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Season Opener 2017


Florida Snowman
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13 minutes ago, Florida Snowman said:

Yup.  Must have been from England and thought you Drive on the left side of the trail.  Close for sure!

Was that the day you got clocked on radar just before the eastern spur turn-off to Gouin?

No that was another day. 

Heading up to LSJ today. 

Edited by iceman
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12 hours ago, Florida Snowman said:

Day 2:  Saturday Jan 14th

Woke up to a much colder morning today.  Temp was -15*F with clear blue skies.  Perfect day for riding!  Had a great breakfast & pulled out at 7:45am.  I love Barrage Gouin!  Louise & Steve are great people.  We love the Walleye!  Not being sure of trail conditions on 83 going west from the Barrage Gouin feeder trail, we decided to take the road all the way to Parent.  "Autobahn Express" today for sure.  4-5" of fresh on top of hard pack.  Nice!  We fly the 60 miles to Parent where we gas up at the only game in town.  While inside asking the owner & his wife some info on 83W we were told things were groomed & opened to Clova.  They thought the trail was closed past Clova.  They let me use their phone to call Dominic Vincent, the "owner" of Clova (haha).  He wasn't at the gas/restaurant but the woman offered me his home phone number.  Dominic told me that the grooming from Clova to Balbuzard was completed yesterday & that he had spoke to the groomer who left from Senneterre coming east & had finished at Balbuzard.  Bingo.  We're good to go.  83 west all day!   We shoot the 70 miles to Clova on great trails other than the first 5-6 miles of the rerouted 83.  Gas & lunch in Clova.  Saw Dominic & spoke with him for a while.   We discussed yet again the details of the idiots who left their sleds on the railroad tracks four years ago & were hit by the train! Such a great story.

After lunch we continued west on awesome trail conditions all the way to Balbuzard.  We pulled in to see what the status was on their opening date.  There was only one guy there & he was carrying a ladder to shovel off the snow on one of the cabin roofs.  His name was Morel.  He stated that they just opened but that there is no food because the chef has not shown up yet.  The chef was supposed to show up in the next two or three days.  They also were not selling fuel yet.  That's about all I got from that conversation since Morel doesn't speak English.  

We pulled out of their lot & got back on 83W.  Rut Ro - no grooming!  We broke trail for about 5 miles & had a pow-wow.  Was the info Dominic gave us wrong?  It's about 45 miles to Lac Faillon.  We decided to continue going west.  About a mile later we had a water hole crossing to discuss. Maybe 6-9" deep.  Yes, No, Maybe?  We decided to give it a go.  Splash & we're both across on the other side.   We continue about a mile more breaking trail.   The sky had become heavy overcast and it was snowing lightly with strong winds.  Conditions were deteriorating rapidly.    The drifts were getting bigger and bigger as we climbed up a steep hill.  Look at it closely, plan your throttle response, and blast the drift. Continue to do that over and over and over again.   Where is this Groomer that supposedly opened this trail?  

To be continued.......... 

When leaving balbuzzard, need to back track their driveway and take the road to 83 west a it is shorter and a seasonal road , last year we went west from Balbuzzard and got stuck in drifts on the hills so we went back to Balbuzzard and they told us to go the other way! That section seems to not get groomed i dont know why. 

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Day 2:  Continued 

We both got buried just before the top of a large hill.  Jim was about 25 yards uphill & ahead of me.   I decided to make a satellite phone call to Lac Faillon to see if in fact the groomer had passed them going easterly on 83W.   After three attempts I was unable to contact them.  What's up there?  Are they closed even though they represented to me last month that they would indeed be open & sell fuel this winter?  Another reason added to my list to retreat back to Clova for the night.  We decided we were going back east at this point. I worked on turning my sled around and freeing it from being buried and Jim worked on his buried sled.  Once I was turned back east I looked back up the hill and Jim was gone! What! Where did he go?   I figured he must have went on a recon mission to determine if in fact there still was a possibility of us continuing west.  Not cool.  Too many things already told us to retreat & we had made that final decision already.  I waited 30 minutes & no sign of Jim.   I decided to walk up the hill in over the knee high snow @ 30 yards to where I could see there was a Red/White chevron pointing right & the trail turned 90* right just before the sign.  Jim's sled had been buried for 10-15 minutes only 30 feet from the sign!  Jim's tracks went straight!  He didn't turn right before the chevron! He wasn't even on the trail anymore & probably thinks he is!  As I walked to the crest of the hill and looked over it I could see about 250-300 yards of his deep track marks going downward on a steep 35-40% grade.  After that it turned right & out of my sight line due to tall evergreens.  The snow depth where I was at the crest of this hill was up to my crotch!   I went back to my sled and got my whistle.  I proceeded to walk back to where I was standing and started down the steep slope.  The snow was over my thighs deep.  Soft with no crust layer anywhere.  It was between a crawl & difficult stepping that I went about 35 steps downward.  I was in a complete sweat at this point.  The snow started falling faster now & with the heavy winds visibility was rapidly degrading.  I proceeded to scream & listen.  Blow my loud whistle & listen.  Repeat & repeat.  Nothing.  After about 15 minutes of that I struggled to get back to my sled.  It had been 75 minutes & no sign of Jim.  I knew that he had to be buried with his sled within 2 miles in that direction of bushwhacking.  Jim knows not to leave his sled.  All your survival gear is there.  

