GSX800

Awesome report as always. Can’t wait to get up there after reading your reports.

Snobeeler - Go Bills!

It won’t work without network connectivity. For planning at home. Alain/Towing helped out last time there was a glitch. He knows who to get it to at the FCMQ for the fix.

If you use the web it still rotates. Here’s a link. https://fcmq.fcmqapi.ca/carte-motoneige/indexen.html#map

Martine’s English is very good.

Windigo is a great place. Best to make reservations as previously stated. They were full for February 7th when I called. Couple of other good places that you could use - Auberge Eva in Lac Bouchette, Chateau Roberval in Roberval, Hotel Du Jardin in St. Felicien, Universal in Alma.

Mine stopped rotating yesterday on both iPhone and iPad.

Real Masse is supposed to be open on weekends this year. Always had a good meal there. You can bypass Repo and head to Manawan. I haven’t stopped there in quite a few years. I understand there is a pretty good spot to eat. Not sure of the name. There is gas in town too.

I’ll second that for l’hombre du vent. Several years back I got talking to a guy in the Central. He told me his buddy just built some cabins and handed me a card for l’hombre. Fast forward a few more years. We were caught in some heavy rain. After a half day of it, we decided to cut the day short and head to the Central for the night. As we were coming into town I saw a sign for l’hombre and stopped the group. Let’s go check this place out. We pulled in, soaking wet. Andre had us pull our sleds into his shop for the night. He hung a clothesline up to hang our suits on and turned the heat up to what must have been around 80 F. He hands us the keys for his minivan to use for the night. The next morning sleds and suits are dry and warm. Talk about a super experience that we still talk about to this day.

Thanks Towing. I had a hunch that if it was brought up on the forum, it would make it to the right people.

Nope. Not marked closed. Not a big deal. Have seen it before, then gets corrected in the next update or two.

Easy answer. You can’t go wrong with either. Long drive from Lancaster to RDL. Long drive to Valdor as well. If you enjoy the mountains of Valin, you would love the Gaspe. Northern part of the peninsula is mountainous with many scenic views. The interior trails are scenic as well. Southern peninsula is mostly flat, but there is Perce Rock that you would want to see. The trails in the west are great. Some on the forum say west is best. You can shorten that drive by staging at say Mont Laurier and ride 13 North to 83 west into Valdor. Basically a 2 day ride with 73 and 386 currently closed for forestry. Like I previously said, You can’t go wrong with either.

I was doing some pre-trip planning last night. When I tried to measure coming up from say Mattawin going to Roberval, the app puts you on 73 to 83 instead of 355. When you get to the 83/373 junction, it sends you on the local trail up to St. Felicien, then on to 373 into Roberval. I tried to fool it by making the destination Lake Edouard to get on 355, then make the next destination Roberval. The app gets you to Lake Edouard on 355 then turns you back on 355 to 73 and on to Roberval the same way described above. I tried it both on the app and viaexplora with the same result.

Can’t switch to English. Important message to stay on the trail or lose it. I for one hate seeing trails close because of a few idiots. The online trail permits work great. Most of our group gets a seven day pass for our annual trip together. No more taking the time of a hotel front desk person to write the permits up for them while trying to check people into their rooms. They love it. Me, I buy a season permit whether I make one trip or three. I look at it as a donation for the best trails.

I haven’t met a trail in the western part of the province that I didn’t like. It’s a shame we are loosing these trails.

I’m unsure of the range for a 900 turbo in good conditions. Have taken it out to 130 miles. Not sure if it would make 150? Save your windshield washer bottles, or ante up for a LinQ gas can.

Funny, I was going to ask the same question. I believe I stayed at Caribou back in 2005 on my way caribou hunting. Not the Ritz for sure, but will get the job done. Obviously trip planning season has arrived.

Throw away the key.

Seems pointless to be providing proof of vaccination that in most cases are in the neighborhood of two years old. But hey, I’ll do what I need to do to ride the best trails in the world. Like many things these days on both side of the border, it makes no sense to me.

I’ve had good luck with Klim gloves. When it is cold, 10 and below, I used gauntlets. A few years back I bought my wife a pair of Klim mittens. Her hands would get cold easily and she did not feel comfortable using gauntlets. One night we were on our way back to the truck after having dinner. It was minus 10. She had her mittens on, I was just wearing gloves. My gauntlets were in my bag. I didn’t feel like putting them on figuring it was only 15 miles back. My hands were getting pretty cold and I stopped a few times to see if she was ok. Each time she said her hands were toasty warm. We got back to the truck and my hands were hurting cold. My wife took off her mittens and put her hand to my cheek. Her hands were toasty warm. I decided to give mittens a try and bought a pair of Klim Caribou mittens. It’s unbelievable how warm your hands are in mittens vs. gloves. The guys in my group all made fun of me at first…do those mittens come in pink, etc. etc. Funny how they all have mittens now. I’m a fan of Klim products. All six of us are head to toe…and hands walking Klim billboards.

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/canadian-government-announces-extension-of-current-covid-19-border-measures

Those are very profound!

In the US these days, adding the new pipe would be considered a pipeline. That would be shutdown. Joe has a pen for that. Kidding aside, that is some serious flooding.

Think about the diesel for the groomers. There will probably be some sort of fuel surcharge added to the trail permits. I’ve been trying to fill up my truck when I still have 3/4 of a tank just so I don’t have to re-swipe my card. Missed the other day, 16 gallons of diesel, $100. I sure picked a fine time to retire!

Proof of vaccination is still required. Testing is no longer required.