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will win this battle too. As I dislike rumours etc. I have decided to make it public that I have been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. I now face MRI's,Cat scans and bone scans as we find out the next steps. I am blessed with great friends and family as well as a great team at our businesses. I have had battles all of my life this will not be my last battle. I grew up as a fat blonde kid and had to deal with bullies my entire school career that made me stronger in the end. My Dad died after a 5 year horrifc battle with cancer when I was 13. One of the things that hurt my dad the most was the friends that abandoned him once he was diagnosed with cancer. I was lost for years after that but I fought back. We lost the family farm during the dark days of the early eighties when the feed lot was struck by a firbrinous pnuemonia and the bank called our loans despite us never having missed a payment. With what we had left we purchased a run down marina near Carnarvon. The first fall the house burnt down,the insurance company initially tried not to honour the policy (a battle that they lost in court years later) I spent that winter sleeping in a camper trailer that was loaned to us by a nieghbour while my Mom and brother shared an uninsulated cabin both without running water or washrooms. I brought in income by working in forestry,drywall, house moving whatever I could while still fixing sleds in what then was an unheated workshop as the folks that sold the marina to us had lied about the furnace and we could not afford to replace it. These also made me stronger. And a bit cold lol the heat went out in that trailer everytime it hit 20 below. We built the marina back up perhaps a bit too much for that marketplace. Sales were great and we were super busy. Then the huge recession of the late eighties and eary 90s hit and we were not ready. Stuck with millions of dollars of inventory,skyrocketing interest rates and the fedral governments refusal to refund us over 100,000.00 dollars that they did admit that they owed us the business folded. My Brother and I both landed jobs at Parry Sound Marine full time year round jobs! We could not find a place to rent but we did fnd a house that we could be purchased with no down payment. That worked as we were broke having not collected a paycheque for years trying to keep the marina afloat. I thrived there. It was a great team . In august PSM announced that they were going seasonal. I opened up Rosseau Road Enterprises as a winter only business in response. Once again I was not defeated by events. I guess what does not kill you makes you stronger. That fall I met Jen and we began dating. This has definitly made me stronger. My wife Jen is the most amazing person in the world. We became engaged in April of 93. Set a wedding for March of 94. As my family has not had the best record of longevity we decided to start our family. We were married in March 94 and had our first child in June of 94 on my brthday! In august of 94 I was laid off at Parry Sound Marine as it was failing and eventually became bankrupt. Faced with a lack of income I worked at anything I could and grew our business in order to survive. Funny thing is that I was told by my bosses at PSM that they regretted the decision to lay me off but that they new that I would succeed. I guess that it made me stronger again as it did not kill me either. Rosseau Road Enterprises began taking on non snowmobile work Marine etc. The next summer I worked at a Muskoka marina often in excess of eighty hours a week however they would only pay me maximum 60 hours and bank the rest at even rate. Never overtme was paid.My productivity was often in excess of 100%. However it did pay the bills. To make ends meet I sold my Dodge Dart a decision that both Jen and I struggled with. (I told you that she is amazing!) . That fall when approached by the boss at that marina as to what service schools that I wanted to go to I told him that I was not coming back to him. His words to me were that I was the first person to leave there that he could trust my work 100 percent. I took a job at a tiny marina with the understanding that I would only stay 3 years seasonally and all that tme I was going to be building my own busness to be full time full throttle. True to my word that is what I did. Our daughter was born in my final year there. Jen and I have never looked back. Rosseau Road Enterprises grew to be Rosseau Road Powersports and Marine. May 8th 2001 while sittng in a line of traffic I was heavily rear ended by a large van. This destroyed our van and sent me to hospital. I suffered a fractured ankle,7 herniated discs ,so much muscle damage to my right leg that it turned black,My C1 vertabrae was permanently turned by 10 degrees both shoulders were badly damaged and more. I was told that I could accept a pension. I did not. I kept on working. I forced myself to get stronger as I believe that that was the right thing to do. I still suffer from these injuries but I do not regret my actions. It made me stronger I guess in a way. It forces me to spend more time thinking and less time doing. So as not to be so sore. A good neighbour and a great man sold us the property that we built the new shop on. My son John joined the business and our youngest son was born. We moved forward with much help from frends and customers. We continue to grow and care for our customers and our team. We are blessed to be surrounded by good people. I have a family who loves me,great friends and great staff each and every one of them have earned my trust and my love. I am blessed. We have two grandchildren! I WILL SURVIVE ! To those who wish to gossip go to hell! To those who wish to support please give your loved ones a huge hug that is my only wish. I will survive and this somehow will make me stronger. Our business will continue to grow and thrive. We have a great team that will carry forward and I will likely still be here 7 days a week often. I actually like this place. It is my team and customers that I like the most. Stay tuned good news will follow. If all of this could not kill me this wont either Wildbill

