actionjack

The only time I ever changed a trailer tire on a trip was on 175 north of L'Etape before 169.  That was very hairy.  I think they widened the road since then.  Funny a SDQ (some kind of police officer) passes by then comes back to put up a warning sign behind us for safety.  The police car pulls up, puts the sign up and out hops an extremely attractive woman who offers to help.  Oui SVP!

TB, today's ride was not the blue sky days we had been blessed with. But that's what makes an adventure right? Today we had fog, rain and the 1200 sled gremlins are still with us. We rode like all the sleds were connected to each other and a cable hooked to Rob's expedition extreme. Low visibility made you realize how good Rob is. Running by gps alone near zero visibility at times and not marked like the white road! 
When the 1200 gremlins kicked in with zero visibility, Rob took a vote on how to get to mary's with a bad sled. Along came TLH.
TLH is great snowmobile  club, but they sand the the middle of the trail?? What's up with that.  Anyway, we made the last 40 miles on the TLH in the fog and rain to Mary's harbor for the night. All done by noon!  100 miles for the day.
Cooling temps tonight and off to Cartwright tomorrow
 
RR
 
 

The only time I ever changed a trailer tire on a trip was on 175 north of L'Etape before 169.  That was very hairy.  I think they widened the road since then.  Funny a SDQ (some kind of police officer) passes by then comes back to put up a warning sign behind us for safety.  The police car pulls up, puts the sign up and out hops an extremely attractive woman who offers to help.  Oui SVP!

Hope your bud can keep up with you!

So Ginger & I got an early start on our last trip to paradise. The miles were passing by quickly & we were on the 20 east bound just before the Madrid exit when Ginger (she was driving) said "oh no we have a flat tire" next thing we heard a pop & now we have two flats on the driver side. She quickly slowed & pulled to shoulder which saved the wheels & fender from damage.
The first thing I do is call AAA which goes to CAA. A very nice English speaking representative tells me the trailer isn't covered but she can still send a rollback. Ok great, she even stays on the line in case she has to translate. Translation is not necessary as the rollback person speaks English & says the truck will be there in 30 minutes. So as were waiting soon there's a woman at the drivers side door asking if we need help. We respond we're OK there's a rollback on the way. She then informs us she's from a trailer dealership less than 3 miles away. Then we notice there's 2 guys with here already verifying the tire size. I have them write their information down & when the rollback shows up I tell the driver take us here. For sure it's not very far & we realize we have seen this place the numerous times we have driven on the 20. Once there the rollback driver says he doesn't want to tilt the bed & risk the trailer falling off because the rollback is almost too narrow for the trailer. No problem since the dealership has a large fork lift for unloading trailers. In my mind I need two tires but Ginger says four, so four it is. The workers roll out the Quebec hospitality & soon we're enjoying some fresh coffee & snacks. Next thing we know they tell us it's all done & ready to go. We pay the bill & pull around to hook up the trailer. It's then we realize they also washed the trailer!!!
The screen shot of Google maps shows a red pin & a blue dot. The red pin is where we stopped & the blue dot is the dealership.
I've been towing trailers since I was 18 & this is the first time I've had one flat let alone two!!!
So if you're on the 20 near Madrid & need service for your trailer I can highly recommend Remorque LeBlanc.
 

We did the tour listed below last week and it turned out great, skirted the storm as planned/hoped. The base was big, and the dump on top should mean lots left after this week's warm-up. Also, we were pleasantly reminded that "white" on the grooming web updates sometimes means it just didn't need it. Don't miss the sled museum in the basement at Hotel Copper in Murdochville! We went over these miles by a bit each day, but all days were pretty easy:
  ...Weather forecasts from different sources varied throughout the week, so i made the move to drive a few more hours east of RDL Saturday and set ourselves up in Amqui, so we'll have more flexibility later in the week if we need it, and we’re looping around back west at the end of the week to catch a night at the original place we were going to launch from. Here’s our story, locked & loaded!...
 
