Je me souviens

Very cool ice circle. If the ice fishers manage to get on it, they could be trolling “sans moteur”. 😂

Trail from Clova to Parent had been freshly groomed on the way back Saturday morning, so it was in better shape than the night before. There is logging activity west of Parent so the trail cuts on and off the road and is annoying, but on the other hand the section east of Clova has been improved significantly. We were asked to wear our masks at the depaneur in Parent. I did not notice Norman’s in Casey, granted I did not really try to find it. Yes if I see your helmet again I will tap my head like last time, lol. M21 was fresh on our way back, I was thinking about your camp and how awesome that must be. The rules vary significantly from place to place. In general the farther away from town you get, the less restrictions you will encounter. You can go in to “warm up” in most places. Hand sanitizer and masks were on display at all locations, the placement of tables and chairs would indicate where you could sit or stand. My desire to ride the white gold significantly outweighs the restrictions and various hoops you have to jump through to get across the border. So I think it was well worth the trip. The new sled rips and I had a smile on my face for three days straight. Hope to be back soon.

Left Marineau’s Saturday morning, headed to Clova via Kanawata. Laid fresh tracks down the river run on 360. Kanawata up to Casey was perfect as per usual. From Casey to Parent was loose snow., both sides of the driveway to Gouin looked freshly groomed as we drove by, stopped for gas in Parent then continued to Clova for the night. 300 miles. Sunday we headed back to Parent from Clova, it had been groomed overnight. Heavy logging since my last pass through area in 2020. We stopped at Fer a Cheval for a coffee break. Then continued down 13 to SADL for gas and a snack, in for the night at Mekoos. 200 miles. This morning we headed back to Mattawin via Manawan. Fresh groomed and temperature dropping. 200 miles for the day. Noteworthy encounters included a Lynx on Saturday and a snow shoe hare being chased by a Fisher on Sunday, the woods were quiet today. Here are some pics.

Yes, thank you for sharing

Maybe a little selfish… but at this point I would like to ride any sled to a remote outfitter to sample the bavette, it’s been way too long since my last throttle therapy session. 🙃

Name of the place in Clova is Auberge Clova. Correct, the road to 100 lacs is Le Chemin Parent, dirt road that will most likely be an ice road by all accounts. It took me 3 hours one way from SADL to Parent the last time I did it in the winter. The cut off for 100 lacs is around the midway point, just past Lunic’s if memory serves. In reality it probably adds 2 to 2.5 hours from SADL to 100 Lacs in the truck, highly dependent on conditions, so if your hooked on 100 Lacs it’s not all that bad. I was told to stay in the middle unless there is oncoming traffic, there are washouts on the sides that can be tricky to navigate, it might be more challenging if it’s dark out. Agreed that day is on the long side, 300 miles from Windigo to Chibaugamou. Once you get past the first part of 93 it is pretty fast trail. As Jack mentioned, make sure you have gas caddies, the mill is closed this year, so it’s 160 miles from pump to pump. (La Dore to Chibaugamou). If it’s a boys ride, no problem, on the other hand I would not try that with my wife, she is good for 200 miles, then she has had enough for the day. Cheers.

Driving your truck directly to 100 lacs may not be necessary. You could leave from St. Anne du lac and spend less time in the truck, Relais du Touriste is the spot there. Relais 22 is not what I would call 5 stars. Maybe Windigo instead? The rest looks good. Night 4 is a toss up. I love Clova, but admittedly Faillon is a little more “plush” as far as the room is concerned. On the other hand, LSQ to Faillon would be a short day in my opinion. The most important thing of all is to post pics when you get back. Also noteworthy is that you be in LSQ by lunchtime, there is only one small bar in town…so maybe head up north of Chibaugamou for a small tour prior to leaving town to LSQ.

Might have been easier to just put a hitch on the truck…I think those are NY plates so I can’t say much

Sounds like an awesome trip. Thank you for sharing. Looking at sled pics never gets old to me. Feel free to post some more and/or trials and tribulations of the backcountry trips.

I know there has to be at least fifty of us that check his pics all year. If we all chipped in $20 I bet we could get him up and running ASAP.

Is this from the CBSA website? This is precisely what I have been wondering. Very useful info on this thread. Thanks all for the input. Now what are we waiting for? Let’s pack up and join RR and the rest of the early bird crew on the mountain.