towing

You got the scenario that may put you in trouble when she get squeezed between 2 sleds groups, exactly like in the video. With the actual snow cover there she want a break and use the trail, yes her health may be part of the problem too but some wildlife officers already seen her and took no actions. There have been many similar encounter in other area of the Quebec reported in the last week...hard winter for them. It's part of nature and it is us that are the guest in their yard

You are welcome PLAYHARD! You did and handsome job on your ride "live reporting" I raise my hat to you 👌 Thanks smclelan! Before the covid we were booking only for the busy days(friday, saturday) or for place with very limited options, often just the night before without problem because we are only 3 peoples needing only one room with 2 beds it was easy to find. What we experience there on this trip was disturbing for us, I hate to reserve multiple days in advance because we never know on a snowmobile trip how it will go and it remove us the liberty of easily change the plans but it was really necessary. I would think that we were pretty much in the peak but starting the 16th with the actual conditions I think you should still preview near 2 days before at least. Talking with a small group that we cross few times during the trip I asked them If they had booking problems and they told me they had booked all in november!!! You are welcome P Hardy! thanks! I would like to be able to do trip like that more usually!!! Wish you the best trip possible, at least it's not the snow that is missing! I left you a link of the famous video, in fact I don't know if it is really there that it happened but it is what we have benn told... don't try to pet it and It should be fine! https://fb.watch/bCsuYO3ILw/ Thanks mike! Club rapide Blanc was well appreciated, very nice spot if you passing by I was not too worried about an encounter but my best half was! Many sledders had to wait for passing it for hours the day before and the same day we were there in the same spot you mentioned but luckily it was not there when we passed

