Fozzy

There is one solution….    No QPP or FCMQ Agent = Don’t Stop
 

There is one solution….    No QPP or FCMQ Agent = Don’t Stop
 

Here is our last ride path

It is under a very cloudy sky and a little snow that we left Saturday morning around 9:00 am from Champlain (east of Trois-Rivières) to go having a lunch at La Tuque accompanied by our friend Snowcruiser.

The trails were very nice at start, here in the very long straight stretch on trail #3

Once near Grand-Mère we got on the St-Maurice river...

Because of the temperatures that have been too mild so far, the 28kms marked trail on the St-Maurice River north of #23 trail has not been done yet, not safe. So we made it on land through #23+#360 trails towards St-Joseph de Mekinac.
For those who doesn't know, this bridge we pass under is on the #155 (road between Trois-Rivières and La Tuque) and have been closed last year during 7month after being inspected and realized it was not safe anymore!.  Here we can clearly see the steel pillars and reinforcement cables that have been installed on the bridge(had just concrete before) to reopen it at the end of last summer. It is a temporary fix and a new bridge construction is supposed to start at spring 2023 and last 3 years!

We passed through St-Tite

The famous Rivière des Envies which took a long time to freeze is now crossable and safe

just before switching onto #360 trail at the junction there was an SQ police checkpoint. I thought I would have to dig off in my pants to get all my papers out but no, we mustn't look too suspicious, we passed through in less than a minute with only a visual license plate check and a brief chat.
Here just leaving, my partner Snowcruiser on his new Enduro

The #360 was superb and very fast

The #355 on the Gazoduc section was a little bumpy but it still ride well

The next section of #355 between the junction with #351 and Lake Wayagamac was very ruff, good snow cover but just really due to be re-regroomed, Kristine had not liked it. We notice that the lack of deep cold and the general mild weather+ frequent new snow since the beginning of the season affect the grooming efficiency and trail toughness compare to what we are used to in january.
We took a break under the Railway Bridge of Riviere du Milieu

Past the junction south of Wayagamac lake the conditions came back correct and it was riding well

Arriving in La Tuque, the trail is on the pedestrian bridge instead of the river which is not safe yet...

We stopped to eat at Marineau auberge at the entrance of the city around 1:00 p.m. with 180 km on the meter

It was our first ride with Snowcruiser this season and the lunch break pass like flash by chatting in very good company! We then went to refuel in town, here along the endless 30km/h zone along the airport.

And here in town...

We had 2 options for the return, either to retrace our steps on the #355 and then take the #351 in the Zec Tawachiche or take the #73 and do the Zec Jeannotte / Rivière à Pierre which is longer run. It is my back seat passenger who made the decision and we set off for La Jeannotte around 2:30 p.m. Here along Lake Wayagamac

The jeannotte did not disappoint us even if the detour in the center was a little more bumpy, very beautiful and fast

It was beautiful up to the ZEC entrance

Then, the traffic of this Saturday had done its job and it was getting more rought as we went down

Like an oasis in the desert, we crossed our first dozer just before Rivière à Pierre

The track towards St-Raymond was ok

But #353 was very rought. We took a little break at the #23 trail junction which we then took east towards St-Alban and it was really better. We had a couple more rought stretches  but were also lucky enough to cross 2 more dozers on the way back.


We crossed St Anne and Batiscan rivers which are both staked and safe and finally returned to our starting point around 7:30 p.m. with just over 220kms in the afternoon for a total of just over 400kms for the day. I admit that we slept very well that next night!!!
So another great ride for us this season, the trail network is almost complete and the snow is here, I hope for even more cold in the next few weeks to optimize the quality/solidity of the trails. The weather forecast is really promising, hoping they will be right.
Bye Alain

Lol
 
Thank you for the offer.  I ended up leaving from the truck stop in arnprior last winter.  It was a decent  days ride.  The bridges make crossing borders easy.

I saw this on FB. The whole story sounds ridiculous and almost not believable. Like Iceman said, leaving their passports in the truck??? Plus the truck he has is old, old trucks do not get chopped up.

I saw this on FB. The whole story sounds ridiculous and almost not believable. Like Iceman said, leaving their passports in the truck??? Plus the truck he has is old, old trucks do not get chopped up.

Next day headed towards Parent. I'd give the trails a 6 out of 10. Due for grooming. It was Sunday though so you get whawhat you get and don't get upset.  Trails on both sides pf Parent for a good distance are not great as others here have reported.  Once we got south on TQ13 they got much much better.  Had lunch at Fer a Cheval.  Then bee lined it due south for Sainte Anne du Lac.  More of the same with Sunday afternoon trails.  Some good.  Some getting rough.  We were back in the truck for 6 pm and hone just after midnight.  I'd say the entire are is rideable and mid week would be 8 out of 10.  It will take some more snow and a few more passes to get mid season.  Especially around Parent.  All in we had a great weekend.  
 