After getting back up to my sled I knew I had to go for help immediately.  I've contemplated having snow shoes strapped on my sled for years.  I needed someone with an Expedition or Skandic to find & rescue Jim.  It was getting dark now.  Just as I'm putting on my helmet & such I see flashing lights coming from where the trail goes!  The Groomer!!  He's making his way uphill to me.

 

To be continued............

Edited by Florida Snowman
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West is best Tom, you've got my attention now.

Obviously you've made through and you're in a wifi zone telling us about it so finish up supper and tell us the rest.😎

This is more exciting than a cliffhanger in a soap.

Edited by Trailblazer
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Day 2:  Continued

Once the Groomer got to me we spoke for about 4 minutes.  His name was Luke.  He was coming from Senneterre & going east to Balbuzard and returning back west to Lac Faillon where another driver will take the groomer back west to Senneterre.   He stated he would not, and could not, go down off trail in the direction of Jim's track marks.  I knew it was all on me at that point to find help.  I had to get back to Balbuzard ASAP and try to communicate again with Morel & summon Surete Du Quebec, CMP or the likes for a search & rescue mission.  

At that point I drove my sled back east, again thru the water hole, the 6.8 miles to Balbuzard.   As I drove into their parking lot I noticed a pick up truck that had not been there several hours ago when we first passed thru. It had a Skandic in the bed on a platform with a sweet drop ramp setup.  Miracles happen!   I went up to the entrance of the lodge, entered the lobby, started taking off my boots to go inside.  Then Morel & this other man came in the vestibule.  Morel spoke very little English but this other man spoke great English!   I asked him if that was his truck. He said yes & that he just got there 15 minutes before.   I quickly explained the dire situation.  He immediately told me that he would help me!  He had come with his wife for a night away from home and also was informed, as I was several hours earlier when Jim & I first passed thru, that the chef was delayed a few days etc.  He introduced himself to me as Luke (the same name as the groomer I had just been with).    He went and told his wife he was going to help me find Jim.  She looked at him very concerned but didn't try to stop him.  Darkness was upon us now. Temps were dropping.  Immediately Luke & I unloaded his Skandic, he got his snow suit on, we grabbed two sets of snowshoes & we took both sleds and started back the 6.8 miles to where it all started.  Again went thru the water hole (my 3rd time thru but not my last).  We got to the point of where Jim went off-trail and had a discussion of the search & rescue plan.  Luke would go down alone on his Skandic as he needed the spare seat for Jim if/when he was located.   We didn't know how far down that trail it would be.  Jim, when found, would come up on the Skandic with Luke.  We would worry about recovering Jim's sled tomorrow. 

I watched Luke & his Skandic easily maneuver down that slope in 4-6 feet of powder snow like it was easy.  An amazing machine indeed. Very shortly after he made the turn @250 yards down to the right behind the tree line I noticed his lights in the trees stopped flickering & reflecting off the trees.  Was he stuck?  Oh no!  Several minutes go by & then the reflections of his lights turn around & I notice even more lights.  He found Jim!!!  I can't see as they're out of my line of sight but after about 10 more minutes I see two sets of lights coming towards me up the slope!!  Luke was towing up Jim on his sled with both machines powering up the incline.  Amen! Amen! Amen!

Once all three of us were together hugs went around BIG TIME!

"Cool Hand Luke" I called Luke & we all rode our individual sleds back the 6.8 miles of now freshly groomed trail, except for that damn water hole yet again, to Balbuzard.

