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Starting to see hints of what's coming up soon in northern Vermont. Island Pond. Vermont - September 7, 2026

Last week Team Vermont & Team Maine had a little get-together we call "Winter in August " Had fun hashing over some winter 27 plans 🤔 . Always a great time catching up and sharing some cheer ! 🍻

Yesterday was a sunny and comfortable day in Southern Maine and NH. I took a motorcycle ride. Stopped at Bickford's Skidoo, Castle in the clouds, and Poor People's Pub. Nice morning for a ride. Relive Video PXL_20260826_152925514.TS.mp4

Happy summer, all. On Tuesday, we rode the HD over the Pittsburg/Chartierville border to Lac Mégantic, where we had lunch at a recently opened (June 2026) restaurant called Le Bistro du Lac. Despite the lunch menu being limited to pub grub, it was most enjoyable & spotless. The barmaid explained the menu expands after 5 pm. We hadn't visited Lac Mégantic in the summer months since 2014, a year after the horrific train derailment. In 2014, based on what we observed, we never believed the town would rise from the ashes, but I'm happy to say it has—no regrets on our most recent visit. Anyone passing through, consider stopping. Best wishes & continued success to each of the residents; a great accomplishment. R.I.P. to all who passed away as a result of the accident. Stay safe, Paddy O

I put the drone up this morning when I noticed the sky light up. Brighton, Vermont

Last Wednesday,12 August, I took a couple of visiting Canadian friends up Mt Washington. To get there from my home in Southern Maine, I took them down a section of the Kancamagus Highway, then across Bear Notch road, then up to the Auto Road, which is $36 now. It was a nice day, but the summit was in the clouds and 53°F( 12°C). It was more crowded at the Summit than I ever recall. One of my friends had never been, and really enjoyed it. The Cog railway was running.I am always amazed at how that works..It was the partial solar eclipse day. I had put some glasses from two years ago on the bike. I remembered on the way home. I did get a view of the pacman looking sun through the glasses. Unable to capture an image though.

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Just confirmed by text messages with Jean Marc, the shuttle service at Quebec City will be available again this coming winter.

July 2025, my sister and I went up to the summit of Mt. Washington via the Cog Railway. That was quite an experience! The views were fantastic as you climb up to the summit. The guides were very knowledgeable. The engineering of the cog is impressive. We were very lucky that day. Blue sky with a few passing clouds. We were able to see the surrounding mountains including the ones from Quebec. It was summer but it was definitely cooler up at the summit. I would definitely recommend going on the cog up to the summit.

At the base of the ski hill

Are you looking to drive by truck and start somewhere out west? How far you willing to drive? Not as many Lodges or outfitters in Abititbi for sure. A few but in comparison much less. But big nice trails usually impeccable. Lots of hotel options. All kinds. Val d’or Hotel Forestal is probably best starting spot. Can day trip easy from there or leave with bags. Truck trailer very safe there. Is really dependent on how many days you want to ride and how far every day Can be brutally extra cold out there so be prepared. Depending on dates. Go look around on Map from Val d’or we used to ride by sled always from Shawinigan to Val d’or Takes us 2 days So out and back 4 days Truck cuts it in half giving us more time on ground in the west. Nice to have truck close.

Had another enjoyable Labor Day weekend at the Gouin this year. No pig roast this year but us 3 couples had a blast. Saturday we went to the Pow Wow in Wemotaci via the forestier 450 & 405 roads. We went blueberry picking and river gorge sightseeing the next day and also to the “RT405” association meeting they have every Labor Day weekend. This is held just east of Haltaparche where the road splits to go up to the Gouin. We’ve all been there. It’s right on the 83 trail. The area is NOTHING but sand They had raffle prizes and I won this fishing plaque and gave it to an old friend. The infamous Jean-Guy of Haltaparche who is 83 now and looks great.

The morning low here in Island Pond was 36⁰. The seasons are starting to change. Post your fall photos as the trees change wherever you are. We're just starting to see a little early season color. Here are a couple from this morning.

Agree Abitibi is great. Looking at your list you’ve seen some select pockets of some of the best areas in the province. That said there is a lot of trail in between. Sainte Anne Du lac over to La Tuque and back is worth doing as a big loop over a couple days. When the conditions are good (mid February) I’ve found great riding mid week south of Mont Laurier as well (area west of Maniwaki or down towards Mont Pellier). Chaudiere Appalache and Bas St Lawrence towards Rivière du loop is worth a stop and Côte Nord running to Sept isles has good reviews. You have lots to pick from. We enjoyed a ride to Matagami and then onto Chibougamau last year. South east from Val d’or gets remote, but has great trails as well down the 386.

All looks great, Friday 8/28/26, took my quad in truck about a hour and 15 to the old abounded ski denton on route 6. Rode on the susquehannock atv trail system. Great trails, not all rustted up, rode to the top of the ski lift, down the switch back to the old lodge. Then all around, 73 miles in about 3.5 hours. Rode he once in the late 90s on my 98 banshee. Also went skiing at ski denton only once in 2014 the year it closed.

SxS trip up Nord. Destination Clova. 460 miles covered in 2 days. I just love it up there. Met a family headed out fishing for a week, turns out they live a half an hour from my place. Sunday morning I noticed a guy checking out our buggies. So I headed out and offered to take him for a rip. He loved it. He had never been in one before. We got a bonus treat, fly over the Gouin. So many great memories packed into a weekend.

I rather be looking at then looking for it!