I am deeply appreciative of your comments they mean more than I can say. It has been a journey, not as long as others journeys and for that I am grateful. After I finished my radiation I had some internal bleeding and bowel blockages as such I ended up admitted to hospital and a little worse fo wear. However I have rebounded from that. Last wek was a great week for us. My PSA initially tested at 13.2 my recent test is 0.04 the cat scansshow great results and the Urologist is very positive for my future . To early to say we won but things look very good . Thank you for all of your kind words as for me . I GUESS IT IS TIME TO RAISE SOME HELL AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After having a 25 foot fall from a ladder and suffering a traumatic brain injury in March 2021, we sold my sled and trailer because it was unlikely I would ever ride again. In April 2022 I was given full clearance medically by all my doctors to start riding again! I was able to find a trailer a month or so ago and started my search for something to ride. I am happy to report i bought a 2022 Skidoo Renegade X 900R yesterday! It is in excellent condition and I cant wait to ride again!

After having to cancel Quebec trip over Christmas and again in March (was to do new Liskeard - Chibougamau loop this week) with my 16 year old son (as he could legally ride in Quebec this year) - wasn’t going to let a March break pass without something. we had previously cancelled a trip out to Revelstoke over family day weekend as they had a major thaw - so we decide to rebook for Wednesday and Thursday this week. best single day of sledding I’ve ever had. Think I’ve even improved from last year!

Got back last night from our 4 day trip up north, conditions were excellent, did about 900 miles. The ride from hearst to Geraldton was good, glad we got to experience it. They’ve done quite of bit of brushing and removed the tag alders from the trail, few here and there but nothing major, really starts to get awesomely from the Pagwa river west. We made it in good time and did the big loop around Longlac which was spectacular to say the least and did the smaller loop the next day. We stayed at the Between the Bridges Inn, nice place good restaurant, also had pizza at the Longlac Pizzeria which was very good. I’d definitely do the trip again and maybe stay in longlac an extra night to do more exploring in the area. On a sled note our VR1 was incredible on gas and oil consumption, had no problem going the 150 miles without topping up and still had about 5 litres left. On our biggest day of riding we did just over 250 miles and used one quart of oil. My 850 is noticeably thirstier lol.

We have great closing season to Mont Valin. Trails are awesome, also we got dump of snow on Sunday. Still a couple weeks left to enjoy riding. Start your truck guys. Some great memories to share

Snotodesrp1chul791864lu031g9ll4a5mm01i4fg1c5m71l10g37t0l6lca · Shared with Public My PSA test came back 0 again. Somehow I should be happy I guess. However I sit here some what in a daze. The emotions that this journey has brought up are impossible to describe or even speak about. How am I so lucky when others are not? Why are good friends,loved ones and loved ones of good friends not having the same luck? Why must they suffer? They did nothing wrong. They are good people. They deserve a good life. This is far too familiar a journey to me. As a kid I watched my father be destroyed and killed by cancer causing emotions that I have failed to reconcile even today and have accepted that I never will. I live with the thoughts of when or if it will ever return to savage me. I often sarcastically state that the only true way to beat cancer is to die of something else. Cancer is a stupid disease as when it kills its host it commits to its own demise. Watching those around me isinteresting to say the least. Jennifer Park is my saviour. Some of my family has remained or become closer some not. I make more time for friends and family but not enough yet. Cancer is a brutal journey for the victim,family and friends. Support those that are stricken,they need it badly. I watched in horror as my father was so hurt by his "good" friends avoiding spending time with him simply because they could not face the disease. The emotional side of this is actually larger than the disease. The emotional side can be treated. Reach out and be a friend to those in need. You WILL make thier life better. Edit . Please reach out to someone other than me. I have a world of human interaction in my carreer. It is others that I wish to support.

