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Trail Conditions 2012 Dec - 2013 Jan


revct1
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Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Santa was good for you.

After spending Christmas in CT, Sandi and I left Wednesday morning, Dec 26th, heading to Syracuse, NY to see family. After visiting with family and with the storm approaching, we left Syracuse at supper time, Wednesday night, heading up I-81 to Canada. Our goal is to be in Chicoutimi Thursday late afternoon.

We stayed overnight at the Best Western just west of Montreal. We beat the snow. When we woke up Friday morning, it was snowing with a couple of inches on the ground. We had breakfast and headed to Valcourt to pick up the trailer and the sleds. The roads were bad. Not deep snow but a lot of wind blown snow making for poor visibility. We saw quite a few accidents. One of them was an upside down box truck, carrying produce, in the median.

We spent a couple of hours at the dealership visiting, making last minute preparations and of course paying the bill. We left Valcourt a little after noon heading up autoroute 10. The highway was plowed but the on/off ramps were not. We saw one car about 100 feet into an off ramp with snow up to the headlights.

I noticed that our truck was losing power every now and then but most of the time was OK. We got off the highway at Motel Berniers at 4 PM. I pulled the cover off of the air cleaner and was surprised at how much snow had made its way into the air box and actually thru the air cleaner. There was ice on the motor side of the air cleaner. I went into Motel Berniers and asked where the closest GMC dealer was. It is in Levis, 20 minutes away. Motel Berniers called for me and found out that they were open until 5 PM.

Sandi and I headed there and had the air cleaner replaced. I've never seen an air cleaner get plugged with snow like that.

Instead of heading up thru the park at night with the storm still going strong, we decided to stay at Berniers. So here we are looking forward to a good nights sleep. We'll be heading north first thing in the morning.

There is plenty of snow on the ground. The groomers were out in the Eastern Townships. This is rare before Jan 1st. I'm sure most of the clubs will take advantage of the early snow south of the river. Make your plans and get your machines running.

We'll post back when we get some miles on the sleds.

PS. Sandi can't wait to run her new 1200 Renegade.

See you soon.

Jack & Sandi

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have a great trip see ya up there for the gethering

im leaving on the 1st to stay at camp and do day trips from there to newbrunswick and quebec then leave to head up for the geatering around the 15th from camp in fort kent

That will make for a great trip!! See you on the trail! We are riding in Quebec on the 14th, then head to Shawinigan and I think we are leaving out of Shawinigan on the Thursday to head up to the Gathering.

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That will make for a great trip!! See you on the trail! We are riding in Quebec on the 14th, then head to Shawinigan and I think we are leaving out of Shawinigan on the Thursday to head up to the Gathering.

We will also be leaving from Shawinigan on the 13th. We will headed towards Valdor then up to Chibougamau then to the gathering.

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Hi Guys,

Sandi and I finally made it to Chicoutimi at noon today. The ride in the truck was fine. The highway is finished. Yea!! There is an exit for the Petrocan station. There was a decent amount of snow coming up thru the Park.

We checked in at the Hotel Sagueneenne as we always do this first trip. Unloaded the truck and the sleds and got dressed for a short afternoon ride.

There is snow here in town. Not feet but the trails are good. They have been groomed.

We took 83 west to the Delta, formerly the Holiday Inn as everyone probably knows. The lobby looks great. Very light in color. The layout is still the same with the front desk being the focal point, the chit chat area for the Quebec Riders by the windows, the restaurant and bar area are in the same place but all redone with new furniture, tables, chairs, etc.

Julian said that they are sold out for the weekend of the Gathering. Marc was also behind the desk. We talked with them for 1/2 an hour or so. We said farewell and headed out.

We continued on 83 west and then took the local trail to 383 towards the river crossing at St Charles. The detour is the same as it was last year. When we reached the end of the detour where it meets up with old 383 from the pipline, the 383 was groomed west towards Larouche but not groomed heading east towards St Charles. We decided to head towards St Charles anyways. The trail was narrow and rough. We rode the pipline about 3/4 of the way to St Charles. The trail was getting worse and there was a mud hole to cross. I decided in the best interest of our marriage, I shouldn't ask Sandi to take her new sled thru the mud. We spun around and started heading back.

