The season was washing away quickly, so we had to decide where to ride. Chicoutimi and that area had nothing, sure you could ride 200 miles of trails on Mont Valin, but that's not worth it. The Gaspe loop we did in January was still manageable, but evaporating quickly, so we decided to do the Chibougamau loop.
Don was wrapping up a ride on the 6th, so it would be the four of us, John, Marty, Don, and myself...but after guiding around St Raymond in the dirt earlier in the week, Don decided to throw in the towel. The Shawinigan area wasn't rideable, so we decided to try LaTuque. Marty was late as usual, so he would meet us there. We stopped in at Don's on the way up to say hi. It was a beautiful and warm sunny day, 47F anyway. All reports were that the Chibougamau loop was great, so Don changed his plans, and was going to ride with Phil starting Monday...so we would keep him posted on our findings...
We've never driven to LaTuque to start a ride, and after getting there, it was apparent we still wouldn't...conditions were poor and who knows how bad a week later, since the forecast was full sun and mid 40's all week. So we decided to continue on to St. Felicien [instead of Relais 22], that would give us the best chance for the return run, a week later. Marty, running late, wouldn't arrive until 2am.
I was riding the 09 Etec, with just under 10k miles, with the 1.25" ripsaw, studded, new hyfax, and an extra set of wheels, for the light/hard snow. John had his 07 SDI also with about 10k miles, and Marty had his 2010 800 Summit with 1.75x146" track, a disaster for these conditions, but it is what is.
Day 1: St-Felicien to Clova
Conditions: +28F/+46F, sunny, hard/flat trails.
Details: 373, LT, TQ83, 303 miles, 15.8 mpg, 41.2 mph [avg], 7:25 trail time.
We stayed at Hotel du Jardin, there we several sleds in the coral, conditions looked marginal. After breakfast, we loaded up and headed out on a beautiful morning...hate the parking lots this time of year...
It didn't take long and Marty was overheating. The 600's were fine. Conditions around the Lac were hard and Icy, even off the trail. Once we got off 373 and onto the local trail to TQ83, conditions loosened up nicely...
The long stretches in and out of Relais 22 were hard on the hyfax, but engine temps were ok, maybe a little warm. The run into Wemo wasn't too bad, but the road was melting fast...and you've got to love the gas stop...
The dirt road out of Wemo wasn't too bad, but vanishing fast. After the intial shock out of Wemo, the trails into Parent were just groomed and perfect. Out of Parent, trails were also great, so we headed for Clova. Our first stop at the Tamarack, nice place, good food and drink, but no internet. All in all, a good day.
Day 2: Clova to Senneterre
Conditions: +28F/+48F, sunny, hard/flat trails
Details: TQ83, 386, 313, TQ93, 242 miles, 15.8 mpg, 41.4 mph [avg], 5:53 trail time
Another perfect start to the day...
and the forest fire is always an intersting site...
and just when you think everything is perfect...
say good bye to the SDI...
Conditions were great for the tow into Lac Fallon. John arranged for a truck to Senneterre, and we would meet up with him at the Bel Villa. TQ83 to Senneterre was great, but 83 was in rough shape to Louvicourt, so we double-back to make a 386-313-93 loop back to the Hotel. All of those trails were great and not a cloud in the sky the whole day. Once back to the Hotel, the SDI needed a complete rebuild, top to bottom, probably $2500 anyway, and the sled wouldn't be ready till the end of Wednesday [today was Monday]. Luckily there was a bowling alley in town [just like Dolbeau] and the Motel had internet.
Day 3: Senneterre
Conditions: +24F/+36F, sunny, hard/flat trails.
Details: TQ93, 307, TQ83, 309, 218 miles, 15.7 mpg, 44.6 mph [avg], 4:55 trail time
Yet another perfect day...all trails were freshly groomed and there was plenty of snow...
After two days of searching for a trail pass, Marty finally decided to get one from the doo dealer, since they weren't sold out, and it was just a 3-day pass now. Good thing he did, at the first warming hut there was a security check...and they didn't even care we were doing 70 mph.
