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towing

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  1. Yes even with the limited snow base it was possible to get good riding on cold winters days but mother nature throw us another a warm sequence ahead and it seems that this will be the end... I considered trying St-Donat tomorrow that is still open but with rain on the forecast I think we will stay home. I confirm you Real Masse has passed on February 27. There is actually a wave of tribute comments on the web about him, he was very appreciated by most people who crossed his path. I have not seen the official obituary yet but will post if I find it. Condolences this his family and friends I try an approximate translation here: Dear customers, It is with sadness and much sorrow that we announce the departure of our dear Réal. This past February 27, our beloved left us for his last trip to the heavens. Since 1986, Réal has made it his duty to offer the best to his customers. The family is committed to continuing the current activities of the outfitter, and to providing the same service that you have received for all these years. In this moment of mourning, we ask you to respect the need for a moment of rest, so that we can live this moment as a family. Sportingly yours, Réal Massé's family X2
  2. We took the risk of leaving directly from the home in St-Thomas and passing through Berthier to go up to St-Zénon and have dinner at Réal Massé If I had to quickly summarize the report: don't do like us and stay no further south than St-Gabriel de Brandon and go north. We wanted to take advantage one last time of the privilege we have of leaving directly from the home without touching the trailer and we managed to do so but the southern part of St-Gabriel is too lacking in snow... I gave a good beat to my snowtrackers! From St-Thomas we joined trail #3 to go towards Berthier. Surprisingly, apart from the surroundings of the gas station in the village, the fields were still very beautiful. Here along the railway line. Scratchers mandatory very hard/icy base There was a lack of snow in a few inside curves but overall very good Things got bad when we arrived at the airfield in St-Cuthbert, there was quite a long way to go on a plowed path now on dirt/gravel and it wasn't nice in the wooded area that followed or near the Valrémi sugar shack We gave a try on the #3 towards St-Barthelemy...It was worse too much south and we had to turn around we lost the trail at some points We headed towards St-Gabriel de Brandon, the wooded sections are good But in the fields the trail path is hard to miss 🙄, it has melted too much. There is quite a long stretch like that Past St-Gabriel de Brandon going north was the way to go, the conditions there are fine and keep going better toward north We had a checkpoint just north of the village of St-Gabriel, the guys were nice no problem. And we went up the #23 north which still has good snow cover I was unsure about a short plowed section but it's still very good and was ok We got a few bumps from traffic but the snow is still very good in that area We had a late start around 9:30 and time was passing quickly so we took the #350 south And we had dinner at Réal Massé. It's been a long time since we've been there and their meals are still delicious and the atmosphere really nice. They are open from Thursday noon to Sunday afternoon. From there we decided to continue #350 and loop around via #63 towards Ste-Émélie de l'Énergie. Here direction the Glacière Past La Glacière on #63 heading south it was still very beautiful with good snow cover Here passing by the La Barrière outfitter We passed through Domaine Bazinet and continued south The big hills near Ste-Émélie de l’Énergie are still in good condition Past Ste-Émilie village we headed towards St-Damien where we stopped to refuel while passing through their courtyard. Leaving the gas station we climb the mountain and at the very top facing south there is the only mud spot we saw to the north of St-Gabriel on this route very close to the small shack at the #23 junction which joins our morning route. We took a little break there. We resumed on the morning path in the opposite direction which was still in the same state, beautiful up to St-Gabriel but then with bare spots going south We returned home around 5:00 p.m. with a little over 250km on the cluster, overall happy with the ride that succeed our wish to start from home. In summary, there is still some great snowmobiling to be done north of St-Gabriel de Brandon when it is cold like today. This year it's like that, don't be too critical and take what can be done... The upcoming weather forecasts are a bit scary but I still hope they're wrong! we'll see...hoping for the best Alain
  3. Here the a music video of this ride. I made a test on this one and film/process the whole video in 2k 30fps in place of 1080p 60fps, seems to improve the quality a bit on the net. So crank up the sound and the quality to 2k and enjoy the ride 🍿🍿🍿
  4. wow gorgeous picture!!! You got the perfect timing for your trip 👍 Oh yes, nothing guaranteed from one weekend to another, I'm myself usually very positive but I developed trust issues with mother nature this season! I try to keep positive for my sled trip first week of march...
