Trois-Rivières/Relais 22 Milles Haute Mauricie photo ride report 11-12 february2017

[towing]

With our ride partner Snowcruiser we had a nice weekend: went round trip to sleep to the Relais22 in Haute Mauricie. Here is the trail path of the weekend



Saturday morning at the beginning of our ride, -16C under the snow. Starting east from Trois-Rivières  in Champlain. Here crossing under #40 highway



With the snow falling and the gray weather the visibility was difficult in the fields but the wooded sections were good



As the morning goes and as we headed north the snow had slow down and then stopped. The trails were all hard and fast. We stopped early for our lunch at Blue Jay restaurant in St-Joseph de Mekinac.



We then continued north on the pipeline trail



There were a few bumps in the big hills other than that very fast




 

We took a short break under the large railway bridge over the rivière du milieu



We continued and in a short time the sky completely cleared and the sun came out



So we arrived at La Tuque accompanied by a beautiful blue sky

Here the torture along the airport at 30km/h



The classic sleds traffic light



We refueled and continued north



The iron bridge at the exit of the city





At about 15 miles from La Tuque, a guy had made a hell long stretch in the trail to end up stalled in the side of the trail



The trail conditions were very good





Here an improvised snow depth test. We had stop to help them getting out



A surprising find, toilets for lady in the middle of nowhere! Courtesy of the La Tuque snowmobile club.



There had been a lot of logging last summer in this area to allow the construction of the future electric power lines that will pass through there. This gives the advantage that the trail now uses new roads that were built to get the wood out. The trail had really straighten and got better than before in these sections



A little before we reached our destination we crossed the Dozer who was leaving his run to Rapide Blanc to prepare us the trail for the next day.



We arrived at the Relais 22 miles a bit past 5:00 pm with a little over 210 miles on the dreammeter

When you sit down in a welcoming warm place after a nice snowmobile ride like that, it is magic, so nice! We were very well received at Relais 22 with a good meal, a good time to relax and we went to bed early enough to try to recover from the previous crazy week at job ...
 

To be continued, day#2 soon ....

[towing]

Day#2 Sunday
 

After a good night's rest, we went out for breakfast at the restaurant around 7:30



Ok ... that's why my nostrils stick together when I got out ...



During lunch, there were already a few snowmobilers who began to crown that their snowmobile won't fire ... My cozy Yamaha used to sleep in the heat worried me a little but at this point, just lets hope for the best!

I had a nice surprise when Andyman here came to shake my hand., I'm very glad he recognize us. He had also spend the night there with his group. We did not had time to talk a lot but always nice to put the face to the nickname. Hope your return to New Brunswick went well Andy!

So after a good breakfast we got dressed for the weather and went to gave a try to our sleds...to my great satisfaction the venture fired pretty well! We seen at these temperatures that some models are more capricious, all the 800ETEC and the Apex present had needed a boost to fire up ... the 900ACe of my partner was not starting very fast but fired well and had obviously still more room for to fire at colder temp than my venture had.

For recalcitrant sleds, our host is very well equipped with a mobile generator with ready-to-connect cables. He was very accommodating and helped everyone who needed it and in no time everyone was ready to start their ride.





The freshly groomed trail with this cold was impeccable but I still kept it easy on the throttle to not freeze my passenger at start of the day. Here the Rapide Blanc Dam in all its winter splendour






The river down the dam was also beautiful




Here the path that will soon accommodate the new high-voltage power line.



And here one of the trail segment on the new roads that were made to take the wood out




Another beautiful frosted river further south on the # 73





We stopped a few minutes at the Odanak pourvoirie ...






Not very far then, we found ourselves stuck behind the convoy of the Club motoneige La Tuque which escorted our champion in truck of the day before towards the nearest road. We had to follow them at low speed over more than 10 miles before we can finally pass them ... I hope that the champion will receive a bill he wont forget





Here the iron bridge on the north side of La Tuque in frosted version




The river at clear water and the small fall had created an impressive amount of frost that covered all the surroundings










We refuelled at La Tuque before going to eat at Marineau on the south side of the city. After a good lunch we continued the #73 to cross the Jeannotte Zec which was very nice



The detour which was still present a few days before was a thing of the past and we had been able to travel the old railway along its entire length.

I can not pass there without looking at the old site of the Marmite relay with sadness ... it is really bad to have lost such a great place



We did a last fill up at Riviere a Pierre, cheap gas there!



The snow had started to intensify and although the visibility was still acceptable we remained cautious


 

We took a last break at the # 351junction a little pass St-Casimir. The snowfall announced had surely frightened many sledders because we really did not meet many people on the trails that had remained beautiful all day as a weekday



We finally been back to our starting point around 5:15 pm with 430 miles on the dreammeter for the 2 days. Surprisingly, there is only 10 miles longer for the path through the Jeannotte Zec

In summary a superb ride with impeccable trails conditions all the way and in good company as always with our faithful ride partner Snowcruiser.

We are already at mid february, it's crazy how fast it goes...let's enjoy the rest of the season!


Alain

[dooright]

Very nice report Alain !  always look forward to them

[iceman]

Super Detailed report as always Alain. Yes, I must agree is very sad to pass the site of Marmite, was a special place and I miss Clem. 

[RoadRunner]

Very nice ride report, thank you for sharing RR

[Trailblazer]

Thank you for sharing Alain and KriKri, you two provide the best photo ride reports here on QR bar none. 

 

[timbo]

Many thanks, Alain.  Your reports are always welcomed and well received.  Thank you for sharing your exploits.

[markusvt]

Another awesome ride in the books!  So much snow this year even close to the river.

[Andyman]

It was great to meet you Alain! We had a great trip and got home today 3227 km 11 days.