groomer

happy b-day coldsmoke !!! wish you many more clicks in pq and tons of snow !!! jean-guy

hi snowmouse ,snomogary and coldsmoke !! well, i guess it depend how things happen.they can be very shy and run for their life or be very gentle and walk slowy by you. .let say ,its about half and half.agressive maybe ,if they feel ''squeezed ''.i don t think i ve ever heard of stories like that. you can see them 12 months a year.while grooming i can see few tracks time to time .the pic of the bobcat ( 35mm ) ,few years back .few days before christmas,went up truck logging road to look for a christmas tree with my sister and nephew.began to walk on a narrow road.saw blood on the ground (snow) and noticed there was coyote tracks too mixed with bobcat tracks.blood was fresh .looked up the tree and saw the bobcat . he was probably resting from a fight with the coyote ,i don t know ,only a guess. about the samething for the bear ,very shy most of the time.best time here to see them ,may and early june .last summer ,the roads i use to see mooses ,there was bear ''poo ''(sorry if it s bad word,not really sure about translation )all summer long on those roads .i ve seen bear tracks in the yard of my camp last summer .i keep my cooler for foods and garbage inside the camp during the week ends and bring my stuff back every sunday.don t take chances with that. coldsmoke , it happened to me and a friend during moose hunting 4-5 years ago.we were walking in a narrow trail and trees were moving 25-30' in front of us.we were sure it was a moose ,went closer and nothing .went to check for tracks and no mooses.when we arrived at the camp later in the morning,another friend told us he had seen the bear the day before ,but had forgotten to tell us.what a friend !!! ha !! ha !! it s easier to see 200 mooses during the the summer than one bear or bobcat.i remember seeing 9 bears a few years back in may.after that ,it just like they dissapear !!!must be very lucky to see many bears and bobcats during the same summer . ps:rabbit ,you can see them all the time !!! groomer !!!

here s a bad one !! ha!! ha !! (35mm pic) early may ,a few years back.what happened??? since about 15 years here in the woods they dig holes(pool ,don t know the exact word) in the hills to keep dirt in the hole after a thunder storm or rainy day.it keeps rivers and brooks more clean.specially for salmon anglers. so that day ,put my 4 w in the bed of my truck and went up to the ''21 miles '' on the truck logging road.started my ride with the 4 w from there.so ,on the way back at 37 miles (pic gravel 37 )took a break along the road.stay there long enough to see that hole on the side of the road about 150 ' , from me. when i left ,i completly forgot about that hole .i was playing on the side of the road and ditch.suddently ,plouck !!!ha !! ha !! fell in that hole.lost my balance and jumped off the 4w.i had water a bit higher than my waist.my bag for my cameara was wet a bit. tried to pull the 4w back on the road ,but too heavy .no choice to walk ,my truck was at the 21 miles.ha !! ha !!early like that in may ,theres no traffic on the truck logging road.i had not much hope to see traffic.started to walk and on the top of the hill of the '' 30 miles '' saw a pick up truck coming .lucky ,they gave me a lift down to my truck at the 21 .the only truck had seen during the day.they were coming from mount caribou near trail 595 to fix the communication antenna for the mill here in town.they tought my 4w was a stolen one . :o so , took my truck ,went back to the 37 and back home.changed oil in the 4w and back riding !! groomer !!!

hi dream of green !! here s a few !!don t have too many with the 4 wheelers.all pics around a 25 miles radius of my camp !!! groomer !!!

ha !! ha !! it was ''pay back time ''... work very well !!! http://www.quoquocheepleinair.net/pag/trajet/trajet_routier.html went to check on g e to find something about relais quoquochee ,landed in latuqe but found this.i was a bit ''off '' .if i remember well ,lac laureat was within 5-6 miles from the relais. lake sincennes ,we ve been on that lake or very close. we ve been on vermillon river ,but can t remember where.near lake edouard there s a hydro power lines ,took that to go up lsj. south -west of lake flamand ,about 60 miles north-west of mattawin. there s lake breault.we went there one night at the camp of my friend, z e c chapeau de paille.we met the brother of my friend with his friends, about 5 ,about 30 miles from mattawin.so in the camp it was nt too warm at night even if there was a firewood stove. next morning ,i woke up before my friend.when he woke up ,i realized that he went to bed with all his clothes + snowmobile suit, into the sleeping bag !!! never seen something like that. groomer !!!