 

Here is the ride we did last Sunday

With the good snowfall on Friday followed by a mild temperature night, we already knew that the trails conditions would deteriorate  quickly under the effect of traffic, so we postponed our departure to Sunday. We launched directly from the home in St-Thomas de Joliette on Sunday morning under a beautiful sun and a temperature of -15C.

Superb winter conditions, very hard frozen groomed trail  giving ideal conditions. Here on #3 towards Berthierville

The wood sections were very snowy

Nice encounter on this winter morning


The La Chaloupe river is ok but stay in the marked trail!

We continued on #3 to the east with perfect conditions

Another great encounter! they weren't nervous at all, just happy to run outside

In the St-Barthelemy sector where the trail get souther the snow was a little swept but on an icy base it ride very well

I chose to keep #3 and go through Maskinonge village instead of #63 which goes through St-Justin. It's good but there is a section of 500' swept away where you can see the dirt. In the afternoon we came back by St-Justin on #63 instead and it's more snowy

Here Ste-Ursules sector


We are used to heading between #3 and #63 via St-Sévère but the Rivière du Loup that we have to cross direct on the ice is not safe yet so we opted for #63 trail

We took a break on the beautiful site of the Magnan Falls in Charette

The falls are usually completely frozen but this year you can still see the water flowing


We continued on #63

And took the #3 towards St-Étienne

And crossed the St-Maurice on the #3 at the height of La Gabelle. A few slush spots but it's marked and rides well

The east side of the St-Maurice was a little rougher but still ride well and the snow cover is very good

We stopped to eat at pizzeria du Lac at Lac à la Tortue near Grand-Mère.

After a good meal break we left and retraced our steps on the same route with a few exceptions. Here in the area of Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel

We did a pitstop in St-Étienne. Unlike past years where the trail passed in the yard between the gas station and the BRP NC dealer, the trail this year passes behind NC and you have to take a very short trail to go to gas or at NC

We saw this impressive dogs team on the way back, there are 2 wide...

We took a break again at the Magnan Falls in Charette but at the top of the falls this time

As I said at the beginning it's rare to see the water in the falls it's usually all hard frozen

We then continued west. The trail conditions had deteriorated a little since our lunch but from the fork of the #350 St-Paulin sector it became very beautiful and fast again until St-Cuthbert.

Here a snow bridge not far from the village of Ste-Ursules

We took the #63 to go through St-Justin, it was superb

We came across the Dozer de St-Barthelemy without the drag which was at finishing some work on the trail

We went through St-Norbert to come back, the trail was more bumpy from the traffic but it was ok

We were back home around 4:30 p.m. with 322kms (200miles) of happiness on the meter!

I know that most of you won't ride that south but the good news is that the trail network enlarge and is getting more and more connected to spread the traffic through. There are few rivers mostly along the St-Laurence river that are not ready yet. St-Maurice river is crossable but the trail on the river is not ready yet. The interactive map seems pretty accurate now on the trail condition. 
If we can keep getting January like temperature it will be perfect...
Bye!
Alain

Beautiful sunny Sunday with winter temperatures (-15C at start around 9:30), we did this ride: a kind of Taureau reservoir loop with a fuel up at Marineau Mattawin!

We parked the trailer in the parking lot of Pub 111 in St-Michel des Saints, the trail passes through the parking lot.

We left a little late around 9:45 and headed off on #63 towards the Cabanon. The snow base held the thaw good but there was a bit less new snow on top around the village of St-Michel. The big slopes facing south near the village are the only place that suffered and some rock has risen to the surface and is mixed with the snow. the little snow we got today and forecast this week will help getting this spot better

This pic is not very representative and unfortunately I had not a lot of photos at the start of the ride because my Gopro didn't want to cooperate and we are at testing with a new camera to replace Kristine's old Sony which is about dying(the camera 😉). You may notice some photos of a different look in my reports.
We rode up to Auberge Le Cabanon and then took the #345 towards the Taureau dam. It had not been regroomed overnight and Saturday's heavy traffic day+warm weather had sculpt the trail shape! .The lady behind me was swearing into her helmeth... that's why we don't have communicators!!!

We took a little break at the dam. We see that the reservoir level has started to drop down...

And the water output flow is still high...

We then continued on #360 east. Grooming was much better despite some bumps to watch in the curves up to #345 junction (towards Pourvoirie Lac du Repos)

We then got superb, almost perfect trail conditions on the #360 up to Mattawin. I like this very panoramic section


the snow cover is even much better going toward Mattawin

This is one of the most beautiful section of the #360 with a fast trail along the beautiful Mattawin River.


We took our usual little break at stop 440 to admire the river which is currently flowing at high flow.


we then continued east...