All's well that ends well.  

Tonight's outcome could have been very, very different.

 

217 miles

Edited by Florida Snowman
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just what would have happened if the Lukes weren't there.  First to groom the trial or the 6.8 miles would have felt like 20.  Then for the other luke to be there when you needed that sled the most...

And for Jim to get stuck he must have been ready to start a fire and wait out the night...

Imagine if Jim were alone?? Like the guy on the other thread all by himself in the middle of nowhere...

Edited by Teet F8SP
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Day 3:  Sunday Jan 15th

After an amazing dinner that Luke's beautiful wife Louise offered to cook for us since the chef hasn't shown up yet we crashed hard in our warm & cozy cabin at Balbuzard!  Damn I love this place!  Woke up late, had breakfast with the four of us, hugged & thanked everyone again for all their help & hospitality & saddled the sleds. Luke, Louise & Morel rock!

Pulled out at 10:30am and rode beautiful groomed trails all the way to Lac Faillon!  Except for that damn water hole which I was treated to cross 5 times!  Took gas & continued west to Senneterre.  Topped off the tanks and took my favorite trail 93 west to Amos.  Took gas & continued west to 307 southbound which was groomed to a 10!  Then took 83 east to the Forestal in Val d'Or for the night.  The last 25 miles on 83 were beat badly from the local weekend traffic.  Other than that the trails today were good to excellent.  

I love the wild west.

 

308 miles

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17 minutes ago, Teet F8SP said:

just what would have happened if the Lukes weren't there.  First to groom the trial or the 6.8 miles would have felt like 20.  Then for the other luke to be there when you needed that sled the most...

And for Jim to get stuck he must have been ready to start a fire and wait out the night...

Imagine if Jim were alone?? Like the guy on the other thread all by himself in the middle of nowhere...

Jim will be sharing his story including his thoughts, emotions & actions he endured & performed during his short lived (thank goodness) ordeal & will be starting a thread on winter survival preparedness we all need to be better educated about. 

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Glad it ended well.

Jezus Tom, that's when it isn't fun any more. The water hole combined with the deteriorating weather should have been your 'sign' to turn back;  I think it would have been mine. 

Edited by vt_bluyamaha54
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Snowfarmer, That was an experience filled season opener for sure. Great reporting! As long as everyone is ok , that is a trip that will stay in the memory banks and stories to tell archives for years!  That journey turned out well!

When is your next trip?

Happy Trails  RR

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WOW!!!

That's a pretty scary experience to go through, let me tell you that when you're put in a situation like that the wheels start turning and all kind of variables are considered. I'm so glad to hear that you did not consider following Jims tracks and risk yourself down'n out for the count even though he was not far off the trail so it seems but you didn't know that. You made a smart call.

Coming from my own experience I faced a similar situation in that area back in 2001. We were two, I on a ZR800 and my buddy on a SRX both short tracks, Bernard was busting trail in 2 feet of snow that had been accumulating since we left Clova late in the afternoon, It's starting to get dark and he runs out of gas, now the variables are turning wheels. We knew we weren't far from Balbuzard and the best option was to double up and ride in for gas to bring back but it was snowing so hard and getting darker by the minute, we weren't sure if we would make it back, by then the sled could be buried and he feared the groomer would crush it the next day. We had no GPSs back then. We decide to double up and tow his sled, not long after we arrive at Balbuzzard with a litre or two to spare in my tank, we fuel up and push on. We were on a mission to make it to Senneterre as we left from Pincourt real early that morning. At this point we decide to not take the trail and take the road, we were told it passes right by Lac Fallion and on into Senneterre and that it had just been recently plowed but not sanded and had a little snow accumulation so it would be safe to ride on. Well off we go blasting down the road side by side with the high beams on and everything is a sweet as ever until I lose Bernard's light, I wait. I minute or two later he's pulling up slowly and says to me can you go back and get my ski. What? I say looking over to the side noticing one of his skis was missing, it seams there must have been a bit of gravel/sand beneath the snow on his side and eventually burned down the carbide, runner then the plastic. So much for the mission. Fetch the ski, place it under the ski post and he can ride. We were not far from Lac Fallion, we could see the lights in the distance. Next day he gets a pick up truck ride to LSQ and I'm on my own for the morning riding up to meet him.

Not trying to steel your thread here Tom just wanted to share an experience I had in the same area once upon a time. keep pushing forward.

Edited by Trailblazer
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