NHTOM Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Trailered to the Safari in Shawinigan Sunday. the parking lot was solid ice with some water on top. Wind came up and temps fell late in the day, but no snow. Went out for a short ride. Theres plenty of snow (a good 2 feet) but we were looking for lube. It turned to concrete overnite. Monday am we decided to head to St.Ray. We were the only ones at The Motel Safari, and it was some lonely. Jocelyn needs to get on here and talk it up. At St. Ray very little ice, and trails all 3 days were terrific. Flat and super fast. Headed up 23 on monday. It was in very good shape for this early(9-10) and I'd estimate 3 and half feet of snow up high. Snowed 3 inches Mon nite and so it got even better. Rode to Lac edourd tuesday. Trail 73 was mint (10-10), but 355 was only groomed once(6-10) and it never got brushed this summer, so its narrow in spots. Im not sure if it will be groomed beyond Lac Edourd this year or not. Last year it was. Tuesday we looped over west to St. Joseph de macinac then towards Shawinigan, thru Rogers, trail 3 east, then 8 miles up 23 it just kind of ended. Locals say trail closed, and no re-route. So we ended up back on 3 to 365 then 23 at the powerlines south of St.Ray. All in all great 1st trip. And No breakdowns! Interested to know status of 318, was not groomed and no track marks, where it starts from 353 heading west toward St.Tite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpionbowl Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Nice report. I ran a similar loop last xmas. 318 past 353 wasn't open then either, it just stopped at a road crossing, but it was open later in the year. 355 to Lac Edouard was also poor, because the Lac wasn't safe and you have to take the small road that goes around it. Hopefully 355 to LSJ will be opened later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Trailered to the Safari in Shawinigan Sunday. the parking lot was solid ice with some water on top. Wind came up and temps fell late in the day, but no snow. Went out for a short ride. Theres plenty of snow (a good 2 feet) but we were looking for lube.It turned to concrete overnite. Monday am we decided to head to St.Ray. We were the only ones at The Motel Safari, and it was some lonely. Jocelyn needs to get on here and talk it up. At St. Ray very little ice, and trails all 3 days were terrific. Flat and super fast. Headed up 23 on monday. It was in very good shape for this early(9-10) and I'd estimate 3 and half feet of snow up high. Snowed 3 inches Mon nite and so it got even better. Rode to Lac edourd tuesday. Trail 73 was mint (10-10), but 355 was only groomed once(6-10) and it never got brushed this summer, so its narrow in spots. Im not sure if it will be groomed beyond Lac Edourd this year or not. Last year it was. Tuesday we looped over west to St. Joseph de macinac then towards Shawinigan, thru Rogers, trail 3 east, then 8 miles up 23 it just kind of ended. Locals say trail closed, and no re-route. So we ended up back on 3 to 365 then 23 at the powerlines south of St.Ray. All in all great 1st trip. And No breakdowns! Interested to know status of 318, was not groomed and no track marks, where it starts from 353 heading west toward St.Tite. Good report did you see many other sleds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSE800 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Trailered to the Safari in Shawinigan Sunday. the parking lot was solid ice with some water on top. Wind came up and temps fell late in the day, but no snow. Went out for a short ride. Theres plenty of snow (a good 2 feet) but we were looking for lube.It turned to concrete overnite. Monday am we decided to head to St.Ray. We were the only ones at The Motel Safari, and it was some lonely. Jocelyn needs to get on here and talk it up. At St. Ray very little ice, and trails all 3 days were terrific. Flat and super fast. Headed up 23 on monday. It was in very good shape for this early(9-10) and I'd estimate 3 and half feet of snow up high. Snowed 3 inches Mon nite and so it got even better. Rode to Lac edourd tuesday. Trail 73 was mint (10-10), but 355 was only groomed once(6-10) and it never got brushed this summer, so its narrow in spots. Im not sure if it will be groomed beyond Lac Edourd this year or not. Last year it was. Tuesday we looped over west to St. Joseph de macinac then towards Shawinigan, thru Rogers, trail 3 east, then 8 miles up 23 it just kind of ended. Locals say trail closed, and no re-route. So we ended up back on 3 to 365 then 23 at the powerlines south of St.Ray. All in all great 1st trip. And No breakdowns! Interested to know status of 318, was not groomed and no track marks, where it starts from 353 heading west toward St.Tite. Last season I left Shawinigan and I got on 23 at the 23/3 intersection, 23 ended at the 1st road crossing. I zoomed out on my gps and it showed 23 at the power lines, I found a singal lane trail, and followed it, and it took me to 23 at the power lines. I don'tthink it was a legal trail, there was some small fences, it looked as if the sleds knocked them down to get thru, I did not want to try to turn around because there was a lot of snow and did not want to get stuck being solo so i pressed on to 23. The strange part about it there was no signs for a detour and 23 was groomed very wide right to were it ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTOM Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Last season I left Shawinigan and I got on 23 at the 23/3 intersection, 23 ended at the 1st road crossing.I zoomed out on my gps and it showed 23 at the power lines, I found a singal lane trail, and followed it, and it took me to 23 at the power lines. I don'tthink it was a legal trail, there was some small fences, it looked as if the sleds knocked them down to get thru, I did not want to try to turn around because there was a lot of snow and did not want to get stuck being solo so i pressed on to 23. The strange part about it there was no signs for a detour and 23 was groomed very wide right to were it ended. Thats exactly the same this year. Im kind of amazed they would waste time grooming a dead end? There were red stakes and grooming up close to wear the powerline heads right, then the trail finanlly fizzled out at a closed restaraunt on a tar road. So I guess 3 to 365 to 23 is now the "approved" route. It worked OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTOM Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Good report did you see many other sleds? Traffic was very thin all 3 days. There were more sleds near St.ray, but once 10 miles out very few. I only met 2 other Americans in 3 days. These guys were from Vermont , both 73 yrs old, and they ride 3000-5000 miles a season. I asked if they still rode in Vt, and they both couldnt remember how many yrs ago since theyre last ride there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800steve Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 We rode those same power lines last year, and I think they wont take a groomer thru it, to rocky and rough. They my not have another route. We are going to Motel Safari tommorrow for 3 days, will report when we get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.