2007-8 Season Review

As usual, this season started at the end of the last season, March 2007. The first order of business was what to do for a sled. My 2006 Renegade just completed it's second year, with 12,000 miles and was in fairly tough shape, even for a backup sled. Ideally, I'd like to get a new sled, which would have been a 2008 XP, a new, untested design, that I really didn't want to risk. Even with a new '08, I'd still need to put a lot of money into my '06, just to make it a backup sled. So I decided to put the money into my old sled, get one more year out of it, and then make it a backup, for 2008-9.

With so many changes/repairs needed, I figured I'd take a chance and try some new tricks, if they didn't work, no big deal, it's just for one year. The first order of business, was a new track. The old track, 1.25"x16"x136" skidoo track, with 120 studs, had 12,000 trouble free miles, and was in good shape, but not reliable enough for another season. I decided to take a chance with a 1.5"x15"x136" ripsaw, unstudded. Too bad it's only 15" wide, but I've wanted to do more off-trail with the long track. Hyfax wear was also a slight concern. As far as weight goes, it was 10 lbs lighter. After, the season [7600 miles], the track is still in excellent shape...

Hyfax wear was normal, and the temperature ran maybe a little hotter in some conditions than the studded 1.25", but nothing serious. Traction and braking were amazing [ice wasn't a problem this year]. I was able to switch sleds in the powder, and the difference was amazing. It's also amazing how little traction/floatation you have in super-powder, when you have to go up a hill. That track with a 600 engine, still isn't a mountain sled. I think I was only able to get stuck once maybe twice, and got thru some fairly deep powder...

With more off-trail riding in my sights, I also decided to add a 2" riser. For $30 and 10 minutes to install, it was a great deal. The height was just about right, and didn't require new cables. Ideally, a little more may be helpful. Next a top-end rebuild, as usual. I decided to try the Cudney Pistons and rings. This may have been a mistake, you get what you pay for, but I can't say for sure that they caused future problems. Next, since the clutch needed some work, I also decided to try the Cudney clutch kit. After the first Thanksgiving trip in the powder, the clutch kit was excellent, but with the 1.5" track and the need to replace a worn chain, I decided to also drop two teeth in the gears. This setup was extremely jumpy and quick on the low end, however, on the wide open stretches, the rpm's would creep up to 9000 at 3/4 throttle. I'm still not sure if it was the clutch or the teeth, but as a result, I could only get 80 mph [on the gps] at ~8000 rpms, before I would have to hold-off the throttle. I'm guessing, dropping the gears was bad. I also dropped them, since the SDI was such a dog in certain conditions, so I hoped this was help. All in all, I liked the setup, but probably wouldn't change the gears in the future.

Next up, was the jackshaft bearing and electric starter gear, which had worn. Nothing exciting there. During the season, various wheels and bearings were replaced. The brake pads were worn to the bone. After swapping them, there was a small vibration on braking, so after that trip, I had an X rotor put in. In doing that, an o-ring was pinched, and leaked crank oil onto the brakes, so that and a bad heated shield plug needed to be changed in Roberval. After that trip, at 14k, I decided to have the crank replaced. After 400 miles, in Dolbeau, a bad seal resulted in a complete melt down and a 2-day, and a very expensive total rebuild, top and bottom. After that, the sled ran flawless, and Garneau's credited me for their charges for the rebuild, not a wash, but ok I guess. The Simmons skis [4th year], continue to impress me, they will go onto the new sled. I should just have to replace two carbides for next year. Since the SDI seems to run better with a new belt, this year, I replaced the belt for every big trip or when it hit 1500 miles. Older belts were used as backups, for towing, or for US riding. John finally figured out the clutch. You set the primary for the initial 8k rpm at full throttle, then adjust the secondary for long-pull rpms. Setting the belt height 1/16" above the secondary is now a myth. Another new feature this year, was a winch. After Tom's off on the Gaspe, it had been in the back of my mind. I ended up with a small boat trailer winch, 1500 lbs, with a 2" wide strap. It was cheap, $35, but has some weight, so the guy that carries the winch, doesn't carry a chain, it's about a wash. Plus, everyone doesn't need a chain. Of course, if you bring it, you won't need it, which was the case this year. I did however, finally get to use the shovel...