As many of you know, the M20 trail (and M21) are not done this season due to logging, which requires plowing the road of the usual route of these trails to get the wood out. Here the M20 path which is closed to snowmobiles this season

The Zec Chapeau de Paille road that we usually use for the continuation of the #360 towards Marineau is also plowed, so the club made detour trail further north. It's a bit winding at the beginning especially the first miles but it quickly becomes better and then very good for the 2nd half with beautiful nice stretchs


The detour joins the usual trail at the height the Zec entrance and we continue on familiar trail path


To finally arrive at our refueling point around 12:45 with 93 miles on the meter


After a good meal break at the auberge, we left in the opposite direction a little before 2:00 p.m. for the second half of our ride. It bugged me to not be able to film in such beautiful conditions and by dint of trying I managed to find a way to convince my gopro to stay alive in the afternoon and I finally have images in the bank for a future video.


it was really good and nice ride


We took a first and only break at #360/#345 junction (towards Repos) and surprisingly we had a little beggar who came to ask for his food!

After all these years in Lanaudière, we have often had gray jays come in our hands, but black-capped chickadees this is the first time here. We had some last spring in Gaspésie... they may have spread the word about us!!!

We then continued and once near the dam held the #360 to loop around the reservoir on the west side

It was riding very well, just usual season beginning ruts to watch out for. There is a short section less than one miles where the club had started to groom the trail next to the road path where we usually pass??

The trail became even nicer from the  #33 junction which had been groomed the night before. We were quickly  near the Auberge du Lac Taureau and chose to cut across the Taureau reservoir to return to St-Michel. The snowmobile club had published earlier last week having marked it out after testing the ice at 15" thick.
The level of the reservoir is still high enough so that the ice cover is still almost flat on the whole length, riding this was like a creamy cherry on the top of our day ride

 
We finally got back to the trailer around 4:45 p.m. with a total of 188 miles/302kms on the meter to say it's pretty much the same distance either way of the reservoir

So a 2nd great ride in the last 3 days for us which kicks off our snowmobile season this year. I expect that the trail network will continue to grow rapidly with the actual cold and snow ahead and also that the information on the interactive map will become more up to date as there are open places that are not shown on the map actually but also several other places that the clubs are at finish opening.
Everything is finally falling into place for a great 2023 snowmobile season!

Under a cloudy sky with a little snow/-2C we made this ride yesterday January 6, 2023 in St-Zenon area through the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve starting from St-Gabriel de Brandon

As a drop point we chose the parking lot of the Multifunctional Center 111 Chemin du mont Lanaudière (it's the road just past the Highschool) which is an official parking lot for trailers and the trail pass just aside. We arrived a little late and parked on the roadside in front of it. 

Despite the last thaw there is still a lot of snow, the conditions are good here in the field in St-Damien.

Even the big hill in climbing on the mountain was nice with barely a couple browning snow spots , otherwise very good. Given the traffic there were a few bumps but it ride very well.

We passed the Renard Bleu outfitter

The road is plowed farther this year but has been widened and our trail is next to it. We just have to cross it a couple of times as the trail change of side otherwise it's fine.


the snow cover is very good


From the #23 we then took trail #350 east.

After this thaw I was expecting to ride on very hard trails but no there is a good layer of loose snow on top , thick enough that the skis were not even bite the trail hard base most of the time. Very good conditions


Passed the junction for the #23 towards the Cabanon we continued on the #350 towards Koubec with even better trail conditions

 

We stopped for lunch at the Relais Koubec (Outfitter Mastigouche)


It's been a while since we stopped eating there. It was very good and quick and their huge double-sided fireplace in the center of the dining room always impresses me!

After the lunch break we continued in the Mastigouche reserve. I did a round trip stretch on #23 eastbound. We passed the junction for the trail to Gaston (#350 towards Lac Blanc)

Before turning around and continuing on #23 westbound


The section of #23 which comes to reconnect on the #345 (towards the Taureau dam) is less used and as usual it did not disappoint us with its good condition and beautiful fast sections.



There had been more traffic on the #345 towards the Cabanon. The snow cover remains good even if there are a few spots of more brownish snow in the few km that leave the forest road and which had been reworked with a bulldozer just before the season.


We stopped to fuel up at Auberge Le Cabanon


And we went back down to our starting point via #23 trail

Real Masse outfitter, which had major problems with their plumbing and water distribution system during an extended power outage (christmas storm) is not open and the trail goes straight, trail not groomed yet

the #23 south of #350 was weared from traffic and was bumpy on the way back south, especially in the section maintained by St-Charles club

The last section groomed by St-Gabriel club was better but the traffic had still done its job. With the announced cold and grooming, it will come back good because the snow cover is good.

