Trailblazer

Churchill Falls tonight from goose bay not any groomed or broken trail here

It was a full day for sure, 185 miles of unbroken trail. many sleds stuck, 30 miles of ditch riding and 10 miles of trans Lab highway. But a blast still. A blue sky day this morning and some gorgeous power line running. Deep snow with now base in places, and settled snow on the wind blown areas. The Team Maine trailer and support crew provided fuel and food for the mid day as there is nothing in between. The Team Maine proto type 850 Freeride got put to its test today. It did very well!
Churchill is a company town for  the Churchill hydro power. The only civilization in central Lab.  Tomorrow off for Lab city!
 
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Today,  as we had mentioned,  the trail from here to Churchill is not broken,  so we figured we would break half today,  and the better half tomorrow.  We did get 75 miles open, but it was a full day.  Different riding for sure, but a blast!  Should sleep well tonight! 
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Funny you should mention this,  CBC radio did an interview with this morning before our trail breaking run today

Cool video, all those places I rode last week and I can see they are still in great shape.
Did you guys make that little bridge over the ditch?
That makes it much easier to access the trail from your place.
The word is out that Eric landed himself a Sidewinder.....

That's good news to hear Midrange for the sleds in the winter but I'm  certainly gonna miss that raft with the clothes line pull yourself over crossing on atv.

Revct, you are absolutely right, this trip probably sounds easy and trouble free.  We have had our mechanical issues, but generally great weather.  As the two boys from Quebec can attest. This is more challenging than it sounds at times. You need to be fully prepared or have a good guide and good coordinated riders.  Not to be taken lightly! 
We have both in Rob and the Team Maine riding group.  Many of us have ridden together for many years and understand Robs trips and what is expected. Put that together and you get an epic trip.
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Revct1,
This trip definitely looks easier in pictures than in person, I can personally attest to this.  This trip must be taken with extreme caution as there are vast stretches between fuel and help.  Also many challenges with sea ice shelfs and unpredictable weather.  With the proper planning and supplies it can be done.

As I mentioned above, Today's ride was awesome as yesterday, 204 miles of winter wonderland, the first 50 miles was the bay out of Cartwright and the white beaches of Labrador. We had problems with sleds overheating on the bay, so off come the side panels for additional cooling, strap them to the rear and go, once we got to the beaches we had lube along the shore, and than the 125 mile run up Lake Melville, was hard but provided lubrication. 30 mph winds provided for white out conditions at times, but a picture perfect day to get into Goose Bay for mid afternoon. We were 1 and 1/2 hour ahead but are back now to Atlantic time. We had the cat destroy the primary clutch 40 miles out so that got towed in. We mat be here an extra day getting that resolved before we head west for Churchill. Our new additions to the group did great today. They are planning to continue on with us for the trip.
Here are some more pics of today's winter in The Big Land" ride!
Happy Trails in Goose Bay/ Happy Valley Labrador
 
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And that's why he's the Cain Quest champ. Superb navigating.

182, I can understand the under whelming experience you might get from the Trans lab Hiway, from the bits we have seen, Somehow on a snowmobile, following the coastal shore it seems to change that experience.
The boys from Montreal Quebec that were running a day ahead of us apparently. Said they had done fine until the grooming stopped at Red Bay lab. No problems on their ride along Cote Nord.
From there,  they have had a bit of trouble finding their way along the relatively unmarked and unmaintained trails. We got ahead of them yesterday somewhere , probably while we were on our "Team Maine custom coastal route" as they stayed in port Hope Simpson the night before, just north of Mary's Harbor, but tried to come by trail. The gps trail map they had purchased was inaccurate up here. They had done this loop 10 years or so ago, so not a first time. They seemed pretty happy when Rob asked them to join in with us. Great guys, we will have a good time with them joining in.
The boys have ski doo 1200s and were strapping on spare windshield washer gas jugs last night for the run tomorrow. Approx a 180 to 200 mile run without a  fuel stop.
The motel here does not serve breakfast, but has a kitchen fully stocked. They told us we can use the kitchen and make our own. We have two "master chefs" from our crew lined up to cook breakfast in the am. Can't beat that!
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Markus, today's ride ,was more like you described, loosely marked and a very occasional emergency shelter. Lab is rightly named "The Big  Land" 
Rob and Dixon  from  Lab  city are planning tomorrow and tuesdays ride now. Looking at tracks and planning the route. Lots of stuff. Sea ice, trap lines and lake Melville are all in the mix. 
Should be a good run either way!
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TB, today's ride was not the blue sky days we had been blessed with. But that's what makes an adventure right? Today we had fog, rain and the 1200 sled gremlins are still with us. We rode like all the sleds were connected to each other and a cable hooked to Rob's expedition extreme. Low visibility made you realize how good Rob is. Running by gps alone near zero visibility at times and not marked like the white road! 
When the 1200 gremlins kicked in with zero visibility, Rob took a vote on how to get to mary's with a bad sled. Along came TLH.
TLH is great snowmobile  club, but they sand the the middle of the trail?? What's up with that.  Anyway, we made the last 40 miles on the TLH in the fog and rain to Mary's harbor for the night. All done by noon!  100 miles for the day.
Cooling temps tonight and off to Cartwright tomorrow
 