 
HQ, Sat 2/11) 11hr-10min/677mi from Hinsdale, MA
Sélectôtel, 340 Saint-Benoît Boul O, Amqui, QC G5J 2G2 www.selectotelamqui.com  418-629-2241
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?unit=mi&lat=49.126876&lng=-66.933766&zoom=7&force=1&ewaypoints=4847549,-6742737,-51108,16413,1552,33206,12206,81353,14652,-961,3114,42380,37645,-45538,30992,66439,-57824,97532,13340,30445,31654,-26930,17144,8789,21304,-141045,-10573,-68219,-27575,-103091,-38188,-97627,-63921,-106507,5827,84754,54424,92285,4919,30487&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 
Day 1, Sun 2/12) 180mi, Trails: 5e, 587se, gas in Matapedia, 5e
HOSTELLERIE BAIE BLEUE, 482 boulevard Perron, Carleton-sur-Mer G0C 1J0 http://baiebleue.com/hostellerie/  (800) 463-9099 (418) 364-3355 
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?unit=mi&lat=48.304211&lng=-66.770302&zoom=9&force=1&ewaypoints=4847173,-6743784,-48342,14164,-471,35540,11609,82247,963,-1579&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 
Day 2, Mon 2/13) 180mi, Trails: Local to tour windmills, 5e, 595n, gas @ Relais De La Cache, local e, 597s
Hôtel Copper, 700 5e Rue, Murdochville, QC G0E 1W0 www.hotel-copper.ca  418-784-2566
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?unit=mi&lat=48.661889&lng=-65.956970&zoom=9&force=1&ewaypoints=4810928,-6613388,13192,-230,1846,44673,39826,-46704,30100,66532&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 
Day 3, Tues 2/14) 190mi, Trails: 597s, gas in Grande-Rivière, 5e, local to Perce Rock, gas in Gaspe, 5ne
Auberge Le Caribou, 82 Boul Renard O, Gaspé, QC G4X5H1  www.aubergelecaribou.ca  (877) 260-3344
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?attraits=&unit=mi&lat=48.791914&lng=-64.811012&zoom=9&force=1&ewaypoints=4897492,-6549609,-58668,97626,13198,30430,48453,-18275&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 
Day 4, Wed 2/15) 180mi, Trails: 5w, gas in Mont-Saint-Pierre
Hôtel & Cie, 90 Boulevard Sainte Anne O, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, QC G4V 1R3  www.hoteletcie.com 418-763-3321
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?attraits=&unit=mi&lat=49.407878&lng=-65.533762&zoom=8&force=1&ewaypoints=4900686,-6439622,21916,-138954,-10714,-70473,541,205&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 
Day 5, Thurs 2/16) 250mi, Trails: 5w, gas in Matane & Rimouski
Hôtel Universel, 311 Boulevard de l'hôtel de ville O, Rivière-du-Loup, QC G5R 5S4 www.hoteluniverselrdl.com  418-862-9520
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?attraits=H&unit=mi&lat=48.702718&lng=-68.003481&zoom=8&force=1&ewaypoints=4911818,-6648816,-27830,-103464,-38151,-97355,-63828,-106324&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 
Day 6, Fri 2/17)  190mi, Trails: 576se, 85se, local to 544se, 571se, gas in Squatec, 546, 35ne, 5e, 579se, gas in Saint Gabriel, 579se to 587se Radar/Mummies in La Redemption/Ste Irene
Sélectôtel, 340 Saint-Benoît Boul O, Amqui, QC G5J 2G2www.selectotelamqui.com  418-629-2241
http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?attraits=&unit=km&lat=48.419208&lng=-68.480255&zoom=8&force=1&ewaypoints=4781976,-6956066,7059,84241,53122,55660,-234,36447,5307,35805&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000
 

New Update as of 2/6/2017
Snowmobile trail Tilou Biscuit version 2017 v9.01

a few weeks back i filmed this event  and made a little montage
 

This is a map of some of the loop we will be doing. In many areas we will use Team Maines own tracks as Rob has several different route options developed. We begin tomorrow.
RR

Aw crap! Now i'm gonna have to drive thru Ottawa again.  My wife and kids would love that ice skating.  Yeah what a pain skiing is but we do enjoy it too.

This made me laugh. I raised 5 boys. Had to teach them all to ski, I figured out by the 3rd one if you give them a little push at the top of the hill the smart ones figured it out pretty quick.
What a gong show getting everyone ready to go to the hill, By the time I got everyone dressed, loaded the Suburban, Sorted skis and pole, boots on etc etc. By the time I had everyone's skis pointed down the mountain I would be so aggravated it would be happy hour before I'd get my sense of humour back.
First of January we went to Panorama B.C. Skiing with 3 of the kids, they are grown up now so much more enjoyable time.
Modern ski boots have a major design flaw. Wife can't get hers on either. Was going to tell her to lose some weight might help, thought better not when she had a ski pole in her hand. I put a wrap of Saran Wrap around her foot and slid into boot much easier.
Only advantage of a ski hill is much better chance of finding some rich old widow that could possibly finance future sledding trips.
Seems like you have to humour woman a bit to do what we really want to do: SLED.
Just last week took my wife to Mont Laurier for a few days to ride. BUT on route we had to stop in Ottawa to skate the  Rideau Canal. For those not familiar with the Canal in the winter they plow and flood 7 km that winds through the down town. Of course the only place could find parking for the truck and 4 place trailer was at the very south end of the canal.
Had to skate up hill the full 7 km to get to the down town center by the parliament buildings, then another 7 km back for 14 km round trip. High  light was stopping at one of the shacks they have right on the ice for some Poutine. If you like skating it actual is a neat experience . 
Well back to packing my saddlebags for next weeks boys trip to the Gaspe

Day 4
left the Delta around 9am, headed up to 93 and went east past Mt Valin, took a left onto the Pelchat trail. Took it all the way into town and fueled up, had lunch on the St Lawrence.
left back out on 3 south to 93 and headed west. Pulled back into the Delta around 10 pm with 375 miles for the day, trails were amazing.