  5. Yesterday Sunday February 18, 2024, we rode from St-Michel des Saint to Marineau Mattawin round trip for a 306Kms total After the last weekend thaw(11-12 feb) the south of my area was very thin and some clubs had stop grooming waiting for new snow. It was still possible to start riding from home but we wanted to ride some nice, wide and faster trail so we did a trailer run and dropped at the village of St-Michel des Saints. In St-Michel village it's thin but rideable and we directly reached the Taureau reservoir to take the trail toward auberge Taureau. The ride on the reservoir is rather rough, there was traffic when it was slushy and it refroze like that. If you have the heart strong enough to move between 100 and 200 feet away from the stakes it is very nice and flat and a new path formed there with many tracks but there is an associated risk and I cannot officially recommend it to you, the safe option is close the stakes. The reservoir is not at its lowest yet but must be lowered by a good 25-30 feet already Trail #33 past the Taureau Auberge is a little brownish in the short section that is near the beach but when you enter on the forest road just a little further it is very nice There are some short spots with dirty snow or a few rocks but 95%+ that's it We went around the Taureau reservoir on the west side and continued on #360 towards the east. The trail base was very hard with a thin layer of loose snow and new snow, very fast conditions but icy enough to have to be careful in some curves The Mattawin River has decreased in flow a bit but it hasn't been very cold this year and there are still long sections at clear water We took a break at 440 halt, my prefered break spot. Beautiful view on the river The whole old path of #360 is very nice. When you enter the woods at the height of the old M20 there is some dirt in the snow on some curves but still beautiful overall, the same thing on the fast sections of the detour further on which come to join the edge of the river before the point of view The section in the woods after the viewpoint up to the bridge was a little less beautiful but OK. The bridge was quite dry so we took out the rouskis We left St-Michel at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at Marineau at 12:30 p.m. with 153km on the dreameter We had a very good big meal there, love this place! As luck would have it, I also met a retired work colleague and his wife who I hadn't seen for ten years! they live on the south shore of St-Laurence river and were passing there by car, a great unplanned encounter! We took the same exact route for return, The sun had hidden and it was snowing a little. Here the point of view. We went at the edge of the Taureau dam for a short break and we started it again towards St-Michel We came across the St-Michel dozer which was starting its grooming run a few kms north of the Taureau Auberge. I have to take my hat off to these snowmobile clubs, in this case St-Michel and Mattawin who work hard and do miracles with the little snow they have to give us beautiful trails... Thank you!!! And we were back to the trailer around 4:45 p.m. with 306km for the ride, very happy with our run. It had a bit of new snow yesterday there and at home as well, and even a bit more in Mauricie where my partner Snowcruiser told me around 6 inches of new stuff. We would need more than that to optimize all the trails but at least it help to greenish the trail map on Imotoneige! We were hoping for better at mid february but it's hard to argue with mother nature! We still hope for more snow and cold but in the mean time the groomers do miracles with what they have and it's still possible to do some great sledding. My video camera cooperated very well during the ride and I should be able to post some video footage from this ride soon. Alain
  6. We had no freezing in the night for 3 days in a row, not much rain but it raise to 7C saturday noon at home, probably less worse more north but we had a good melt. It will begin to freeze back tonight and we had a good forecast for cold in the next days. The south of my area took a good hit but the snowmobile clubs in the north will try to groom monday night and will comeback with the results. It will be icy with some bare spots in the best scenario but it's hard to tell exact result... we will need new snow for sure but at this point I don't exactly know how it will be without new stuff.