We are just back from our sled week therapy in Gaspesia: sled/eat/sleep...&repeat 😄 I don't have the time to put together a big report but this will be a pretty good summary of how it goes: This 6-day/1000 miles ride in known territory for us (5th time) went well and even if it was a bit cold/windy, we had no snow storms or mechanical breakdowns, which gave us a very nice easy trip However the current context have changed the planning requirements from the past years: I have never seen so many snowmobilers in Gaspesia and the accommodation offer is probably a little less than usual... anyway all the places where we stayed were already booked full when we arrived. We booked our overnight stays 2 or 3 days in advance and the only shot we delayed at the night before for New Richmond, the 2 hotels there were already full and we had to extend our trip to Carleton sur Mer where we booked the last room. So you really have to book sooner this year Day#1 Mont-Joli/Cap-Chat passing by St-Pierre mountain total 176 miles. Here's the St-Pierre mountain belvedere under a very cloudy sky We had a lunch in Amqui and slept at the Auberge Grande Nature in Cap-Chat, just at the foot of the Chic-Chocs. Day#2 Cap-Chat/Grande Vallée via trail#5 total 148 miles It was a cold and very windy day. There has been a lot of logging between Cap-Chat and La Martre since our last visit in 2018, so the wind is even stronger on the trails. The cold has overcome my gopro (external power wire broken) and unfortunately I could hardly shoot while riding during the trip. I was deceived because I was hoping to capture the very panoramic segment of Rivière à Claude/Mont St-Pierre/Mt-Louis, but that will be for another time... We tried to have a lunch at the Mont St-Pierre motel restaurant which was the only one open but it was full with people waiting standing for a table so we continued and found a woody spot sheltered from the wind for a side trail snack break instead. A couple of hours later, we were able to take a real break in an heated place at the marvelous relay of the Snowmobile Club rapide blanc. Large and well equipped with even a toilet for the lady who greatly appreciated this luxury! We stayed at the Marée Haute motel in Grande Vallée. Even the motel looks basic the food was a notch over the bunch at that place Day#3 Grande Vallée/Percé by #597 trail Murdochville total 200miles So we retraced our steps on #5 trail to get the #597 and go down to Murdochville We had this surprised encounter there! They took the wrong entrance when they left the gas station after filling up and got stuck there solid...hope no one had need an ambulance in the next hour! It was too early to lunch there so we picked up some food at the convenience store and went to eat at the junction #597/local trail that join #5 trail to the east. Very nice fast ride pleasant to do We had some visitors for lunch: Several small black-capped chickadees came to beg us for lunch It was the first time those ones came to eat in our hands. We are well used to the gray jays and there were also some there who did not hesitate to claim their food too We went down to the #5 trail and then to Barachois to refuel and admire the rear view of the perce rock which is less common to see and I like much We then took back #5 trail, crossed the small detour near the emerald river (not so bad) and continued to take the local trail for Percé... the trail of the shame as some call it: 12 miles of big bump to do twice is the penalty to be able to admire the rock! Being already there we reach on the mountain behind, I like well the different views of the rock, including this one We stayed at Camp de base in Percé. We had to follow a non-federated trail to get there but it was pretty easy with the instruction given and imotoneige and the stay there was nice in this historic and unusual place Day#4 Percé/Carleton sur Mer via trail #5 total 178 miles We took #5 trail which we held the whole day. As I mentioned a lot of sledders in the Gaspesia right now so the trails wear out faster and we encounter good and less good trail conditions and this time our morning unfortunately was quite rough. Here the Grande Rivière bridge Here the Chandler snowmobile tourist information relay We slept at the Baie-Bleu hotel in Carleton sur Mer Day#5 Carleton sur Mer/Cap-Chat via trail #595 total 181 miles We retraced our steps on #5 trail and took trail #595 to the north. This time we got top notch conditions, trail just groomed during the night. The "moment" of the trip followed with a brief round trip exploration on Mount Lyall located on the Chics-Chocs trail, 6 miles from #595. We have been there several times but never seen the place like this: mommies as far as the eye can see! Going back down to the #5trail we saw some impressive snowdrift We then stopped to refuel at La Cache which was pretty crowed. We waited for the gas but no way I would wait for a lunch there. We just continued on #595 and stopped in a not too windy spot for an outdoor snack... we begin to be used to this! We then went back down to #5 trail. Kristine was anxious to encounter the famous moose that we saw on video beating up a sledder but we had not seen it. We then turned right towards Cap-Chat again but this time to stay at the Motel Nanook Day #6 Cap-Chat/Mont-Joli via trail #5+locals total 162 miles We left on trail #5 trail to return to Mont-Joli. Here the footbridge of Cap-Chat that many will recognize... We did a short round trip on the local trail to Les Méchins to shape up the ride a bit and then came back west on #5 trail. We stopped for lunch and a last fuel-up in Matane and then continued on #5. It was another very windy day and the wind there is really strong! We arrived early near Mont-Joli and we went around the town a bit via local trails to shape up the ride a little more again. Just before arriving we passed this dozer We finally got back to our starting point around 3:45 pm with a total of 1046 easy miles for the 6 days. Also, we slept twice in Mont-Joli. Before our first sledding day and on the last day at mon Joli motel and the Quality Inn hotel. I would like to point out that Mon Joli Motel offers a free parking for the week and breakdown service in the event of a problem on the ride. You leave them your truck keys and in the event of a problem they can come and pick you up with your own vehicle, which can be extremely nice in the event of a problem along the trip and it brings appreciable peace of mind even you don't need it. This concludes my 2022 Gaspesia trip report

You guys were really just in my backyard! Trailside meeting would have been really great but I unfortunately was at work on job, rushing to close this damn week. I had enjoy seeing you guys having fun in my neck of the woods, thanks for taking us with you along with the pics and writing(love your pics PLAYHARD!) So as now, I am on vacation! it's my turn to enjoy the white gold and I am taking black trail tomorrow to Mont-Joli for a week sledding in Gaspesia! happy trail!

