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Tremblant and beyond


Cnc
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After what seems like a long wait for things to freeze up exaggerated by a fair bit of early snow things are coming together around here. Club Diablo et Rouge as well as club Hebou Blanc report most trails have been packed by the groomers without a drag and just in the last day or 2 groomed. Lake Macdonald and lac des seize Ile have been marked with pickets while lac de les this Montange remains unsafe as does a river crossing near  Brebeuf. A run to Tremblant from My house in Montcalm by car revealed the trails looked good. We received a good snow fall New Year's Eve and today while early weather reports predicted rain / freezing rain, that changed to a snowfall warning for here and it has snowed 2-3 inches so far an let up for now with a few ice pellets. Been fairly busy and not time to play but depending on if we get the rain or not they are getting further south( Hudson , Montreal ), I will be out and about on the sled this week.

 

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3 hours ago, Trailblazer said:

Do you have any information on a new trail that has been talked about between Lake MacDonald and Aurendel?

there was talk about a trail from Lake Macdonald that would join up on the railway bed trail between Arundel and St Remi. Has not happened yet. I guess the pressure to do that is off since last year they opened a new trail from Lake Macdonald to Weir and completing the loop that way.

just a further update on the weather, the snow changed to light freezing rain in the late afternoon and then back into snow 10-15 expected through the night. We did not get any rain.

 

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That's great news to hear, gonna have to try it on the way up to the chalet.

Heres a pic of the trail map I got from Club Hibou Blanc website

IMG_4750.JPG

Used to have to do some off trailing between Lac des Seize Isles and Weir before, this completes the loop significantly. May even be a shorter route.

 

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Yes that trail branches off from the 317 close to where 317 crosses hyway 327 and connects to the Weir end of the old Railwaybed trail that went to 16 island. Very nice trail. About 15 -20 minutes lake M to Weir. Last few years We running a back road To make the connection and I think the road took longer dispite the fact we were moving faster. Be aware of gas stop loses. Pine hill there is no gas at the depanneur anymore, but Hotel Chasseur has a fuel tank. Weir and Huberdeau lost their gas stops this summer thanks to the Gov forcing them to upgrade with new tanks or shut down. 16 island still has gas. I fear other small mom and pop places will stop selling gas as the cost of upgrade is more than they can handle. 

 

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We're usually pretty good for gas pending on which direction we take.

If we cross the river at Hudson/St.Placide we fuel in St.Placide and we're good to Duhamel, if we cross at Chutes des Blondeau/Cushing we fuel up in Rigaud and we're good to Duhamel too. If we run the railbed to Alfred and cross at Lefebvre/Fasset we'll fuel up in Rigaud and we're good to Chenneville.

Is there still gas in St.Remi?

Edited by Trailblazer
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St Remi gas station burnt about 5 years ago no gas there either now.

I hope that there is still gas in Vendee this year. Guessing in Duhamel that the depanneur makes enough with the constant line ups of vtt's and sleds that he could afford to up grade tanks if the government goes after him.

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1 hour ago, Cnc said:

St Remi gas station burnt about 5 years ago no gas there either now.

I hope that there is still gas in Vendee this year. Guessing in Duhamel that the depanneur makes enough with the constant line ups of vtt's and sleds that he could afford to up grade tanks if the government goes after him.

Dam St.Remi gone too, I would suspect Vendee is still operational as they serve a few lakes of cottages in that area. Duhamel is in good shape even more so now, the sister of the 2 brothers that run the place just won the lotto 2 weeks ago......drum roll please.....$12 000 000.00. However not sure if they'll be there next year. They told me they're getting out of Duhamel in April, The depanneur has been up fore sale the last 2 years now they're willing to give it away, just pay the inventory he says. Know someone who wants to start a dep? A campground comes with it.

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4 hours ago, Trailblazer said:

Dam St.Remi gone too, I would suspect Vendee is still operational as they serve a few lakes of cottages in that area. Duhamel is in good shape even more so now, the sister of the 2 brothers that run the place just won the lotto 2 weeks ago......drum roll please.....$12 000 000.00. However not sure if they'll be there next year. They told me they're getting out of Duhamel in April, The depanneur has been up fore sale the last 2 years now they're willing to give it away, just pay the inventory he says. Know someone who wants to start a dep? A campground comes with it.

Too far a commute for me, grin. Besides I try to avoid work as much as possible.

Funny how much business is generated by recreational vehicles. We organized a motorcycle rally this past summer and one of our group rides brought us through Duhamel so we arranged a lunch stop at  Le madorick for the gang. Jacques the owner was really glade to accommodate us, business is pretty dead in summer. My Neighbours run a casse croute in Montcalm and would stave in winter if they stayed open but make all their money on bike traffic in summer.

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9 minutes ago, grumpysanta said:

where to eat  cnc. we need food .lol.    Hudson area is the best in years , water crossings are good.

Really not much up there in winter. The hotel Chasseur you guys went to, 16 island there is a restaurant and expensive gas. Taking the 317 out of 16 island, it turns into 43 and there is a place called fort west that was a big restaurant on the trail and very busy when several trails merged there. These days a bit quiet but they serve food on week ends. Brebuf has a good little restaurant. Tremblant all kinds but a bit of a haul and a dead end. headed toward St Remi there is a bar/ hotel but we never stop there much, but they did serve food. If we are going in that direction we either go to Duhamel and eat or Labelle and eat in the train station, or a Tims right on the petit train de Nord trail. That pretty much covers my eating habits in the area.

