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2015 Jack & Sandi's First Trip


revct1
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We hope everyone had a great Christmas. We drove up yesterday from CT. A little bit of snow in VT and southern Quebec. The trails were open in the Eastern Townships before Christmas but the warm rain washed most everything away. Thin snow cover all the way to just north of Quebec city.

Stoneham area, Red Roof Restaurant, the snow was a little deeper. A few trailers had unloaded at the Red Roof. The trail crossing just before l'Etape looked good. About ten miles from Chicoutimi the snow started to get thin again. We're staying at the Sag. No snow in the parking lot. There is a "Spectacle" (concert) in the Sag's cabaret tonight. The place is packed. I'm glad we have reservations. We had a late supper and then to bed.

I woke up at 4 AM and looked out the window, it is snowing! Not a lot but a few centimeters. Yea! Maybe we can ride right from the hotel. We have breakfast and decide to give it a try from the parking lot. We couldn't take the cul-de-sac trail out. Too many ditches that haven't been filled with snow. We worked our way thru the parking lots and got out to trail 83. No tracks, no indication that a groomer had been here yet this season. We only went a mile or so and decided this isn't good. Time to U-turn and go back to the truck.

We load the sleds into the trailer and head off to Valinuet. In the truck I notice that the windshield is icing up a little. We unload at Valinuet. The parking lot is packed with trailers. A lot of activity here. We head off on the sleds south on 93 down to the Bras Louis junction. The shields are freezing over. Yuk! 93 isn't too bad. It hasn't been groomed in a few days but that is probably because it was warm. Bras Louis is the same, typical snow coverage for early in the season. No dirt or rocks but not mid season conditions by any means. It still feels good to be on the sleds again.

The icing of the shields is getting bad. A few other sleds are out. We ride as far as the Onatchiway cutoff and decide to turn around. We get back to Valinuet and decide to head back to the Sag.

Not our best day of riding. I think back to last year and how great it was this week. Last year was a blessing. This year is more typical of early season riding. We'll decide over supper what we want to do tomorrow. Probably trailer to Valinuet again. We could head up the mountain or go over to Onatchiway?

Jack & Sandi

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Jack,

Keep us updated around JQ area, I will be at the Delta on Jan 9. I hope to ride out and up to Mt. Valin trails. Hoping to not need to move basecamp to Passion area, hard to find places to eat if not at Ski area. Doing the snow dance nightly!!!

Dale

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Hi dale, Dave, Mike,

Thanks for the replies. Just a dusting overnight. The forecast is for temps to be below freezing but not much snow in sight.

We are trailering over to Valinuet again. We're hoping they did a little grooming on the mountain. There is enough snow for the groomers to work and now it is cold enough. We'll report back tonight.

Jack & Sandi

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Hi Gary & Pat. How is it on that side of the pond? We saw on the telly that there was snow over there.

We are back from today's ride. Much improved over yesterday.

Cool this morning, -20C -1F. We take off and trailer to Valinouet and notice that 93 had been groomed. Yea! Many trailers in the parking lot at Valinouet. Not as many as yesterday but still quite a few.

We unload and head toward la Chapelle. Not fresh groomed here but good. The groomer must have stayed below Valinouet. After the little bridge, 7 miles out, 93 got better. A little bit of traffic but not much. Plenty of snow up on the mountain. We got to la Chapelle early. A few people eating but not packed.

-25C. It feels like winter now. Snow dust in the air and crunchy snow under our feet.

We have lunch and decide to ride the loop around 6 Mile Lake. Just as we leave la Chapelle, we catch up to a groomer on 93 heading toward 6 Mile Lake. Too bad he wasn't a couple of hours earlier. We pass the groomer and the trail is still pretty good. Plenty of soft snow on the ground. No ice here. We do the loop and stop back at la Chapelle for a quick break.

Wow! Only a few empty seats. A lot of mountain sleds. After our break, we head back down 93 to Valinouet. The trail is a little rougher as we get closer to Valinouet.

Overall, not a lot of miles today but a nice ride. We will see what is in store for tomorrow. Maybe a ride to Onatchiway.

Jack & Sandi

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Trailer to Onatchaway, sled to La Pourvoirie Domaine Pipmuacan. Often very nice and less traveled and more snow. Groomed less, but if it is good the first 10 miles, is often better as you go. If no good, head into the ZEC, always nice. :)[/size]

X2

That would be my choice as well.

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The zec is where it's at this time of year. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the drive to Onatchiway by truck sucks, it certainly does in the summer. I would stick with Valinouet, get a three day pass, and you can run circles in and out of the zec from bras Louis. The ungroomed bras Louis is pristine. Passes are also available at Valinouet, make sure you have a map and gps if first timers. I can email the map if u need. There are a lot of nice camps in there...

post-12-0-80028100-1419897314_thumb.jpg

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Jack,

Thanks for the post and details, looking forward to tomorrow's report from Onatchiway, Have you seen or talked to anyone in from Sacre-Coure and that area of trail 3 going down to the casino, heard earlier that club Charlevoix was grooming out that way.

Never knew you could buy Zec passes at the Ski area??