Here is ride we did yesterday Saturday February 19, 2022 After the rain and snow we got last Thursday, we ended up with an improved snow cover everywhere in my sector. The cold which had froze back most of the slush under the foot+ of new snow on Saturday morning should have finished the job today. We unfortunately loose an important right of access for the trail #43 just north of my home. A smartass that was riding a sled off trail have pass directly on some young apple trees in an orchard an broke/kill some of them. Even it not happened near the trail the owner of the land was really furious/angry about what happened and call the snowmobile club to terminate the right of access he was giving farther on his land. The club had no other option to block the trail and make my village trail a dead end... we were passing there for the last 30 years. I can't blame the owner reaction that got real damage and receive nothing for letting the trail pass on his property but it is really frustrating to loose a trail link like this one for one stupid ass action that was probably even not a trail rider and will not even be impacted for the damage it cause. We all loose an access to the north from the #3 trail and I personally loose my principal way to get to the north. The trail configuration will stay like that for the rest of the season and will be really hard to re-route for the next season, don't even know if it will be possible. So, enough for the complains, we did a short ride yesterday. Trail conditions were very powdery with limited visibility. A bit of slush on some spots especially in the fields at St-Thomas but nothing major. We started from home toward #3 trail. Even if the pics don't render it under this dark sky the scenery was magnificent, especially in the woods, which were completely white painted . The snowmobile club had reroute the #43 on the #3 trail first to get around the blockage and farther on the local trail of St-Norbert/Ste-Élisabeth to connect back on the #43 usual path. The signs have already been installed accordingly near Berthierville On #3 trail the Bayonne river is still strong, barely a little wet snow when we passed A little before St-Gabriel on the #63 trail we steered towards St-Félix de Valois and then continued via St-Jean de Matha. This section, which is less busy was 10/10. The Black River in St-Jean de Matha had not suffered from the rain either and was full winter condition. We then rode through St-Damien de Brandon to go to St-Gabriel de Brandon for lunch. Nice conditions there too. We stopped to eat at the Cache du Lac restaurant located right next to the municipal beach parking lot on the shores of Lake Maskinongé. A nice sport bar atmosphere restaurant with giant screens inside the dining room plus some outdoor installations in the parking lot. We came back by #63/#3 trails with better visibility because the snow had stopped and the sun even showed up a bit in the afternoon. We had the chance to admire some winter wonder sceneries We were back home early around 3:00 p.m. with just over 100 miles on the dream meter. Here a short video of how it looks... In the end, the last rain/snow have revived the season which is going faster than we would want to. It's really time to seize all possible opportunities to ride in this beautiful full winter conditions. Alain

Sorry to read that your beloved Goldwing was even sicker than expected... I recognize the basic instinct of the real sledder you are that immediately engage the "solution mode" and solve all the problems that you were facing in the the best way to keep running! A used young engine for your old girl is for sure the best solution as for $$$ and reliability and doing the job yourself will ensure a clean and meticulous swap job. When you will tear down your old engine, I suggest you start by inspecting the plastic gears drive that drive the water pump before going further... It would be my bet Congratulation to have found a way to be on the snow soon... mother nature is at work to prepare you the trails: snowing full sky right now! We had pretty much rain today at home but norther area got it more in snow and no doubts that the trails will be handsome in your playing fields next week 👍. Have a safe ride my friend and enjoy!

Some other bed night entertainment...

The photobucket pics link that I was using before(on other forums and for years here) is not working anymore but from trial/error I found that another photobucket format of link do so I had to reformat my report with the new type link and it seems to work ok now

Here our last Sunday trail path for a Joliette St-Côme loop The festival St-Côme en glace(Ice sculpture festival) began this last weekend so it was a good opportunity to ride on this side The last week thaw that hit us up to Saturday had been rough for the south west of Quebec province were the snow levels were already limit but after the deep cold Saturday night and the good groomers work the trails from home and up north survived well and we got good trails conditions. Here near home at start. As expected, trails were very hard: scratchers on duty!. A bit of brownish snow on some spot but no breakthrough. Here north from Joliette As expected side of the roads are not at their best...here crossing Baril bridge But the fields are nice. Here north of St-Ambroise de Kildare From here south of St-Alphonse de Rodriguez we began to saw some new snow. Grooming of Coureur des Bois snowmobile club was perfect North of St-Alphonse when going up in the mountains we got some vey nice scenery Once in St-Côme we walked a bit in the village to admire the sculptures. Again this year we are not deceived! We are still early in the festival that was just begin and will continue up to the end of February. Many Sculptures were still "work in progress" and we had the chance to watch many artists at work To give you an idea what to expect of this festival, they pulled from the river more than 700 ice blocks of more than 3000lbs each that have been placed along the principal road in the village for the sculptors The Festival that just started will last 2 weeks/3 weekends to end on the 27 February. It's a nice destination ride by sleds if you are in the area, the #343 trail pass trough the village, impossible to miss! We then continued our ride in north direction on #343 There was the short last section of the #343 that was rough but back on the #63 it was nice We pass by the Bazinet outfitter And continued down to Ste-Émilie/St-Damien. Here just down the big hill in St-Gabriel direction South of St-Gabriel, a bit more brown snow spots visible but overall very good The long fields between St-Norbert and Ste-Elisabeth were hard and very fast And finally here near home We got home early with 135 miles for the whole small loop So the season is still going strong here, already mid February... let's enjoy it Alain

