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South of the St Lawrence tour trip two


snowfarmer
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 This trip was one of the more stressful trips that I've put together due to The impending farmers strike . It was then it was off , places canceled , area change , then we ended up staying with our first plan and I'm glad that I did. We are home now , I was sick for the first part of the trip and almost bailed but didn't. So daily reports weren't an option because I just wanted to eat and go to bed. It was well worth sticking out ! I will tell you that all the trail conditions were great ! So with that being said this will be mainly a picture sriryvwith a little commentary. This trip is with three couples  , Nora and myself , Rob and Sherri who did the Quebec trip last year with us and Giff and Gail . When planning this trip mileage wasn't much  of a concern but we wanted good food and nice accommodations. We arrived early on Sunday at Lac William and decided to take a little tour around the area for lunch. All the trails had pretty much been groomed the night before so we made a quick trip of it and got back to the hotel to enjoy what it had to offer.

to be cont

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IMG_3979.thumb.JPG.eb54d4a20754ec9aea14d437edac40c3.JPGThe first day we headed to Montmagny on a variety of trails all good , fast and well groomed. We stayed at a place on trail 5 just east of Montmagny that we had past on our first trip and thought it would be a good place to try. It's called Auberge Le Petit Manoir ( its on the iMotoneige17 map) . The place is a two hundred year old house that was dismantled and moved twenty miles to its new home on the golf course by its owner Gino . Gino is a great guy and try's to make your stay the best he can! He sold his first beer in 2013. There are four bedrooms , dining area with a wood stove and a bar. The food is homemade , delicious and plentiful! The place is very reasonably priced at like 65$ a night per person with all meals! You can't beat it.

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Edited by snowfarmer
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The third day was to RDL and this area would be a first for me. It was an IB day as Bill would say . Clear, cold , sunny and every groomed to perfection. Took 5 all the way . Made a quick trip of it to RDL so Nora and I took a little tour around . I can see why Mike loves this area! Wide trails , nice relais and great grooming! On Wednesday we woke to fresh snow and knew we would have a great ride to our next destination of Lake Pohenegamook. We took the side trails made a nice loop and pretty much broke trail all day . It was perfect!

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Edited by snowfarmer
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So Wednesday night we are Sante Plein -Air in Pohengamook . We all forgot to take photos of this place but it's very nice. They have three and five bedroom log houses to rent . Well equipped and very nice. We have dinner in the dining room it's just us. Well the food was outstanding. The duck pizza and wings were fantastic! So we had to ride our sleds up to the dining room I never gave it much thought but my sled temp reach 125 degrees on that 1500 foot ride. Well it does the same thing back. I never really looked all day at the temp gauge because we were riding powder . So Thursday I go to load up Nora's sled the battery's dead and I've lost the tool package along the way so I have to find the maintenance shed to see what I can get for tools to get the seat off. I also check my overflow bottle on the 850 and it's empty so off to the store to get antifreeze. I get the tools and the antifreeze and get Nora going next me. Well , crap fill the bottle but antifreeze is leaking out the bottom of the sled but where? This is where Sans Plein Air shined . There was a language problem but they got on the phone and started to make calls but unfortunately no dearler had time or a free trailer to pick me up. Also no one could guarantee that they could even look at it. So we are at 10 o'clock and they don't have the kitchen open today but they call call in the cook to make us breakfast while we plan out what to do. Funny thing is while I'm eating breakfast I get a call from BPR and I think holy Sh@" what great service . How do they know I'm broke down! Well it was a lady from head office and I say wow this is great service what dealer called you? She says what do you mean im calling doing a survey on how you like your new 850 and what other accessories could we offer you. Well I said you are not calling on a good day to ask me that!!! Any way she try's to help but we have already called all the dealers she suggests. 

So I don't want to get trailered back and I know our next stop looks really nice and it has a steak house and I don't want to miss that! So I figure let's go for it and if it over heats in the first five minutes I'll head back and the rest goes on. I lower the scratchers and put Nora ahead of me to chew up the trail because she is fresh groomed and hard packed .I pay attention attention to the temp gauge the first ten miles she stays below 150 has long has o keep it under 50 mph . We are on the 35 railroad bed so it's hard to do . When she reaches 175 I pull over and add coolant. I do this all day and the next day too. About every 15 miles I do this . This sled ran on Ram antifreeze, no name what ever I could buy and store in my saddle bags. We got to our destination on Thursday and it was a good place. The sister hotel to the new one in Thetford Mines . The hotel was in Scott near Saint Marie . Beautiful place large rooms,  king beds and a great steak house. They also have 2 bedroom cottages with a pull out sofa you can rent. Dinner was in the steakhouse and the cook over wood charcoal . 

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Edited by snowfarmer
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The final day was back to Lac William via Thetford Mines. It was clear , sunny and cold but everything was groomed to perfection. As I was going though a lot of places and you look down the hillsides with the sun shining on those fresh trails you could daydream about being a down hill skier and the only thing that was missing was the blue markings for the line you needed to follow marked in the snow lol!

