Je me souviens

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.

That sucks about Parent, but good for Genevieve and Andre. Back to the free testing….I have not done it myself, but that is what I hear. Appointment is key due to limited availability. I think I will try a couple longer trips rather than the weekend gigs. I am not sure I can handle another year of local riding. It is riding and all, but once you have seen Quebec it’s pretty hard to go back to NY, VT, NH or ME, they are simply not on the same level, and cost just as much.

The Fedex guy that picks up where I work has a girlfriend across the border. He goes up every weekend, he says it’s not bad jumping through the hoops, the local Walgreens does testing for free, just have to get an appointment first. The last hoop of having a quarantine plan in place in case of a positive random test makes life a little difficult as well. Can I just say that my plan is to drive home if I test positive? I know one thing is sure, I will definitely try it before the snow melts this year. I am a little gun shy of buying my pass at the early bird discount not knowing how often I will use it.

Well put. I hope the random test is also dropped. At this point that is the one hurdle I have a problem with. I am vaccinated and I can upload my itinerary to the app, but getting a test on time and then potentially having a random test make going up for a quick weekend trip a real PIA. Meanwhile in Champlain any “essential” worker has been rolling through since day 1 with no restrictions, as if they are immune or can’t be spreaders. This 2 year shit show has to end soon. I can’t handle much more insanity. Sorry rant over! PS - Please send grosse poutine extra fromage southbound. Maybe it’s the withdrawal symptoms getting me down…lol. I will be waiting at the rest area on 87 south in Beekmantown. Seems to be the popular gathering place for all the snowbirds heading south in they’re winnebagos towing a Harley and a full size truck.

If you mean the one in the Tremblant park… I believe it’s closed. Showing red on the app as of now.

So if it’s 9 hours or 543 miles to Murdoch from my place, should I get loaded up now or in the morning?

Looks rideable to me

JG you got censored with a looney…. was it for fear of not having a significant beard? Lol ****contenu censurer

I suppose if time and money were not part of the equation….you could head to Val Dor then skirt the closed section by heading west towards Ville Marie then stay on 43 all the way back to Rapides des Joachims then work you way back up to Mont Laurier. That would be quite the detour.

From Senneterre take 83 East to Parent, then south on 13 back to Mount Laurier, or if we’re lucky the Lepine road is open next season and you can cut back south in Clova. The closed portion is still showing red on the FCMQ app.

Let’s not forget about Dom and Auberge Clova

Nice day for a rip in the ADKS. There was still some remnants of snow left on the ground in Loon Lake, same storm that hit last week.

I understand why, but man does that suck. I love white birch lane, and Kitcisakik coaster that leads to Louvicourt Boulevard. Tough for the Pavillon Lavenrendrye outfitter, I doubt it will be in the same hands by the time we get back there next year.

Tabarnak… fire up the horses… what will it be like in 2 weeks?