great little device

It's fun push a bit our limits sometimes! The shadows are most of time fun to see on the videos. Sometimes very unexpected, I see them when checking back the video(like the one on St-Louis de Gonzague bridge 3rd video) but sometime impressive onsite like the one of the wind turbine you spot on the 2nd video. It was in the "bonus section" where I should not have been (wrong trail switching) when I saw it I immediately start the recording knowing it would be a great catch! Haha!!! I'm pretty sure that it is the clubhouse club sandwich that got you that much!!! Just be careful as what you wish, remember the film bedazzled with the beautiful Elizabeth Hurley! We missed reading your Canadians aventures here, I begin to think at a gofundme to put you back on the snow faster! This forum with the many good ride reports is pretty much the best methadone available! It's not so unusual for me as a driver to ride that much miles but for my best half behind she is a trooper! She calmed down a bit but when she was younger it was terrible how she was always trying to extend our rides at the end of the days, my partners and I were trashed and she was still asking for more miles! Thanks Biron! haha yes the carbides got a beat, I gave them a short break with the roller skis on the St-Louis de Gonzague bridge. We discovered the ile Bizard club house on this ride, we will returned for sure. loll! We had fun challenging ourselves on this ride. The video taken end up very nice, good stuff to share! The weather have gone warmer in the last days and may stay mild for another couple days. We may delayed our next weekend ride on Sunday