I was lucky enough to get on a trip with @RoadRunner who has done the trip before. Due to conditions and lack of any maintenance between the Moisie and Harve and Harve to Kegaska we ended up trucking right to Kegaska which makes it a lot more simple from a route finding perspective and we only had 6 days available for actual riding. My suggestion is to go your first time with someone who has done it before and has contacts in the area. We were very lucky to only have one real major issue (had to change a 900T fuel pump sock at a hotel one night, but have a mechanically inclined group), but if you broke down in certain places it would not be good. Only dealers are in Lab or back in Sept Isle. Definitely was well worth the trip though, certainly very unique country especially when we did a day in Lab, like riding on the surface of the moon. Old TLT warmup shelter:

Nothing like cooking bacon Gouin side and fresh caught walleye

We also went fishing on the Gouin (caught 7 nice walleye) and boating. It was a beautiful ride on my friend Andre’s 24 ft King Fisher boat. We were even stopped by the po po to make sure we had our liscences

Living so close to NYC, working in NYC everyday, and to have been a witness to the aftermath of that day, 9/11 is not only not forgotten but engraved in my heart.

We should also remember to honor and thank the good people of Gander, Newfoundland for their kindness and hospitality when they accommodated 6500 stranded airline passengers..

Looking forward to more pictures from Island Pond going into the fall. That area is exceptional when leaves are in full fall colors.

Great shot! It was red here in Southern Maine also. I decided to get another cup of coffee instead of the drone....

A+

More importantly did Mikerider get a new computer/tablet for this season.

Cote Nord Mrs Ice Whale observation Escoumins area IMG_4893.mov IMG_4890.mov IMG_4901.mov

Breakfast at the Central in Parent early Tuesday morning when we left. Wife and I were only ones in there.

This pork pot pie and sauce was AMAZING

Never forget!

A very sad day for all and it did not matter what side of our great border and countries you are from it hit us all the same. And yes wng-2 the weather is identical!

NYC voters seem to have forgotten But I will never forget

On my AC 146 I use the 40L dry bag on top of the gas caddy. With the other bag in the second brackets behind those. Fits well. I have a bar bag for small often used items and a dash goggle bag for extra gloves hats etc. As others have said the dry bag is great because you can use only what you need of it and roll it down tight. It keeps everything dry as well.

Iceman is spot on. As I was reading the areas you have covered, I immediately thought of Abitibi region. Can’t go wrong with the Forestel in Val D’Or. It’s a little pricey compared to the Econo Lodge downtown, but it is worth every penny in my mind. From there you can head North South East or West with good trails. Wide, well maintained with little traffic as compared to out in the East. Amos for lunch. Senneterre for lunch. Rouyn Noranda for lunch, there are no real bad options here. 83/93/386/396 all great stuff. I am sure someone will beg to differ, but the only one I would not take is 309 south towards Rapid Sept. It’s tight and twisty with a lot of folks running north to the Forestel on a Saturday. That was many moon’s ago, maybe it’s better now. Cheers

Val d’or is an 8 hour drive for us. We have driven further to go snowmobiling! I will take a look at the maps.

That is an awesome trade, a sxs ride for a float plane ride! Great area for a sxs, you can cover ground fast on the forestry roads.

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You need better friends! ..................Whoops, I just noticed this was last year.

To save locations on your Garmin Tread 2 GPS, you can either mark your current position or save a searched address or point of interest (POI). These saved locations are categorized as Waypoints. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] ## Saving Your Current Location 1. Open the Map view on your device. 2. Tap the Vehicle icon representing your current position. 3. Select Save. 4. Tap Name if you want to edit the title, then select Save again. ## Saving a Searched Address or POI 1. Use the Search menu to look up an address, city, coordinate, or landmark. 2. Select the specific location from your search results. 3. Tap the Info button (i icon). 4. Select Save. 5. Edit the name or details if desired, and select Done or Save. ## Managing Your Saved Locations * * To Find or Edit: Go to Search > Waypoints, pick your location, and select Edit to change its name, map symbol, coordinates, or organize it into Collections. * To View: Tap the Apps icon > Saved to see all your waypoints, tracks, and routes. When paired with the [Garmin Tread App](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=S4h0ICCAuC7Pw8YoCXP7OA), these saved locations will automatically sync with your account for cloud backup. * Would you like to know how to organize these locations into specific custom collections, or are you looking to import a batch of locations from a computer? [1] [https://www8.garmin.com](https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-8C1A9F1D-A749-4151-8B0C-42EEAD6ADB34/EN-US/GUID-0CAA56CC-20EF-42EE-86F1-C2356C804582.html) [2] [https://support.garmin.com](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=5dkuqm9Ts03IK8trl6BSgA) [3] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvQDvQqaUEo&t=174) [4] [https://support.garmin.com](https://support.garmin.com/en-PH/?faq=BsTNfzTX3U9NT7bzgJfd98) [5] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=TBN5O4FMrrE)

2027 Lynx XTerrain 900R

I was thinking the same thing. It’s the best time of year to shop the used market. Picked the wife up an upgrade last week. Something to tinker with and personalize this fall. Can’t wait for the snow to fly. Who else is getting a new or new to them ride for the coming season?

No red Lynx box on that load. Mine must still be on the boat.

A window of opportunity presented itself. Visited, and rode with a friend from Levis, Quebec on Thursday. Then decided to do a quick clockwise loop of the Gaspe Peninsula of La Belle Province of Quebec. It was cold and cloudy on the North side. Warm and Sunny at the East end South. Three days and 1350 miles. Good to get out there.

No sleds here Island Time

Yup. A sad day that I will never forget. I remember the emotions I felt at building 60 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard when I learned the news. The weather was very similar to this morning.

After riding through there last year on La Route Blanche there are certainly "easy" sections to build a highway through, but most of the terrain I can't imagine without billions of investment for 5,000 residents.

Cool. Enjoy!

Another little ride today. Got to the top of the Rock pile. I typically get up there annually.