iceman Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 Iceman back on trail, left chez Iceman with Snohorse today to begin our nine day run. Day 1 to Roberval TQ 3 to 351 to 355 to local to TQ73 to 355 to TQ83 to 373 230 miles Left the house around 8:15am Found my TQ3 groomed and ready to rock. Made our way thru Shawinigan and on up to St. Tite all great. Cruised up the 351 which has not let me down once this Season to St. Joseph, took the gas. Continued on and headed for the Pipeline 355 and found more great trail. Took it to the end then we took the local Orange trail back to TQ73. All excellent. Burned the TQ73 to 355. Made a left(passed the gang having silver bullets at the intersection) onto 355. Glad they were headed in the opposite direction. Beautiful and nicely groomed right to Relais Trapper and beyond to Lac Edward. Jumped on the Lac and Cruised up to Domaine Lac Edward and took the gas. (gas and go) the place was Jammin. Back on the Lac and to the RR tracks(note to self No Parking On Tracks) took the left near the Depaneur and found the way very plowed and sanded for the logging, damn. Pushed on anyway and got to the 355 not to far up, very much relieved. (it was my first trip up this way this season and thought maybe things had changed) Now shhhh its a secret don't tell Scorpionbowl and NH Moose but the trail was absolutely MINT all the way to Lac Bouchette. Like they knew I was coming. Sweet. Stopped for the Gas and late lunch at Lac Bouchette. Headed off and trail was good to 83. 83 headed for Roberval not Spectacular I've seen worse for sure but not that great. There is new snow and it looks pretty good. Just bumpy in them turns. Made the turn onto 373 still good just not great. A big hello to the Moron driving up the middle of the blind hill coming at me in his Polaris Razor. Yes I Know its a shared trail but that means share equally not ride the middle you ass. Not really close just pissed me off. Stupid Moron. Arrived at Chateau Roberval at 4:15. 230 miles Chibougamau for Sunday Night. Stay Tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Scorpionbowl and NH Moose must have filled out the comment card on the no-groom-zone? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT Rider Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 We are tuned in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revct1 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 We love to read and dream when we are down here in the States. Wish we were still up there. Keep posting. Jack & Sandi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Hello Again. Day 2 Sunday to Chibougamau Rolled out of Chateau Roberval around 8:15am. Snowed lightly all night. Took the 373 direction St Felicien. Bad near Roberval Improved greatly near St Felicien. Took one of our Favorite local(orange) trails around St Felicien to go up to La Dore. Fresh groom first tracks nice! Got the Gas at La Dore and headed up a freshly groomed 93. Groomer turned right on Orange trail at intersection, oh well. 93 to Sciere 54(sawmill) fresh snow covered but very nice. Gas at Sciere 54. Continued up 93 and took the lunch at Barriere du Nord. 93 after lunch to Chibougamau had been groomed much more recently then the rest of 93 south of there. All good. Arrived at Chibougamau 2pm. Bonus Ride Time. Decided to ride up to Mistassini. WOW super great. Unbelievable highway of a trail. Never would have thought. (About 120 miles round trip from Nordic) We had tried this trail a few years back and gave up on it as the beginning was horrible. So glad we tried again. Found the people up there super friendly and nice little town we will be back for sure. Pulled back into Nordic at 6pm. Awesome day 310 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 1 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 iceman Nice always wondered about that trail Nord from Chibougamau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Day 3 Monday Left Chibougamau Nordic at 8:30am 93 sud not much different then the day before. Gas at sawmill the burned it south. Saw 2 sleds headed north right at sawmill. That's it. Back to intersection 93/local toward restaurant Chef. Groomed Perfect not a mark on it. Sweet! Had lunch at Restaurant Chef. Took some gas too. Continued on to get back to the 93 93 all the way to Lac a Jim then Guradville and down to Albaniel. Passed groomer near Giradville. Nice great trails. Went to Ski Doo in Dolbeau for a new belt for Snohorse all good. gas near dealer too. Arrived at Auberge Dilligence 4:30pm. Nice easy 229 miles great temps great trails, yeah and until we got to the hotel we only saw those two other sleds near the sawmill. Got to love it! Headed for Escoumins Tues vial the Pel Chat Trail. Yeah Buddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Nice ride guys! Perfect time of year heading way north, In January that run can be brutal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Snowman Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 Rock & Roll Iceman! Keep the party going bro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Day 4 Tuesday Left Auberge Dilligence on TQ93 very nicely groomed. Stayed on 93 then took the Local Orange Trail toward Milot. Orange Trail was just Ok not as good as 93 was. Got gas at Milot then continued on the Orange trail to Scooby Raid. Plan was to go on the orange all the way to Onitchaway. I say was cause we bailed on that idea at Scooby and took the 367. Very wise choice. 367 was awesome. Have not been up that way in a while and usually use the Orange trail. That is Quite a very large downhill headed out of Scooby on 367 bet more then a few have not made that one. She is a big one. Wow! 367 to 328 all very good really nice. Hardly no sleds. Saw maybe 6 sleds. 93 to Valinouet took the gas there. Few more riders up there but not many. Got to love the weekdays. Started off for the run to Escoumins. Beautiful big fast trails all the way to the Sentier Pel Chat. The Pel Chat Trail let me down first time ever. Not Groomed one sled wide about 40 miles. Well what can ya do. Go for it. TQ 3 looking great right into Escoumins. Ran out of gas at 200km on the nose. Dumped in my gas and cruised on in to the Hotel. I was 3km short of making it. All in all real sweet and you could not have nicer temps. 