after seing the mooses on the other post,saw 2 more in a clearcut (first pic) then that calf .took the first pic of the calf at 125 ,began to walk toward him,he was nt moving at all.stopped around 35 ' .i noticed he was nt ''normal ''.he was swinging his head often and using his leg to scratch the side of his head.after close to half an hr beside him ,decided to go to see a lot more . started the 4 w and let the 4w run idle while taking pics,did nt move ,went slowly toward him ,was nt moving yet.then he crossed the road and walked toward him as close as 15 '. so when i arrived home ,took a close look at the pics .look at the back of his ears ,there s something strange there . groomer !!!

went riding again this afternoon.not the longest ride,but prideless.went to ride to places i don t go to often.at 5 pm i was at the lake to see a friend .5 30 pm ,time to go to see mooses.saw 1 female about 300 ' crossing the road while riding then 20 '' later the calf.stopped to look in the clearcut and nothing. half a mile later,while climbing a hill ,whooops ,another mom + calf waiting to cross the road.stopped 50' passed them.i was kneeling on the side of my 4w and waiting for them.after a few mins ,they were on the road and back in the woods.then noise on the left side ,another moose .while waiting ,there was another one on the right. pic 4 ,moose waiting to cross the road and pic 5 the other on the left waiting too.40-50' from me.the one on the left came first ,look at the ears,pic 7 .,then the one on the right.after i took the pic of the 2 on the road,the one on the left kicked the other one with her legs. after that went about 1 mile further ,turned around and saw the one on the left again . 14 mooses ,5 deers,3 rabbits and few partridges . enjoy the pics.all of them were nt nervous at all .still snow on mount albert groomer !!!

here s a map of the laurentide park .we came from metabetchouane (lsj) south for p d l .the black line ,the lake on top is lac a la carpe .we ve been on that lake .then where the orange arrow is ,lac des ecorces is just under.from there, we stayed on the ''orange line ''from west to east toward manoir richelieu . the orange line going south we did it ,but something happened near auberge le relais ,groomed trails or plowed roads.so we went more north.we ve been to ''portes de l enfer '' too .there s a hydro power lines near by. went we met the guys from the canadian army at lac des ecorces ,they had huge tents on the lake.for supper they gave us ,ha !! ha !! cold pork chops ', in a plastic bucket.we were hungry !! ha !! ha !! the night we had spent at the motel in metabetchouane ,the room next to us ,there was 3 sledders.looks like they went to party all night long.went they came to their room ,they started to sing and making noise.unable to sleep. so the next morning around 6 am ,went outside and started the sleds to warm them up.let them running for at least 20 mins to say thank you to those guys.ha !! ha !!so went we left ,they were looking at us by the window !!! haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! groomer !!!

ha !! ha !! it has been hell to get the sled out of the slush. thank you very much for the maps.only a guess ,relais quoquochee ,must be just north-east of lake flamand.look like there s a road there.we did about 1 miles on the road then south for lake laureat ,maybe even the one just north.one night we ''hit '' a lot of slush on one of those 2 lake.crazy !! lake latuque ,there s a little dam at the end of the lake .remember that lake at night .huge ''waves '' for a few miles.arrived at motel des 9 in latuque at 4 30 am.there was no rooms available.so they took spare beds and put them in the ''stockroom '' and slept there for 3 hrs .then in the morning we were on way to trois riviere using the pipeline and hydro power lines outside 3 rivieres. from lac st jacques we went on the east side of the peribonka river.but at the end of the day ,we realized it was too dangerous for the racers .there was big crevices,ditches 8-10 ' deep across the trail .so instead ,from onatchiway ,went north -west for a few miles on zec ''la boiteuse '' then south along the peribonka river. one time ,late at night we were on our way to mattawin (motel des 9 ).for sure the fatigue and cold.we were on a tq trail ,very long straight going slightly downhill.there was lights far away ahead ,1 mile plus.so we were tired and my friend was in front ,lights were coming closer and closer and closer .i realized it was 2 groomers coming toward us ,one on both side of the trail and maybe 100' apart.my friend was in the moon or sleeping while driving.when he realized it was 2 groomers ,he put the brakes and went off the trail and he was very close.ha !! ha !!he probably tought it was sleds coming toward us.i was probably sleeping myself that night ,remember that just like it was yesterday. thanks again for the maps. groomer !!!