We were due for a crazy day ride... It's a 300+miles loop ride running on both side of the St-Laurence river via a ferry and bridge that get around the large Montreal city, this doable from the porch of my home. Having done it before we already knew it was an ambitious day ride, way more than doing a 300 miles in norther area. There are many roads and highways and rail road crossings+ the ferry and "the unexpected" that insure a very full day ride. So we started from home at 8:00 am to catch the 9:00 ferry in St-Ignace de Loyola. Freshly groomed trail to warm up... Arriving at the first river trail path, it was a bit scary The St-Laurence river level got a bit higher in the night and cause water to rise on the ice on the sides. It is more scary than dangerous because the trail snow bank already cover the immediate side of the river where it can be dangerous and the small water pool we got is over the full river ice cover. It's been so cold since the beginning of the season that this ice is for sure thick enough to support the weight of a Yamaha so no worries we are on a BRP! We got at the ferry at 8:45 This ferry is one of the cheap option to cross the St-Laurence river: $7,60 for a sled and his driver and $11,35 in our case for an old married couple +sled There is actually 2 ferries that offer crossings every 30 minutes on each sides during most of the day(see the web site for full schedule) Our ferry had an hard time to accost because of the ice. It had to move back and forth many times to clear/crush all the ice along the dock and the 10 minutes crossing turn to over an half an hour one. We got back on the south shore trail at 9:45. The first stretch along the river to get out of Sorel city was rough but we cross the groomer that was about to solve that We quickly got on the #5 trail that we follow most of the path up the west of Montreal city. Not a lot snow but good conditions. We could feel few earth bumps in the skis on some very windy pass but the trails were overall very good You need to not be allergic to road crossing, especially highway crossings. I quickly counted and we cross the #30 highway 5 times, the #20 and #10 then the #15 2 times also the #640 and #25 and this on or under viaduct and even with a tunnel for the #640 We stopped there for a small break around 11:30 Here a first video(of three) that summarize this first part. you can always push the reader 4 arrows icon to pass in full screen Continuing on the #5 trail we could saw St-Hilaire mountain that we usually view riding by car Here after #20 highway crossing, good conditions It began to get worse after the #15 highway crossing. Last Friday fluffy snow had been more generous there and with the very strong winds we had there was a lot snow blades/drifts in the trail. The visibility stayed good but the bumpy drifts slowed down us to keep in the safe and comfortable zone. We even crossed a groomer that flatten our route for a few miles but the drifts were forming again quickly behind We also had something I don't encounter often, a long train that gave us a 12 minutes break before clearing the way We left the #5 trail in St-Michel area (west of Montreal) to cut toward St-Louis de Gonzague(bridge). We had few trail changes to make so I pointed my destination on the Gps to make it easy but a change between my map version and the real world trail glitched my gps that route us on the wrong side. I figured something was wrong by seeing directions for villages that we had already pass before. I got my cell phone out and made a check with Imotoneige that locate us and confirmed we were out of our route. We stepped back but it add some miles over an already busy ride. Here the 2nd video that summarize that part of the ride We finally reached our ticket to the north shore at St-Louis de Gonzague around 4:00pm. It's a 3/4 miles long car bridge over Beauharnois canal were snowmobiles are allowed to cross for free. The bridge is also almost snow free so I did as usual and throw some dish wash soap on my track slides before starting the crossing to help our mule to move our 2 ass on the other side of the bridge without overheating too much. It went very well. After crossing the Beauharnois canal we were needing next to cross the other half of the St-Laurence river that is done directly on ice. Even not groomed it ride nicely We then continued to catch the #33 trail, The day was already well advanced We got on the long Deux-Montages lake a bit past 5:30pm. A bit bumpy but it was ok and was riding good. We missed our target to cross it at daylight... here brief turn to admire the sky behind us We stopped for a real supper break at Île Bizard snowmobile relay around 6:00pm. We were near alone there but the people who operate the place told us they were crazy busy from the morning up to the end of afternoon and had depleted most of their food stocks. I took a good club sandwich with a cheese slice in place of the tomatoes and it was delicious! Nice authentic people there, I recommend it! We got back in saddle a bit before 7:00pm to do the remaining 90miles to get home The sony flash was in strike The trails in this area were pretty worn out and I adjusted the beat to go forward but safe given our day fatigue and the conditions. Our way home went well and we also got the chance to hit some freshly groomed trails on some sectors Here the 3rd and last video that summarize this last stretch We finally got home at 10:15PM with 340miles in our butts for the day. The small 900 ace did it flawlessly even if my old venture/expert-x miss missed us in the rough sections. We didn't needed to get rocked to sleep that night! Another nice good big ride for us ! Alain

Thanks Iceman! I was pleasantly surprised how nice the trails were in your playground even on the end of the day 👍Yep +1 for the airport drop spot ! You are welcome Playhard, I'm happy for you that you've been able to get on Quebec snow on those last days 👍. Kristine and I are sunset lover, when we were in California this last November we took sunset pictures over the mountains near each days 3 weeks in a row! Thanks smclelan You are welcome Florida Snowman Thanks Mike! the shadow is nice except for my Teletubbies look with the camera 😜 Thanks quebec bob! There are so many great ride reports on here, each different and it is perfect like that. I think the spot were I stand out in the last years is on the video side. I had think with the new camera technologies that more people would have begun to do and post stuff similar as what I do and no, I'm pretty alone. Even the snowmobile sled web magazines didn't really enter this game Haha! I was a bit early but you are dead right they sold pretty much all they had. It's weird to enter at dealers location and see their almost empty showrooms! Like the cars dealers wide new cars parkings.. empty