I also went with a few electronic upgrades this. First, a new camera, a Panasonic TZ-3. I really thought I could use stability control, plus this camera has a 10x zoom. It uses a proprietary battery, unfortunately, but it worked fine. The cheap chinese knock-offs didn't work well, but weren't needed. Initial pictures in snow, seemed to have varied white-balance issues. Since then, I use the "snow" mode, and it seems better. The next upgrade, was with the gps. After the first trip, where the Magellan screen froze-up in the cold [as it always did], I decided that was enough. After Darryl's research and experience, I decided to go with the Lowrance. I couldn't be happier, it worked fine in all conditions. The only downside would be that you can only have one map per SD card. You can also make or buy custom maps. I made some off-trail maps, and purchased the Quebec snowmobile trail maps.

As for the rides, most individual rides are in the blog. In general, the snowfall was near records. The Thanksgiving ride just barely happened, last minute snow gave us a great trip. Marty and I also got in a mid-december trip between Quebec city, north of L'Etape. Water crossing aren't good till around xmas. This year xmas week was good. The past couple years the Gaspe trip had some real bad rough trails in February, so we didn't do it this year. However, our replacement February trip around Lac St Jean also had a fair amount of rough stuff. So, any Feb trip will be rough, so maybe stay out in remote areas? Once again trails out by Mt Laurier and TQ63 were closed. TQ83 around Parent had many issues as well.

Given the insane gas prices, I thought I'd take a closer look at expenses. The rule of thumb for frequent riders has been about $1/mile excluding the cost of the sled, trailer, and truck. For the 2005/06 season, I have it a little less, $0.94/mile. In 2006/7 the price increased, partially due to sled repairs, and gas prices to about $1.32/mile. This year, the price sky-rocketed, due to many sled repairs and of course gas, to about $1.84. If you take out the big-ticket sled maintenance items it was more like $1.44.

Looking forward to next year, I have spring-checked a 2009 Renegade E-Tec, which will need several accessories. And I'll keep the hope for plenty of snow and low gas prices. See you next season...

2008 Mini-Ender (March 28-29, 2008)

This was an unscheduled trip, however, as I've always said, if Mother Nature gives you snow, you must ride. This was a last minute weekend ride with just John and I. We've never ridden this late in the season and questioned the grooming, but knew there was plenty of snow. It's been a while since we staid at Bernard's and we figured he'd have rooms available this late in the season. The forecast looked good and we drove up Thursday after work, getting in at 9:30pm.

The plan for the day was to head to St. Felicien. We rode 355 to 73 to Relais 22 for lunch. Trails were excellent with no traffic. Here's a pic of one of the 3 groomers we saw on the way...

We met some New Yorkers who came over the top through Chibougamau, looking to close the loop with 83, but after Relais 22 they stopped grooming on 83W, and the trail was basically unmaintained and had more than a foot of powder. After lunch, we continued on to St. Felicien with the same great conditions. We ended up at the Hotel du Jardin early, with 280 miles. We were looking forward to a god Friday night at the always popular du Jardin...

however, once again this year we were disappointed. The place was completely dead [on a Friday] and the food was marginal, not at all what we were used to. As a result, I've dropped the rating of the hotel by one star.

In the morning, we got an early start. With daylight savings time early now, we leave at sunrise...

and get a good 12-hours of daylight. We had no plan for this ride and took what the trails gave us. 93 over the Lac to 23 South were perfect all the way to L'Etape, with little traffic. We had lunch at Apica, but since we have boycotted the ridiculous gas prices, we headed to L'Etape. Since the trails were pristine...

[I didn't take many pics, since most were like that], we decided to take 369 out of L'Etape to Baie St Paul. Unfortunately, 369 was junk till the river. Not only rough, but fairly high traffic for so late in the season. Once at 3, it also looked poor. As a result, we decided to head back and stop at St. Raymond. As usual, 3 South through Quebec was horrible and the traffic was unprecedented. It seemed like a mid-season Saturday ride in Island Pond, VT.

