Je me souviens

We took our yearly autumnal trip to les hautes laurentides region. Put on just shy of 500 miles on the batmobile. Friday’s loop took Sonny and I up to the eastern side of the Petawaga. Highlights included a moose, a fisher and a full size Winnebago towing a side by side. Saturday’s loop stared with a quick trip into Sainte Anne du Lac for fuel with Shannon. Then the afternoon loop mom and I headed on the west side of the Petawaga until we popped out on le Chemin L’epine. We turned right and rode up to le Pensive, met the new owners, and chatted about sleds, and made our way back to camp from the top side of the Petawaga, a fox was our only sighting. Sunday I took dad up and around Notawissi, back down to town, around the lake, and back up through the east side of the Mithcimanecus. We popped out on la route a Parent, then headed south almost to Meekoos before heading back east into SADL, fueled back up and went back to camp. Highlight was a deer. When I got back Tyler wanted to go for a rip, so I took him up to snake falls. This morning I took a quick solo rip up to the fork for club Gatineau, then sadly headed back to park it on the trailer for the ride home. Gas in town was 1.60, the outfitters are currently at 2.40. I never ended up going to check out the new observation tower on top of Devil’s mountain, lots of traffic and boulder dash trails. I prefer to run the forest roads. Here are some pics.

Headed that way next month with my x3. Thanks for the heads up. Would probably not have headed that way not knowing about that sweet new look out.

Not the greatest news regarding M20 & M21. Imagine what the river run will look like on a Sunday afternoon? On the 345 side of things, I really liked going through Chateauvert, but hey the Kanawata express is usually an option if your late for lunch. I bet the green mountain backcountry riders are salivating at the notion of running the chateauvert side of the trail up to the Gouin, I don’t think I will try breaking that trail after a storm on the 4 stroker, might be a long day. picture is from a couple years ago crossing the Manouane C dam.

Pics are awesome as per usual JG The last two are canards illimites worthy

That little guy looks like a real prick… Pic is from the old port in Montreal, that guy was having a bad day. When we came back a couple hours later the divers were in the water inflating air bags. I think that recovery might cost more by the hour than having a sled brought back from the bush….not by much though

Thank you. We can trade for hunting season if you want to. I eat deer, just don’t hunt them. I would like to run the back roads around your place for a couple weeks, fall would be perfect time to bring the bat mobile up to la coulee verte.

I agree…with the muffs

JG I miss your photography, I bet the site has less traffic when you are not active. Keep the pics coming…..please.

I do….lol

I saw that on les trippeux, sick bastards went all the way to Clova, must have launched just north of SADL based on the gas stops used, just nuts really. The time lapse video showed awesome conditions. I don’t think the side by side will be heading that way for at least another month.

I am surprised no one has started a post by naming it the “Purple Haze Loop”….was it the Jimi Hendrix playing in your headset, was it the SQDC, or was it the fresh groomed tracks?

It’s a cat nap…lol Like Ice said, good perseverance lead to a great trip. You must have been pleasantly surprised when the service guy said come back at 4 we have the parts.

Did the sled corral look like this Saturday night? We were there as well, I should start wearing a QR hat when in the hotels, that way we can recognize fellow members.

The name of the place in SADL is Relais du Touriste. It may not be 5 stars but it checks all the boxes for me. Safe place to park, restaurant on site and access to a multitude of trails. If you have the option, ask for the inside rooms, they are a little fresher on the updates. I believe the new owner is also renting Steve’s old house that they call a condo, but I have not been in it myself. The Facebook page for the local club has advertised chalets for rent this season. Club de motoneige Piteman. One thing I will caution you about is if the rain is not followed by some snow, the lake you use to get out of town is large, so that may raise hell with the slides and/or engine temperature of the sled if there is no lubrication left on top of the ice. I ran into that a few years ago after a mid season warm up. I ended up having to let her cool off mid lake. The Mrs. was not impressed. 😇

The Mrs. said she wanted to get out on the trails one more time. She didn’t have to twist my arm too hard…😎. We hit the road Monday night after work and headed back to Sainte Anne du Lac. We are usually stuck riding weekends, so it was nice to take a mid week ride. Tuesday morning we took 319 over to Mekoos, up 53 to 100 Lacs for brunch then back down to SADL by way of JB Scott. 160 miles. Wednesday morning we did the exact same thing in reverse order. The scenery was just as nice the opposite way. Plenty of snow left. Here are the pics.

Never been to Church in Clova… sounds interesting, doo tell

Here is the best one courtesy of the club Lions de Senneterre Translation: you judge, bitch and run your lips. Go put their shoes on and do better.

We took another trip up to Clova last weekend. Left Sainte Anne du Lac Friday morning, went by Meekoos, Lunic, 100 Lacs, had lunch at Fer a Cheval then took the shortcut up to Clova. 190 miles. The shortcut bypassing Parent makes it 70 miles from the horseshoe to Clova. Just like a few years back, the first 30 miles is straight up highway all the way to Mary Lake, the next 15 miles has some hanging branches to contend with, the last 25 miles is the good old Chemin Lepine. Saturday headed west on 83 and had lunch at Faillon then back to Clova. 200 miles. This is where the snow median is. The club built a new relais at the lookout, the wood stove is large enough to heat a house, comes with a small area to prep and cook, very nice. They built a perch to make sure the picture comes out perfect. Sunday morning we woke up to some fresh fluff, we knew the forecast was not great but decided to head south as planned. Started out with heavy snowfall in Clova, switched to freezing rain further south, and started raining just before the horseshoe. We shook the glaze off our coats and had a break at the horseshoe, checked the forecast and it indicated we had a 2 hour window of reprieve from the rain, so we dashed south. The local trail back to SADL was just as good as I remember, and the rain held off long enough to get back to the truck. 135 miles. Trip highlights included a great time Friday night having supper with a group from Ontario, I spotted another large Lynx, and above all enjoyed the first Quebec trip with my wife since her battle with breast cancer. I love you Zebbie. Here are some pics

It’s too bad they couldn’t make all trails like this, that way you would not have to imagine the yellow line. I have heard some say they don’t like the snow median, I figure it’s because they can’t hog the middle.

That would be the old dam leaving Parent headed west, no longer there.