 

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ok thanks  cnc .. is it brebeuf thats a dead end now  ,that u can only get to the resto . i think i was there last year and big surprise . trail finished on street with a path to next block to resto . new trail starts 15 km. back at the big check point hut where the cops hang out.. gas at chass is $ 1.40 super only. i used too eat at  the smoke meat place  and hotel  in labelle .   big place .. forget name but i think it has changed ..opps  MOE's . got memory babk

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17 hours ago, grumpysanta said:

ok thanks  cnc .. is it brebeuf thats a dead end now  ,that u can only get to the resto . i think i was there last year and big surprise . trail finished on street with a path to next block to resto . new trail starts 15 km. back at the big check point hut where the cops hang out.. gas at chass is $ 1.40 super only. i used too eat at  the smoke meat place  and hotel  in labelle .   big place .. forget name but i think it has changed ..opps  MOE's . got memory babk

Yes Brebuf is sort of a dead end at the restaurant. The municipality did not want sleds crossing the bridge on the side walk any more. If you look at the map this year it indicates a local trail out of town that brings you back on the 43. Never took it last year or know if it existed then. The hut you talk of is further down the 43 closer to ville deTremblant ( st Jovite ). The split there takes you to either Tremblant along the 117 hyway or the other direction 43 continues past fort west or what was named relais des pin.

On a different note during talks of a possible trail closure near ville de Tremblant this fall I learned that ville de Tremblant worked hard with the club to find a solution with a land owner and also that it seems they have been putting money aside for a new bypass to reconnect Tremblant with part of the pitit train de Nord trail that dead ended after the closure due to a court case many years ago. There has been talk for a number of years about it and the info I got seems to indicate the idea is not dead and Tremblant is interested in snowmobilers not just tolerating them.

Edited by Cnc
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Just a quick weather up date. We received 3-4 in of new snow last night and then some rain late in the night. Enough rain to make the new snow wet and heavy, also more slush under the snow on my lake. We drove to St Jovite by car today and all the trails visible from the road had not been groomed and little or no tracks on them. I imagine the clubs are waiting it out till after the predicted rain tomorrow and temps drop Fri. If we don't get too much rain last nights snow should protect the trail base.

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58 minutes ago, Trailblazer said:

Thanks for the info CNC, I'm heading up tomorrow afternoon.

We got some rain in the night but not a real lot. No rain at the moment just mild and foggy. plowed snow covered roads are now ice with water on them. Lakes are slushy. 

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Fri morning, Temperature  dropped to 20f last night. All the wet snow is crunchy. Hebou Blanc club just announced both their groomers are on the trails this morning. No word from Diablo Rouge but I imagine they will be out there today or tonight.

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Fri /13 Diablo Rouge reports that their 3 groomers will be on the trails today and all night, 20-23 hrs to surface all their trails. Lac des trois montagnes remains closed due to slush but will be tested this morning. The ice bridge river crossing near Brebeuf is safe.

looks like we should be in pretty good shape for the weekend.

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Jan20th.

just came home last night after a couple of days down in Montreal. Wednesday morning we woke up to a couple of inches of new snow here and as we headed down toward Montreal it turned to freezing drizzle around Hawkesbury.  I was told similar weather up here but returning last night there is little evidence of any snow loss or crusty snow. Light dusting last night and disputed the mild weather the 317 was being groomed as we passed. -5 for tonight and Hebou Blanc says all trails will be groomed tonight and again Sat night ( nothing like the free weekend to get the clubs putting the spit and polish on the trails). Supossrd to be +1 Sat and 0 Sun with a 40% chance of drizzle for a few hrs on Sat, not the best but I feel that given the rock hard trails we had last week, the should stand up well through the weekend. Time will tell headed out tomorrow with a few of the guys.

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Sat Jan 21.

We did not get the -5c weather Fri night that was predicted. It was cloudy and a slight foggy drizzle with the temp around 0 to +1 c Sat morning but all the trails had been groom dispite the mild weather. We got going around 9:30 and the plan was to head from Montcalm over toward Lake Macdonald down the 317 to laurel. Then decide either to go to Pine hill and beyond or scoot back up 16 island lake and get on to the 43. There was a press conference Fri at the comfort inn concerning trails in the area and a 45 sled caravan of club and FCMQ people was leaving Tremblant and doing the same loop we were considering in the same direction.  317 had not seen much traffic when we arrived at it and that meant we were ahead of them. Last thing we wanted to do was follow in the tracks of 45 sleds chewing up the trail in mild temps. We decided to basically do the same loop going back up 16 island lake and taking the 43 past fort west ( relais des pins ). 317 was surprisingly good as was the 43 till fort west. The lake was slushy but passable and I had visions of my brother driving my wife's little 121 in track XC getting stuck  or getting the machine sideways in the bigger pools. We stopped for lunch at fort west and there were lots of sleds but vacant tables inside. While they do serve weekend meals of hamburgers fries, poutine, soups etc, I found the food lacking from the days when it was a good spot to eat on some major trail junctions and not a paint ball park serving a few meals to passing sleds on a secondary trail. After lunch we pull out and the temperature and passing sleds had done some damage to the trails down to brown here and there but mostly soft loose wet snow on a hard base. We decide not to take the time to ride into Tremblant and gas, relying on the spare gas we are carrying. We continued up 43  by passing Brebeuf and it was clear the 45 sleds plus all the regular traffic had passed before us. Don't get me wrong I have been on way worse trails but they need cold weather and a groomers touch. We branch off of the 43 and down out of the mountains to St Remi and onto the railway bed along the Rouge river to Arundel and down the lake to home. As I roll up to my garage my low fuel light flashes on. I dip the tank on the XC as the fuel gas is not very accurate when low. 1 inch in the bottom. A 3rd machine carried on back to lake Macdonald with not much to spare in his tank but a gallon left in a jerry can. The wet snow really sucked the ⛽️ milage.

IMG_0324.JPG

Edited by Cnc
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