farmerold Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Our original trip was to leave from home, south of Buffalo, but snow conditions were not in our favor. Jan. 28th,2008 Loaded sleds and went to Real Masse', St. Zenon, Quebec. Jan. 29th- awoke to rain. Late morning changed to wet snow. Afternoon decided to go for local ride. Jan. 30th- Nice this morning fresh snow but icy underneath. At 8am left for extended trip, taking trail 63W and very slippery. Wouldn't you know missed trail 323 because trail has been changed. Stayed at Mt. Laurier. Got a good start heading to 315 S. and 43 W. Only sled on trail that day, the trails in the mountains were very icy. Getting to Wakefield trails were closed do to loss of right of way. No gas so we found a motel for the night. The people found us a man that would trailer us to the trail 20 miles from there. After he dropped us off we got gas and headed for Quyon. Crossed Ottawa River into Ontario. Took "A" trail to Pembroke came upon large 40-50 wild turkey. Trails were pretty good, until we reached North Bay, they were BAD! Got in early enough to call District 12 to check on trail. We found all trails around Sudbarry closed due to open water. We had to change plans, now we had to go north and then south, going there New Liskard, Cochran, Hearst. Trail "A" to Cochran was GREAT! We stayed at Station Inn which was very nice. We didn't see any sleds today. Great trail and wow what a tree stand! Feb. 6th-Wed.- 8:30am headed out for Hearst. Trails were SUPER! Moose, lynx, rabbit, and fox tracks. We past 10 sleds today. At Hearst we put the sleds in a heated garage to thaw out. We met 2 people from Lockport,NY The next AM we headed out to Hornpain and stayed at Wawa, 249 miles for the day. At Duberville we found another mill that was closed. The next AM we headed to Halfway Haven and on the way we saw 3 lynx sunning themselves on the trail. Awesome! Another beautiful day! We called District 13, to see if we could cross to St. Joseph's and Drummond Island, then to the US. We found the trails were not open. A lady at District 13 located a man to trailer us over the bridge to Michigan. He picked us up at 8am and took us over to Sault St. Marie, Michigan. We got our trail permits and headed to Munnising. The trails were very rough and it was snowing very heavily! At the motel at Munnising, Ski Doo was having a 2009 sled preview show. Sun.,Feb. 10th- We woke to 60 mile an hour winds and 6 inches of new snow. We couldn't see anything! We decided to stay put! Mon.,Feb. 11th- The wind had died down so we headed for Hurley, Wis. Going down the trail we came upon a man with a fishing hut on a sleigh. It had fallen off, so we helped him put it back on. He showed us his fish, 46" long Northern. We put on 274 miles today. Feb. 12th- Another cold, but sunny day. We had trouble getting out of Hurley, Wis., due to poor signage. We stopped to check out an old iron mine hoist. No this is not a toy Tonka truck! We saw an albino deer along the trail. The trail was very rough. We met a friend at Superior and he trailered us through Deluth, Minn. We had a nice chat with him. Lake Superior was very beautiful! The next day was very icy as we headed to Tower, Minn. The next 2 days were very short only 150 miles each day. We stayed at Fortune Bay Casino. BURRRRR!! Very cold! Feb. 14th(Valentine's Day)- We headed to International Falls, Minn. What a heat wave- 10 below zero! We found out where to cross river back into Ontario, Canada. Feb. 15th- 37 below zero, its getting better all the time! And the sleds STARTED!! We crossed the Rainy River to Rusty Myer Air Service, were we instructed to use the yellow phone to contact Customs to enter back into Canada. In Emo we got fuel and spoke with a man in the groomer. He said they had just opened the trail the day before. Good thing, there was no signs. We lost the trail on a logging road. We took a highway for a few miles then we found the trail crossing the highway and went into Nester Falls for the night. Feb.16th- Today we headed for the Manitoba boarder. The trails were very well marked. We met some very nice. people at a warming hut, they were having a poker run there in Kenora. They told us about a B & B to stay at in Kenora. When we got to the Manitoba boarder it was snowing so heavily that we decided to stay at the Bed & Breakfast. (We had just under 3,000 miles so far on the trip.) I was able to do some service work on my sled. The owners; Ken & Laurie Bracken were very nice and they had a very nice place. It is called Lake Of The Woods. We did over 60 miles on lakes headed for Soux Lookout. Then we headed to Atikokan. The lakes were very rough, we could only go 25 mph. Feb.18th- At Atikokan their snowmobile club was having a family day and invited us for hot dogs & hot chocolate. They