My 6 year old grandson just got a bravo. He just got to the cottage tonight so he’s pretty excited to ride it tomorrow

Started the day in Orangeville and rode the rail bed up to Owen Sound. A nice 200 k day to kick the season off. Seriously , I couldn't believe how good the conditions were considering where we were at 2 weeks ago! Great day of riding and maybe saw 40 sleds through out the day .. no to busy at all! Nice flat trail and a lot of snow , especially as u get north . Get out and enjoy!

After spring booking in March 2021and all the recalls ,yesterday we got to bring both our new girls home. My wife and I can't say enough about Black's Corners Polaris. The staff worked hard to get our sleds in and fixed as soon as parts were available.

Made a trip up to the camp checking for down trees after ice storm. We are between LSP and Madawaska so higher elevation. Not much ice mostly snow, no trees down. Was out on sled Monday and It was decent for late spring conditions in bush. This morning about 8 in new snow at McKenzie Lk...more like a foot north of cross Lk towards highway 60..Was a great day. Perfect way to end the season.

Having a blast here in Suds. Trails have great snow, have not been south of the big lake yet... Accomodations are great. Our hosts are terrific people. Had a small issue with the sled and they were very helpful. The air bnb is nice and comfy on a lovely property with great trail access.

Rode from my driveway. In Mount Forest having lunch. Trails are in great shape. No complaints from the wife. This is the roughest section we’ve been on. Passed 3 sleds all morning.

We launched this morning from the Dufferin Drift Busters club house in Shelburne, parking lot filled quickly this morning and was by far the the busiest I’ve ever seen it when we got back, 30-40 trucks and trailers. Lots of people out enjoying the trails today, thank you to the Dufferin Drift Busters, Klondyke Trail Groomers, and Durham Trailblazers for all the hard work that went into the trails we rode today. Trails coming out of Shelburne were definitely thinner, a few sections of gravel mixed with snow, nothing too bad and snow increased as we headed north. Markdale has much more snow, the parking lot in Markdale is not plowed but people are staging from it. The snow especially closer to the entrance is packed down. We headed into Durham for fuel and lunch, roads were snow covered so the road running sections were decent, and we saw mixed conditions on the trails into Durham, very good to thin sections. We did go through a few muddy crossings, nothing deep or very wide but enough to get some mud on the sled. We stayed north out of Durham and headed back to the B110 as we heard things weren’t as good to the south. Overall we had a very good day, 170km, 3 years since this group rode together and it was nice to see everyone again. To everyone looking to get out, the snow is light and will get beat up with the heavy traffic the trails are seeing. I can see conditions deteriorating as the days go on. Lots of trailers heading north as I was on my way home. Some pictures of the good stuff….

Picked up my new sled today and saw someone else’s right there beside it !!

I wanted to give a shoot out to Dillon at Recoskie Precision Machine Shop in Cochrane. While riding up there in March, I threw a stud and it went through my heat exchanger. Mike from sledaddicz , made a couple phone calls for me and Dillon was highly recommended. I went directly to his place just south of town and he took me right in and started the repair. In no time, it was all fixed and back together and I was on my way only losing half day of riding!

We ordered a 26 renegade X 900T i was originally looking at the adrenaline package, but for the extra $600 if I remember correctly, I upgraded to the X package and got way more than $600 in value. Just the new ras rx front end is worth around $1100 I think? Im keeping my viper for now as I really do still love that sled, but eventually making a full transition to skidoo. My wife hates the vipers, and the Polaris S4 is just underpowered. Our good friend let us borrow his wife’s skidoo for a day so we could make our decision before buying, which helped a lot with her decision.

