markusvt Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Thursday, Jan 28, 2016. We headed up to St-Saint-Michel-des-Saints to spend the night at Le-Central. It was lightly snowing most of the trip and continued into the night. They had their entertainment full on for the night which kept us up later than we wanted, but it sure was fun! What happens in St-Saint-Michel-des-Saints, stays in St-Saint-Michel-des-Saints. Edited February 1, 2016 by markusvt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Friday, Jan 29, 2016. 285 miles. We sat for breakfast at 7:00 and were on the sleds and out by 8:15 or so. We took the reservoir right out of town to avoid the 33. It was staked to Auberge Du Lac Taureau. It was frozen and perfectly smooth. We then grabbed the 33 on up to Repos and then on to Kanawata. The 33 had plenty of snow but it was bumpy for most of it. We bypassed Repos for gas and took the unplowed road to Kantawata. We were there for gas at 10:15 with 95 miles on. We had a soda and left. The new trail from Repos to Kanawata is 55 miles which is very nice, the unplowed road is 35 miles. Here is where the world changes. Here the snow is at normal levels. We blasted on out and were in Parent for lunch at 1:00. The trail was AWESOME the majority of the way to Parent with a few whips in the trail the last 10 miles or so. There are 3 restaurants in town, but we ate at our normal Hotel Central. We did learn you can stay there for $25 per person and they have a package deal at $65 per person. At 2:00 we were out of there. We arrived in Clova at 3:45 and had gassed and were gone by 4:00. The trail has a ton of snow. 2+ feet on the sides in most places. We headed down the 30 mile side trail to Pourvoirie Martin following the trail from last year. The first 10 miles were great but then we had to go under fallen trees, over branches, around piles of sticks. We were following a trail but it was clear there had been huge wind/snow/ice issues that had wreaked havoc on the trail. There was plenty of snow on it just we had to bushwhack a bit. We arrived by 5:15. Line, (Lynn) was happy to see us and visa-versa. We also learned we came in on the wrong trail for this year We showered up and headed to dinner in her new lodge. This was awesome with lots of room and right on the Gouin Reservoir. We asked for a 6:30 dinner. She served us a steak dinner feast fit for kings. Almost more food then you could eat and 5 start worthy! After the late night before it was time for lights out. Edited February 1, 2016 by markusvt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazysnow Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Nice trip Mark ... Never been to Martin's have put that one on my list sounds like my kind of place . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Saturday, Jan 30, 2016. 198 miles. We were in for breakfast at 7:30 and again it was 5 stars. The fresh fruit, eggs and omelets, meats, potatoes, and coffees were all awesome. We hugged goodbye and were on the trail at 8:30. Her worker offered to show us the new trail to Clova. It goes for 8 miles on the staked trail on the Gouin towards Obedjiwan and then you go right for 6 miles following the small pine trees they have laid out for a total of 14 miles on the ice. You get off the ice onto an unused logging road you follow for 30 miles towards Clova. We were the first ones on it since it had been groomed and then had another 6-8 inches of snow fall on it. There are some lefts and rights marked with pieces of ribbon to guide you. The last 2 miles are on the edge of the road that ultimately dumps you out at the gas pumps in Clova. We went inside to pay and had our first dilemma of the trip. When the last guy goes to pay it seems he has lost his wallet. He is positive it was zipped in his left coat pocket but when he unzipped it, nothing. He strips down naked checking everything and no wallet. We get on the phone and call Pourvoirie Martin. She has already stripped the beds, cleaned the room and found nothing……. Do we go back 50 miles and look in the snow the whole way? Is it gone forever? Is it in his luggage hidden somewhere? In the midst of the drama I decided to check my pockets to make sure my stuff was where it should be. Left pants good, right pants good, right jacket had the camera; left pocket has…… a wallet that is not supposed to be there. It looks like someone in the morning did put his wallet in the left jacket pocket, and zipped it up, but in the wrong jacket! We laughed, paid and hit the trail. 8 miles out of town one of the 1200’s chaincase and drive belt go BOOM. Parts were everywhere. The belt is no issue, (we have a spare) but the sled won’t roll as something is amiss in the chaincase. A chunk of the chaincase with the adjuster is blown out and oil was everywhere. We took it all apart on the side of the trail while it was lightly snowing. We survey the damage and decided we can fix it. We need to get a branch, carve it into a chain adjuster, wire it in, fill the chaincase with grease and we could go. One buddy headed back to Clova, (town of 40 people) while the rest got to work. When he got back the chaincase was fixed with the new dogwood adjuster and ready for grease. We layered in a full tube and bolted it together while it was now snowing at an inch an hour. The next stop at 90 miles was Fer a Cheval for gas. We wanted to take a different route but we had to make up the few hours we took on the chaincase repair. The trails in were very, very nice. About 10 miles out there was a woman with broken leg they said was waiting on a helicopter, hope all was well with her. We gassed it up, visited with a few other VT boys there and headed off to Club Notawiss. They had come down the LePine road from Clova and said it was all good. Here the mist started. We had freezing rain the whole way into Club Notawiss some 50 miles or so. This trail was in nice shape but very twisty. I had to dodge a moose with 20 miles to go, dam moose. We gassed them up and checked into our cabin. It could hold 10+ and there were only 5 of us so plenty of room. 130 miles on the dogwood adjuster and all is good so far. We had never stayed here before or eaten dinner here so this was an unknown. The dinner was through the roof. Hard to beat this anywhere, in the bush or not! We hit the bed early after a reasonable challenging day. Edited February 1, 2016 by markusvt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfarmer Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Nice fix boys! Never would of thunk it! Another great idea to put on the list to get out of the woods. