doonali

Day6
Finally blue skies and colder temps, plan is Lac Edourd for the night. Grooming shows a lot of purple! Bingo! 373 first tracks, set up like concrete. Down through Alma everything groomed up nice. Lunch in Hebertville and onto the 83 which is also mint! Onto the 355 which was a bit whooped to Lac Bruchette, fuel and onto the 355 which showed groomed last night. Yep, smooth sailing into Domaine Lac Eduard. Tried to stay at the Presbyterian but booked, also the other B&b booked. Tomorrow back to the truck in st come. 250 miles for the day

There still seems to be folks in the snowmobile community who are continuing to promote hand signals to approaching sleds about the number in your group. 
JUST STOP IT!

Day5
Todays plan was to completely wing it. After a stop at the ski doo dealer in the morning to replace the wire for momo’s oxygen helmet that got sucked into his track it was TQ 93 south. Freshly groomed last night, passed the groomer headed back from his 2nd pass. Perfectly set up! Sweet! Quick stop at the sawmill for fuel. No food there anymore. South of the mill not recently groomed but still in great shape. Continued up to Lac au Jim. Thought you could stay there but a no go. Quick map check and Giradville has 2 places about 25 miles out. Into town there for fuel and ask. Motel 1km away, Perfect! Small place with 6 rms. You check in at the supermarket next door which also has a SAQ which was even better! Restaurant across the st. Tomorrow up around the lake on the 373 which is an awesome new trail. 225 miles for the day.

This was just shared on another post. Apparently they are back to using the old 63 this season...

Two of us arrived Tuesday noontime got our room then headed out for lunch and a quick spin. It was fairly cold about 10F, and the trails were terrific. Hard, flat , fast. Pretty much the way I like em.
After a bite and brew at the Relay Station on 351, we headed east  to the ice fishing village (city) at st anne de la parade. Then looped back on 351 where it parallels Hwy 40 heading west towards trois rivieres. Again all trails were hard hwy like surfaces. Back in to Drakkar after gas up at station just down the street from the motel.
Wednesdays plan was to do a 1 nite saddle bag over to st raymond via Latuque, then down 73 into st ray. Before shoving off I said to Reggie, keep my truck keys here in case it snows, or you want to move it , whatever. As it turned out, it was a good decision.
It was milder wednesday, snow cover was terrific, but softer. Did the 351,360 to St Joseph, then 355 pipeline into Latuque, all good. 3 ft of snow on the ground up there vs 2 ft in Shawinigan. We had lunch in Latuque, then down 73 we went. About 25 miles into it my buddy wasnt in my mirrors. Uh oh. Pulled over, waited,...he aint coming. 3 point turn , back I go. Hes back a mile or so, looks like hes changing a belt. Big problem, secondary spins in his hand, not good. So now its drag it around, hook up rope, off we go back to Latuque we hope. Fun, fun.
We get to where the rail bed(flat trail) ends just west of a big lake. from here on its billy goat hills into Latuque. But, sitting right where the 1st hill starts sits an older gentleman. He speaks in french first, we reply in english, and then he switches to perfect english. He says hes been waiting for us to show up there and he tells us to follow him. He takes us on nearly flat dirt roads and unmarked local trails, stops traffic for us,  right to the Hotel Marineau at the lights on the main drag near the airport. Once again the Quebecers drop everything to baby sit us when things go wrong.  Amazing.
So from the  Marineau Hotel I call Reggie back at the Drakkar asking him if he knows of a driver that might be able to come get our sorry asses. He says sure Ill come get you right now. He drops everything and drives my truck with trailer 90 miles up to Latuque. we load up both sleds and back to Drakkar we go. 
All I can say is we sledders need to support the Reggies of the Motel/Inn world. These folks go way beyond the ordinary to help you any way they can. Can you imagine anyone from a Hotel chain helping you like this?? Wont happen. Need to support these kind of folks whenever possible.

Just a little. No photoshop here in first photo guy is standing in middle of road. Holy drift.

On the news last night was a guy responsible for the certification training of the guides.
this guide received his certification 10 years ago. 
Anyway does not matter
unfortunately we will probably never know exactly what happened here
bottom line very sad day for snowmobiling in Quebec and especially the families who have lost loved ones

Here is the map of our first 2-day ride from Champlain to Lac-Édouard and then St-Raymond



Saturday morning we left Champlain (east of Trois-Rivières) accompanied by our partner Snowcruiser under a cloudy sky and a temperature of -21C . Just decent snow along the St-Laurence river but it quickly improved as we ride toward north and the trail base was hard and well groomed. We went up to Grand-Mère where we took the trail on the St-Maurice river


We rode  few miles on the river up to the #23 trail junction which we took north. The long trail that continue up on the St-Maurice river is also already open and marked. Under good conditions we passed St-Tite village



Just before crossing the Des Envies river, we stopped to give some help to bring back on the track a snowmobile that had gone straight into a curve. Fortunately no injuries but plastics are not tought at -20C when it stops on a tree ...