Met up with friends and introduced to new friends. Driving time from Toronto to Mont Valin approx 12 hours. Accommodation was at Destination Mont Valin. Had the pleasure to stay one night in the chalet and the remaining nights in the loft. Gas pumps at our doorstep 😀 Lunch & Dinner Relais Onatchiway Auberge 31 La Chapelle (closes early on Sunday) Gas (91 octane) at all these locations We also ventured out to the ice cave, that's a must! 😜 Temperature was -20 C and sunny on the first day of riding. Crisp and clear riding conditions. Second day Temps were around -12 C with overcast and sunny periods and some flurries. Third day Temps fluctuated from -14 C to -7 C overcast. Covered the entire riding area In 3 days with our group of 8 riding on Polaris and Ski Doo One word - AWESOME

Last week Friday we drove up to Searchmont and parked at Driftwood Valley which was a first this season. We rode out at 1:00pm sharp and arrived at the gas pumps in Dubreuilville at 6:05pm with the GPS saying we had gone 180.3 miles. We stopped at the warming shack where all 3 groomers come together from different directions and a few more times for breaks and once to dump our 4 gallon cans of fuel. We did not go into Wawa and saved miles and time. We took the Magpie which was perfect. After a night in Hearst we were back for a 2nd night in Dub. Then we had breakfast in Wawa the following morning and gassed up for the trip to Chapleau. We stopped at Halfway just to look around and then continued towards the Chapleau turnoff which is no longer 8.6 miles south of Halfway but rather 21 miles south at the warming shack. This is where all three groomers drive to. When Halfway suddenly left hundreds of sledders hanging last season, the Chapleau and Soo clubs changed the Chapleau run to hookup with the Soo so at least some could sled through Chapleau from points south. from this point 21 miles south of Halfway the Chapleau trail distance is 71 miles into the gas station. Moose horn Lodge is quite a bit less. I am guessing maybe 20 miles? spent the night at Valentines and shot down to Searchmont to head home Tuesday morning. The run from the gas station to the Driftwood left the gas gauge reading over a quarter tank so no extra gas needed that day with beautiful trails. We did put 1 gallon of extra fuel in to go from Wawa to Chapleau although it might not have been needed. We were on Doo 900 Turbo R Renegades which can get 15 mpg when not hammering the throttle. All those trails were fantastic and in better shape than I can ever remember. We both carried the LINQ 4 gallon extra gas tank and 2 one gallon cans in our saddle bags so we each had 6 gallons of extra gas. Depending on conditions you may need the extra, but perfect trails meant that if you stop at Wawa only the 4 gallon would ever be needed. 900 plus miles of the BEST TRAILS ever.

Finished out the season w 3 days riding in Golden BC. Sun every day no wind mild temps at 8-9000 ft. Hard to beat.

So after three failed attempts to ride Quebec with my (now 17 years old) son (Christmas and March break last year , and Christmas this year) - we finally made it! Trailered to New Liskeard - left 1:09pm, in at Amos in good time. Checked yesterday and today and Atmosphere had lots of room options , and heck it’s a Monday night. In 300 km we saw 10 sleds and a groomer total. well - arrived and it was fully booked! so headed over to Nouvelle Fronteirre (redone hotel next to the petro can). Nice place so far. Up to Chibougamau tomorrow, and yep - booked a room ahead of time! trails were 9.5 all afternoon.

I just completed a 2 hour night run tonight north of Sault Ste. Marie and am reporting good snow depth. Snowmobiling season has started for the 2024/25 season in this region. Dan Kachur - SSM

Cutting first tracks this morning. Hard to believe I’ve been riding through this same trail for well over 50 years now.