  7. Here's the ride we did on Sunday February 4, 2023 Here in the fields near my home We tried the brand new #345 trail path to St-Félix de Valois which had been closed for several years due to a loss of right of way in Notre Dame de Lourdes sector and also in the village of St-Félix de Valois the urbanization had taken over the old route which was no longer possible to use. The new trail connects St-Thomas/Ste-Élisabeth via the east side of #131road to St-Félix. Here next to Benny in the fork south of St-Félix. The trail goes around the village of St-Félix on the east side to connect with the old trail north of St-Félix near the small narrow bridge which connects the Guillaume Tell snowmobile club in St-Félix and the St-Gabriel de Brandon Snowmobile club There is a bit of roadside and shared trail but it is still a great realization for the St-Félix snowmobile club to have succeeded in making this new acces of 15kms to connect south/north... personally I was no longer believed it! I take my hat off to them! Here on the Black River in St-Jean de Matha near Gero Brp dealer We went up the #63 trail, passed through Coin Lavigne in St-Côme and went up the #33 trail towards St-Donat. The mountain just before arriving was frosty like I had never seen it There is a new meal option in St-Donat, a St-Hubert! we had our lunch there, it's just a counter with a small dining room but it was full and we had good, fast service and there's a gaz station just in front to feed the BRPs! We then took Lake Archambault to go towards the Montagne Noire In the middle of the lake there was a big puddle of slush with a snowmobile deeply stuck in it... When in doubt, throttle out! Unfortunately the Black Mountain area was under clouds when we arrived there. The rising trail scenery was heavily painted with snow Once on the top was just as beautiful, too bad we didn't have the sun But the gray jays were there as usual Having still a good run to do to return home we continued towards #33 south And here on Lake Esterelle I didn't remember how winding and mountainous the #33 section south of Estérel was, a real roller coaster with a zipper! We felt the snow cover a little thinner when we reached St-Calixte. We took a break in St-Lin to then have our dessert at the driving level with beautiful long fast fields towards the south. As weird luck would have it, we crossed #125 road just few minutes before a fatal accident occurred there, a snowmobile with 2 people have been hit by a car at the road crossing giving no chance to the 2 sledders, we found this out the next morning in the news. On the ride we just seen the police cars on flashes going up towards St-Esprit on #158 while we were just a few kms away near St-Alexis(next village). From what we read, it was the 3rd sled of a group of 4 and some people told the icy trail approach to the road may had contribute to the accident. The 2 peoples were a couple that now leave a 9 years old child orphaned. Road crossing are no joke guys, be double careful when you cross them... this kind of impact rarely forgive.... Sympathies to the affected families and friends We were finally back home at 7:30 p.m. with 359km on the dreameter. It's ultimately a pretty big ride, not just in terms of mileage but also several winding, less rolling trail sections. We left at 8:30 in the morning and did a good ride. Good conditions overall with the cold we had during the night before and the majority of trails which were freshly groomed. We closely watch the forecast for the next weekend, hoping for the best! Alain
  8. And the video of the ride. As usual crink up the sound and the resolution if needed 🍿🍿🍿
  9. On a Tuesday at 3:30 pm maybe but you won't tell that today!!! they are usually pretty busy...
  10. You are welcome Chris! I'm glad to see you too had the chance to ride in the last week 👍 You are welcome viper2! Haha! 😁 You save on the fuel for sure! My video of this ride is at embedding and I will post it in few minutes when ready, you will have a 2e free run! Ho yeah! too bad we were so near and miss... glad to see you too had the chance to enjoy this handsome weekday on sled 🌞 Thank you P Hardy, we were really lucky this ride have been planned many days ahead to match my buddy Bily's schedule and we got an handsome cold sunny perfect day, the best so far of the season. It was important for me to make this ride happen with him that is fighting cancer for 6 months now and he is between treatments sessions not not really knowing what's his future... we had not ride together for years and it was really cool to share this ride that fill something and did good for both of us. Glad to see you where in my playground but i'm a bit jalous for your encounter! I never seen one in this area but there are. Few years ago there was one that was visiting Koubec many time/week and many people had took picture of it but since we rarely heard about seeing some on the trails in that area.. you were lucky! After calling that due to out of control circumstances he would not open until February, many peoples including me were thinking it was a no go this season but he took us by surprise by opening the auberge on the 1st february (few days ago). He will open Thursday to Sunday https://pourvoirie-real-masse.com/motoneigistes/ It is an handsome place pretty unique as for ambiance/look, food and top notch customer services 👍
  11. We had been planed this ride with our friends Bily and Snowcruiser a while ago and we were spoiled with a nice cold and sunny day! here is the track of the day Kristine and I left home in St-Thomas to join our partners norther. Here south of St-Gabriel The meeting point was at St-Gabriel de Brandon The cold night below -15C had hardened the trails and with the grooming we had beautiful winter conditions. Here in the fields between St-Gabriel and St-Damien Once we climbed into the St-Damien mountains it was even snowier First little chat break (thanks to Bily for the pic) Here on #23 groomed by Mandeville club ç And here further north on #23 maintained by the royaume club We passed in Cabanon's yard and headed towards St-Michel des Saints This section was a little rougher, especially the big hills near St-Michel that are needing more snow We had a lunch at the legendary Central We took a long meal's break/snowmobiler chat, we didn't see the time passing... you know when you're in good company! We then took a chance by looping down via the local trail which returns towards St-Zenon. We had seen on imotoneige that it had not been groomed for a long time (no info). It wasn't perfect but apart from a few holes it rode pretty well There is few kms section more difficult with a savannah that the dozer has not groomed yet After that there's a bit of roadside to get to the Rondeau convenience store and it gets nice again after. We passed through St-Zenon village and then at the Glacière And took #350 infront to join the morning route on the #23 We took a last chat break at #23/63 junction at the top of the mountain's hill in St-Damien and then returned to our partners' starting point in St-Gabriel before heading back towards home. We passed the dozer which had already started his run south of St-Gabriel We returned home around 7:00 p.m. with just 300km on the dreameter. Really happy with this weekday great winter run! We saw some brownish snow especially south of St-Gabriel and the big hills near St-Michel which was really lacking in snow otherwise the rest was OK. I'm hoping for a month of February with cold temperatures, that's what's been missing the most lately and obviously some snow to make the conditions even better. I was also able to take some good video sequences with sunshine this time and I hope to have time to make a little edit which I will put here in the coming days Already in february, time flies! Alain
  12. I like to edit my own stuff for the reward at the end: memories! I don't think I would have fun to do editing on other people's files... but I still have a lot of unedited base files from many trip (snowmobile and others) that I may have fun to work with at retirement! You are welcome! I had the chance to ride this last monday under sun, i will try to put something together with that soon, it will be handsome!
