Snowbunny

Sorry about the lack of pictures- it was around -25 to -35 C and my iphone went into hibernation mode!!

We had an awesome trip! Unbelievable amounts of snow! Trails could not be in better condition, freshly groomed and made for an excellent ride. We were happy to see our friends Frank and Lynne at Le Cabanon who make us feel like we're at home. The weather was quite cold but we managed to get a good days drive to Shawinigan- taking the trail on the river (which is awesome). I ended up getting a form of stomach flu that day which proceeded into the next day as well. So not as much snowmobiling as I would have liked but managed to get about 600km in over the 3 days. If you haven't gone to this area before or haven't visited lately, I highly recommend it! With the cold weather there is no better way to warm up than in the hot tub at Cabanon. But stay on the trail...if you don't you'll be spending the day digging your sled out!

We're heading up on Sunday, December 29th to Le Cabanon until New Years day! First real trip of the season. I took my sled out last night around home. We live West of Ottawa and I almost burried my sled in the yard- yes we have that much snow around our area!

33 is open but is currently in rough shape due to logging and the owners at the Repos advised us not to take the 33- 5km at least has been plowed with rocks and sand.

We've done all of the above, met at guy at Le Cabanon that mentioned we might need more memory... Trails were great- infact so great that we are planning on going back Friday and staying for another weekend. Day 1 we left Cabanon and headed to Repos for lunch, Day 2 we headed to St-Damien and Glacier for lunch. Spent lots of time on the road tonight betweekn Montreal and Ottawa- snow plows, black ice, snow and high winds. Should have stayed at Cabanon for another night...too bad its back to work tomorrow!

Leaving today for a short trip to Le Cabannon for the weekend. First trip of the year and can't wait! We download the trail maps from track maps and are having issues getting the map to show up on the Garmin Nuvi- any suggestions?

Hey Linda, Woke up this morning to more white stuff falling. Trails in the Ottawa Valley have been groomed and with another 10cm this morning we're heading out! Rivers in the area are not frozen though- someone went through the Ottawa River near Constance Bay(and survived). Lucky because most people don't survive if they go through the Ottawa River.

Not sure I ride like a girl- but I am the only one in our group that has pink on their sled. Linda if you want to meet up this season I'm hoping to put lots of KM on my sled. Last year we spent 3 days at Le Cabannon, day trip to Devil's Mountain, 4 days ride in the Abitibi, and lots of local riding in to the Ladysmith hotel.

We'll have to see if I can work this into our schedule- Mr. Snowbunny and I are going to check out wedding venues over the holidays. Apparently I need to get a dress for this as well... After 10 years together Mr. Snowbunny finally popped the question.

We got 20 plus cm of snow in the Ottawa Valley and it's still coming down. Plan for this afternoon is to take the sleds out of the trailer and go for a ride, can't belive the first ride this year will be BEFORE Christmas- Best Gift EVER! Thinking of heading up to Le Cabannon for New Years...

March 18th- was my birthday and likely the warmest March 18th ever in my 25 years. We cancelled our trip since it's been unseasonally warm. I'm just glad that we did get a good 2 months worth of riding in and got to stay at a few new places. Instead we enjoyed the sunshine and had a BBQ.

I bought him a Garmin Nuvi 550. I order it online for $209 from here http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/nuvi550.html It arrived the next day for an extra $10. He hasn't downloaded any maps yet. He got quite the kick out of this post: Yes Ray, we are all wondering. She got all this help from all these guys and we are waiting to hear if she bought a GPS or did she get the whole package with the 2013 SkiDoo XS with the optional GPS mount? Jack Jack - He had his chance in Mount Laurier this year BRP was there with the new sled line up to try out. Lucky for him- I know what he really needs. We were at the truck dealership on Saturday- a GPS also looks really nice in a brand new truck! Pretty sure he won't mind driving his 50th Anniversary 600 E tec one more year. Thanks for the help guys!

We have cancelled out trip this coming weekend. Looks like we may have come to the end of the season for us. Unless we get some crazy and cold weather. Likely time to ATV. @shane- Did you have a good trip?

Heading back up to Le Cabannon March 15-March 18th. They had lots of snow when were there early February, so I would expect that the trails should still be good.

The trail leads right to Le Noranda in Rouyan Noranda. Le Noranda has amazing food, and the rooms are top notch. We had nice comfy pillow top beds to sleep in. You can park your sleds around the back of the hotel, we always lock and chain ours together and never had any issues over the years. Le Noranda has a spa, which also has indoor Nordic Baths- $32 for 3 hours per person (highly recommended). We were planning to leave Le Domaine and come through the park to Val D'Or, but since the trail has an open creek near the Indian Reserve (and we need to cross it going and coming back). We're going to St. Zenon and staying at Le Cabannon for 4 days 3 nights- and it will be my birthday!

My boyfriend's birthday is tomorrow and he keeps mentioning how cool it would be to have a GPS on his sled. Can someone give me an idea of which one I should buy? Thank you!!

Hey Dave! Are you heading back up for another trip soon? If the weather holds out we'll probably go back up to Val D'Or around March 10th from Grand Remous to Rabaska up to Clova and off from there. Anyone been up this way lately? 100% agree that the Temi Kami's food is amazing, but so was the view from our chalet. It was the perfect place to stay on the last night of the trip.

Posting from the forestell in Val D'Or. The trails are awesome and there is so much snow in the abitibi! We are on our second day of sledding and having a blast. We arrived early enough at Le Noranda last night to do the Nordic baths at the spa before dinner :)

We're heading up to tomorrow afternoon to Temiscamingue, staying at the Canadienne for the night. Then up to Rouyn Norand Friday, staying at Le Noranda. From Rouyan to La Sarre, Amos, staying at the Forestell in Val D'Or. Val D'Or to Ville Marieand staying at Domaine Temi Kami for the night. Back down to Temiscamingue. Hoping we hit some nice trails, we drove this route 2 years ago and had a lot of fun!

Linda- 2X for the Forestel, but we also stayed last year at the Comfort Inn in Val D'Or.

We headed up Friday night to Le Cabannon and left there through the Park to Saint-Come and back to Le Cabannon. We haven't been to this area before but heard it was going to be busy, and it sure was. We passed lots and lots of sleds in the area, but the trails held up great. The three groomers that were at Le Cabannon Saturday morning had left by the time we returned for dinner and the trails were in top shape this morning. Compared to the Abitibi trails, which is where wer normally ride, there is a lot more traffic, but we had a great time and will visit again soon. The mountain trails were pretty hard to beat and the views were amazing. Oh and they have LOTS of snow! :D Heading to Mount Laurier next weekend and then four day saddle bag trip in the Abitibi region! :D

The trail has been plowed and sanded in previous years, they did make a trail beside the road. Has the length of plowed/sanded changed?

I went for a quick run today, across the Ottawa River over to Shawville and up to Ladysmith and back. Lots of snow, trails were awesome. I would expect that things in th Abitibi region should be opening up. We got around 15cm + over the last 2 days. It's made a huge difference in the trail conditions. Nice to be riding close to home Mid-January. We had to trailer up to Val D'Or last year at the end of Janaury and Val D'Or lacked snow. So far things are looking up this year