He does and I parked there today. So did 6 others. He has space but I hate posting stuff like this on a forum. Steve and his son are great guys (more on that later). He doesn't open until 9am. There were 10 truck and trailers at The Spot restaurant so we drove on past to Varney. Coming home, that parking lot was jammed full. I have parked there for close to 20 years and no one had ever mentioned it belonged to the restaurant. Years ago, it was a small picnic area that would only hold 6-8 truck/trailers. I was sure I seen the township plowing the parking lot and sometimes it wasn't plowed. I left from Snowmobiles Unlimited, rode out to the west side then north up the west side of Durham. There is a fair bit of road running on this side but it was no issue. It was cold and there was snow pack on the side of all sections. The fields were good, groomed and snow covered, odd rock click here and there. Bush sections are thin, passed the groomer heading south. He was filling in some of the holes but lack of snow to make full repairs. We turned south after crossing over #6, seemed like there was a bit more snow until we got close to Durham. The bush trails on the east side of Varney have some small water holes, some have frozen over, there is one where the creek is flowing, its about 6-8 inches deep and 15 feet across but the wife crossed it without help, easy peasy. Pebbles for lunch in Varney was great. After lunch we toured around the trails out to The Homestead and back. All pretty decent running, concidering its the first ride with few options. Its all snow covered, you aren't riding dirt. There are some good sections, and a few fair sections, nothing terrible. Worth the drive in my opinion. The sleds need a bath. Now to end the day......lol I get back to the truck and my key fob wont open the door..... and the key won't turn the lock annnnnnd I'm out of ideas. So I go in and talk to Steve, he laughs, I ask if there is a towing company near by. Nope nothing. So he takes my key fob and says maybe its the battery. But you won't have a battery? Morgan pops in to the showroom. Yes we do and he pulls one out from behind 10 other things hanging on the wall. Well the battery didn't help. I said lend me a couple screw drivers and I'll pry the door open, Then maybe we can hit the lock button with a pole. Morgan comes out from the shop with a bag and says "Here, its a door opening kit. It has the air blatter and the bars. All that crap. I've never used it though, you're on your own. " Took me about 10 minutes and I had the doors open. I thanked them up and down. So glad we had parked there instead of The Spot. I offered Morgan some dollars for the rental and he refused to take my money. I offered a donation to the coffee fund. Not a chance. Super dudes.

1st ride of the season for us in Sault Ste. Marie. A good start to winter and very close to last year's timeline.

Spent more time off the ofsc trails this year as my girls are getting older and riding their own sleds. 7 and 10 years old on Polaris Evo's. We've been able to get some decent day rides on private trails & crown land.

Our group originally wanted to do some Algoma riding this past week out of Dunlop Lake Lodge, but we couldn't get the nights that we needed. We all agreed that the Northern Corridor would be okay, but not our next choice. We wanted to minimize truck time, minimize trail traffic, maximize snow quality and stay at some new-to-us, venues. Thanks to contributors to this forum, the choice of routes became obvious. My friends and I, until this year, have considered a day's ride north of 17, to be a minimum of 500 km. We used to joke that 300 km rides were half days. We have matured and looked for a quality ride not a long ride. With that in mind we first booked into the Riverdale Resort in Alban for Tuesday and Friday nights. When we couldn't get into Tree Bears Camp (Shining Tree) for Wednesday, we booked there for Thursday night, which left Econolodge in New Liskeard (Dymond) for our Wednesday night lodging. At Econolodge, we ate supper at Ali's restaurant, as it was bloody cold out and we could walk inside from our rooms to the restaurant. All of us enjoyed our meals there, but I felt a little guilty not getting to Gillie's for a meal. Again, all of those locations were recommended by OCers. Thanks. All accommodations were good to excellent, with a special shout out to Tree Bears for being above and beyond. Trail conditions per the ITG were green for our entire 950 km 3-day ride. Trails did not disappoint. In the 3 days combined we maybe had 60 km of mildly choppy trails. The groomers can't be just in front of you all the time, but we had almost 900 km of smooth trails, even in areas like around NL, where there was hardly any snow in the fields. Thanks to the volunteers, groomer operators, clubs and districts for providing mostly well-signed and magically groomed trails with often minimal snow. Days 1 and 3 were basically following the most direct route from Alban and back(except for including the Wolf Mountain Loop, day 3), but day 2 required some augmenting to get a good day's ride(new definition). We left Dymond, headed north to Thornloe, Earlton, Engelhart, Charlton and out to the A trail via L162. Then to Elk Lake for fuel at the funky unmanned gas station. Next order of business was fuel for the humans, but there were no restaurants in the village. On advice from a local, we checked out the local convenience/general store hoping for a coffee and a packaged sandwich. Expectations were exceeded again when the onsite mini kitchen, had fried chicken pieces, potato wedges and fresh made pizza. We topped off our bellies and headed for Shining Tree via A107C and C trails. We were all familiar with the Three Bears Camp of the 1990s and 2000s, and accordingly had previously left Tree Bears off our travel plans. What a mistake. Our large, new (not refurbished) 3-bedroom, 7-bed cabin was modern and comfortable. The camp is not licensed but we got in on a run to the LCBO by our hosts. Then the two supper choices(3 course) were both delicious. Friday morning at -25C, Oliver was quick to produce a battery booster when one of our sleds required it. Obviously, I was super impressed with the whole operation. By my odometer, our 3 days were 309, 309, and 332 km for a total of 950 km for our very cold, but successful mini trip. I will have to get the IT department (wife) to show me how to get pictures from my phone to the forum. This was my first trip not using a camera for photos. People have been conspiring for a few years now to bring me into the 21st century, but I am a reluctant participant. Don't have many pics anyway because it was too cold to expose my hands. Can see in the trail photos that there isn't a lot of snow to work with.