Here the trail path of my last ride 29January22 going to LaTuque from Trois-Rivières round trip My friend Snowcruiser had invited me to join his group that were going to LaTuque for the lunch round trip. I bring another partner with me to start the ride from Trois-Rivières airport parking when Snowcruiser was starting from his home with his crew. We planned to team up at Lac a la Tortue. It was the first time that I was starting from Three Rivers airport. The parking is very wide with easy acces by the road by car and to the trail by sled. Our old sony have not appreciate the -21C at start of the ride and misfired a bit like on this pic of the airport. Freshly groomed trail to start around 8:20 We quickly arrive at St-Etienne des Gres The St-Maurice river crossing at la Gabelle was ok and gave us a quick drive on the other shore of the river East side also freshly groomed And we quickly were at our meeting spot at Lac a la Tortue Ultramar's and Snowcruiser team arrived with a near perfect timing 2 minutes later than us! The completed team then went for the 20miles run on the St-Maurice river. The river ice is frozen nicely flat but there are very hard snow drifts and bumbs that make the ride pretty rough on the first 2/3 of the river path. My partners riding solo were able to push and fly over but I had to slow down to keep Kristine with me on the sled. Back on the shore the #360 was perfect The first #355 Gazoduc section was lightly bumpy but the snow is good and the riding was fine. Past the #351 junction going north conditions came back perfect Here the tall ferry bridge of rivière du Milieu I put together a video showing the ride from Grand-Mere to LaTuque Put the sound on and enjoy the virtual ride (You can click the 4arrows icon on the reader to pass in full screen mode) Here along the LaTuque airport at 30km/h And the legendary LaTuque snowmobile traffic light I won't detailed our lunch time but just tell that we found our way to not being cold on this last restricted weekend for the restaurants. From today 31january22 the dining rooms can finally re-open! It will really improve the trips and ride time. We then returned under a gray sky on the same path up to the #351 that we took through the Tawachiche Zec. It's a more narrow and twisty trail but it was in perfect conditions with a nice snowy scenery The sun found is way under the clouds at the end of the day And leave us an outstanding sky after leaving the horizon with this colorful view We took a last break at relais de la Station in St-Severin And we then quit the Snowcruiser team to returned at our morning drop spot with our partner. I was expecting to "pay" a bit our nice day when coming back on the #3 trail that got the day traffic in but it was not bad at all and we were even more lucky to cross the groomer few minutes after having leave our buddies Even more lucky on the west side of the St-Maurice river to also left the first track on freshly groomed snow on most of our return path We got back at the trailer around 6:45 PM with 234 miles on the dream meter, a bit tired but very happy with our day ride. A special thanks to Snowcruiser for the invitation and to all those ride buddies that share this day with us. We are in full winter conditions and with the reopening of the restaurants dining rooms it is really the perfect timing to get the best of Quebec trails riding. Alain

Rising a sled at high mileage isn't an exploit... rising a sled at high mileage without major breakdown on the trail is what is important and hard to do. Burned stator plate, broken drive or jackshaft or an electrical gremlin can ruined a trip pretty fast, as well as a broken rear shock that decided to get is way through the track... all those problems(and much more others) are pretty hard to predict or avoid with the regular maintenance and are more and more at risk to happen as the sled get older. By example my 25k miles yammy last season, even with a darn heavy maintenance check had forced me to cancel 2 rides. One time with a broken exhaust that I had verified and welded the fall before and the other time with a failed stator plate that die just as I was leaving home... (good idea to have a voltmeter on the dash, I had been able to come back home before getting in trouble) Most people will show the odometer but won't tell you the whole story...