Once at St Raymond, we decided to hit the Ice Hotel to see how it's changed since Christmas week...

At the Hotel, we met a crew from Bernard's who said 23 to Shawinigan was great, so we decided to bang it out. That ended the day at 6:30p, 425 miles. Conditions were sunny and warm, maybe 45F, with serious melting, but no signs of dirt. Overall, a great trip, with no problems.

Since this ride ends the normal season, I can name the best and worst trails of the year. I usually don't chose a best trail, since there are so many, but this year I have to pick M20/21 in the Mauricie region. As is often the case, the local [orange] trails, are some of the best. The past few years, this trail has had logging going on near the middle of the trail, but this year it was perfect. Unfortunately, worst trail of the year is much easier to select, and this year was no exception. I had the privilege of riding this trail at least 4 times this year, and it seems as though each time was worse than the next. This years worst trail goes to the section of TQ3 between TQ73 and secondary trail 320.

2008 Season Ender (March 13-16, 2008)

This was a mixed-up season ender. Between work and the Flu, the trip was delayed then split up. John and Tom went for a 4-day ride on March 8, and Marty and I went up for 4 days on March 13. Fortunately, our trip went fairly well. Here are the details...

We drove to the Governeur on Wednesday night. The forecast looked good, with a chance of showers Sunday down south. Day 1 we headed to La Malbaie and the Fairmont Richelieu. The trails were all perfect, except for the section of TQ3 on the power-lines near Quebec city. Marty noticed he was losing brakes, so we stopped into his favorite doo-dealer in Claremont. They said they could look at it first thing in the morning, so it was off to the casino...

The next day, we started out at the dealer. As Marty guessed, the brake pads needed to be replaced [at 2500 miles]. An hour later we were on the trail. Since Marty likes to play off-trail [well, he used too], I had a plan. On the mid-season trip, we found the road to the gorges, which has been off limits to sleds for years but, no locals had even ventured down there and with a yammie, we weren't going to chance it. Over 3-weeks later, Marty and I gave it a shot, with more snow and still no signs of tracks. The trail starts with a small incline, and with my 1.5"x136"track, full throttle, i was barely moving. I figured since we were heading to a gorge, most of it would be down hill, so we wouldn't have any steep hills. There must have been 2' of powder over a few inches of harder packed snow, over probably several more feet of snow. Things were going well for a miles or so, then, pointing down a steep hill, I stopped to get Marty's opinion as to whether we'd be able to make it back up, but he was no where in sight. Here's a picture heading to the gorges...
I stopped, waited, and listened for a sled, but heard nothing. The last time I saw him, he was about a 1/2 mile back. I wasn't stuck, but I was pointed down-hill, in many feet of virgin powder. With no choice, I unloaded my gear, and pulled out my trusty shovel. After about 20 minutes or-so, I shoveled enough so I could turn my sled around [by hand], then I dug-out the snow in front of the sled so it wasn't pointing up-hill as much, so I'd at least have a chance of moving, since I was still on several feet of powder. Everything went as planned, and the sled popped out fairly easily. Here's the spot...
After reloading the sled, I again shoveled out in front of the sled since I was still pointing up-hill. Once again, that track just hooked-up and I was out...heading back a 1/2 mile or so, I saw the result of Marty's tree climb... He'd been shoveling with his hands for an hour so, and now will be buying a shovel soon. Maybe this picture gives a better perspective on the snow depth [and we never were close to the ground]... The rest of the day was a perfectly groomed ride to Lamarche. With few places to stay in the Mountains, I had heard good things about the chalets at Scoobyraid. Here's a colorful picture of the chalet... The people were very friendly, but spoke no english. They even opened up, when we wanted, to serve us breakfast. From there, you're near trail 484 that heads north into the mountains. Trails were perfect to Onatchiway where we decided to try the ZEC. It's $35 for a 3-day pass. I didn't have the trails loaded on my gps, so we stayed right and ended up on a side trail, so I loaded up my gps and saw we had to turn around. Marty took the lazy route and almost ended up at the bottom of a lake... he had further problems on the ice, but I wasn't around with the camera. We continued on the Northern most leg of the trail system. Trails were smooth and wide. The further north we went, the less traveled the trails. The were freshly groomed, but with so much snow, and little traffic, the trails were very loose, but the scenery was amazing... and after 100 miles, we gased up and headed south. It would be nice to have another day in the ZEC and head out to Bra Louis and down to La Chappelle...maybe next year. After a quick stop at the cave...we continued on to the Sagueneenne. For the final day, we headed back to Shawinigan. The forcast was for some showers, but we never saw any. TQ83 was perfect till Lac Kenogami, then they were junk till 23. Unfortunatly, the warmup hut at TQ23/83 no longer has porn on the walls. The trails from TQ23/83 to St Raymond were perfect. Groomed double-wide with some fresh powder. About 15 miles from St Raymond, Marty had electrical problems, and had to be towed to Performance Voyer. I continued on to Shawinigan while Marty arranged for a trip on the black trail. Trails from there were mixed, and the temperature rose to 46, party cloudy, with no rain. Both of us got to the Governeur at the same time. While I was loading my sled, Marty and his help were moving his sled from one truck to another. As a result, they put the bumper of his sled through the back window of his truck...why I didn't get a picture is beyond me? He duct taped a bunch of card-board over it and off he went.

