Je me souviens

I feel like I was actually riding that etec, got my heart pumping when the skis came up a little after the rise on the trail. Wow I cant wait. I bet the three guys in the Laurentides were having a blast, looks like another proud kitty owner was trying the new toy on for size. I may not be a AC fan, but wholly shit I feel like SD needs to up the ante quick before they loose some of the market share to the power hungry big bore crowd abandoning ship for the horses thundering under the green hood. Ever seen the videos with Hitler complaining about skidoo suspension ambition vs power delivery? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mewnHJxlYAs

Alain, Good to hear that we can squeak one more season through the park. Staying in St.Donat at the Auberge des Laurentides at the condo'hotels du manoire on Lac Archambeault became much less interesting now that getting into the park is not possible via the Pimbina entrance. Seeing the Pimbina sign used to always register a good feeling every time I drove by. Seems as the systematic elimination of the highlights in the park will send the sleds over to SMDS in greater numbers. First we lost the cafeteria, then the Pimbina entrance, next year will be the icing on the cake with no more Caribou entrance possibility. I hope we can still feed the birds on black mountain. I don't really enjoy St.Come past coin Lavigne. I will forever enjoy the run down 63 to the airport bar in la Macazza, however finding a good route with appropriate length will take a little research on the interactive map. As fun as Lepine Rd. is, it is another 1.5hrs past St. Donat. I wonder how the interstate between Mt Tremblant and Mt Laurier is doing? Last year looked like 15 was being extended. Here is a shot of the brand spanking new bathroom for the beach sites on 63. Came in handy for the less fortunate species that cannot pee standing up.

Timbo, great to hear the history of the place, I remember one of our first trips with Bernard as the starting place we went there for lunch, probably 6-7 years ago, I thought the place was unique. I have yet to go back through the Mastigouche by sled, went with Shannon and rented a cabin in Mandeville last year, decided to drive the truck through the park for a different view of it with leaves on the trees, that is when you realize how much ground you can cover by sled, as compared to by car. Really is a testament to the fact the Quebec has many large beautiful parks that actually encourage snowmobilers to travel through, unlike Tremblant. Speaking of which...has anybody heard the latest on what the trail system will look like around St Donat this year? Or perhaps caught a glimpse of the Lanaudiere's trail map yet for this year?

Timbo, Call Kyle at Roberts Sports Center in Clayburg NY. Tell him or Nick, whomever answers the phone that you need a trailer pronto! Obviously the price I quoted is for the base model 12', came with ski glides the paddle grabber it came with looked shoddy, so I immediately called my buddy @ Camoplast and had him hook me up with a track piece that was not good enough for retail use, and made my own traction mats. No interior light, not sure I love the single ski bar location, no marker light up top, but like i said "base model". Some DOT reflective tape and VOILA! perfect way to get the toy to the hill. http://www.robertsport.net/locations.htm Its the Saranac location on Silver Lake Rd. Really nice people, even better people, always have lots of the parts you actually need right there in stock. I bought my sled & trailer from them, love the service, best dealership experience.

About to reach Martin's then off to the reservoir! The observation tower by Mt St. Magloir ?

Exactly why I am joining Greg's club again this year. A lot of us support Les Caribous Conscrits, which is good because they start first and finish last, however I believe a lot of people would not find St Baby St Ray such a great place to start from without 23 North of L'Etape being flawless most of the time, under heavy wear and tear from the Honiaks. Those damn Honiaks, you gotta watch out for them all the time!! Seeing as I am on the topic, I think perhaps the single most important safety tip many overlook worrying about whether or not to give hand signals, which if you can safely do the first guy in line should!!! IS TO RIDE RIGHT, THAT MEANS STAY ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE TRAIL!!!! I see a lot of the "first trackers" in the middle on the twisties, one of these days you might just wish you were, when you meet your twin brother coming the other way, riding in the middle just like you. Anyone know where these two pups frolik during the short winter days? Hint: It the other way up to see Bill out of Sweet Baby St Ray... PS I Know it over kill mentioning SWSR the last three posts, however don't lie to yourself, you know you like the short truck ride up the 40, I see a lot of US plates from CT, NY, VT, NJ, NH & MA in the parking lot come January.

