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A few random pictures from today's rides... Out again tomorrow.....Boxing Day....for those following the Greek Orthodox calendar, stock up on your gifts for January 7th! sometimes called Ukrainian Christmas

My vacation begins with a road trip up to the Corridur du North Corridor, good weather and road conditions....here is whiz stop just south of North Bay so you can ascertain snow depth conditions.... BTW anyone buying a new pickup truck should definitely get the crew cab model.....the two doors open outward creating a shelter that might prevent an arrest for urinating in a public place, but save a lot of time not having to pull into gas stations, restaurants and other road side stops to answer nature's call....hmmmm...maybe can train ms. slomo to balance her butt on the running boards....next trip.... The Apollo Motel in Kap must have changed owners...emails usually answered within a half hour or so went unanswered....maybe a message from the accomodation gods...so following the example those two motel doyens revrnd and sledjunk, decided to try the Advantage right next door. Practically deserted...as were most other hotels/motels in the area, which was strange given the good trail conditions... Upon entering the room, it was immediately apparent as to why this motel was favoured....a work bench ready for those tinkerers to set up various tools! My results differed. Spent a couple of days of getting used to and making a few notes about the new to me sled on the trails that never disappoint....folks from my area of the country find it unseemly to brag about such things, but did get in more than a few kilometers including some measured 100 km runs to ascertain future fuel expectations. Then under an ominous red morning sky....off to the Abitibi-Temiskaming... onto what turned into a nice drive in sunny conditions.... terminating at the Rodeway Inn, just north of Amos at Pikogan. Hotel is brand new....get ground floor rooms...elevator out of service. Out for a brief run upon arrival.....trails are deep and crisp and even.... Hope you are enjoying your family time. More later as it becomes available.

Perhaps "mistakenly" assume rather than "foolishly" assume? I say that because SteveF6 is no fool. LOLOLOLOL

Other than to say they've got a Cummins or Dmax...

And here i thought the drooling was done for the day after Turkey. Thanks for the pics..

I never recalled stakes last Jan when we were there Slomo. But then again we were tailing Evil and her Hubby, so most things blurred that day at that rate of travel.. And it did not help it was -40 that am when we left Val dor. When we are in the area in the not so distant future, i will check to see if stakes are there then. Thanks for the great reports as usual.

I don't think I have ever seen any stakes across the river by the highway bridge OR up and down the river. If you could ride under the bridge and got off to the right a block before the next bridge there is another decent spot Hotel Eskers (hoel/motel/bar/ restaurant just across the first street parallel to the river. Very nice trails to the east and south

Was there for a couple of days...was headed out to Hearst, but lost my teeth on that stretch at Opa....stayed mainly easterly after that. Seems you were out on the trail work anyway...tip of my hat to you sir....changing up the fuel octane as you suggested fixed the problem...900ace no longer starts, stalls, and starts again...all one smooth operation now. In for a bit of lunch....very good run this morning. Main trail TQ 93 groomed on Christmas eve!! The local folks don't seem to be too enthusiastic about sledding so no marked trail exit to the hotel or the gas station. However, on the hydro poles along the main trail 307 you will see red markers with numbers on them. A readily distinguishable exit occurs between post #50 and #51 - closer to #51 I think. A well used sled trail leads around the perimeter of the houses etc. and over to the hotel. If you have a good nose you can sense where the river is and follow streets in that direction if you get lost. Gas next door. Fridge and microwave in each room...indoor pool.. bring your own food as except for breakfast I have not seen anything else close by or convenient. French is local language but at least two working here speak very good English ...tried some Dogrib on them, but it has no resemblance to local native language.

Free full breakfast here starts at 5:30 am....not like some other places that get around to it much later.... ......and to what did my wondering eyes should appear ?...... Daylight in 1 hour ...fed...and ready for the trails.

Heading up to New Liskeard tomorrow morning with the wife and daughter. I'm thinking they can hang around the Holiday Inn Express pool - - while over the hills I go, laughing all the way. Hoping to bump into some fellow OC'ers....

Just wanted to say a Merry Christmas to all you OCers out there. Have a great holiday...Cheers....

Days like this makes the $$ I've got tied up worth it and then some.

Santa was, he got me the same gift as last year, just a different brand/model.

a multi-million $ lawsuit isn't unheard of when someone is killed... if they were to win where would they come up with that kind of money

Thanks, I thought you had eaten a meal there last winter when we met up w/ you 2 @ Rolly's.

For the towing and amount of driving you do the diesel is an easy choice to make. If I were in your shoes it would be a diesel. For the average person not so much.

most rated 18' trailers are actually 18 feet of box space, with a 4-5' V front, for the front ramp door, (so think 22-23' of enclosed trailer space). make sure to look at specs BEFORE PURCHASE, all mfgr's list specs different. one 16-18' trailer is not the same as the next. your best bet is to find the trailer you want, tape out that dimension on the floor of garage or driveway, then "load your sleds" into the taped space to see how easy, or how hard it is. if you dont, you may be in for a rude awakening upon your maiden voyage with the new hauler. your results may vary. Ski

Now you can buy 8 days total( 4, 2 day permits) before you Hit cost of a full season permit. Early permit is a great deal and I always take advantage of it. But with no snow around here better to wait and see before shelling out 270 dollars, that is all, especially since you can buy online and ride right away. I would be in favour of a two year permit if it ever gets tied to Val tags, just like license on cars. Then ofsc could plan farther ahead and count on funds and do an investment ahead of time to grow funds during off season.