Spent the weekend in Temagami at the Polaris Ambassador meet and ride, had a great time meeting fellow riders and ambassadors from Ontario, with the support of the riders and sponsors we raised 4000 for the local snowmobile club.

I just got back from 5 days in Quebec. We saddlebagged it to a different lodge/hotel every night. Trails were "good". Not amazing, but better than what we have in the South.

Great riding last night and today. Could not have asked for a better 24 hours.

Great ride today, left from Shelburne, and headed north. Parking lot in Markdale is snow filled and I wouldn’t recommend trying to stage from there now. The snow from Markdale north to Owen Sound just got deeper and deeper, tons of fresh powder, 95rxl650 wasn’t lying, it’s a winter wonderland, there is soo much snow. I’ll add a picture at the Bayshore boat launch in Owen Sound, snow mounds are as tall as the building. We got fuel and headed back to Chatsworth, then to Chesley, breaking trail most of the way. We then continued south to Neustadt, then up to Durham for fuel and a bite to eat. Freshly groomed trails across the B111 from Durham, and the B110 all the way back to Shelburne. Just over 300km, probably the most fun I’ve had on a railbed. Tons of snow everywhere, many perfect trails, really surprised none of it is green. Great mid winter conditions.

Got out for a nice rip today, chewing thru some more break in miles. Happy wanderers never disappoint. New warm up shelter is top shelf awesome! The odd rock poking thru but absolutley ridable forest access trails. Fresh snow on top made it a bit soft in the corners so the sheep love making sure they cut every single corner down to one lane. Caught a few by surprise on the wrong side. If you ride slow and cut corners, i have absolutely zero sympathy for you when someone finally creams you! Ride your side its 30 ft wide!

Blue bird day have only seen about 10 sleds so far today we left Val -dor this morning around 9 everyone was in the parking lot taking selfies on them selfs and there sleds so we must have got ahead of them lol

Found a beautiful blue bird day - unfortunately missed out on my ability. Got a 165” 3” paddle good and stuck in the mountains , luckily my son came back to help me dig out and pull.

Took six days, in which time a new phone was purchased and activated, but there has been a development in the 'missing' phone case. Seems there has been a senior's moment involved. Last week was my buddy's first ride on his new-to-him Skidoo which came with a different Linq tail bag than he had on his previous sled. Seems this new bag has a small zipped compartment on the underside of the lid. That is where he found his phone today, hidden by a spare balaclava. And my wife thinks I am bad when I 'lose' a pair of drug-store reading glasses for a day or two.