Pm sent 👍

Thanks Iceman! From the 5 St-Laurence river crossing possibilities when sledding, this is one easy and pretty cheap option. One thing to note is that the ferry crossing are at one hour interval this winter(just one ferry boat) and not each 30 minutes like in summer. The ferry leave the north shore each hour( at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00...)and leave the south shore each half of an hour( 6:30, 7:30, 8:30...) non stop 24 hrs/day. This make an interesting way to enlarge the playing field and ride possibilities Thanks Chris, it was on the opposite side from powder ride but both are pure fun! I had told Kristine Saturday morning how happy I was to not having to deal with the trailer with that deep cold. When I fueled up in St-Norbert on our return we met there a couple that had keel over on their 2up sled 30 minutes before. The woman had pain on one side and not seems in good shape, they were returning at Terrebonne, a good 3 hours ahead them. Long story short, they end up finishing their ride at my home, I attached the trailer and bring them safely at their home in Terrebonne. The woman got a check at the hospital and fortunately had nothing broken but muscular tear... she will have to stay quiet for a couple weeks and it will be ok. They were really grateful for the car/trailer ride! So the trailer stay not far...will use it for season ending for sure and maybe to start a ride with buddies not close to home in the next weeks. But I really like to start by sled from the house door! You are welcome Cobra! Trails were perfects, outside lunch was a bit chilly but rumours tell that the restaurants may be able to open by the 1er february! I hope this is true, make snowmobiling even more fun. Thank you both guys! It mark a step in the season when we are able to start from home... we wait for the sledding season the 3/4 of the year, now we are!!!

Chris!!! what have you done to your poor Goldwing? she got an heart attack! Very sorry for your loss, at least it had not happened on your first day of the trip... and you were not alone in the middle of nowhere, just in the middle of nowhere... with buddies! no humans injured, the rest is adventure! Wish you the best luck for the sled doctor diagnostic...maybe having an other bottle of fireball not too far, just in case... You trip reports are always highly entertaining, sweet as candy to read and follow... can't wait to read your next!

Here the trail path we ride yesterday saturday 22January2022 starting from home near Joliette The new snow drops from last week enable the opening of almost all the trails of our trail network, most already ready to use. So we had the chance to start our ride from our porch and let the trailer aside. With the polar weather we had (-33C last night and still -25C at our late start) all trails were from good to mint! here on #43 trail near home And here on #3 trail along the railway I seen on snowmobile interactive map that the Sorel/St-Ignace ferry trail was opened. It's a very important link for the trail network between north and south shore of the st-Laurence river that have been closed for the last 2 seasons but come back functional this season so I decided to go there to take a look at it. The woody section toward Berthierville was particularly snowy and nice At Berthierville we switched on the ferry trail All the rivers arms are nicely frozen and safe with the staking done up to the ferry gate. I have been told that the Sorel side(south shore) sled access to ferry was ready too but to be confirmed... Here some interesting details for our north shore ferry trail: -The last St-Laurence river arm have to be crossed by sled on the car bridge. -All other rivers are crossed on ice. They are staked but not groomed -The islands are groomed but the acces by the road is difficult/complicated for the groomer so it's not groomed as frequently as the rest of the trails I filmed some footage on my return from the ferry gate to Berthierville and put this short video together. It give a good picture of the ride in between We then returned on #3 trail in east direction At St-Cuthbert on the #3 trail side is this interesting new relay creperie/pizzeria that made a nice setup for snowmobilers with wood stove,tables and chairs There is also a bit farther the Valrémi sugar shack that also offer take-outs and offer a similar exterior set-up with fire and tables for the sledders and also a wide car parking for trailers It was too early for lunch so we continued on #3 trail Hard and fast trails The very cold weather surely help but I felt almost no earth bumps in the skis even in the large windy field sections, maybe a total of 150feets splitted in 2 spots. Very good for a season beginning there. We then took the #63 toward Ste-Ursule. It's always impressive to see those 3' tall big birds in the trail... last week ones were way smaller! I had not even tried to feed those ones in my hand 😄 We had continue up to Charette where we stopped at Magnan falls Without having much relais option near we ate a brief lunch there while taking some pictures of this nice spot We then continued on the #63 trail and loop back using a local trail in St-Severe/St-Leon area. We also looped on #63 in St-Justin area that had mint conditions as the rest of the trails there We finally took St-Nortbert local trail to complete the loop home. Again very few trail wear with the deep cold that help keeping the trail in shape and surely discourage a couple sledders from putting a toe outside! All in all, a nice 145miles loop for us. With the last week snow we are now getting a very near fully operational trail network that give alot ride options. The best of the season is just beginning, if you want to ride this season it's now the moment: good sledding season! More details on trail opening and condition here https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/ Alain