pic 1 : south of lake chiboo ,sled is seized.on the way to lsj.i learned a few days later that it was a broken bearing on the crankshaft. pic 2 :lake flamand ,not too far from quoquochee.coming from mattawin on the way to latuque .11 miles on that lake i think . groomer !!!

pic 1 : between chiboo and lac a jim .stopped for gas. pic 2 :me ,not to far from the clubhouse in val d or.coming from lake ,mourier ,lemoyne and up for lake de montigny.27 miles in a row on those lakes. pic 3 :lake the montigny (val dor ).returned on the lake to take a ''way point-degree '' with my compass.very cold ,you can see the steam coming out of the seat.next morning ,on our way to val senneville ,then senneterre ,we arrived on a lake .an elderly person told us it was - 50 c. pic 4 :on a lake south of chiboo pic 5 :hit a rock about 1 mile from '' camp a jos '' in chiboo.very long day.woke up at 6 am,ready to go for lsj .seized my sled on lake chiboo,almost at the most southern point of the lake.went back to chiboo to find another sled at the doo dealer.left camp a jos late in the afternoon ,i had a coil problem.misfiring.told my friends no way im going to lsj with that sled..(170 miles).waited for the challenge kanada organisation to arrive in chiboo and left the clubhouse at 9 pm and arrived at lac a jim at 5 30 am.slept for 2 hrs ,then down to st felicien and up 60 miles north of dolbeau ,relais les loutres and back down to mistassini at midnight.we had to do the ''circuit '' twice ,last 2 weeks were just crazy.not much sleep.12-15-20-24 hrs of riding .crazy groomer !!!

pic 1 : relais ''les loutres '' 55/60 miles north of dolbeau.we left that place one night at 6 pm ,arrived at a relais near mistassini along the river at midnight .went to the motel in st felicien ,took a few beers and went to bed at 4 30 am.troubles that night ,hard times to find trails and lakes.lots of fun tho. pic 2 : mistassini river ,between chiboo and lac a jim (st thomas dydime(north-west of lsj. pic 3:darlen river ,south-east of rouyn.cold that morning pic 4:kinojevis river or darlen ,i was in front and hit a rock or a crack in the ice under the snow .in a fraction of a second,sled went straight to the left and made a nice ''dive '' on the ice.while on the ice ,i was looking at the sled going slowly for the hole .i had my camera around my neck and landed on my camera side.did nt care much about the sled ,ha !! ha !!i was more afraid that my camera was broken !! ha !! ha !! pic 5 : bridges ,south-east of rouyn.the second one could be ,road 117 ,don t know. groomer !!!

pic 1-2 : north-east of clermont (charlevoix ) but east of trail 83 ,going toward tadoussac.awesome off the trail riding .jumping from one lake to another.great memories!! pic 3 :stuck in the slush ,south of quoquochee on the way to latuque.near lake laureat on the pq map.while i was turning around ,i realized snow was poor ,too late ,sled sank in the slush.1.5 hrs to remove the sled from there. pic 4 : after crossing tq 3 ,we went down a very steep mountain between the trees .no way to go back up there .on the way to tadoussac. pic 5 : looking for a road/trail near lake jupiter north of l etape and south of lake davenport. i was nt stuck!! ps: this is my 1000 th post on qr ,rob is there a prize for that ???? just joking !! ha !! ha !! groomer !!!