You know, guys and gals, once you hop off the Ferry at Masson-Cumberland, you're only about 30 minutes from the Hill & Gully Riders clubhouse. The clubhouse is open weekends from 9:00am if you want to suit up, use the washroom or grab a coffee, but the parking is free and available 24/7. There's lots of room for rigs, and a pretty good loading ramp.  It's located at 149 Chemin Inlet in Mulgrave-et-Derry (use the French terminology in Google Maps), and is only 1 km off the pavement on Route 315.  The trails lead north into the Papineau-Labelle Reserve in two directions, either towards Notre-Dame-de-La-Salette or Montpelier and Le Mulet.  Anyway, just a suggest if you want to stop driving and start riding a bit sooner. And we're always glad to see new people!

Scranton
Are you familiar with the Ferry you can take about 10 miles east of Ottawa at Cumberland, crosses to Masson on the Quebec side .
You can completely avoid downtown Ottawa and the zigzagging trying to get to highway #50 if your headed N to Mount Laurier or Montipeller etc. I think the highways through Ottawa were laid out by a drunk fur trader. Takes a good wheel man and a better man on the GPS to navigate through the city unless you know the route.
The ferry completely avoids the chaos.

Trailers/trucks are in a lock up at night, large gated area.
They do have a garage for sleds, but, we were getting back late and it was usually full.  We put them in the driveway of the cottage and pulled our truck in sideways to block them in.
It seemed very safe, but, as we all know if they realty want them they'll find a way.
The riding was good, sections of nice twisty trails through the woods, then large open areas of farmers fields.  Very hilly areas mixed with flats. A couple of railroad beds/bike trails too for WOT.  The riding was very varied so it wasn't just WOT all day.  I've been to LSJ and it was definitely different riding, but, in a good way.  Gas/food were not an issue if you planned your routes in advance.
Also, the FCMQ mobile app was amazing. I mounted my Android in a waterproof case to the sled with an X mount by RAM mounts and it was super accurate, even had detours in it.  At times ATV trails ran with the sled trails and the app made navigation super easy.  For $3 it is very well worth the money, and in the morning if you lf you have WIFI you can see where they groomed. Phone battery would really burn fast so I would charge it whenever we stopped.  It was near zero F and the phone kept working.  I tried to charge it with a lighter adapter that my sled has, but, after a few minutes it would give a warning that it was too cold to charge the battery.  It would last about 3 hours and everywhere we stopped was happy to charge it for me.

When we left this morning it was -7F at the hotel.  When we got to the potato field it was -14F. Rode 383 o 367 to 134 then onto 93 and back on 367.  Took local 482 to 484 to Mont Vilian for lunch.  Then took the shortest way back to hotel as todays high temp was -1F.  Great trails.

The snow is deep and the trails are excellent. Looking like it's shaping up to be a fantastic rest of the season 2017.
Our new website is up. And you can make reservations directly online. Come on up we would love to have you here. 