Anyway the sled made it back and she didn't let me down . It took 13 litres of antifreeze but it beat walking. As for the problem I see on Monday . There is a little talk on the internet of bad water pumps or it could be just a loose hose clamp . When we got back to Lac William we placed in in their garage to thaw out and the guy said he had two 850s this week with over heating and antifreeze problems. We will see!

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1 hour ago, mikerider said:

Nice pictures, love the old places with character.  Your trip makes me wish my wife would saddlebag, nice easy jaunts and staying in cool places.

Glad you enjoyed the RDL area.

mike

May just come back one more time this year. We loved it that much.

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30 minutes ago, iceman said:

Nice! Way to push on. I admire that. Great job. That Steak House is calling me. 

The hotel was called La cache a Maxime. Just north on trail 75 from Sainte - Marie www.lacache.ca  

 

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Great trip & reporting David!  You're a lucky man that Nora likes to saddlebag. I wish Brenda did.  Those are some beautiful pics.  

Good luck with the 850.  I'm sure it's a minor defect that can cause some big inconveniences.  Glad you made it in on the white trail!

Hope to see you in March. 

Tom

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Please post the overheating problem.  I'm going to replace my 2015 800 with a 850 next year and I would  like to know what I'm in for. I would think the problem will be resolved by next year.. I hope 

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Next question is how do you like your 850?

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Great report David. Good luck with the problem resolution on the 850 cooling issue.

Add this stop to your next itinerary with the wives:  http://www.appalachesspa.com/

I have spent allot of time in the last 20 yrs roaming around on the trails between the Eastern Townships and the Gaspe. There are many wonderful places in this part of Quebec. Road crossings can be tiresome in certain areas but it comes with the territory. 

Edited by vt_bluyamaha54
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10 minutes ago, vt_bluyamaha54 said:

Great report David. Good luck with the problem resolution on the 850 cooling issue.

Add this stop to your next itinerary with the wives:  http://www.appalachesspa.com/

I have spent allot of time in the last 20 yrs roaming around on the trails between the Eastern Townships and the Gaspe. There are many wonderful places in this part of Quebec. Road crossings can be tiresome in certain areas but it comes with the territory. 

Thanks , 

 Us guys stayed there this past January on our first trip in the area . Really a nice place too! Nice trip up the mountain on sleds just to the back of their place . Great views! What I like about the area is it's charm, the relais's and you are never really to far from civilization . At least for this trip I felt a lot more comfortable running my sled that way knowing if I got into trouble help was not to far away.

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34 minutes ago, Shore1066 said:

Next question is how do you like your 850?

I do for the most part. I would like a taller windshield. I have always had a tall one , I have the biggest they make now but want more! The rides been great . I'm sure it's just a minor repair but it's not like the old days of opening a hood and tightening a clamp. We didn't have the tools and when we talked to a mechanic he said it would take a little time to open thing up. I also figured if something was really screwed would they have the parts to fix the problem so we figured what the heck and carried on.

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A few years ago we arrived late for a stay at Plein Aire in Pohengamook. They re-opened the kitchen and made sure we were fed with generous quantities of food. The breakfast the next morning was similarly generous. Great hospitality and other than a group cross country skiing, we were the only guests. We only stayed one night. Access is easy. 

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9 hours ago, Trailblazer said:

I would've done the same to get to that steak house. Funny thing about the antifreeze on the 850, 2 weeks back at the Cabanon went I met Linda there was a guy there with the same issues. Hmm....

Yup the New York strip and the Delmonico steak was worth it!

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A great trip, David.  Glad you were able to complete your journey................. though I'd bet you were sorry you had not bought stock in an anti-freeze company prior to jumping-off. :rolleyes:

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David, excellent trails, great friends and charming accomandations, does it get any better than that.

To bad your new sled had problems, frustrating being brand new. I'm doing the Gaspe Bay tour end of the month so this area will have to wait until next year.

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Hi David.  We ride that area often.  The trails are usually kept very well.  The rail bed will get you from point A to B in a hurry and if you did have to tow, it is flat and easy.  I've got over 3,000 miles on my 850 Gade X and the only issue I had was a minor problem with one of the RAVE valves sticking.  It is a fantastic sled.  No antifreeze leaks here, so far.

Thanks for the report and pics.

Jack & Sandi

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18 minutes ago, revct1 said:

Hi David.  We ride that area often.  The trails are usually kept very well.  The rail bed will get you from point A to B in a hurry and if you did have to tow, it is flat and easy.  I've got over 3,000 miles on my 850 Gade X and the only issue I had was a minor problem with one of the RAVE valves sticking.  It is a fantastic sled.  No antifreeze leaks here, so far.

Thanks for the report and pics.

Jack & Sandi

One thing about this area was the police. We came across three radar traps . One time in town so we were going slow anyway . The other two times was on big long straits on 5 and the only reason why (we lucked out ) was sled traffic in front of us and we didn't pass. Also hidden back on a four wheel trail making sure people stopped at the stop sign. Will be back for sure!

David

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Hi Dave, great photos and report!

I showed Chris the photos and she said "that's snowmobiling, not what you make me do, sometimes 270+ miles days" !!!

We will be doing the Gaspe leaving March 05

Say Hi to Nora from both of us.

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