snowfarmer Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Well this first trip didn"t come easy! Plan was put together last thursday to leave monday morning from North Bay and ride to Rapides -des Joachims then on. Well we do snow plowing and the small amount forecasted for sunday /monday 1 inch turned into a large amount 6 inches very quickly. Change of plans ! The one group was already in North Bay,so we would drive and meet them in Rapide des Joachims on monday night.Well 17 hours of plowing things got delayed. Finished late monday night caught 4 hours sleep and then drove 5 hours to meet the crew.Tuesday we unloaded at Dumoine Valley Guides, in Rapide des Joacims. The boys had stayed here and it was very good . Home cooked food(BBQ Ribs ) they have rooms in the house plus cabins.(Sat TV etc no wifi ) Very nice owners its worth a stay. Very reasonable price (110$ a night all in).So unloaded headed north toward Val-dor on 386 . Fresh groomed all good! Half way up to Pavillion La Verendrye one of the guys polaris just shuts down but restarts right away. All good we think. Another mile again and then again and again. You can see where this is going . Its cold and not area you want to tow a lot of miles . They figure out as long as the sled does"t go over 6000 rpms (@30 miles an hour)it will run without going dead.We reach Verendrye try to fix(check connections Etc) . They are full for the night so we grab lunch and continue on towards Val-Dor(its 3:00) . About half way to the Relais there is a block of ice bridging under the polaris that is rubbing on the track. We have to chip out a block of ice that is 4 to 5 inches thick that runs the length of the tunnel.We are able to grab a sign post out of the snow to do the chipping. We loose an half an hour. We get the relay gas up and head out but i check my messages the Owner at Dumoine valley guide has called and said my truck is running and doors are locked . Crap!! It takes an hour but i"m able to get CAA to go to my truck(Without me there) to shut it off. More time lost. The slow sled has already gone ahead so we make great time to Val Dor. So because its late we decide to stay at the Escale might beable to find food easier in town. I'm already grumpy my GPS is not working and it bloody cold !! Well the signage around Val Dor is crap for finding some trails and pointing to hotel. We get in its after 9, dining room is closed so we shower fast at get to the Cage Aux Sports by 9:50 ! They are suppose to serve to 10! The Waitress goes to seat us and the manager says no food, kitchen closes at 10 but place is full though , i show my watch 9;50 she doesn't care i loose it. Move on to pizza all good!! Next day head to Polaris dealer early . Says they WONT even look at it till next monday! Not even a quick peak for a touring group. Val Dor really pissed me off this trip!!! On we go at 30 miles an hour but take turns so we each can have some fast blasts down the trail . Always had one guy with slow sled just incase . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Trails are groomed out of Val Dor (83 is great)We take 83 to 307 then local to Preissac for lunch. Great lunch spot with home cooked food and gas right on 83.Take 83 to Ville Marie to La Bannik. Trails all good!!Nice cabin , hot tub, great food,heated garage. Last day head down 83 all fresh groomed .The two that started in North Bay splits off back to North Bay , Richard and I head down the 43 ( camp dragon trail ) towards Rapide des Joachims .The trail is picked up in Kipawa there is gas and food at this neat little spot. i couldn't understand why 4 people worked at this little shop but at noon you could see why. Its like the whole town and surrounding area came to eat there. Very nice trail groomed double wide but maybe sees a groomer once every two weeks.Lots of snow . Its 120 miles of nothing but wilderness. If no sat phone but at @ mile 60 there is a cell phone tower and bell works just in case of problems.We end up back at Rapide des Joachims for the night. Good conversation ,great food. Ontario snowmobile magazine stayed the night before and the guys will get good press,All and all after a bad start and a slower then normal ride the trip worked out well . Edited February 7, 2015 by snowfarmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Snowman Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Great report David! You're lucky CAA was able to get to your truck & shut it off. I'm still laughing so hard I almost pissed myself!! Snowmobiling is ALWAYS an adventure! Sounds like you all still had a good ride even with the sled that abided by the trail speed limit the whole way! When is your next trip? Best, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actionjack Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 LOL. I've been on that trip! C'est la motoneige! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Forgot to add 648 total mileage for the trip. Yes you are right Tom I was in the legal speed limit most of the time . Lol!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerider Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 What a good safe bunch of riders! I want to ride with your group. All the misfortunes made for a great read. Hope it goes better next time. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3R3 Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Sounds like a memorable ride. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackstraw Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 always an adventure, some trips more then others! Gotta ask, how did the truck start up and run when you weren't there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 always an adventure, some trips more then others! Gotta ask, how did the truck start up and run when you weren't there? I'm not really sure. It's a Ram Eco Diesel and some strange things have been going on with the locks and the alarms this past week as it's gotten colder. We all swear the truck was off before we left. We all stood next to it and loaded our sleds. The only thing I can think of is I threw my keys in in my handle bar bag as we left. Maybe the remote start button was hit . The only thing wrong with that theory is it takes two pushes of the button to start the truck and it should only run for ten minutes and shut off. The truck computer was set back to zero when I arrived so I know it ran for 8 hours and46 minutes. I wasn't sure what to do if CAA wouldn't turn it off . Let it run empty( you don't have to bleed and prime so no problem) or ask the owner at Domoine to keep adding fuel so the truck would be nice and warm when we returned. Lol (never even considered that:) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpysanta Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 LEAVE YOUR KEYS WITH THE OWNER. We all have had trips like that . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towing Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 An adventure trip! It's really wierd about your truck, I imagine your face when you got the message about it...lol! I guess we have to encounter some problems to more appreciate the trouble-free one... at least it make an excellent ride report! Good chances the next trip will go better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momojohnny Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 Always something "A" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 LEAVE YOUR KEYS WITH THE OWNER. We all have had trips like that . I tried, he didn't want us to leave them incase we got home earlier and no one was around so we could get into our our truck.Most Always do leave them at owners though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpysanta Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 well i guess you could hide on the outside of truck in a little case . but with the theft problem that might not be good... so pull a fuel or starter relay . also good anti theft device at the same time.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) Nice run! For sure we all have had similar ups and downs to our adventures also, (well, maybe not leaving the truck running ) Val-Dor has a million trails that all look the same, easy to drive around trying to get somewhere and find yourself exactly back where you started. Edited February 9, 2015 by markusvt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) We parked at this pouvoire that is in/on the swisha ( island) . The owner was telling us last year guys were parking just up the road in the zecs parking lot and would head out on a couple of days ride a come home to trucks that had their fuel tanks drilled and fuel stolen! The two trucks that were parked where I was had it happen to them. Edited February 9, 2015 by snowfarmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg du Vermont Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Sounds like quite an adventure and adventure is what memories are made from. So what was the determined malfunction on the Polaris and what model and year was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Sounds like quite an adventure and adventure is what memories are made from. So what was the determined malfunction on the Polaris and what model and year was it?Not sure haven't talked to the guy who owns it . It was a 2007 Polaris Switchback 600 . They were thinking throttle sensor or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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