pic 1 ; reservoir lamothe near falardeau ,lsj pic 2 :parc des laurentides (pdl) .coming from desbiens ,we had a guide ,from lsj down to the north-west side of pdl .guide turned around and left us alone.told us the trail was at the end of a lake(7 miles ).first time there ,we did many miles at night .we landed at lac des ecorces ,12 miles west of that phone boot on road 175.out of gas.there was guys from the canadian army.gave us gas . we spent about 1.5 hrs on the lake at night with those guys.when we left ,still on the lake ,my friend forgot to put injection oil again.i could see his headlight going down in the darkness.put oil back ,engine was running like a diesel one.ha !! ha !! -35/-40c that.i was breaking a lot of snow for miles.both of my carburators froze.tried many times to fix it ,but no luck.half of the clutch was turning in the ice.lots of snow.friend remembered there was a camp a few miles away.started my sled ,throttle was frozen,so i was playing with the ''kill switch '' not to blow the motor. so when we woke up ,i put warm water on the carbs ,and go for the phone boot.guy was waiting for us there ,since 3 pm ,the day before .took lunch there and go for the casino .crazy day.at the camp ,we took a 5 gallons of gas and a 10 onces of 94% alcohol.let 40.00$ or 70.00$ to the guy.he was from chicoutimi. pic 3 : p d l ,we were on top of that mountain,saw a road at the base ,decided to go down between the trees .awesome !!! pic 4 :realais quoquochee (sp maybe).it s on the road going to parent.north-north-west of latuque.coming from mattawin and manawan (out of gas ) we landed at that place at 11 pm one night.just in time to put gas.then a few miles later ,we landed on a lake full of slush .wow !! it has been rock and roll on that lake .if you have a pq map ,look for lac laureat ,flamand and latuque ,in that area. pic 5 : peribonka river,we did 60 miles along that river ,last 10 on the river.huge !!we went by ',relais onatchiway '' up to lac st jacques.then down along the river. groomer !!!

after i posted this morning , i remembered it was the ''bella villa '' in senneterre. here s a few places i ve been ,off the trail . the second year ,when we left from rouyn up to chiboo,down to lsj ,latuque and st gabriel de brandon , i calculated we did roughly 225/250 miles on rivers and lakes.we don t have big rivers and lakes like that around here ,woooow !!! awesome !!! just too bad ,i ve been on too many lakes and rivers can t remember them all. great adventure and experience!! groomer !!!

thanks gs !! good for you !!almost mad at myself :angry: ,i had in mind to spend the week end at the camp,but weather was nt safe for most of the day and cold.sun is out now !! :angry: i ll try the spend the day there tomorrow . groomer !!!

i saw on one of your map, the bell river in matagami .thought about that.all the pics are fom when i worked for challenge kanada back in 97 i think ,maybe 96 .just can t remember.pics of the first ''leg '' (not sure if it s the right word).rouyn noranda to chibougamau. this on lake parent in senneterre ,about 25 miles from town.we had to go up to the bell river ,then enter the woods.when we arrived it was on open water and we were nt sure if it was the bell river .so we went up to the bay.trying to find trails and roads.we did nt know that area at all . what happened ,our ''guide '' made the circuit with a plane,from rouyn noranda to chibougamau .easy from the air ,but once the land ,wooooooooooooow !! another story for our guide.first night he came to see us at the motel in rouyn noranda.first thing he told us ,guys i don t ride deep snow at all,95 % of the time on hard packed trails.i learned that the next morning.my friend was the greatest guy to take beers with and tell jokes and stories,but very poor rider in deep snow ,also.so i was caught with 2 terrible riders in deep snow. if i remember well ,we took 7-8 days riding off the trail ,from rouyn to senneterre,way too much .once in senneterre the guide went back home after a week vacation.hell of a week .it was supposed to take 2 days to do that.taking notes and mileage for the roadbook. pic 1/2 ,off the bay . 3-4-7 first time on lake parent. 5-6 second time on lake parent about 3-4 weeks later .visibility was ''0 ''.pics taken about a quarter mile from the bell river. our first day on lake parent ,my friend forgot to bring injection oil and unable to make it back to the motel,probably 20 miles + away .so it was getting late in the afternoon ,close to darkness on our way back to the motel. suddenly while riding on the lake ,a bunch of sledders arrived behind us.one was out of gas .so we traded a 5 gallons can of gas for a pint of injection oil and made it back to the motel in the darkness.they saved our day.i could tell you tons of stories about my 2 years with challenge kanada . groomer !!!

whoooops !!! ha !! ha !! don t worry ,it happened to me while grooming.i had the ''bull ''down a bit and pushing snow ,trying to ''level ', the trail.snow was so hard packed by the wind ,it was pushing the machine ',off the trail ''.outter track fell in the soft snow and stuck for 3 hrs !! ha !! ha !! st fidele clubhouse was very popular back in the 80's and early 90 ' s. first pic ,tq 5 ,about 3-4 miles east of ste marguerite ,almost at the bottom of a looooooooong hill.there s an 180 ' curve behind the machine ,met andyman,smclelan,mubs and ron about a quarter mile behind the machine. next 2 ,about 2.5 miles west of ''plain-rev/90' curve .i wrote ''bucher/clearcut on the map. groomer !!!