I am with you, for $3000 get a triton 12' clamshell and call it good. Light, no brakes to play with, and perfect for the job. Don't get me wrong, if you got the cash, a big trailer is nice, but you got a lot more weight, and a lot more maintenance, I love my Triton, and will stick with that for now. My friend has a big white elephant, four place, non aluminum, v nose with all the bells & whistles, it's sweet....but bring a Diesel to pull it with, or go home. If you don't have the big paw in front of the big elephant, you are going to have white knuckles the whole way to Sweet Baby St-Ray. Oh By the way, I got my Collett Communicators in the mail yesterday, can't wait to hear what Shannon thinks of my driving all day. lol To be able to warn her the next time we see some honiaks coming the other way, or go over an obstacle, and lest we forget the deceiving corners on Lepine Rd. is priceless. LET IT SNOW!!!!

What is the Lavenrendrye park like to ride in? One of the last parks I have yet to ride, would love to see some pics, and or a comparison to the Laurentides park or any other area that would be comparable. Thanx

We made it out to the show on Sunday, you can't cover it all in one day. Going to go all week-end next year. Grass drags, freestyle, and watercross could all be seen while standing in one location. Enough vendors to spend a day, I never got to see Bill, but my buddies ran into him, sorry I missed you Bill, Chad and his old man had a laugh when they said you were you looking for George the talker, I spent a long time buying some gear, taking notes while trying on all the new Klim gear. Now to get the sleds ready to ride, and plan some trips.

Boy Oh Boy, I might have to pull the trigger on the trip now.... ...Can someone let me know how to get the kitchen pass? Never had to worry about the pass before, now there is "new management" in town, I think I might need to get "La Direction" on board with this one. George Please advise.

Thanks for the info trailblazer

Goose, thanks for the info and the pics. Looks like you hit all the hot spots; Clova, Sweet baby St-Ray, TQ23, and last but not least, the Great Gaspe. Where would you recommend a first timer try? Asides from the obvious Gaspe, where are the really neat places that bring the most enjoyable woods riding? I would like to go up to the Rabaska, and head to Clova for a week-end ride. Is there anything I should know? Remember I have never done that L'epine rd. on anything but a sled. I think Dominic has a great place, and I think I could leave the Rabaska Saturday morning and make it to CLova before nightfall, and head back the same way Sunday. What do you think?

Goose, looks like a lot of fun. I really would like to see some areas by quad in the fall. Do you have any experience in the clova area? Post a couple more pics if you have them.

When and where are the NH grass drags?

It's a summer fishing outfitter between Clova and Martin. I had a problem posting pics, the answer was I had used all of my aloted memory space. (global upload quota) The remedy for my posting problem was to go to my content under your sign in (top right) and delete some of the old pictures I have posted in the past. I ran into this problem last year too. Hope that helps. Now keep the pics rolling!

Is it time for this thread yet?

Shannon and I really enjoyed ourselves. It was nice to meet more of the QR gang. Thanks Bill for organizing the event. Franconia was an excellent venue. The food was tasty, the crowd was friendly and the weather was beautiful, what more could you possible ask for? OK, I know... We could have had a couple demo sleds to grass drag for kicks. Now let's all think about where we want to ride this year, asides from the obvious answer, with Bill in paradise. George & Shannon

Let's keep this going. One of my coping mechanisms for making it through the summer is to review seasons past through pictures. The sign says the gates of hell, everytime I drive past it I think its the gates of heaven Warm day on the way though the Rouge Mattawin reserve I try to get the sunset when ever possible Shannon found a new friend on Black Mountain

A moment of reflection in the wilderness.

Je sais qu'il est peut-etre un peut en retard, mais bonne-fete pareil Jean-Guy. Je penses qu je parles pous tous ceux sur le cite quands je dis j'adore tes photos. George J'espere avoir la chance d'aller voir ton club l'annee prochaine.

Alain, As per usual nice report accompanied by even nicer pictures. I am not a big Yamaha connaisseur, but that does not look like a stock rear skid. I never made it down 360 this year, I love the straw hat part of the zec. Beautiful place for pictures all along la Riviere Mattawin, Marineau's has good food to boot. La Cabane Chez Hill was a place we used to start from a lot, does the old man still own the place? I know he gave me a tour of the boiling house and told me he was looking to get out of the business the last time I was there. Without your pictures it would be amost hard to believe the amount of snow that is still around the northern Lanaudiere, did I ever mention how lucky you are to have that as your backyard? Take care, and hope you get another two week-ends out of this season.