We then continued on the #23 whose path is improved this year to make less roadside



We stopped at Ste-Thècle to refuel and continued via trail #351 to go to dinner at the Tawachiche relay just at the entrance of the Zec



After a good warm up and meal we continued north



It was riding well even in this part where the trail base is really uneven,  just barely a few bumps still present. I do not know the reason but the trail is actually diverted in the wood on the part just before connecting with the #355 instead of staying under the power lines like by the past years



Here a rear view at the  #355 junction, looking towards the Pipeline section further south. There was a lot of wood cut on the right!



We then continued north. Here near the big railway bridge over the rivière du Milieu



The conditions were very good on #355 and we see more snow to the ground as we go up. Before Lake Wayagamac, we forked on the local trail Lt1 on the right



We then took the #73 east



and finally the #355 for the last stretch towards Lac Édouard.



The trail was a bit bumpy but the snow cover is impressive



We missed the junction for the lake trail and finally ride the whole path on the land trail



And we arrived at our destination at Gite d'Edouard just before dark with 150miles on the dreammeter. It is a place that we have visited few times in the past years and the owner Nicole has again received us as well with great hospitality and generous/delicious meals. We had a real good time there after our day ride and we had relax and chat alot before a good night at warm



On the next morning, a little layer of fresh cream was on our sleds



We had retraced our steps on the #355 trail. The groomer was passed overnight leaving us a perfect trail to start our day





We then switched east on the local Lt2 trail. There was only one sled track in the 3-4 "of new snow at this place and we had great fun to play in this nice powder





We took a short break near the relay at the entrance of the Zec Jeannotte



And then continued on #73 trail east





We took another short break near the "Marmitte"





We passed Rivière à Pierre and continued on the #73 towards St-Raymond and my Kristine managed to catch this beautiful action shot at trail speed. We then stopped for lunch at St-Raymond and ate well at the Paquette pizzeria.


We then continued south, our goal being to loop back in west direction to Champlain. We had a little overestimated the progress of the trails opening in the south in this sector and our first try proved being unsuccessful: we tried to take the trail to Ste-Christine just south from St-Raymond but after a couple miles in an AtV shared trail under the power line, the ATV trail turns left and the snowmobile trail.... well it was just not done yet. Here right after we turned back.



So we took the #23 trail east to loop a little farther south east. They had made a first groomer pass but the trail was not so good. Near St-Basile the #3 trail was even worse and we really think to turn back but after talking with a guy coming from the opposite direction we were knowing that is was better a bit farther and it was not a dead end so we kept going forward at very low speed. We cross some people that were at installing stakes and signs


When we were near Portneuf Station, to get better conditions, instead of keeping on the #3 we went up on #23 to make a loop a little further north. The trail base was good and although a little bumpy it was perfect after what we had rode just before! We took back  the #3 trail just a little before St-Marc des Carrières




The rest of the trails further west toward Mauricie were all good and the 5 to 6 inches of new snow allowed us to ride at a very good pace


 
We got back at our starting point in Champlain around 5 pm with 165 miles for the day and 315 miles for the 2 days. An other great ride for us!!!
The snowmobile season is finally off to a good start and with the snow fallen in the weekend it is only a matter of a few days to have all the south trails completed and the trail network fully connected. It's now finally the time to enjoy it and hit the trails for saddlebagging trips. The best of the season is just ahead us!
To see the state of the trails in Lanaudière and Mauricie, here the trail conditions site: https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/

Alain

There are always two options there for dinner......take it or leave it.

Here is the ride we did on Sunday January 5, 2020



This last weekend was our first opportunity since several weeks for us to ride again. Saturday would normally have been our first choice but the temperatures were far too mild since several days so we decided to wait on Sunday where colder temperatures were expected. We were not disappointed with a good frost overnight and a winter normal temperature of -10C during our day. From what had been groomed during the night and following TrailBlazer advice, we chose to start from St-Zenon and going to lunch at Marineau in Rivière Mattawin which give us an easy  hundred miles to do before lunch.
We started from La Glacière around 9:20 am under a cloudy sky



The snow cover, although limited, is good enough to give a more than acceptable trail on # 350 which was freshly groomed



The # 23 towards the Cabanon was also freshly groomed giving us a nice ride


A surprise for us, the route from #23 trail is deviated from the usual path for 4 miles because they will plow a section of road for wood transport(the interactive map is up to date on this change). This different trail path was great





After connecting the usual route a little before the Cabanon, there is some sand mixed with snow on some spots as we often see in this sector but beautiful trail no bump.



We continue on  345 towards the dam



It was also freshly groomed, the first part of4 miles which leaves the forest road was a little less beautiful with some spots of dirty snow and some rocks but immediately returned on the forest path it was nice and fast, but with few visible ice spots



The last 0.5miles before the dam still shown some potatoes but it's really short



The Taureau reservoir is already lowered by half and there is still huge water amount still flowing out





Then we had a 10 miles rought that had not been groomed on the #360 between the dam and the junction for the #345north( in Repos direction). Here is a pic from my gopro this time, Kristine was using her two hands to stay with me!