thanks snomogary !! first 2 pics ,same bobcat than the other post .early morning at the lake .i was on my way to work at our new camp,2 years ago. next 3 ,back in june 06 .right in the yard of the camp.i was sitting at the table and saw that ''tourist '' in the yard of the camp.what happen at the camp,there s trees all around,so when i see something in the yard ,reaction time must be very quick.3-4 steps for them and they are already back in the woods.took the pics through the window. always funny to see something in the yard of the camp. jean-guy

forgot ,post 13 ,pic 5 ,from the 5th red stick going up the field to enter the woods,worse place.same field than pic 1.very narrow.snow come from the left side . pic 1 : bridge in town.can t see the bridge ,too much snow . pic 2-3 .tq 5 ,where my run begin .cb over the matapedia river .albertville guys turn around on the other side of the cb( west ).park the machine about half a mile from there. groomer !!!

ha !! ha !! very easy to get stuck.must know ''your '' trail very well .there s a ditch on both side of the trail,not too deep tho,but enough to make the machine lean on one side .the weight of the machine (very heavy ) transfert on all on the same side and you must hurry up to back on hard packed before it s too late.at the base of the hill ditch is deeper ,came close very often there. what happen ,when there s 3-4'+ there i can t see where is the edge of the trail ,so if one track is off the trail and there s already 3-4, of snow ,there s a little bit more off the trail.it does nt take much time to lose the rpm and the drag fill up very fast with snow .time to go back on the hard packed snow.sounds silly ,but it happen very fast.machine ''sink '' very fast.thats why i keep that place very wide,even if there s 3-4-5 ' on the trail ,at least i know there s hard packed snow under.drifts are great places to gain experience. pic 1 on post 13 ,before entering in the woods ,it s steep and it s about the width of the machine .the snow there , it s snow blew by the wind and the quality is very poor.95 % of the time going up there ,tracks spin all the time and can t use the drag to fix it well.i do it on the way back.downhill.probably the worst place to groom . all 3 pics on this post ,tq 5 ( map ) plain-rev/90' corner.plain-rev is the one with the blue coat. ps:never got stuck in drifts .3-4 times in 10 years .good average ,ha !! ha !! groomer !!!

tq5 again,. pic 1 : where i wrote ''snow bank and channel ''. roughly ,4 miles west of the st fidele cb. pic 2-3-4 : andyman's bld pic 5 : andyman/mubs ,about half a mile east of andyman's bld and 1 mile west of the ''drifts '' pic 6-7 :just before entering the field in ste marguerite with the 2 channels on the way back and right in the field. groomer !!!

tq 5 ,if look at the map again, where i wrote ''drifts ''.all pics at the same place. roughly mid way between ste marguerite and the st fidele cb. groomer !!!

if you look at my google map,trail for ''lac 8 milles.first 2 ,where i turn around at the lake . next 2 at ''the stump '' on the way back. groomer !!!

few pics from the lac saumon trail. pic 1: took the pic about 1 mile off the st alexandre trail.going up that field ,the last 400' can be hell to enter into the woods.very bad place and most of the time ,there s no traction there.snow blew by the wind is nt the best quality. pic 3 :lac saumon ,tq 5 is up the fields ,few miles i guess.albertville is on the left.never been there. pic 4 :about 1 mile before arriving at the road 132 .must do it right on the way down.nice drifts there sometimes.i ll be ''dead '' on the way up.ha !! ha !! never happened tho. pic 5 :on the way back from the lac saumon.st alexandre is about 1 mile on the left side of the clearcut and the trail is also about 1 mile higher than the clearcut.you can see the barn for the horses at the bottom of the fields. pic 6 :looking toward amqui ,at the intersection of amqui/st alexandre pic 7 :where i turn around in st alexandre , i go on ''main street '' and back on the trail.took the pic from the amqui side.st alexandre is a very small village . pic 8 :strange mooses on the lac saumon trail .ha !! ha !! groomer !!!