You are all very welcome guys and thanks for the good words! 👍 Unfortunately Cuillère a Pot is definitely closed... I seen an add last season that they were offering rooms renting for 1 month or more, didn't see anything about them since. It is always make a pinch at the heart to loose such place that were a pillar in snowmobiling for years and years in the area. We have unfortunately to admit that the last years have not been the best one for them and it was not what it used to be... As for the relais it is at Devils Mountain north of Mt-Laurier that they have a relay on the top(and it is still there). Black Mountain here have since 2017 that nice Mirador that give an outstanding 360degre view around. Even it is used all year round, it is the St-Donat snowmobile club that realized this great projet. In the good news department, I read last weekend that the St-Côme Ice sculpture festival will take place this season, a bit later than usual from 12 to 27 February. It's always worth the visit if you pass in the area in those dates. And talking about blue bird day, we have our regulars blue jays at home that come each days so we can have our bluebird day even when it's cloudy 😉. Impossible to feed them in our hands like the gray jays at the mountain but we can enjoy watching them. They are as beautiful as they are bad singer, awful! Here a very short vid I took a while ago of them

Yes I am glad for them they were ok, it was not a weather to stay outside an whole night without risking their life or severe frostbite The point a retain is that they involuntarily trigger a wide search /rescue operation in this severe weather at night involving helicopter and many peoples that have been put at risk and all this would have been resume to a simple text exchange ( or phone call) if they had bring a Bidirectional satellite communication device with them at first...

top notch report with outstanding picture. Really enjoy it, glad you shared with us... sledding at his best 👍

With the deep cold we had think it would be a good idea to go feeding the Black Mountain's grayJays This short ride path was perfect for a very cold day riding. We left the trailer at the Petro-T in Notre-Dame de la Merci village and went north toward St-Donat It was still at -25C when we left at 10:30 AM. The trail pass directly on Ouareau lake and was mint We then took #33 trail west that was perfect and then the #317 as good. Directions are marked at junction for Black Mountain so it is easy to find. A bit farther the local trail to the right bring us toward the summit. The rising began... Just before the summit we took the short dead end summit trail to the right And got at the summit around 11:15 am. A strong wind insure us to not have any mosquitos or black flies around! Even with the deep cold, we ate up there and pass near 2 relax hours at talking with other sledders and playing with the gray jays. Those last ones were a bit shy at first but got quickly more friendly. We also had the visit of a Blue Jay (first time there) but it was way more timid and stayed farther. We failed the catch a quality pic but this blue bird was outstanding to watch flying between those pure white trees. I put together a short video of footage took at the summit. Those who watch till the end will see that the birds were not shy at all after getting used to us. We then got down the mountain... And took the #33 trail around Archambault lake. There is woodcutting operation in this area, this is also why the Mont Cenelle summit trail is actually closed. It is riding well but we follow and cross a forest road many times. Although 3 young peoples in a SUV that had decided to explore this forest road learned the hard way how important it is to keep on the road and not the trail... the small truck was solid stuck with the side pressed on trees. When we arrived they were just been told no towing company would get there because it was not a public road... We helped them in giving them the information for contacting St-Donat snowmobile club and secure the trail with red flag before the curve to mark the danger zone. They were not dress to walk miles in that weather but some of their friends were about to arrive with an other car to retrieved them when we left. We then continue on the #33 that was nice The #33 section between Coin Lavigne and St-Donat village was a bit worn but very acceptable. There was some toc tocs in the skis from time to time so the new snow on the way for tomorrow will be perfect to improve the conditions. The #310 toward NDM was also nice We had been back at the trailer around 15:30 PM with a small 70 funny miles on the dream meter, perfect ride for the weather we had Everybody here is waiting the tomorrow snow storm that should spread a good snow layer in a big part of the Quebec. We expect it will open up the whole trail network for our area and many other around in the very next days... let's get burry under snow!

We can blame Justin for alot of things but for this one it's our Quebec prime minister Francois legault that is to blame... Love your reports, keep it going through the cold and snow storm you are strong 👍

They won't sleep in the bush, they have been found safe and sound... https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Frelaislachapelle%2Fposts%2F3170185103221535