We stayed on 383 and went past Spence SkiDoo and continued on toward the aluminum bridge. There we stayed on 383 until 83 and continued on to the Hotel Sagueneenne.

This was the worst of today's ride. This section of 383 wasn't groomed recently and had quite a bit of snirt. The rest of the ride was pretty good for this early in the season. 83 and the local trails were recently groomed and in good shape. We saw a few other sleds out riding.

Not sure where we're going tomorrow. We'll talk to a few other riders tonight and then decide.

Sandi does like her new Renegade. She said the steeering is light and very responsive, plenty of power and a smooth ride. We put Bergstrom triple point carbides on it and 96 studs down the middle of the track. I hope I get to try it.

Jack & Sandi

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We are back from our second day's ride. A nice day.

We headed east on 83 and then west on 368. This junction has been moved a little south of where it was last year. Gassed up at the RL station in Laterriere and continued on 368 until 383 and headed south towards la Bouleauniere. The 383 was fresh groomed and we were some of the first sleds on it. We are back in paradise. We went straight thru to the gas station in Ferland.

The station is open. This year they are accepting credit cards!

We stayed on 383 for a few more miles but the groomer turned around at a small bridge and the groomer from the south end had not made a pass yet this year. We went a little further but decided to turn around. We rode back up 383 to the local trail that cuts across and meets 83 near LaBaie. Another recently groomed trail. We had lunch at Relais Bec-Scie.

After lunch we continued on 83 west, turned left at the 368 junction and then right on 383 crossing the Barrage heading towards Jonquiere. We got back on 83 and headed back to the hotel in Chicuotimi.

Most of the trails were very good. The worst trail was a short section of 383 starting at the Barrage and heading north to the first local trail junction, about 4 miles. This hasn't been groomed. From this junction up to 83 was good.

This morning we didn't see many sleds. Afternoon there was some traffic but not much for a Saturday.

Update on Sandi's new sled - I wasn't offered "Do you want to try my new sled yesterday." So today I figured I would be proactive and suggested that if I rode her new sled for awhile, I may be able to tweak the suspension a little and make it ride better. That didn't work.

One other opportunity came up. Sandi said the only thing she noticed is that the seat is a little stiff. I pounced on the chance and graciously offered, since I'm a little heavier, maybe I should ride the sled for awhile to break-in the seat. Offer declined!

But, I was allowed to drive the sled into the garage tonight. Sandi watched me from the hotel window while I did this.

Until tomorrow -

Jack & Sandi

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Another day in paradise. We went to Onatchiway today.

First a note. Trail 93 has a re-routed section. If you were to leave St Ambroise heading toward St Honore you would run into the re-route. 93 is closed just outside of St Ambroise in the big field. You now have to take 367 north and then 328 east. You can then take local trail 134 south and drop back down to 93 before St Honore or you can continue on 328 and pick up 93 after St Honore.

For today's trip, we left Chicuotimi on 83 west, then 367 north crossing the two bridges. We turned right onto the old ATV trail which is also designated as a snowmobile trail again this year. Where this trail joins with 93, there is no left turn. The trail either goes straight in the direction of St David or right to St Honore. The trail does not go left to St Ambroise. You must go straight toward St David and then loop around to get to St Ambroise.

We turned right onto 93 and went to Valinouet to gas up. We then did a quick u-turn to get back to Bras Louis and then 477 to Onatchiway. We had lunch and then headed south on 476 towards St David. We headed west on 328, then south on 367 all the way back to the two bridges. Lastly we finished the day on 367 and 83 back to Chicuotimi.

The groomers were out last night. Chicuotimi to St Honore was very good. Trail 93 from St Honore to the 328 junction was fair but from this point up to Valinouet was very good. The trails got better. 477 from Bras Louis to Onatchiway was phenomenal. Fresh groomed and very few sleds ahead of us. The trees were snow covered and the clouds were low. It felt like we were in another world. I forgot how breath-taking it is up here. We shut off the machines for a moment and could hear the wind howling - Bill, Bill !