were very nice! The next day we passed these two signs on our way to Kakabeka Falls, were we had to be trailered to Nipigon, as there is no trail at Thunder Bay. The trailer never showed, so the local people found us another man to trailer us to Nipigon. Feb.21st- We headed to Marathon, the trails were very rugged but very beautiful. Lake Superior was very beautiful in the distance! Another day with no sleds on the trail, trying to make up time. When we got to Hornpaine, we decided to go on to Hearst. Sunny and bright! When we got to Hearst we put our sleds in a heated garage with 286 miles for the day. We did a little laundry with a washer and dryer service. Yea!!!! The next day we went to Cochran, the trails were SUPER!!! We stayed at the Station Inn. Nice place! Sunday, Feb.24th- Heading back into Quebec. Early in the morning I heard a whining noise and I knew it was a alternator bearing. We stayed at Amos because there was a Polaris dealer there. Being Sunday the restaurant wasn't open, so when we stopped for gas, we picked up beer and had pizza delivered to our room. By the time the sled was fixed, late on Monday, we were only able to go on to Senneterre. The next day we headed on to Chibougamau. Over 100 miles on a rail bed. It was only -5 but the dampness but it went right through you. There was a lot of varmit tracks today. 223 miles on the trail and our sleds had a heated garage for the night. The next day we headed to Lake St. Jean. The trails were little rough, when we got to Roberval we called it a day. Thurs., Feb.28th- Cold again this AM. 20 below zero. We rode 120 miles to Hi to see Bill. He was out riding when we arrived, but he arrived just after we had arrived. He knew it was us because of all the stickers on our windshields. Joni took a couple of days off, so I rode with Bill. One day we went to the Clairmont and then the next day we went to the cave. Great riding with him! March 2nd- 2 more days and we will be back where we started. We had good trails to St. Raymond and the temps. were a little warmer. The last day, we had a bit of freezing rain, but not too bad. Back at Real Masse' that late afternoon. We were happy the trip was over and no major problems. But we were sad it had to end. The trails ranged from horrible to great!!!! Over all the weather was very good. Quebec still has the best trails! We were gone 33 days, rode 30 days, for total of 5700 miles. I was asked if we would do it again and I said,"YEP, in a heart beat!" I had the best riding partner you could have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
182ray Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I've waiting to read this trail report!!! Great report, awesome ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerider Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Wow, trip of a life time. That was great. Just missed you at the Holiday Inn by a couple days. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saguenay Bill Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Hi Dave and Joni Great report. Thanks for sharing it with us. Looking forward to seeing you and riding with you next year. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Awesome trip guys! You can hold your heads high having completed a trip of this size! Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doobraap Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Hi Dave and Joni Glad you made it back to Real's without issue. It was a pleasure to meet you up at the HI. Great trip report. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actionjack Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 What a great trip and great report. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpysanta Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 HOPE YOU HAD FUN THOSE QUEBEC TRAILS ARE THE BEST , TOO BAD YOU HAD TO DO ALL THAT TRAILERING . BUT THIS YEAR WAS BAD FOR TRAILS CLOSING . BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snobeeler Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 All I can say is WOW! Great report. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revct1 Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 It is so great to read about a trip that most of us would love to do but 99.9% of us won't be able to for one reason or another. It is wonderful to share the experience with the pics. If we can't make a trip like that, it is comforting to know that we are riding on the best trails that are out there - QUEBEC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfm Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Thank you both for a great report and great pictures. I really enjoyed reading and dreaming. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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