Since revrnd left the group and headed for Cochrane Thursday, I'll finish off the group's report with tales of our last 2 days, accompanied by some pics.
After saying goodbye to revrnd, the rest of us (sledjunk, Moosifer, Infernobuster, yours truly, and my buddy Harold from upstate New York) continued on with our original itinerary, going east out of Timmins and ultimately heading for Gowganda via Val Gagne, Matheson, Ramore and Elk Lake. Two of us made a brief stop at Mikey's (local 'Doo dealer) on the way out of town, while the other 3 went on ahead. Beautiful trail conditions...
Unfortunately, after a gas top-up at Matheson, SJ blew a belt before the planned lunch stop at Ramore, and it took almost an hour to clean up the carnage and get back on the trail...
Then a late lunch at Rolly's in Ramore, which was still busy with sledders and locals, even though it was well after 1 PM by the time we arrived. We didn't get out of there until after 2:30, and still had almost 200 kms to go...so we made very fast time down A past the KL turn-off and down the power line toward Elk Lake on primo trail conditions, which turned to sh*t when we got to the plowed logging road mentioned previously in this thread. After 5 kms of picking our way through the stones, mud puddles, sand, mud and slush, and a brief rest, we picked the pace up again through the twisty section of A north of Elk Lake, only to run into yet another plowed road for logging a few kms north of town. In need of fuel, we went to the EL EcoCentre, and by the time we got out of there, it was 5:30 and very overcast, with dusk fast approaching. A half-hour later it was completely dark, and as leader, I slowed our pace somewhat in an effort to keep the group together and avoid any blown corners in the pitch black. After meeting a groomer near Gowganda, we finally rolled in to our night's destination at Gowganda Lake Lodge just before 7 PM...tired and hungry, after a 360 km day.
We were treated to Ron & Giselle's usual friendly hospitality, including an awesome home-cooked meal of lasagna, salad, garlic bread and dessert (delivered right to our cabin) after we'd had time to check-in and relax. Sleep came fairly soon after polishing off that feast.
Our 7th and last day dawned cold and sunny, with a few cms of fresh snow having fallen overnight. After a hearty breakfast, we packed up and headed out, aiming for lunch in Timmins on our way to the trip's end back in Cochrane. The fresh powder snow provided a perfect complement to the recently-groomed trails underneath, and we made good time through the twisties along A106C to L143. Conditions were perfect, with the colder temps and brilliant sunshine, so lots of pics were taken as we headed north up the power line on 143...
After lunch at Mike's in Timmins (beside the Bon Air), SJ and Mossifer headed off to the local Yammie dealer to pick up a part, while the other 3 of us went directly north back to Cochrane...a good chance for Infernobuster to let his Sidewinder "stretch its legs" (non, nod, wink, wink...) on the power line, and ditto for Harold's 900 turbo. We three arrived at the Westway mid-afternoon after a near-perfect day on the trails, and the other two came in about an hour later. Of course, we had to stop for a few pics by the Cochrane trails sign, before loading up at the motel and getting ready for the long drive back home yesterday. I had a total of 2,049 kms on my sled's tripmeter at the end of a great week's trip.