were heading to Moose valley for the night but we did not make that by a long shot. We ended up with 80 Miles for the day of some of the best powder riding we had experienced since the Gaspe 10 years ago. It was a fun, exhausting day of laughs, exercise and memories. We found in some areas 42” of new snow in the trails. Light fluffy snow that if you could see and keep the snow from plugging the air intakes you could go on a 137” , but the 154 was an added bonus and the snow bungies got worked a lot.  We had an absolutely great time playing in this Bomb Cyclone Snow Blast!
Heading west tomorrow so we can enjoy the frigid temps that are coming tonight, home Sunday night.
 
The last two pics, the sled is not stuck, and sitting in the middle of the 544 trail, just west of St Hubert!
Think more snow😉

youppi in the gaspesie !!!
4'' + now and still rock'roll !!!
time to come...no traffic jam in town !!!!...ahaha
 
jean-guy

I just got back from a 5 day trip in Saguenay. Trails where good everywhere. We rode down to the Manoir. 83 was great to you get to the end of where the Saguenay club grooms to. After that got thin and drifted in places due the wind. but after the 301 intersection its Great all the way down to 3. After you cross the bridge on 3 no grooming going on till you get to the local trails into Clermont. Thin through there but passable. We crossed the Saguenay River via the ice crossing. They literally just finished staking that. Ice on the south side shore broke through after the second sled had crossed. The other two sleds skipped it to get on. That wasnt  cool but everybody made it.  Valin has boat loads of snow and due to the lack of traffic trails where better than I usually get them. I do not know if the river crossings out by Mont Vilian are staked or not but did not appear many sleds where running out there. We did not after the previous ice crossing earlier that day. There is about a foot of snow in Saguenay. The fields east of there on 83 towards LaBaie where thin from the wind but passable. Had to cross about a 5 foot rock hard drift on the 383 just west of L’Anse St Jean. I can’t really tell ya where exactly that was except that there where 2 bridges just a few hundred yards apart. The bigger steel bridge is taped off and closed. Crossed the ice next to it. In my opinion the trails towards Valin west where the best in the area The only bad trail is the rerout on the orange trail that goes due north to 93 just after you cross at shipshaw. I was ready to hit the go button and head up what used to be the road when I saw the no snowmobile sign and the arrow pointing to the right. They rerouted that. It basically bypasses the road section by the cemetery ?  You can tell they just cut it in. It’s a mess. All in all ended up with 900 good but cold miles in 5 days. 

Today was my first day of riding my new 900 ACE Blizzard.  I wanted to ride very local because I wanted to be sure that the items I  installed this summer aren't to close to the exhaust pipe and could cause a fire.  I have 2 fire extinguishers with me just in case.  Everything went well.  Ended up riding 70 miles for the day.  Went to see my friend John at Wajax, a supplier to industrial maufacturers.  He told me he attended a meeting with the land owner who has closed trail 383, from the jct of 368 and the dam.  The land owner is the guy who owns the fenced in area that is 1 to 2 miles in lenght.  He has threatened to close the trail for the past 4 years.  Well this year he did.  Then John told me that the club was going to make a trail off of 368 down to Lac Kenagomi.  The started to cut trees and then found out they were on land they shouldn't have been on and had to quit and paid a fine for cutting trees.  The fenced in land is for sale and a guy has made a bid, sale not finalized yet but the bidder is a snowmobiler so maybe something will come of that.  Then I went up to Spence and they have redone the inside and it looks great.  After lunch at Tim Hortons I went out trail 134.  What a dissappontment,  that trail has become.   Most trails were in very good shape. Suppose to get 6 to 10" of white gold tonight.
 

Rode out of the Rock on the 28 up to the Delta. terrific trails but my god it was cold. We didn't book ahead for the Rock and we had to settle with the expensive rooms, place was pretty full and never sae so many rigs in the lot. L'Etape was a zoo. Disappointed the last bit of trail was closed for the Delta and now its an extended scenic tour. However we had a late start so not very scenic at 6 and even colder at night. Next day we did a short loop down the 83 and then swung around and headed back. My buddy had the flu and we were stopping regularly for him to be sick. Yes a pretty picture for you guys. Its the first time in 30 + years I used my electric shield, enjoyed the heated seat and wished I had the Y splitter so I could have plugged in my vest.
Hope to go north in 2 weeks but waiting for more snow in Parent -Val D'or areas.