  13. here the ride path I did on last Saturday We had very mild temp this last weekend, trail tend to brownish on some spots even it's sill 24"+ snow to the ground. We especially need some more cold like we got today (Tuesday), and snow would be nice too to whiten the trails. I had ride with 2 buddies but alone on my sled, my back seat photograph exceptionally stayed home this time. Here's a music video from the first part of the ride going to our lunch spot Saturday
  14. Thank you Mike! the little GT 900ace does a great job up to now, plenty of power for our needs. I would just love to stretch the suspension legs and add 4-5 inches more of stroke which was around what the Boivin skid gave me in the past! My best half is still a bit reluctant to the skidoo, big chance it have an heated seat to make some points! You are welcome P Hardy ! I'm glad to still make my pics contribution on here and I'm also happy to see some more action in the last days from many others. It's nice to see the forum with many reports You are welcome Tom! Snow amount are impressive here, Yes I hope ours trail path will cross this winter 👍 You are welcome ! i'm hoping for many more ahead 👍 Thank you Chris! but I miss your own aventure's reports. I hope to see some this season. Is your sled repair from your last season badluck? My pleasure polodoo! I think he just need some more throttle therapy 😉
  15. Finally, here's the report of our first ride of the season did yesterday January 20, 2024 We could have ridden last Sunday but it was an after a foot snow storm day with mild weather and we knew well that the trail conditions would not hold and be hard for us 2up so we waited until yesterday and were not disappointed . The cold of the last few days has been very good for the trails and the ice... it's about time! We were able to start directly from home in St-Thomas near Joliette, the trails are open and there is more than 2 feets of snow and it increases over 3 feets in some spots on the route that we did. Here in the fields near St-Norbert. The sky was very gray with a little snow at times which makes the pics less attractive but it still allows you to see what it looked like. We strategically chose to do the wooded northern section to start the ride and to return via the fields to the south which remain nice for longer under the effect of traffic. Here north of St-Gabriel de Brandon. And here at #23/#63 junction in St-Damien 5 km north of the Renard Bleu outfitter, the trail turns 90 and takes a new route to connect to #350 this year due to logging in this area. there are a couple of kms to go on a plowed road but it ride very well Then we are on the road path which is snowy for a long section it ride really great, I really appreciated this new path groomed wide After the #350 west junction there is 1km where the trail passes either next to the plowed road or a new path in the woods that the club is at finishing but it is very short then we return to the usual #350 path which was really very nice and fast We quickly passed in front of the Koubec And we went up #345 towards the north which was as nice and fast And we continued on #23 towards the east which was just as beautiful, just the last 2km which goes up the mountain before reaching intersection #350 which seemed to still be on the first dozer pass... This #23/#350 junction(Gaston's trail towards Lac Blanc) was our expected meeting point with our friend Snowcruiser who was leaving from Trois-Rivières airport to meet us with the plan to eat together at Lac Blanc. It's a bit ambitious to arrange meetings in the middle of the woods like that... especially on the first season's ride. We had 140km to go and he had around 70km to get there but we had agree that we would wait a little and at worse we would crossed each other while riding, but we were lucky with our estimates that were spot on. I was stopped for less than a minute when he showed up! After a bit of chatting we got back in the saddle to try to get at Lac Blanc before noon to beat a bit the lunch crowd. The #350 going back down to Lac Blanc was still very beautiful, just a little worn in its big hills and very panoramic in terms of snow, it's impressive We arrived at the Lac Blanc Auberge at 11:40 a.m. with 165km done from the morning. We obviously weren't the only ones who had this idea! Given the size of the crowd we wondered how things would go for the meal inside but I have to take my hat off to their extremely quick and efficient organization which was ready. We didn't wait a second to be seated in the dining room and we had our meals in front of us less than 15 minutes later! I was impressed. After this good meal break and a refueling we left under the snow a little after 1:00 p.m. towards the southeast on trail #350. The view from the lake when we left! This trail was starting to get pretty beaten up by traffic but was not that bad on our side of the trail heading south. We tested our suspensions up to the #63 junction where we took a break. I was able to chat a little with Jonathan Doucet from Randonnée Motoneige au Québec on Facebook, whom I had recognized and