Overall, 972 miles in some of the best conditions possible. Once again, the season ending ride is the best of the year, by far.

Lac St-Jean (February 10-15, 2008)

This started as the unknown trip, with the usual John, Tom, and I. We had a last minute addition, Don, from St. Croix. It's been a few years since we've riden with him, but a great guy none the less.

We started from the Governeur on the last day of the ice races...

and headed for Kanawata. Trails were average to fair till the re-routed TQ33 which was in good shape. Trails around Lac Repos were beat and 369 to Kanawata was just a single track, so we hit the road for ~25 miles [trails north were fine]. The main lodge was full, but a cabin for two was fine [don't try four people]. The wood stove kept a nice heat and the hot water in the shower was more controlled than the lodge.

First day problems for me included: a worn out heated-shield plug, bad hand-warmer that should have been fixed by the dealer, and leaking chain case oil on my new break rotor which was replaced the week before. A couple of stops and a few hours, plus $400 and all was well.

The next day, it was off to St Felicien, fairly uneventful but some snow drifts and a nice sunset. Hotel du Jardin didn't disappoint, but we just missed this...

Day 3 we headed to Lac Moreau, touted as the mini-Sacacomie...I certainly disagree. It's a nice stop, very similar to Joncas with nice people and accomadations, but the price was high and the food was gourmet stuff that most wouldn't like. They were very snowmobile friendly, but had no sign on TQ83 and said they get maybe 20 people a year from the US and we were four of them. It was also on this trip that we realized we need gps waypoints for SAQ's...this summers project.

Day 4 we headed back to the Governeur since Donnies trip was over. On the way out from Lac Moreau, Donny pointed out that the Gorges weren't far away, but they had been closed to sleds for 4-years. We found the access road/trail but it wasn't opened and we had two yammies, so we skipped it...maybe some day.

Day 5 the three of us headed up to Alma via L'Etape. The section of TQ3/23 from Shawinigan to St-Raymond was a flat perfect 90 miles. 23N from there there was OK till we past the groomer outside L'Etape. It then sucked till Apica. We didn't stop in L'Etape, and the yammie ran out of gas just outside Apica at 105 miles. At Apica I noticed gas was $1.55 which may have been the most expensive of the year? What a rip-off, this place is right on a main road and not a necessary stop [for most people]. Even Lac Edouard was only $1.25/liter. This was Valentines day and the Universal had only two rooms with king beds, so it was couch time for me. Dinner was also very slow...plan ahead on this holiday.