Well made it back to the Chateau Travel lodge . 563.8km for the day - Hearst and back. Little under 12 hrs round trip. Oil light on the little 650 , which ran 1-2l more than the 850 every fill up. was first out on the trails it seems at 8am and minus 18. Didn’t see anyone till Kap. Was hard , smooth fast trails this am. even with some playing in the powder at smooth rock - we made it to kap for gas at 10:17am and 154.8km. had a nice long stop at Tims in kap for late breakfast and chatting to dealer on new sled deal next year. Finally on the trail 11:30 ish. made it to Hearst from south end - great trails mostly. Some more snow but still not lots. In town really minimal snow like kap. gas stop @286km and 1:44pm - time to turn around! made a little trail side snack of Mr noodles - takes a lot longer to melt snow and then boil it btw! met a mother and daughter on trail (little girl went wrong direction and was lost ) - they had the cutest throttle stop - maybe next year she will graduate to a AAA! Filled up in kap again , then a great dinner at Ellies in smooth rock (our favorite food place). all gassed up and ready to do Abitibi (4 oil jugs and 1 linq can) , late lunch in SR/Ellie’s then onto Timmins tomorrow. Hoping weather holds . Friday will be a mess getting back to New Liskeard and trailer home (7 hrs), but we will play it as it comes. If we have to stay a night won’t be an issue. All part of the adventure. Only have 45 miles going east out of timmins at start of AM on Friday that I won’t have fresh GPS tracks back to New Liskeard .

Parked the sled at cottage. 3100 km for season..so far 😀 I did not go on an overnight ride or travel from home base. Was a great winter for me. The cost of a permit is peanuts if you are able to get out and use it. Planning to get a couple day’s riding in yet in Golden BC before end of month. If I’m lucky get back for a few days of late season play before Easter. Support your local snowmobile club!! Hats off to the many volunteers in all aspects of the organization that make it work. Cheers.

We didnt make it to Spanish. We ended up going in other directions. Things improved as Saturday brought 6" of new snow. With Dunlop Lake as our base camp: Thursday afternoon - Rode south of town, took the F trail towards Spanish but didnt make it as we didnt get going until late afternoon and ran out of daylight.- out and back. Friday - Took the D trail to Blind River. Came home on the BR4. I would not take this trail again, granted it is yellow, but very tight running. That day was freezing cold so it was a shorter day. Saturday - F trail northwest to Blackcreek Outfitters. Tons of fun, half way out - that trail gets into logging roads where you can really increase your speeds easy cruise to 100kph. Sunday - EL3 to the west - out and back - powerline running. Lots of fun. This was a father daughter trip so we were not crushing huge km's. Friday was -31C, so that slowed us down. Regardless, we clocked 700km so I was happy and so was she. Loved the terrain up there. Beautiful countryside. MS

Took my 8yr old Granddaughter for loop thru my 40 acre Sugar bush this afternoon, she loves to ask about the tracks she sees , ( rabbit, fox, coyote, turkey) and commented on the beauty of all the snow on the branches. ......and its those shared moments that make it worthwhile to keep the 1998 340 cat running another year !

I was there Friday wandering around the show and chatting with everyone, Ordered a set of the Qualipieces Trek carbides for Karen's sled, very interesting design with the dual carbide offset. Saturday I was at the District 7 booth from 10-2 and saw a few OC members which was nice, Spent the rest of the afternoon at the Polaris booth and various others, It was well attended, not as many retail vendors as years past was the feeling from most, The OFSC district booths were done quite well, Thanks to everyone that attended. Met up with MJ the Ski Doo Ambassador for some pics and lunch, After the Show was over a bunch of us including Blair Morgan and Dave Norona met at Arizona Bar and Grill for dinner and drinks. All in all a great albeit long weekend of talking sleds. Booked our New Brunswick trip for March this morning with the guys from Ontario Quebec Snow Cruises.

Came back from Mount Forest through Teviotdale, Conestogo Lake, Elmira and home in Bloomingdale. Not nearly as nice as the morning trails. The trail past Pike Lake was beat washboard, lots of traffic. Harriston, Teviotdale was good until we hit Conestoga Lake. More washboard, dirt showing in the corners and lots of sleds running around. Trail got a bit better once south of the lake but once you hit Elmira, the bush trails are getting thin, tops of the fields are showing through. Road crossing are soft and frost was coming out of the gravel roads. Im sure this was my last ride from home. Pics are just a couple miles from home. I’m sure by Thursday this trail will ice with no snow on the sides. We need a base like this on the first week of January, not March.