briefly meet as I left Lac Blanc auberge The trail condition came back nice on the #63 and we were able to ride good trail all the way back home. Snowcruiser left us to return to his trailer via St-Léon/St-Sévère and we continued on #63 and #3 for the return The Bayonne River is already solid and the trail passes over it without problem near Berthier We got back home early around 3:45 p.m. with 272 km for the ride, very happy with this season's opener which had been a long time coming. The trail network is pretty much open and connected in Lanaudiere and Mauricie minus some rivers that are not ready yet. The cold we just had in the last days helped alot for this and I hope that mother nature will continue to cooperate in the next days to complete the puzzle. Have a great riding season! Alain
  16. Yes for a bit more up to date info most of the snowmobile clubs have their web/facebook page. For my backyard Lanaudiere/Mauricie I had helped them last season to update their clubs list that should be now good https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/snowmobile-clubs/ For each club you click on you have a small facebook sign that you can click on to acces their page. It's mainly in french but with google translate you should be able to find what you are searching for to know which club maintain which trail you just have to clic Imotoneige or interactive map trail and the club info will show up
  17. The big change this year is insurance related... i'm not sure if it have already been discussed here but here are the facts There is an increase of legal proceeding against snowmobile clubs in the last years, especially this last spring there is one that ended up with a $3 000 000 settlement against Rouyn Noranda snowmobile club and there are others pursuits pendings... https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/personal-injury/snowmobile-club-negligent-for-a-tree-stump-that-permanently-injured-a-man-quebec-superior-court/376167 It not only increase the insurance fees for the clubs/FCMQ to get covered but also tend to be an insurability problem and if no company want to insure... no snowmobile clubs will take the chance to open a trail. It's not a joke it is a very serious issue. So this season each snowmobile club have to follow some new security rules for trails opening, all the signs and opening work on trail need to be complete and they have to fill up a form that they sign and send to fcmq before activate the dozer GPS and the trails can show up open in Imotoneige. They need to do that to make the trails safer and protect insurability of the system in the future. Other than that are the usuals bugs and delays that can happen with Imotoneige system and the clubs volunteers those lasts days are more on trail work than the web for sure! We were almost on dirts just a week ago and there are between 2 and 3 feets of snow to the ground right now after this second storm yesterday in my area and many others. Imotoneige picture will change a lot in the next week...
  18. towing

    BOLO

    They finally also found back the trailer an all the crates!!! seems the thieves lost the game this time! 👍 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=858708002715525&set=a.584043840181944
  19. towing

    BOLO

    They found the truck but not the trailer and neither his content...
  20. Souvenirs early season's start in my backyard... and why noy a video!
  21. A ticket have been open on this rotating problem, it should be fix in the next days... The Kanawata location got closer to the real location but not yet on it, I'm back with the concerned people to fix that correctly.
  22. There is actually an error on the interactive map about the Kanawata location, I am at sending a correction request for it On this interactive map snapshot the left indication is good but the right one about 10 miles in the wood to the east that appear when you search for gaz, lodging etc... is out of no where. I am trying to take care of that...
  23. Yep you are all spot on it: the devil's mountain relay/point of view @Pipemaster: I was thinking the new relay was on the same spot but maybe not exactly the same but not far because it was really near of the top of the big hill of the trail on the east side as of today. Being on the same summit the view is the same for sure The old relay with no electricity was quaint and very special. Even 23 years ago it was a 40 years step back going in there! Kristine when going to the toilet in the back that was a very small room with a wood step with an hole in it had the surprise to see her toilet paper piece rising back from the hole and flooting in the air from the mountain backdraft !!!😂😂😂 this one just aside the new relay Since my last visit they have built an observation tower near the relay that seems really nice. Here a pic took on the net
  24. Here's a pic of my trip partner Snowcruiser and me on our very first snowmobile trip together 23 years ago with in the background a very popular relay that some of you may know? It's still a very popular spot that change alot.
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