To summarize,  the storm of December 23 had left impressive amounts of snow, the following thaw packed it down to give us a solid base for the trails and the last snow put some cream on the cake which gives very good conditions. There are still a couples of not frozen small ditches and you can still see the remains of fallen /damaged trees but the ride we did was very nice overall. 
Trail opening and grooming is still underway, I know that from St-Zenon or Mattawin it is possible to go to Pourvoirie Repos. Kanawata wrote their trails was open (4January) and Alliance du nord club that groom norther on the #83 state that they finished opening trails and are at grooming them. Many places in Parent/clova were starting their operations this weekend. Latuque snowmobile club also state their trails opened.
With the cold announced I expect that the open trail network will continue to expand and connect rapidly in the coming days
Happy 2023 season!
Alain

I know, you'd have to put down the phone and stop txting.... LOL!
GutZ

You should have gone to Mont Valin is was top notch there last week, 😜 .
I didn’t post any pics of the ride as I lost my phone the first 30 min riding. New jacket and the pockets don’t stay zipped up!!
Enjoy your ride, the area used to be my first ride of the year.

On the road again... back in the saddle. 🤩

Last year I had an extremely short season due to my injury which healed fine, but it took its sweet time all summer during my paddle board season. 

Anyway here we are finally! Les Escoumins, for some reason I love this area. When you hear ''Oh I'm going on the Côte Nord'', you often think or hear Mont Valin, but there is so much more than there to be explored. 

So as Lover said we left Trois-Rivieres, Monday at 12:30 and got here just in time before the supermarket closes. We hit nice weather to drive up here, was quite a change than the past three days we had at home. Lots of snow, lack of cold. So gotta go ride where it's good during my school break. 

When we plan a trip we have two main goals in mind, look for groomed trails and less traffic as possible. One of my personal goals is to pay attention at the landscape, it's sooo pretty. I know that most people ride for the miles, but I sure look around and I'm so thankful to get to see mother nature's beauty. 

Late morning departure since usually there is a 6-7-8 kind of schedule. I think was close to 9:30. 

We rode to St-Anne de Portneuf for gas, then took a mint local trail. Lover always says that the local trails are the best, I must say that I agree so far. I was scouting the rivers for my summer riding season because we were along the water for a while. On that local trail we cam across a nice little warming hut. (see photos)

I don't know for you, but each season I have to get accustom once again to the whole snowmobile tralala. It takes  me my first day to get comfortable once again. 

Then we stopped at the relais Les Bouleaux for a small snack. 

Most of it was nicely groomed except for one part, which we knew, but now I know I don't like to ride on fluffy snow. 😂 I guess I would not be an off trail candidate. 

We didn't see many people, except once we got close to the relais. 

Oh we saw lots of places where trees were cut down, but it seems like it doesn't compare to Mauricie, Outaouais, and other places hard hit by big snow and wind. Many clubs are struggling to find volunteers to cut all the trees that had fallen and blocking the trails. 

Here you can follow along our ride with the pictures I took today. 

https://www.relive.cc/view/vNOP43YrP2O
 

Things starting to shape up 😁

I ride Mont Valin as my first ride of the year and last and don’t find it that bad. However I have never been there at Christmas time. We are a group of eight heading there next Thursday till Monday and staying at Onatchway. First time staying there and will be trying the private trail system at least a couple of times. 
 
No doubt the area can get busy, but most people are off trail riders and it’s only a zoo from Valinouet to Auberge/La Chapelle. Get past that it’s all good.

There we go, the Map now says 2022- 23. 🤪

The map still says 2021 - 22.

When does the FCMQ load the newer map usually? I thought it would have been done by now.

I ride Mont Valin as my first ride of the year and last and don’t find it that bad. However I have never been there at Christmas time. We are a group of eight heading there next Thursday till Monday and staying at Onatchway. First time staying there and will be trying the private trail system at least a couple of times. 
 
No doubt the area can get busy, but most people are off trail riders and it’s only a zoo from Valinouet to Auberge/La Chapelle. Get past that it’s all good.

Spot on.
They need to stop investing in tech that doesn’t make sense. Put more money in R&D in gasoline engines that hardly pollute.

Linda is right, in my area some changes have been updated but many others have not yet( on both the interactive web map or Imotoneige)
As now you can't assume what you see is be the final trail version we will have this season.
I have been told they temporarily deactivate the grooming fonction on the interactive map to avoid sledders think a trail is open because a dozer pass once to begin to fill ditches or do maintenance/signage (They did this at last season beginning after this situation lead to loose some trail segments)  They are supposed to reactivate when the season will be more started. The bug with this is they do not seems to be able to activate just an area without enabling the whole map... So you may have to wait a little while before seeing Mont Valins trail grooming state

Smells of Russian collusion if you ask me.

Spot on.
They need to stop investing in tech that doesn’t make sense. Put more money in R&D in gasoline engines that hardly pollute.