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At the Quebec/ Labrador border this afternoon, just east of Blanc Sablon, Team Maine's Early rider has organized and lead this trip. He and his wife Tina have been awesome in the planning of this trip, we are very appreciative of his efforts and knowledge. 

We had a spectacular blue sky day today,  ran the ice and portages to the remote village of  Black  Tickle, definitely a Team Maine Custom tour today!. Gorgeous ride!  More details to follow RR

Too funny Howard, must be a sign.
i followed him in Cains Quest the year he won.

2 Spares are good but you still have to change them on the side of the road. Rollback, trailer dealer with coffee and snacks is the way to change a trailer tire or 2.
Someone is looking out for you Ray.

Some of the trail and views from Johan beetz over to aguanish and onto Chevery yesterday afternoon. Note the stakes or tripods every 50 feet👍 The single track sections are between johan and aguanish. The staked trail and very new warming huts are on the ministry maintained trail between Kegaska and Chevery

There's always a chuckle between brand riding, that's what makes snowmobiling so experiencing. You can always learn from the other irregardless of the brand.
Now get that Doo back together guys a move forward.
Off topic..... just sold my parents tv on line to a Blanc Sablon native living in Montreal. What are the odds, I tell ya it must be a calling RR!!!

Well, we started the day, where we ended it yesterday, with issues with the 1200 expedition and the fuel system. So what do we do, we are  10 miles out of Havre on a beautiful blue sky day. So we use our "one" lol phone call to dial up our 1200 expert. QR's one and only 1500 HD,  we call him tell him what is going on and he says, pull the top off and check the coil wires, than possible the electric throttle, or the rear draw tank has an issue. So trail side you tear it apart. We jus happen to have "5" top mechanics Trailside and off they go. Pulling this thing apart like we are in an Indy race. Coil wires are all connecting well, but one of our crew notices a kink in the draw tank feed line. We think that as this line gets warm, it collapses and plugs of the fuel venting. So we by pass the draw tank and set it back up like stock. Sled goes back together and runs great. Off we go in search of the "white road"
to be continued...
it should be noted, that Dixon, our Artic cat guy, who had problems yesterday, was somewhat celebratory that one of the skidoo had issues today! It's a tough crowd!

We had a small delay today with the sleigh, the Sleigh manufactured by Jean guy... Sleigh Masters Inc.. had a tie down bracket failure. The sleigh is owned by Robs, Team Maine. Fortunately,  we had the warranty,  service rep with us from Jean Guy Sleigh Masters for the repair. The ultimate issue is who pays.  Team Maine claims defective material!, Jean guy Sleigh Masters claims product abuse!  We see a warranty claim dispute on the horizon!! 
Having a great time with a great bunch of guys! 
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Markus
We got an early start,  on the sleds around 7, we were off on our journey!
We wanted to get ahead start on the weather system coming in, You hit the report perfectly,  the first 25 miles were great to the Mosey River, then the next 45 miles,  would make you ask your self  I am doing this because I want to right? This section had the machine thru without a drag,  a long time ago. But not marked particularly well,  rough,  but rideable,  helps greatly to have a gps.
This section,  would be ugly, after or during a snow storm, we lucked out today with decent visibility and some sleds have been thru. Than after 45 miles, and crossing river Tortue, bang, there was a fairly fresh groomed trail!  Wow, should have checked fcmq and the groomer surfacing report, we would not have been so shocked,  from there on in we rolled it out fast, checking into to Hotel du Havre around 2 PM and 170 miles on.  A great first day on out journey,  prepared to rough ride it in, but very happy, the last 100 miles were great! 
On to Chevery tomorrow! 

Well said distant rider, who's got years to experience it all when it can be done all in one day.
 

It's all par for the course for the young squire! Different trail conditions. Different weather conditions. Different numb-nuts traffic conditions. Different mechanical conditions. Yep! Sounds like a perfect primer! Well done!