Our 3 day season ender 3/21-3/23

[gizz]

Friend, his 19 yr old daughter and I (spring break for her!!) decided to give it one last run. She is a good rider and this was her very first trip to Quebec, yes she is hooked!

We got into La Cabanon Wed Night to heavy snowfall.

Thursday - Cabanon to Barrage Gouin. 345 to Repos for soup and gas (soup was hot and good!). Pushed fresh snow most of the way but not bumpy. Then up the orange trail to Kanawata for more gas and a quick late lunch. Freshly groomed all the way up from Repos.....great riding. Kanawata told us that from there north it would be groomed Thu Night. We pushed some snow all the way to 83 but it was not bad at all and very smooth. 83 was toast and appeared to not have been groomed at all for weeks. We only had to ride it a while to the Gouin entrance so no bid deal, just a little soft. We got to the right side entrance and it was untouched. There was NO sign of anyone on that trail as the new snow had it all filled in. Being our first time to Gouin we were a bit nervous not knowing if the place seasonal and possibly closed but we decided to go anyways and boy are we glad we did. I pushed several inches of new snow the whole way bit it was an awesome ride up to the dam. Of course once we got there and realized that it was a year round establishment all worries ended and we were treated to one of the best stays we've had in quite some time. Definately on my list to frequent. Those people know how to do it!

Rating 8/10 for the trails overall, 10/10 on the stay!

Friday - Gouin to Mekoos

After a great stay we headed down the left side back to 83 towards Parent. Again we were the first on that section and it was as perfect and scenic as it was on the way in. We hit 83 and headed toward Parent. 83 was ungroomed and getting messy until we got close to Parent, then we found it groomed into Parent. From Parent south on 13 it was very good riding, some rough spots but nothing bad really. It was all recently groomed nice and wide. We then took 33 south to 100 lacs, great until that 30km or so stretch of twisties....however it was flat so that was a plus. As for 100 lacs, i'll just say this, That guy running that place (in his 70's or so but i don't know his name nor do i care to) was the rudest business manager i've run into. We pulled in there and filled up at about 3 PM, we were the only people there and based on the numbers that we saw on the trail i don't think there were going to any more than a few there for the evening. He went up and down one side then the other on us about asking for food at 3 PM. I honestly thought he was kidding at first and then i said with a chuckle that we did get in a little later than we thought do to having a new rider and pushing some snow. He looked at his watch and sternly said ..... "lunch at 3 PM, not too funny". "You should think about that the next time you expect to get lunch at 3 PM". He then bitchingly said lunch is 11 to 2. I looked around at the very nice but empty place and said ..... "forget the food we'll just pay for our gas and be gone". He could honestly care less. I have to say i've NEVER been treated like that in Canada and expect very little from the folks up there.That was my friends daughter's second day up there and she looked like she was in shock. I told her that 99% of the business owners/managers are awesome and then there's jack assess like that. We'll just erase 100 lacs from our GPS points of interest and never return. Sorry if you have a different opinion or think we must've done something wrong, i can assure you the exact opposite and i'm still in shock about the treatment we got there. Never again unless its under new management. This isn't about 1 episode of cold soup or warm beer, it was the most uncomfortable situation i've ever been in up there........If they are not open then they should nicely say kitchen is closed until ?. Not going to let him ruin our trip so..............to continue the trip......we then blasted down a perfect 53, then 319 all the way to Mekoos. Ran across a couple and a young 8 yr old or so boy that had run out of gas about 10 miles out from Mekoos. I was able to give them a gulp of gas from my 1200 using a little nifty hand pump that my buddy and I threw together. Needless to say they were very thankful and returned the gesture in a round of beers for us at Mekoos. We had a great stay at Mekoos. Awesome place !

Trails 9/10, Mekoos 10/10........100 du lacs 0/10

Saturday - Mekoos back to Cabanon.