Day 6 was a return to home via 355, AKA the worst trail in 2005. What a difference, it didn't even look like the same trail. The curse of Lac Edouard, however, lives on. Tom broke his track [at 12k miles] and put a stud through the heat exchanger. We were just outside of Relais le Trappeur where he picked up the black trail. From there, the pipeline was excellent, but 360 was total junk all the way.

Overall, a good trip, 1500+ miles in six days. This is the peak of the snowmobile season, but we didn't see many sleds, however trail conditions were all over the place, just like the Gaspe which we usually do at this time. The Mont Laurier area always seems to be junk and should be avoided near the weekend. We also travelled to Quebec on both Saturday's, so we avoided those bad conditions. We've been spoiled by the perfect trails we see on the season ender, which will hopefully be true this year as well.

2008 Season Opener (January 19-25, 2008)

This is the time of year when the big miles accumulate. The first 7-day trip of the year. The sled just came out of the shop with an all new crank, bearings, and brakes...ready to go. Conditions were still recouperating from the big washout, and just before leaving, all of the important river crossings were open. Once again, we decided to start from the Montagnard since it's the safest, condition-wise. As usual, the food was horrible.

This trip was the usual crew, John, Marty, Tom, and I. Since conditions were ify, we had no formal plan except the first day, to St-Felicien, a nice easy ride. Marty left late and didn't arrive till 4am. A bad breakfast was also late, so we ended up with a late start. The trail around the Montagnard [355 or 360] was rerouted quite a bit. Once on the pipeline Tom's Apex acted up and was reporting an error code. A quick call on the Sat-phone revealed a problem with the 4th coil, he was able to ride it to L'Tuque before closing at noon. Turned out to be a broken coil wire, a result of a preventative plug change before the season. That got Tom and I discussing whether certain preventative maintance was worth it [hmmm]. It must have been arounf 1:30pm before we were back on the road, with a ways to go. Next stop, lunch at relais 22. We left there at sunset with a final stretch to Hotel du Jardin [~80 miles]. About half way, we missed a turned and continued on a fast wide road/trail, after seeing the 83 sign and Roberval sign [which ended up having a small green right arrow on it.] This trail was very similar to Bras Louis which goes forever, but has a sharp right turn that's easy to miss. After a long full throttle run i noticed from the gps we weren't on the trail, yet we kept seeing La Dore signs with decreasing mileage. It was getting late [~8pm] and gas was going to be an issue, so I convinced the guys to go back to where the gps said we should have turned, and sure enough, we missed the right turn. This got us in at 10pm, after 307 miles.

Day 2, we hoped to get to Sacre-Couer. It was about -20F and my crap-box wouldn't start [at least last time it was -35F when it wouldn't start]. After a warmup in the garage at du Jardin, we got things running...

after 75 miles, my fully rebuilt engine melted down. Luckily, just 1/4 mile from a gas stop in Sainte Jean D'Arc. From there, it was the black trail to Dolbeau [picture not available]. Since it was Sunday, the dealer wasn't open, so I chained it to the gate and met the guys at Auberge Dilegence in time for the playoffs. The next day it was off to the dealer who said it needed a new crank [which was replaced the week before] which wasn't available till tuesday. The boys went for a ride and I found the bowling alley across the street...

Tuesday afternoon, we were ready to go. The dealer said a crank seal ring was put in wrong and let the air in. Another $1600 and off we went. Everything seemed to run great, and it was another short day to Chicoutimi, 115 miles. Since the HI was full, we tried the Hotel Sagueneenne...a good idea. What a great place...now rated better than the HI. Indoor [sheltered] sled parking, easy trail access, and should be easier to get to by truck.

Day 5 we continued thru the mountains [noticing the new gas stop atValineout]

across the river, to the Manoir Richilieu. A perfect, cold day, 270 miles, with a ~4pm arrival to luxury.

Day 6 was a fast, cold, nice ride to Shawinigan. We tried to get to the Governeur, but couldn't find the bridge trail and the Comfort inn was right there. The inn didn't have food, so we took a cab to Pub57, always great.

Day 7, Tom and Marty took the short ride and left. John and I rode through the park to Le Cabanon on perfect, freshly groomed trails...