Sweet -20c bliss!

Well my buddy wanted to ride his rebuilt Boost so last minute we decided to head to Poplar Point Camp by Elk lake and try place out. Great cabins. And super owners. We went out with owner for a ride Friday afternoon and ran out of snow to north East. So we turned around and rode South into the higher elevations. Fun ride on logging roads. Yes some thinner spots. Yes I hit some rocks. Today my buddy and I were out for a few hour run. And heading out again after lunch. I know it’s not for everyone but I already own the sled and extra carbides. Plus spare skis so WTF.

Another epic day.

Flat light day with squals. Parked at Linwood Community Center. I rode from Linwood, through Conestoga Lake, Listowel, Atwood, lunch at Brussels. Across the top of what is open after lunch, wroxeter, Fordwich, Clifford, Harriston Teviotdale, Arthur and back to Linwood. Conestogo is fine. The odd thin spot in a field, bush trails are thin. West side had not been groomed in a couple days. Some areas heavily drifted. Couple of wet bushes near Listowel, passable. Snow is better above Atwoodand kept getting deeper to Brussels. Atwood was groomed. Bush trails are still thin but many of the fields are heavily drifted. As we travelled east towards Clifford the snow gets thinner. Clifford area was groomed. Below Harriston the plowed fields start showing through. There was a section of trail near Harriston that should be closed. It’s completely chewed from a tractor, no snow, 5 mph crawl. Below Teviotdale there are plenty of plowed fields where the tops are showing through and it’s very thin cover near Arthur. Arthur area was groomed. 215 kms for the day. Good first run. I stained my knee on the weekend but figured I’d be fine. My knee says NO…..lol Half a dozen trucks at the Linwood community Center when got there around 330. Id say we passed 70-80 sleds through the day, half of those after 2pm.

Ontario F7 and I launched from Birds Creek today, just north of Bancroft. Rode up trail 175 to Madawaska and stopped for fuel, and we ran into SKSMAN from the forum. Rode across the freshly groomed B trail into Barry’s Bay and had lunch at Balmoral Hotel. After lunch we rode down trail 157 to the lookout point. Rode over to Whitney for more gas and then back down towards Bancroft. Finished the day off with some fun on Baptiste Lake before heading back to the parking lot. It was a beautiful day for my first time riding in 2 years. Thank you OF7 for letting me ride your spare sled. 👍

Yesterday made the trip to Baysville….well worth the drive! And apparently in the knick of time as I see trails have closed. Rode up to Dwight . Did the 65 loop which was awesome and 64 out and back to kawagama lake, which was even better ( freshly groomed and no traffic ). I found the conditions to be really good especially after last weeks warm up and rain. Yes there was a few shady spots ( very few ) and the trail softened up as the day went by but seemed like plenty of snow and todays warm up really shouldn’t be that damaging . Lakes were great to run. ( see pic of Dickie and Raven Lake ) and for what little road running there was, some roads still covered and others you could grab enough of the snow bank . With 10 cm 🤞🏻 forecasted tomorrow and colder temps I’m hoping to get up there soon again. See pics attached

Not much riding, spent the day clearing trails for Tall Pines.

One thing that is hurting places like HH and Base Camp is that sleds are getting better and better on fuel than they did 20 years ago and with the popularity of Linq style cans a lot of guys can make these loops without getting fuel or if they need to stop, buying very little fuel. I remember back even in the early 2000s, all you could safely get is 100 miles out of a tank of fuel. Even Cochrane to Kap required a splash of fuel in SRF. Now, 120miles/200kms is very easy to do with a modern sled. With guys not needing fuel at all or just needing 10 litres to complete the loop it is making it really hard for these outposts to justify staying open. The last time I was at HH, which was the day it closed for the season last year, I topped up my sled even though I know I could have gotten away with 10 litres. That being said, I used my Linq can to finish the Abitibi Canyon loop the same weekend when the guy told me $60 for 10L of fuel.