Once past junction #345 north, The #360 had been groomed by the Mattawin club for the rest of the trip and was nice and fast






We stopped to take a short break at #440 rest area to enjoy the view of the river





And then took back the trail again, still beautiful and fast



the other classic point of view



The last stretch of 8 miles out of the Zec Chapeau de Paille was notch down given the limited snow cover but still nice and practically no bump. The cabin with the barrier in the middle of the road at the entrance of the bridge is no longer there...



We arrived for lunch at Marineau around 12:30 with just 101 miles on the dreammeter. It's always as nice to stop there, just good things to say about them!


 
After refueling, we chose to take the exact same path for the return. We usually choose to loop through the M20 /#345 but the #360 was far too nice to look any further. The traffic of the day did not wear it and we returned toward the dam at a very good pace. The small rought section before the dam wasn't any better, the #345 south of the dam showed some wear, not much  bumpy but have swept/icy curves but not enough to really slow us down, just a bit in the big curves. We cross 2 groomers thay were about to start their run when passing at the Cabanon. The#23 south from there had stay beautiful, giving us a dessert to finish the ride. We came back at La Glacière around 4:30 pm with 202 miles on the dreammeter, giving us a very nice ride for the day
In sum, the snow cover is not very generous yet, but is sufficient with cold to give very acceptable trails like the ones we had on Sunday. It was nice to have the 10 inches of new snow  we had last week , but without cold trail condition was bad with alot moguls . With the cold coming back, the trails will hold and keep good. We hope for more snow to continue to shape up the already opened trails and to continue the enlarge the playground down south.
You can also take a look at the updated trail condition site here: https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/
Alain
 

What city or state run by liberals isn’t going down the shitter? I don’t know of any....

bonsoir !!!
back from grooming local trails ...
9 30 hrs run .....saw 2 moose in the darkness !!!
 
jean-guy

Matt, when we leave here and head north, we try to plan on having a 300 mile range for each sled, some of the expedition sleds can carry that fuel, but the smaller sleds cannot, so we pull sleighs for that capacity.  The added bonus is pulling he sleigh is much easier on the snowmobile than trying to carry it. But we do both.  Today we had a 285 mile ride and turned early because we were concerned with fuel range.  We enjoy these types of adventure rides.  We found good snow North and west of the base camp today, some really good going.

Hello from over here in Maine, just bit further North than MIke rider, we have gotten a light covering of snow here. 

Many of us are getting ready for our annual run to Valin in early December to get these new sleds broke in.  The new expedition was popular in our group this year.  We counted 4 , 900 Turbos, and 8 , 850 extremes on the spring order checks for this winter.  I was able to pick up my 900 T last week and have got it outifitted for our rides planned in Valin next week.  
 
Like all of you, We are very excited to hit the snow and start a new season.  Conditions up in Valin are looking good for our debut😊
 
So Happy trails and Think Snow!
 
RR

 
 

looking like winter more and more each days with  more snow on the forecast for the next week!
Here is an outstanding drone's pic taken this last week by a photographer name Olivier Langevin  in the 7 falls section of the #131 road south from St-Zénon 😍

still from our last season ender on the 13april2019, the beginning around St-Michel des Saints village was slushy but the rest was nice, especially the 2nd part past Le Cabanon in the Mastigouche wildlife reserve. Many of you will recognize some of the spots I guess...
Crank up the sound and quality and enjoy the ride again!
 

Hi guys!
We got some outstanding conditions on our last season ender ride, mid april in Lanaudière. Not only the snow condition for the date but the warm temperature and the clear blue sky with the strong sun of april made it easy for me to catch some very nice footage of this nice ride. Here is a first video all taken on the loop path around the taureau reservoir
Crank up the quality and the sound and enjoy the ride! 
Alain

bonsoir !!!
sunrise downtown albertville this morning ...
windmills...where tq 5 cross logging rd..
bad weather coming ....windy and '' cold '' today 
 
jean-guy

bonsoir !!!
back in the city....raining like crazy .....last night could nt cross the brook 2 miles from my camp ...too high
.....and with bow  hunting starting today ...nowhere to ride...
 
jean-guy

salut monhomme !!!
 
ca flotte ????
great thx...saw mom +  kid  again this morning at work ...but around 700 '.....long shot !!!
great colors right now...heavy rain this afternoon !!!
in about half an hr...it ll be darkness here !!!
pic with road...1.5 mile up  the church in albertville...road for st alexis ....l ascension ...reserve duchesnier...patapedia river...etc...logging rd at the same time...at the bottom of the mountain ,,,if you turn right...you re 20 mins from st leon and amqui 
 
jean-guy

bonsoir !!!
 
this morning at work !!!
 
jean-guy

At camp on Lac Chapeau-de-Paille

Location anyone ???