Rode west of Quebec City on Monday. Excellent early season conditions. There's plenty of snow already but because of the strong winds during the first few storms it was a bit thin on some of the fields. Road TQ3 -> 302 -> 365 -> TQ3. 

hi scranton 1 !!!
from french forum ...posted 2 days ago !!!
On a fait Cabanon-Barrage Gouin les 27 et 28. 
Les trails étaient belles et grattées surtout au nord de KAnawata. 
Par contre entre le Repos et Kanawata la trail est pas encore ouverte. Tu dois donc te taper la route sur 55km. C’est rapide mais esti que c’est plate. Mario à Kanawata nous a dit que ce serait à cause qu’il y a du buchage
 
we did cabanon to gouin on the 27 and 28 ...nice trails and groomed...especially north of kanawata
.....but ....between repos and kanawata....trail is nt open yet...must ride on 35 miles of plowed trail / road....fast ...but boring .....
 
jean-guy

Calling for 6 to 10" of snow here this evening thru tomorrow evening.

Left the house at 5:35 this morning. Hit snow squalls from St J VT to the Saguenay. VT was the worst of it. -4F thru the park, -6 in the Saguenay. Met Jack on 175 at Lac Beauport exit. Arrived at 1:30. 
 

only 2 pics today .....11 hrs run .....almost non - stop .....
grey sky ....
 
jean-guy

Even if the trails have begun to be groomed  near my home in St-Thomas de Joliette, considering that it is very recent and with the deep cold (-29C in the morning) the fields trails are less attracting so we decided to make our late start more north in wooden sections from St-Gabriel de Brandon to have a lunch at St-Michel des Saints. Here is the final trail path.



Krikri and I dropped the trailer at the St-Gabriel de Brandon Highschool where the trail passes in the courtyard.



Short stop at the Belvedere for a final adjustment of our clothes to fix all the air infiltration in this cold day,  still around -25C at 10:30

and we start riding on #63 North



The trail was not freshly groomed but correct on this  season's beginning where the club is still on opening their trails and install their signs. The fields north of St-Gabriel still lack some snow but ride fine. Here in the big hills in St-Damien


Once up snow is good





And the scenery snowy too





A little north of Pourvoirie St-Damien, St-Charles de Mandeville snowmobile club had freshly groomed their trail: perfect as a carpet







My sweetheart  was at trying a gift of mine: an heated jacket + heated gloves! What a good day to try them!



She had always refused to try one before, but she was delighted with the result. Not only her body stay warm but the thin heated gloves are really a big plus for her that get her hand out her mitt to take pictures. I am myself impressed that even at this cold temperature she only kept the heat setting at minimum most of the day to be confortable.



The snow is surprising on some spots


It's the same every time when riding in very cold conditions: trails are mint and almost no traffic





All these beautiful trails for us alone ... or almost!



A short stop in Réal's yard to check if my Krikri was frozen



She's almost overheat she says !!! Ya I know her helmet is the next upgrade but I have to convice her to make the move. She tend to keep her old stuff very long time... something good for me i guess!



So we continue on #23 north



Still on #23 in Cabanon direction



A couple of other braves in the cold



In the spruce section



Pass the Cabanon



And take the #63 north towards St-Michel des Saints



very nice



It is a trail with a more rocky base so was not surprised to hear a couple of tocs in the skis but really much less than I expected. The new snowmobile club of St-Michel had reworked the base of trail in the fall which helped a lot. Also the last section of trail that brings us to the bottom of Trinity mountain goes through a new path a little further south.



We stopped for lunch at the Vieux Moulin à Scie restaurant in St-Michel des Saints. We had 2 nice surprises there: a work colleague and also another friend, Red here on the forums with which we had ride a few years ago. He joined us for our lunch.


After a good meal in good company and fuelup for the sled, we left with our friend Red to make a loop on the west side  on #33trail





Next we headed west towards the Rouge-Mattawin relay. The snow is good but it was a little weird because some segments are like in the middle of winter but others seem to just open with some little twigs in the bottom of the trail but in any case it was riding well.



We passed the Rouge-Mattawin relay



The # 33 south towards Coin Lavigne was very nicel.  It was already a bit dark to pic while riding, and at this temperature our old Sony had a hard time ...  



We took a local orange trail and with the #63 got to the Glaciere where we stopped for a nice hot chocolate break. After warming up, we left on the #350 to join #23 and resume on our morning path to St-Gabriel de Brandon while our friend Red returned on the #23 north to the Cabanon to join his sweatheart.


 
The return went well and we got back to the trailer at around 6 pm with 150 miles on the dreammeter. A beautiful ride for us in real winter conditions.
Even though it's still season's beginning  the conditions are already very good in the north and with the cold temperatures on the weather forecast and the snow received in the last week, no doubt the trail network will continue to grow up quickly in the next few days. You can  have a look here to see the latest developments on the trail conditions, updates are frequent:
 https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/
 
Bye!

Alain

But Mike that's across the river.  You don't drive north of river anymore and you'd have to drive thru Quebec City traffic.  Remember how you use to get lost driving thru QC?  Keep your Mayor's job at RDL  Just joking, get the job at the Fairmont.  I know people in high places there if you need any help getting the job.  Always willing to help a buddy.