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Randy will post pictures, I am at my QR limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 NIce save boys!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Mark I had a very similar situation with my wallet in the Gaspe one time. A horrible feeling when you think you have lost everything. Do you know what actually cases the chain case to explode? Was it the belt blowing or some other issue? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Sunday January 31, 2016. 190 miles After a delicious breakfast it was time to head back to the trucks. We add a wooden shim to our wooden chaincase adjuster and off we go. It was warm, maybe 25 degrees. We take the orange side trails over to the 33 which were great and then 33 into Manawan. The last 30 miles of the 33 is very fast, wide open and smooth, lots of snow. It was 108 miles or so. We ate there at the restaurant after getting gas, (Chez Pogo?), ($1.06/Liter) and then headed out. Wow, it was 35 degrees now. This is the same part of the 33 we rode 3 days ago but what happened? This trail looks like it went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. Very little snow on the first 10 miles and the next 20-30 was pretty whooped out. We get to the turn at L'Auberge CanadAventure and decide to go down their 6Km trail to the water. It was perfect groomed. We hit the ice, (not staked but tons of tracks) and rode it to Auberge du Lac Taureau, we then stayed on the reservoir to Saint-Michel-des-Saints. This avoided a lot of beat up Sunday afternoon trail trash. We got back to the trucks at 3:00. It looked like we arrived on the final day of riding in late March. It was 40 degrees and stuff was melting fast, really, really fast. Our wooden chain adjuster lasted 310 miles; maybe we leave it for the rest of the season. Another great trip, but more snow required Repos south. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooright Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Here's a few pictures from our adventure Edited February 1, 2016 by dooright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooright Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 From Martin , new dinning addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooright Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Looking down the new trail for Martin Cabin # 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooright Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Trail side repair Trail side repair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooright Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Club Notawissi .... Excellent stay in cabin #11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Nice, I like it. Sure is full on winter up there. We need to get together for a weekend run. Keep in touch. Glad you found some nice stuff Love the trailside pit crew action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooright Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Nice lunch in Manawan Greeted by one of many furry locals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Not sure on the chaincase issue, what happened first and caused what? It will need a small gaggle of new parts to be good as new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Snowman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Great trip & nice reporting Mark & Randy & Co. Snowmobiling is always an adventure! Great job with the McGyver repairs! Nice loop for sure. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vt_bluyamaha54 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 All's well that ends well! Both the wallet and the chaincase could have been major trip enders. Glad it all worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800steve Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Hey Mark, give me your phone # so I can call you the next time we break down.Great save. Edited February 1, 2016 by 800steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Not sure on the chaincase issue, what happened first and caused what? It will need a small gaggle of new parts to be good as new. Thanks Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailblazer Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Real thinking out of the box guys for the chain case repair, someone has tools on board!!!!! Notawissi has always been sweet on me, love that spot especially when Mario ran the place, real party joint. Walleye is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg du Vermont Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 It was definitely a weekend mission that included everything that is great about snowmobiling. Friends, fun, trails, scenery, Quebec hospitality, mental and mechanical challenges and creative / collaborative solutions to adversity. The laughs and memories are added to our history and will last forever. It was an 1,100 km blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revct1 Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Amazing repair. Thinking outside of the box is an understatement. I would have had the strap out and been towing it back. Jack & Sandi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Clova not an easy place to get in or out of, by car or sled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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