From Mekoos south on 53 then 319 then 322 to 63 was pretty much perfect. A few spots of washed corners and soft snow but all in all very smooth and fast. Pretty much all groomed. 63 was groomed as well and all in all it was very nice. As we got closer to St Michel things got rough and before you knew we were overcome by the Sno Cross wannabes riding loops out of the local towns. The temps were getting up there and from St Michel to Cabanon it was complete shot.....but we expected that and rolled into Cabanon without any head-on damage from the sleds on the wrong side of the trail coming at us in the afternoon :)

Trails - first part 8/10, second part, we just wanted that to be over with - no rating!

It was a great last trip for the year and conditions are still very good up north. I would not be afraid to travel up there again however i think you need to definately get further north in your vehicle and then sled from there. Plenty of snow and other than 83 most of it was groomed.

Couple things we heard on Saturday before we left was that Kanawata was closing for the season on Sunday 3/24 - unconfirmed but made sense. Cabanon groomers did not operate on Sat Night or Sun AM so i'm not sure what the deal is there but a couple workeds thought that this might've been the last weekend for them. It's a shame they stopped groomed the TQ's so quickly (especially 83) as there is just so much snow up there. I've heard from several locals that it seems to be getting shorter and shorter each year. If you think about it they really only groomed TQ83 from late Dec through Feb . I think the last day they groomed it was March 6. There is no reason why they couldn't groom it again after all this snow and get another 2 or 3 weeks.

Overall it was a good year for us both in PA and in Quebec.

Edited March 25, 2013 by gizz

[600IQHO]

Nice report. I been to 100 lacs 1 time and was treated good and the food was pretty good. Sad to hear you were treated so poorly. I was there between 11 & 2. lol! I think they stop grooming early due to the lack of riders, trails pretty much deserted from what has been reported. Groomers burn a lot of fuel, lot of money to spend for only a few riders. I have already planned a trip the 2nd week of March but no later. The weather is just to unpredictable anymore.

[crazysnow]

Friend, his 19 yr old daughter and I (spring break for her!!) decided to give it one last run. She is a good rider and this was her very first trip to Quebec, yes she is hooked!

We got into La Cabanon Wed Night to heavy snowfall.

Thursday - Cabanon to Barrage Gouin. 345 to Repos for soup and gas (soup was hot and good!). Pushed fresh snow most of the way but not bumpy. Then up the orange trail to Kanawata for more gas and a quick late lunch. Freshly groomed all the way up from Repos.....great riding. Kanawata told us that from there north it would be groomed Thu Night. We pushed some snow all the way to 83 but it was not bad at all and very smooth. 83 was toast and appeared to not have been groomed at all for weeks. We only had to ride it a while to the Gouin entrance so no bid deal, just a little soft. We got to the right side entrance and it was untouched. There was NO sign of anyone on that trail as the new snow had it all filled in. Being our first time to Gouin we were a bit nervous not knowing if the place seasonal and possibly closed but we decided to go anyways and boy are we glad we did. I pushed several inches of new snow the whole way bit it was an awesome ride up to the dam. Of course once we got there and realized that it was a year round establishment all worries ended and we were treated to one of the best stays we've had in quite some time. Definately on my list to frequent. Those people know how to do it!

Rating 8/10 for the trails overall, 10/10 on the stay!