Onatchiway to St Ambroise was great. The worst of the day was next. Twelve miles from St Ambrosie to the bridges was bad. Seems to me last year this part of 367 was in the same poor condition. Back on the south side, the remainder of the ride was good.

I tried once again to convince Sandi into letting me test her sled. I was unsuccessful. But riding behind her for most of three days, it looks like it is a really good ride. I watch her head and shoulders not bouncing around as we go over bumps and then I notice I'm bouncing around more than she is. I'll keep trying.

Until tomorrow - happy trails to everyone..

Jack & Sandi

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Hi Ray,

I'm a LOT heavier than Sandi. Gary, it must be all of those free ribs and beer.

Ok. Today's ride was to Mount Apica.

We took 83 east, 368 west and then 23 south. Our return trip retraced our tracks.

First note is that Mount Apica is open and gas is available. Food will be available after Jan 2nd.

Now for the trail conditions. 83 was again fresh groomed. 368 was good until the Jonquiere / Mount Apica split. After that there was about 10 miles of rough then it was good again. 23 was fresh groomed also. The only exception is that there is some summer growth poking up thru the trail. Most notably on 23.

The only sleds we saw were at Mount Apica. For such a nice day, the traffic was non-existent.

PS: Sandi just reminded me that she asked if I would like to try her new sled. I pondered the question for about 1 second and accepted her offer.

The R-motion is smoother and softer. It does absorb the bumps better and has a broader sweet spot as the magazines have been saying. Her sled also requires less handlebar effort to turn it.

The 1200 four stroke power band was different from the 800 two stroke power band but that was to be expected. I favor the two stroke and Sandi favors the four stroke. We both favor the R-motion over the older suspension.

I may have to put a few more miles on her sled to be able to fine tune the suspension so it is perfect for her.

Happy New Year and many miles to all. For miles give you smiles!

Jack & Sandi

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We had a couple of inches of snow overnight and some drifting.

Today's ride brought us to ScoobyRaid for lunch.

Once again we started at Chicoutimi then went 83 west, 367 north to cross the dams, right on the old quad trail which I found out is local trail 134, 328 west, 367 north to ScoobyRaid for lunch. We made a u-turn after lunch back down 367 south, 328 west thru Begin & L'Ascension, 93 east, 367 south crossing the two dams and 83 east back to Chicuotimi.

Most trails were very good. A few short sections were poor. On the poor side was the section of 328 from Begin to Relais des Lacs which had not seen a groomer this year but, the ATV trail looked very good. We're not suppose to use it but we may have inadvertently got on it. On the good side was 93 which was very good. We only saw a couple of other sleds today.

We're not sure what tomorrow will bring.

Jack & Sandi

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Good Morning,

A slight change of plans. We have decided to cut the last day off of the trip and head back to the States. Nothing bad up here. The snow conditions are great for this early in the season and the sleds are running good but we have a few things to tend to back home.

Until next trip, happy trails to all and see you at the Gathering.

Jack & Sandi

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Hi Jack

Just to clarify about 134. 134 was a snowmobile trail back in 1999, the ATVs rode the rode down to the bridge, and then there was a seperate trail for them. About 2004 is when it became an a ATV trail. I was told two different reasons for changing it to an ATV trail. One was that the bridge, at the water tower, would not safely hold the groomer and the other was that the Mayor of St Ambroise wanted the snowmobile traffic to pass thru St Ambrosie for economic reasons. About 2008 the Saguenay Club got a petition started to have the trail reopened for snowmobiles. They asked me to have people at the HI (now Delta) sign the petition which I did. Some of you reading this signed it. I would stop any one, English speaking or French speaking, to sign it. I believe I got 500+ signigatures. Nothing happened for several years until last year when it was reopened for snowmobiles. Also last year I complained to the Canibou-Conscrits about the non grooming of 367 from the bridge to St Ambrosie and it got better after that. Another bit of trivia about 134. In 1999 I noticed alot of cars parked near the water tower area every afternoon when I would pass by. One night I asked Eric, who worked at the HI behind the desk, what all the cars where doing there. He laughed and said next time you pass look to see who is in the cars. Next night I did. When i got back to the HI I told him it was guys. He said that was the "get a date for the night" for guys. Last year I didn't see that.

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