If you are not going to ride at least three times you are better off renting imho

Buying multi-day permits in lieu of a full season permit is a personal choice and IMHO should be kept a personal choice. There won't be any trails if a large percentage of permit buyers switch to multi-day permits. If you end up buy 3 different day permits over the season, you have spent more money than buying an early permit.

I see theres no escape from val d or unless you go the long way around 83 the 309 is closed now.It wasnt in our plan but strangely enough we where right at the end of 309 and that area malartic was in fantastic shape.btw that was the end of the trail for us as we jumped on to roads to head west for 5 km to pick up the 83 at a very slushy lac preissac I would upload some pics but I get there was a problem processing the uploaded file. -200

Interesting that in the link it shows only 155,000 registered in Ontario. Lower then anticipated by many. The source of this number is International Snowmobile Manufacturers. I wonder if this number is same as MTO registrations or is an estimate by manufacturers association?

Yes this new section is usually snow covered ,maybe we can get the old trail back next winter

Slomo is the master correspondent.

I was also thinking, its a far cry then watching these darn Hallmark Christmas Movies on the W network. I want to put a parental lock on that channel for my mother, Mrs. Turbo Doo, my sisters, and my Mother in law.

Thanks for the report and pics, better then any tv show or netflix. Especially when we are so far away from sledding down here. Send us more!

The problem was on start up and never occurred again after that - sled was stored with Shell v non-ethanol - once that was siphoned out and replaced with 87, problem gone. Did get a few runs in on back trails to check before season began. I had heard about (middle) coil problems and fuel pump problems, but so far so good. Power seems okay as well - ha ha moment busting snow drifts proximate to hotel got the attention of the police stationed next door. Checked permit, exhaust, all good.

Our adventures with the Flying Dutchman at the Companion Inn, have always been a blast. Him on the dancefloor during Friday night Disco night, we have also developed a saying of 'What happens in Hearst, stays in Hearst '... I think Evil and 14Snow can say lots about his Dance skills. He sure showed the ladies last season in Val'dor a few moves.......And Denis knows not to come walking into a room unannounced any more... Right Buddy....

It isn’t fuel your coil is going bad on sled. Had the same problem with my 900. Changing fuel hids problem for abit but it will come back and strand you eventually. Dealer looked up code and changed it. You will have reduce power too and fuel economy not as good as it should be. I thought 900 was a dog compared to etec and it would randomly shut off on me and always restarted and everything seemed fine. I took it straight back to dealer after riding it for almost a season and they were able to find code and fix it right. Good luck. Now it runs fine on regular fuel, fuel economy is way better and no more shutting off and having to restart it in middle of trail

X2 at the atmosphere great restaurant muskoka 1 not sure where 309 is but 307 was good as not to many people or sleds where there.lakes are soft be careful

Entralled by TurboDooÍQ's report last year I looked into that place, but trail access seemed sketchy from the west to the east side of the river. Indeed, looking at that area this morning, while there are tracks across the river there are no stakes, conditions looked soft - did not bother crossing over bridge on road as indicated by the thin green line there on the trail conditions map. Just something to look into before you go - easterly out of Amosphere parking lot should be good.

As I reminisce over the years and the posts here on the forum....I believe it was BryanXCwhateverhisnumber who posted a greeting card that read something to the effect of.."Your good wishes sent last Christmas did me f__ a__ this year. Next year please send gas cards, lottery tickets...."

Nice report. I hope to head to Amos in a couple of weeks. We always stay at the Amosphere.

Had a nice smooth ride to Teschereau and back among other places...all at least 7-8 /10 ....lucky me. Supposed to be a bit of snow tomorrow.

4 of us heading same way but turning west towards gowganda lake .I see some of their trails just went green .so some trail riding and off trail .trucks loaded and leaving at 730 am from port Sydney Whoot

Private property. TCPL and Hydro have easements for their own use.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy Birthday to Me !!! lol !!

We’ve eaten breakfast there last year short ride from Westway nice little spot, they do rent cabins but no running water in them, they have a separate building for the facilities. Definitely worth stopping in, we are planning on having a meal there next week or two. It’s a brand new home built facility. All log cabin style dining room.

Not sure where he is or when he'll show, but there better be a new MXZ-XRS, Gade- XRS or Backcountry -X in the garage by morn. And to qoute Forrest - "that's all I gotta say 'bout that"

02 do u know how many landowners that ride sleds....my own club deals with 57 landowners and guess what ever one rides a sled.atv.etc…why is the word getting out.... a large majority of land owners are farmers thru out the prov....so if one thinks its social media yes that's a part of it....how many landowners are members here,,,it may surprise some...plain and simple if enforcement with big fine's etc doesn't happen very soon 5yrs from down those 33k of trails we have now are going to shrink....big time.

Club, volunteers and the city all coming together to make it happen. Now if only some riders could follow some very very simple rules. Riding ON the trail, and only riding when things are open, we would then have a Christmas miracle..

Why buy a permit then? . May as well wait and buy multi days when you do ride. I think you can still change a multi day permit into a full season permit and they will credit you the amount of the last multi day pass you bought, in same season. (Unless that program got axed too)