We continued out past Amos and dipped down toward Val D'Or, that was a mistake, TQ83 was a mess down there, so we popped back up on 309 and returned back on TQ93. Great trails, great sunset, it doesn't get any better...
Day 4,5,6: Senneterre.
Conditions: mid 20's to mid 40's all sun
Details: N/A
Marty and I had a hyfax change scheduled for first thing. Of course mine were down to the line, and the Summit wasn't quite as bad, go figure. Another perfect day, so we headed out TQ83 towards Lovicourt, once at the intersection of 83/93, voila, there were Don and Phil. We knew they were headed this way, but didn't think we'd be this lucky. After a quick hello, the four of us headed to Lovicourt, for 10 miles or so, then the beloved Etec blew up. A quick and interesting tow into our favorite dealer, and it was back to the room for some Jerry Springer. John picked up his sled, ready to go, and mine had no compression and there wasn't anything they could do.
The new plan was for Marty and John to ride back to the truck Thursday, and John would bring the trailer to Senneterre to get me and then head home. They left on sled at 6am, for the 400 mile ride to St. Felicien, via TQ93. The ride smooth and fast, and they were at the trucks at 5pm, even with Marty going off the trail [again]. Then John was to burn it right back to Senneterre, 325 miles by truck. He arrived back at the Hotel at 12:30am. We had to wait till 8:30am for the dealer to open, then we were off. Temps were still high, and skies blue. The trails were dissappearing quickly...
We then had a 12 hour ride home, and the opportunity to discuss the final end to 2-strokes, and most likely skidoo. John needs to get one more year out of his virtually new skidoo [we know they're pretty good for one year], and I'm awaiting the verdict on what happened to the Etec. Two other groups also smoked Etec's during the week, so they're no better than the SDI. I'll need to decide if this is the year for a Yamaha, or next...
I also noticed on this trip that the mileage [ETEC and SDI] was much better, 15+ mpg. These must be the conditions Skidoo uses to determine gas and oil use. Oil was about 150 mpq. To add to the misery, the exchange rate over the season was about $1.05 [CA], about the same for a liter of gas.
ETEC update: New pistons [1 under warranty] and a new crank. I also put in a new chain and swapped the track back to 1.75", so it looks like I'll get another year out of this sled, before a possible change to Yamaha?
After researching trail and weather updates, we decided to continue straight East, hopefully, ahead of the storm. The forecast was for much less rain toward the end of Gaspe.
Things were looking bleak for a while...
but that's what Gortex is for. Then we finally got out ahead of the storm, and things were dry all the way to Mont St-Pierre...
and with no electricity, we skipped breakfast and hit the trails to see the damage. It didn't take long to find trees down...
Still a beautiful view...
all of the wind swept out all of the ice on the water. After turning out of the lookout, it became very clear how sticky the trails really were...
It's hard to remember how many trees we ran into, maybe a dozen or so. We thought this one would be a problem, but it wasn't...
and good trail conditions were still everywhere...
Even with all of the trail work, we still made it to Rimouski at a reasonable hour. Very wet snow was coming down at a good pace. This time we decided to try Hotel L'Empress since it was easier to get to. It was starting to cool down quickly. Research showed some more cool down and flurries overnight and the freeze up at Mont Valin was big, and with no backside snow, led to cooling and hyfax problems...something we were worried about, especially with the 1.75" track. However, the forecast here was still no deep freeze in sight till Friday, and some snow every day.
50 miles in, still no sleds in sight, and perfect...
Ater gassing up, we stopped off at Groomer's club to drop off a package. Still no sleds in sight, so we decided to take the 587 loop toward Pointe-a-la-Croix and then TQ5 North, and stay at Amqui. The 587 was awesome...
Under the snow was still an unfrozen base from the rain, so we weren't able to run flat out in the corners, so we did have to use the brake. After the 85 miles or so alone on the 587, we intersected TQ5, near PLC, still no traffic...
Almost to hard to believe, so it was time for bumper-cam...
Still no traffic when we entered Groomer's territory...
After a total of 370 miles, it was into the Hotel at 6pm, another new stop, L'Oiseliere. Everything looked good for the short trip back to the truck.
Everything was fine on TQ35, then it was down-hill after that...