250 miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Day 5 Wed. Escoumins to Baie Comeau. TQ3 surprisingly good with a few spots with bumped up corners between Escoumins and Forrestville. After Forrestville a beautiful fast ride on groomed goodness. Passed about 6 sleds all day all headed west. Got into Baie Comeau about 1pm. Went to Ski Doo for some oil for the Doo. Then had some lunch. Decided it was time to learn all there was to know about Baie Comeau an its Local Orange trails. We simply found a trail and took it. Then another and another. The pass less traveled is oh so sweet. Had a great time exploring the local trails. Beautiful day and awesome trails. 225 miles today. Happy Happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT Rider Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Gemma and I know that down hill well. We hit it after the big rain and freeze. It was a hand full on the packed two up. Glad your trip is going well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 That hill is Serious! No Doubt Jim. Not for the faint of heart. So far so good. Talking some serious snow at home in Shawinigan tonight and thurs. should be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailblazer Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I know that hill too Iceman, i was on a rented sled from the gathering Apex XTX 2013, boy was i nervous. Mistassini.......nice to hear a report going that way, i always wanted to try going up but always in Chibougamau too late, i have friends that have stayed at that nice hotel off the lake for fishing in the summer. Keep her going Iceman Nice trip JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 The hotel looks like a Nice Place up there JG. The trail to Mistassini is very deceiving to start off but a few miles in she pays off big. Both ends are not so great but the middle 85% of the trail is a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towing Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Thank you for your detailed report Iceman !!! I am at preparing my next week annual trip and look closely yours. Big chances I will follow your track for a big part of my trip Keep posting!!! Alain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillD Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Fantastic trip report Iceman… Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Snowman Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Keep it rolling Iceman. Turn down the thermostat 15 degrees please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazysnow Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Good stuff ICE !!!! ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momojohnny Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 iceman Nice always wondered about that trail Nord from Chibougamau. Hi, Iceman Sir. Did you get on the trail to Mistassini behind the Hospital ? I was told buy the folks in the skidoo shop thats where it started.They said I wouldnt make with my short track. Made it 15 - 20 on miles on a small trail and had to turn around due do not broken out 5 yrs ago. Natives said they planed to improving the trail to the nation up there. Glad you made it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Yes momo behind hospital. Very doable with shorttrack this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Day 6 Baie Comeau to Sacre Couer Planned a shorter day today and good thing with the blowing sideways snow. Left Baie Comeau in a whiteout. This was going to be fun. From what I could see and feel the trail was really actually great. We knew that cause we rode it yesterday. Found the groomer headed halfway between Baie Comeau and Forrestville. Sweeter. Gas in Forrestville. Headed down the Trail. Took the Escoumins By-Pass and headed for Motel Coronet. Pulled in about 3:45. Snow was still blowing. 195 miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Day 7 Sacre Couer to Baie St Paul. Long day today with a little bit of everything. Snowed about 6-8" overnight and was interesting to say the least being first up the TQ93 headed for Mt. Valin. Broke trail about halway up then the first guys headed down passed us and it was much easier.(sure they felt the same) New snow decreased as we went up. Got gas at Valinouet. Headed for Shipshaw to Cross the fjord. Some ugly stuff mud snirt rocks in alt of areas headed down off the mtn. Not Pretty. Worse near Chicoutimi. Like its over there. As we got further away from Chicoutimi it got much better. 83 mostly great but we knew further toward clermont was lots of new snow. Passed groomer headed up 83 about 15 miles from Clermont. Near Clermont rough as hell. TQ3 from Clermont to Baie St Paul was the worst trail of the trip. 30 miles with 2-3ft bumps.the whole way. Like a war zone. 307 miles today. Iceman out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailblazer Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Nice ride Don, like that Escoumins short cut, i did the same pounding on the 93 a few years back, we left from La Domaine de la Chutes we call it Chez Maurices now(been there so much) in the morning after an 18" snow fall from the previous day and through the night, we were breaking trail in that pow pow all the way down to Sacre Couer, we were the firsts all the way down, that time RX1 came in a little low on fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Day 8 Baie St. Paul to Shawinigan Decided to Run back to the house today. Left Baie St. Paul and found the groomers were out in force. Smooth sailing all the way to Quebec City TQ3 Gas in Quebec City then TQ3 was still looking good and everyone was headed East great for us going west. Nice. Took 302 thru Donnacona then continued back to TQ3 thru St. Prosper and on down to St. Narcisse. That was the end of the trail for me. I knew my rear shock had seen better days and she finally had enough. Actually snapped the shock mount off the skid. Game Over. On the bright side i was right at the road and Pizzeria 67. Snohorse ran to the house gathered up the truck and trailer and came back for the rescue. 15 minutes from the house by road. Better then in Baie Comeau. Well surgery scheduled for monday gonna get her all patched up. Finished up with 1957 miles for the trip. Well me about 1945 or so. Sled now has 55,600 km on her. All in all mostly great lots of snow, near the roads and all parking lots are end season conditions, but still lots to be ridden, go get em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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