On the way back, we decided to take the local trail, M20, off of 345. The last several years, there has been logging here, but not this year, and it may be one of my top 5 trails now. We've always wondered where the local trail M21 went, since the map shows it dead-ending after ~10 miles. It's always freshly groomed, but there's no gas within 60 miles, but with jerry's we decided to take it. It was a beautiful trail that ended at what is probably a dirty road in the summer. The pic at that intersection shows a sign, 90km to the Montagnard, and a sign behind me showed 160km to Casey.

Overall, this wasn't the best ride. Temps were very cold, no new snow, and trails were ok, but not ideal. 7-days, 1300 miles, very expensive. A look at Marty's xp [oil hog, belts at 700 miles, cheap design] and the typical skidoo problems, may mean the end of skidoo for me...

xMas 2007 (Dec 27-31, 2007)

This was the first good xmas week ride in some time. It started xmas day with a ~90 mile ride at camp, with good conditions. The next day it was off to St Raymond for some real riding. I got to the Roquemont after lunch and headed out for some trail research to see how things held up after the rain. The crossing on 23 was still open, it made it through the rain. The larger crossing on 3 was also open, that was surprising, it usually isn't that early. On the way across 3, there was an open water bar, passable on the right. After crossing it, I passed a groomer with 2 18" drainage pipes. By the time I came back they were in and all was fixed. To end the day, i took a trip to the ice hotel, which was still under construction...

Thursday's plan was a solo ride to Lac Edouard. 73 was flat and hard, but not icy. I tried a loop thru Shawinigan, but the trails sucked and 318 was closed, so I returned to 73. The closer to Latuque, the thinner the snow. 355 could have used some more grooming, and since Lac Edouard wasn't passable, the alternate sucked. Plenty of open water bars along the way. Being alone and having seen issues with crossing washouts, I tried a new technique. Instead of easing into the water with the skis, and then gassing thru it [which often causes problems with the skis catching or the downward slope leading to track spin], I figured with my setup, I could stop before the washout, hit the gas to lift the front end, and continue across. It worked great and was very smooth...this technique would be valuable in a few days.

John and the snow arrived Thursday, then Friday we were off to the Holiday Inn. We headed up 23 which was excellent...

then to 368, out past La Baie and back to the HI, 263 miles. The next morning, we got up for a 6:30am breakfast only to find special xmas week hours of 7:30am, so we took off [and from now on, we may give up on package deals, and just get the rooms]. The plan was to head thru the mountains and get to Sacre Couer. The fields around Lac St Jean were just as we'd heard in wind and snow...

484 thru the mountains was poor, but at least open. As we got to Onatchiway, it got worse, but we broke most of it with ~6" of snow, so that softened the ride. The ride to Chappelle was better and quiet for a Saturday, thanks to the snow. The ride to Sacre Couer was fast and we were in early, 211 miles.

Sunday we were headed back to the HI via the Pelchat trail. This was our first time we saw the sun, and 3 to the Pelchat was in great shape, as was the Pelchat, for the start. After 5 miles or so the frech groom stopped at an Auberge. After that is was ok till marker #4, then it turned out to be 10-15" of fresh powder all the way to 252, ~35 miles. I'm not sure why it wasn't open, it was ok in November. It was a lot fun and a good experience...

till this...
This is after crossing, the picture doesn't do justice, john has a video of the crossing. We didn't have gas to turn around, and new there weren't any other serious washouts or problems [in November], so we had to cross. Here we are at the intersection of the Pelchat and 252...

We finished the day riding around the Saganuey, we hit a freshly groomed 482 with some interesting groomer ruts...

At the end of the day, -16c and 290 miles. The ride home was cold and fast, to L'Etape anyway. 83 from the HI was groomed all the way to 23, which had a warm-up shack I didn't recognize...

I wondered why John was in there so long, so I went in. Now I know why...

We tried 369 south from L'Etape, but it sucked, so we took 23 which was marginal. Overall, a good trip, no problems, and probably the earliest you should attempt a river-to-river ride. 1354 miles....and 2200+ miles before January 1. Good thing, because there's a big warmup coming next week...