X2
I have switch to the inreach this year, the explorer that's include GPS capability(very very basic gps). I have it since the beginning of this season and for sure it is in case of emergency way better than the spot because of the 2 way communication.
To answer Fuse6 question, If you ever had to trigger the SOS button of you SPOT it is the GEOS dispatch centre that is based in Houston Texas that will receive the request. At this point they have no idea what king of emergency. The first thing they will do is to call your contacts from the list you enter in your profile spot web page to try to figure out if it is a real emergency or a false alarm (trig by error) so your contact need to have an idea of where you are (snowmobile trip by example) they will probably check the information that you may have enter on your account profile but from what I read about on post emergency stories they mostly rely on the information the contacted peoples will give them. Next they will contact the emergency people of the area (911 crew in Quebec) with the information they gather and give them the ball... In Quebec it is usually the Sureté du Quebec police that will get the call and will try to figure out what to do. Remember, they just know you have push a button, a gps position + the information your contacts have give them,
The same situation with the inreach, you trig the SOS button. Next, the same GEOS dispatch in Houston Texas will receive the request.Then you have a reply that confirm that the emergency was received(not with the Spot) and then they will reach you in text mode on the inreach to gather what's happen and then will have all the information needed to push the ball to the local 911 crew that will immediately handle the emergency.
Force to admit that the spot 911 alone is not enough. In an emergency situation you can't just push the button and hoping, especially for us in winter... you will need to have someone that will contact the 911 in an other way and at this point the spot benefit will be that the emergency case had been already open and begin and the rescue people have the spot GPS position. The spot is more a complement than an emergency trigger solution. It shine to track you and report your position to your family, sending non life threatening information like the end of the day ok messages but being an unidirectional device, you send information and hope that it will reach the recipient but never have any confirmation of it.
An other thing to consider it is if one of your group get injured and you have to trig the SOS button for him. Don't forget that GEOs will call your home contacts that may live a considerable stress during many hours thinking that you got injured and not knowing what's going on.
For sure if you are not in a remote area most emergencies can be handle pretty fast but we have to understand that a big part of the trail system is in remote area where rescue is not easy/fast to handle. There are many emergency communication devices each with their cost+advantages and disadvantages and it is a subject that can be talk a lot.
Hope those clarifications somewhat help
Alain
 

Just wanted to let fellow Quebec riders know that we stayed here last weekend and were very happy with the accommodations.  We parked the truck and trailer there for 3 days and saddlebagged.  The owner provides a nice breakfast and with the electric gate and cameras it appears to be a nice safe location.  Please support the new owners as they support us riders, one hand washes the other.
603

My wife and I just arrived  at Village Windigo tonight at 6:30. Was dark when we arrived but wow what a beautiful place.
The Wood Runner Trail that Mark just posted gives you all the lodges for options if you don't want to base out of town.
In ML for hotels there is Quality Inn, Comfort Inn, Best Western and a new Super 8. 
Comfort Inn is my first choice, great restaurant on site, good trail access to go N or S from town, nice rooms.
Quality Inn, stayed there 2 weeks ago, nothing bad just the place is getting old, rooms a bit tired. Trail access is bit of a scrape across the bridge if no fresh snow. Decent Resturaunt on site, Boston Pizza next door.
Super 8 is right across Rd from Quality, Driving by an hour ago didn't see any sled trailers , not sure there is much parking?
Best Western, never been there looks nice on the web. Don't think there is a restaurant on site and don't think any thing walking distance.
Comfort Inn and Quality will let you park while you are gone for few days, might be a small charge. $10.00???? A day. Neither is a gated secure lot. Over years have stayed both places for 4 days each time never had problem, not any recent truck theft that I know of.
Village Windigo, Rasaka, Club Frontbrune are all best part of an hour N of ML by truck.Only 40 km but a rough road. never driven to Mekoos, think a bit further.  They are all very nice lodges, definitely more enjoyable experience vs hotel.
Not positive what your wanting to do. One suggestion would be trailer to ML, stay first night in hotel then head out, maybe head up to 100 Lacs lodge for a night, about 100 miles N of ML. Circle around and stay at another lodge next night. Will never be to far away from ML but there is all kinds of excellent trails to keep you busy for a few days.
I know getting lodging for Friday and Sat nights is becoming a challenge. 
Do you use a GPS. TRakmaps is a huge help getting around and staying on route in villages or trail junctions etc.  The Wood Runner system has installed a lot of new signage this fall, Finding your way around is easy if you know what lodge is near direction you want to go.
I assume you look at the FMCQ interactive map. Those orange trails that look like minor trails on the map; most of them are beautiful trails.
Look at the grooming map 7:00 AM and head for the greens.  once you get out of town even the trails that haven't been groomed for a couple of days are still normally in great shape if it has been cold and have stayed setup after grooming.
Steve
 

To bad things aren't marked as well as this! 

I just returned. I like Mekoos or Rabaska...safe place for the trucks. Three days of riding. One day Devils Mountain and Chutes of Windigo. Another day run to 100 Lacs for Lunch. And a day doing the loops if you can go to Nottawissi for lunch. Or do a three day loop and stay on the trail. 

Will be arriving Wednesday afternoon, spending 4 nights at the Village Windigo with the wife.
Weather forecast looks great for this week.

They changed the route on the Baskatong réservoir, now trail 322 goes thru village windigo on the eastern side of Baskatong. The big pond was in good shape on saturday and no slush. Trails were in very good conditions on saturday. Maniwaki area, Devil's mountain area(322) and Ste-Anne du lac.

Just to point out maybe the obvious. When you see 30km and building or signs with 30km and residential under it, respect it please, not only to avoid tickets but protect our passage through the area. Nothing ticks off non snowmobiling residents more than speeding or noisy sleds.