Again many thanks to all who have added their well wishes for Shannon. Condition update: So far we have seen a neurological surgeon who has assured us that the vertebre do not need surgery so long as they continue to heal in the correct position. We have an appointment with a orthopedic surgeon on Monday, to see about the various other fractures, hip, ribs and pelvis. All in all three weeks into this ordeal, I would have to say mobility is increasing every day, but slowly. Yes Carol & Alain, she is up giving me a hard time, but that what love is all about. As far as evac from Clova, we headed up to your beautiful town in order to get away from the crowds, which can be a double edge sword. On one hand you have less chance of meeting idiots on the trails, but you are deep into the woods, which as we knew and confirmed, it is extremely difficult to get medical attention in a hurry. I like what you have planned for the training and signs concerning your ability to be a first responder. In my town we also rely on volunteers to get you to the hospital and the care before you reach the hospital, both my parents are involved, as my father is an EMT, emergency medical technician, and my mother has completed her EMT training but usually drives the ambulance. What concerns me the most about the things I have learned from this catastrophy is what is Quebec's plan as far as medical evacuation for snowmobilers. :unsure: They adverstise heavily abroad, come here and enjoy snowmobilers paradise, quick to mention, and I agree that they have the world's premier trail network. However the sport is dangerous no matter what precautions you take, and yet they have no plan in place for medical evacuation. For instance, you look at trail 23 from Sweet Baby St-Raymond in the Portneuf area, there must be close to 400 sleds if not more that travel through the Parc des Lurentides on any given week end, and yet this season was the first season they had a medi-vac sled set up in L'Etape. So what was the plan before this year for emergencies? I know you have be cautious and prepared, but that is just plain rediculous considering the flow of traffic in that specific area. I know that there is really no comparison between Clova/Parent to Mont Laurier area, to St-Raymond/Quebec city to Saguenay area for many reasons, primarily population. So I do not expect relais L'Evasion or Le Pensive to have an emergency evac sled ready to go. What the economically feasble solution to this situation is still a mystery to me, one thing I do know, is that there will be more tragedies, like this one could have easily been, if the network does not have solutions in place to deal with accidents in remote locations. One thing that stood out to me right from the first communication with the Surety du Quebec, was that they seem to be more concerned with getting the next police post or region to be on the hook with the task of retrieval than they are with getting somebody out to you for help. As far as the SPOT vs. Satellite phone debate goes, both are necessary for the remote locations, that is for sure, I am leaning towards the SAT phone due to the point that someone brought to the discussion, that 2-way conversation is the most reliable way to know what the next step in the rescue is, and knowing who is coming where and when to get you would be the most useful. However as my long winded paragraph above denotes, or at least what I was trying to denote, is that who is coming with what and where to get you is still a very perplexing issue. If you are seriously injured, you may end up being told to meet the ambulance at the next road crossing in order to make it to the hospital. This could be very frustrating to someone with little or no knowledge or experience in emergency transport for injured people. It would seem to me that for the amount of revenue generated by snowmobiling in Quebec for the province and towns associated with the network, it would not be much to ask to have a sled and tobogan equipped and ready for emergencies at the outskirts of each town. This may seen nutz to some of you that take the time to read this novella I have composed, but to me taking the network of trails province wide, and dissecting them geographically, so that each mile of trail has a plan in place ahead of time indicating who is going to the accident scene, with what method of recovery, would not be much to ask. Keeping in mind that behind forest products as a whole, snowmobiling is Quebec's second largest revenue stream, so I have been told. The number that rings out in my mind is 300 million annually. Sorry for the long post. George.

Alain, Like you said, it's hard to believe the two pictures of the park entrance. Late January VS. late season, wow. Nice report and pics, as always. Is it me or are there more and more Grey Jays on the mountain over the years? A few years ago there was a couple, this season I counted over half a dozen. The sleds are the diner bell big time.

Greg, so when do we get the inside details from your Yellowstone adventure? I know you must have some restrictions on discussing the experience, but please inform us as soon as you can. Thanks

Phil, if I did not have nurse duties for my girlfriend, I would be all over that offer. Have a great trip.