Dale

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Jack,

Thanks for the post and details, looking forward to tomorrow's report from Onatchiway, Have you seen or talked to anyone in from Sacre-Coure and that area of trail 3 going down to the casino, heard earlier that club Charlevoix was grooming out that way.

Never knew you could buy Zec passes at the Ski area??

Dale

It's right here in plain English, lol

http://cmonatchiway.com/anglais/droitsacces.htm

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Hi Jack.. yer forgot to say we had snow.........1/2 inch... everyone is complaining that the gritters haven't been out.

we use a 50/50 grit n salt mix here . The trouble is most people can't drive in snow..lol

glad you beat the lunchtime rush , well 1st time anyway. Like at onatchiway last year .. we were the lunchtime rush.lol

have fun Gary.

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Thanks guys for the Pipmuacan suggestion.

Cold this morning. The truck starts OK but my 800 e-tec won't. I'm still at the Sag so I give the 800 a little boost from Sandi's 1200 and its running. We truck up to Valinouet and unload. We jump on 93 heading towards Bras Louis. 93 is groomed. Nice! We turn onto Bras Louis and this is groomed too. We are off to the races. Such a smooth ride.

We get to 477 where we turn left for Onatchiway and this is also groomed. Oh today is turning out to be wonderful. We got a late start this morning but the groomer gods are with us.

While we're having lunch at Onatchiway, we ask around and find out that the Pipmuacan trail is very good. That makes the decision of where to ride this afternoon pretty easy. We finish lunch and ride across the dam heading toward Pipmuacan. No traffic and a fantastic trail. Lots of snow, fresh groomed, clear skies what else do we need? Sandi mentions a little warmth! That would be nice since it is -25C -18F but we can't always have everything.

We get to the turn off to Pipmuacan and since it is a little late and cold, we decide to U-turn and head back. We notice that the trail that continues straight, back to Bras Louis, isn't groomed but has been well traveled.

Another nice ride back. A few sleds but not many. A few liters of gas at Onatchiway and we continue onto Valinouet. A lot of other sleds loading up. Its around 4 PM and just turning to dusk. We load up and head back to the Sag after a great day of trails.

Time for supper. Happy trails to everyone.

Jack & Sandi

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Hi Dale,

Reading the trail conditions, going thru l'Etape towards the casino is good but at the casino in town isn't open yet. I haven't talked to anybody that has been in the Sacre Coure area.

Hi Scorpionbowl Gary,

We didn't go into Onatchiway's private trails but all around that area is great.

Hi Snomo Gary,

That snow coverage looks treacherous. Tough for the natives to deal with it.

Hi Ray & Fuzzy,

In two weeks the conditions should be excellent! We know how good the forecasters are.

Hi GutZ,

You're driving up on New Year's Day? We'll still be here. We are planning on driving home over the weekend. We met Bill and Cindy at Onatchiway yesterday. They are staying at the Delta but I don't know when they are heading home.

Good to hear from everyone.

Jack & Sandi

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On a good note - MeteoMedia is forecasting 15-20 cm of snow for this Sunday for the Jonquiere area. That is just what we need. Everything is frozen with the cold, we just need a little white gold to make it passable.

Jack & Sandi

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We are back from the last ride of the year. No not the season, just the year.

This morning, we would love to ride out of the hotel but still not sure. We decide to take the truck to Valinouet once more but this time we take autoroute 70 towards the Delta so we can check out trail 83. Yes, it has been groomed. Not a lot of snow, some grass sticking thru in spots and a little snirt but it has been groomed.

We continue in the truck. Passing thru St Honore I'm tempted to unload at the Sonic but we keep driving to Valinouet. We notice that 93 has been groomed down the hill. We unload and decide that is the direction we are riding. As we are going down 93, a few rocks here and there that the groomer has cultivated. We get to the junction with 328 and the groomer had turned around here. Continuing on 93 doesn't seem like the best choice so we turn right onto 328 heading towards Carcajou. 328 is OK in sections and then the rock gardens sprout up.

We ride to the junction with 476 which heads north to Onatchiway. This was groomed last night. We decide to run into St David de Falardeau on 328 and top off the gas tanks. Since it is New Year's Eve, we are not sure which businesses are open and which ones are closed.

By the way, the 328 has been changed a little in this area. I think it has been swapped with the VTT trail. The swap hasn't made it any smoother but a little more snow will help that.

A U-turn at St David. We are heading back to 476, fresh groom beats the rock gardens every day. The first few miles of 476 has a few stones but not much. As soon as we start going up in elevation, the rocks and stones disappear. I guess they can't grow in the higher elevation. Only a couple of sleds have been on the trail before us. 476 is getting better the further north we go. A wonderful ride to Onatchiway.

Onatchiway is busy but not quite as busy as yesterday. This must be one of the better places to ride. We relax and have lunch.

We are not going back 328 so onto 477 to Bras Louis. This is as good as it was yesterday. Bras Louis is just as nice. After chasing Sandi down Bras Louis, we arrive at the truck. Nice ride, snow dust hanging in the air with the setting sun sparkling thru.

Not a huge mileage day but definitely a nice ride, especially after the 328. It is still early season conditions at the bottom of the mountain. The rest of the mountain is really good riding.

The forecast is still 15-20 cm of snow on Sunday.

Until tomorrow, next year, we wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year.

Jack & Sandi

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