Friday - Gouin to Mekoos

After a great stay we headed down the left side back to 83 towards Parent. Again we were the first on that section and it was as perfect and scenic as it was on the way in. We hit 83 and headed toward Parent. 83 was ungroomed and getting messy until we got close to Parent, then we found it groomed into Parent. From Parent south on 13 it was very good riding, some rough spots but nothing bad really. It was all recently groomed nice and wide. We then took 33 south to 100 lacs, great until that 30km or so stretch of twisties....however it was flat so that was a plus. As for 100 lacs, i'll just say this, That guy running that place (in his 70's or so but i don't know his name nor do i care to) was the rudest business manager i've run into. We pulled in there and filled up at about 3 PM, we were the only people there and based on the numbers that we saw on the trail i don't think there were going to any more than a few there for the evening. He went up and down one side then the other on us about asking for food at 3 PM. I honestly thought he was kidding at first and then i said with a chuckle that we did get in a little later than we thought do to having a new rider and pushing some snow. He looked at his watch and sternly said ..... "lunch at 3 PM, not too funny". "You should think about that the next time you expect to get lunch at 3 PM". He then bitchingly said lunch is 11 to 2. I looked around at the very nice but empty place and said ..... "forget the food we'll just pay for our gas and be gone". He could honestly care less. I have to say i've NEVER been treated like that in Canada and expect very little from the folks up there.That was my friends daughter's second day up there and she looked like she was in shock. I told her that 99% of the business owners/managers are awesome and then there's jack assess like that. We'll just erase 100 lacs from our GPS points of interest and never return. Sorry if you have a different opinion or think we must've done something wrong, i can assure you the exact opposite and i'm still in shock about the treatment we got there. Never again unless its under new management. This isn't about 1 episode of cold soup or warm beer, it was the most uncomfortable situation i've ever been in up there........If they are not open then they should nicely say kitchen is closed until ?. Not going to let him ruin our trip so..............to continue the trip......we then blasted down a perfect 53, then 319 all the way to Mekoos. Ran across a couple and a young 8 yr old or so boy that had run out of gas about 10 miles out from Mekoos. I was able to give them a gulp of gas from my 1200 using a little nifty hand pump that my buddy and I threw together. Needless to say they were very thankful and returned the gesture in a round of beers for us at Mekoos. We had a great stay at Mekoos. Awesome place !

Trails 9/10, Mekoos 10/10........100 du lacs 0/10

Saturday - Mekoos back to Cabanon.

From Mekoos south on 53 then 319 then 322 to 63 was pretty much perfect. A few spots of washed corners and soft snow but all in all very smooth and fast. Pretty much all groomed. 63 was groomed as well and all in all it was very nice. As we got closer to St Michel things got rough and before you knew we were overcome by the Sno Cross wannabes riding loops out of the local towns. The temps were getting up there and from St Michel to Cabanon it was complete shot.....but we expected that and rolled into Cabanon without any head-on damage from the sleds on the wrong side of the trail coming at us in the afternoon :)

Trails - first part 8/10, second part, we just wanted that to be over with - no rating!

It was a great last trip for the year and conditions are still very good up north. I would not be afraid to travel up there again however i think you need to definately get further north in your vehicle and then sled from there. Plenty of snow and other than 83 most of it was groomed.

Couple things we heard on Saturday before we left was that Kanawata was closing for the season on Sunday 3/24 - unconfirmed but made sense. Cabanon groomers did not operate on Sat Night or Sun AM so i'm not sure what the deal is there but a couple workeds thought that this might've been the last weekend for them. It's a shame they stopped groomed the TQ's so quickly (especially 83) as there is just so much snow up there. I've heard from several locals that it seems to be getting shorter and shorter each year. If you think about it they really only groomed TQ83 from late Dec through Feb . I think the last day they groomed it was March 6. There is no reason why they couldn't groom it again after all this snow and get another 2 or 3 weeks.

Overall it was a good year for us both in PA and in Quebec.

Sorry to hear that about 100 Lac ... last time I was there me & my friend with the help " had to hole place to are selfs " Great time .

Great trip report ... thanks

[markusvt]

Sounds like you had a good time! We have had good luck at 100 Lacs, but late season you are taking risks.

[dooright]

I did see on the trail report that Kanawata is only open for fuel as of today.

Edited March 26, 2013 by dooright

[gizz]

Sounds like you had a good time! We have had good luck at 100 Lacs, but late season you are taking risks.

That's the odd thing. They were not closed but really didn't seem to want to see anyone else. Maybe he was just tired of the season and ready to call it quits and I'm ok with that. All i needed to hear was that the bar/resto and rooms were closed for the season. Maybe i caught him on a bad day but to be treated like that is pretty much enough for me. It leave a lasting impression. Enough of that though, it's not that big of a deal. We had a great season ending ride and pretty good year between PA and Quebec.

[Trailblazer]

100 Lacs always a place to remember for me, been treated well over the years through out several owners, maybe you caught the old guy doing his after lunch chores or perhaps just finished cleaning up the kitchen after lunch, in any case his ruidness was enexcusable, business to these desolight places should welcomed with open arms.

Nice report Gizz and glad to hear you had good trails this late in the season.