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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/16/2023 in all areas

  1. 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.
    12 points
  2. 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.
    12 points
  3. 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 .
    12 points
  4. When a permit to ride trails on a provincial level cost less than my son's hockey stick - anyone complaining about the cost seriously needs to take a step back and understand the value they are getting for that permit and realize what an idiot they are being questioning it. It's insane really.
    7 points
  5. Im not officially done for the season, i may get out again but i've had my fill for the year. Forecast doesn't look great around here either.
    7 points
  6. After paying the $400 for a full season Quebec permit and seeing what that gets you, I am struggling to see any reason to buy an OFSC permit next season. The $400 is actually a pretty good value when you see how well the trails are signed and groomed. I think that the OFSC needs to have a serious discussion on shutting down some southern clubs. Clubs like Tillsonburg, Strathroy, Forest etc.... should not exist if they have averaged 3-4 days of open trail per season in the last 10 years. I live in Mitchell and rode 2 days locally in 2011 and maybe 2 days in 2018 if I go through my photo albums.
    5 points
  7. Me too..I would put it up on a shelf beside my 1980..loved that sled..It would handle any sled top end..That is until up in Durham one weekend,and got run down by the Durham OPP.Didn't realize that Polaris made a sled with one of those extra cylinder things,,🤔..when he got me stopped,I said wha the Hellll is that..he replied,thats for aaasshh......like you😄
    4 points
  8. like fishing, hunting, drivers licenses... license the rider, permit the rider. done deal. Ski
    3 points
  9. At Rocky's now waiting on a Bison burger. Good going north of Garson. A bit thin around Capreol. C111 c206 are awesome.
    3 points
  10. Headed up north for one last ride with my “little guy”. Turning out to be a big 15 year old! trailered to New Liskeard - on trail 11:23 am. the previous red/crossing (currently yellow) frozen over as of now just before Elgenhart, and we stopped for lunch at Tim Hortons. gassed in Matheson. The 650 was on fumes at 188km. not a ton of snow , crossings starting to be lots of gravel - but overall trails really good. made good time (after stopping and helping two guys load a broken sled into back of a truck ) -arrived at the glorious Travel Lodge of chez Cochrane at 5:36 pm at 296.9km. plan to head west and back to Cochrane tomorrow (without bags).
    2 points
  11. Nice easy day today - nothing like feeding the birds! left La Grand Travel Lodge and heading to Timmys for breakfast - as we weren’t going to eat again until Ellie’s in Smooth Rock. left 9am. Tons of ice on ice road - they almost need another digit! dropped the 4 oil jugs of fuel in at warm up shack 86 km in. Trails hadn’t been groomed for a while - but mint. Soft and a little bumps in corners. Made it to dam 11:28am, 165 km. NO water flowing at all! Made it to smooth rock after playing on hydroline for a bunch - son getting good at wheelies! guess what kind of gas they had left ? NOT premium ….. emptied out linq into the 850 and put her on ethanol mode. great lunch at Ellies. We will stop there every chance we will get! Think we have tried every sandwich on their menu - and all great! C trail was great heading south. timmins is HURTING for snow anywhere near a roadway. After filling up gas , checked into Travellodge (east side Mario’s next door). Don’t have to clean skids tonight ! in at 4:41pm at 363 km for the day. we will see what weather brings us tomorrow !!!!!
    2 points
  12. Last week, Mar 8-10, we rode a lot of what you have planned. We staged out of the Dinner Bell in Bonfield to avoid the NB trails close to the city. The trails in general were very good but the closer to NB we got the worse the trails were. I see that you plan to use the D trail south of Trout Lake on two days. I would avoid that if at all possible. As PLC advised, this 20 km stretch of 'trail' south to west end of Lake Nosbonsing is in serious need of snow. Like a dummy, I had forgotten how bad that long stretch can get in low snow conditions. I had told myself 5 years ago that I would only ever ride that section of trail after a snowfall. There were 6-8 km of bare paved road/ gravel shoulder to ride. I learned last time to just get up on the pavement and ride at speed rather than grind it out on the shoulder. It's over faster that way - less sled wear. PLC also warned of NB308. A portion of it was great, but last week the log haul was very active and portions of the road was ploughed down to ice/gravel mix. In other parts of Ontario those two trails would have been red. We need the fourth colour (purple works) to indicate ploughed trails without snow. We met several sledders who were staying in NB, but after one day in and out from the strip, they decided to trailer out of town for their loops. Favourite parking was the one on highway 11 where the AD trail crossed. It's a very large lot right off the main trail. Trails further west were excellent last week in the Field, Verner, Hagar, River Valley area, with the exception of the road trail through Warren, which can be avoided on local trails. I just see that the weather forecast is a bummer for the start of the weekend. I stay positive though, by always driving the shortest distance to good conditions. Good luck, whatever you decide.
    2 points
  13. Thanks for the info Steve. We were up there family day weekend last month, we did shinning tree then on mint trails. We didn’t do the Wolf mountain loop, so that's on our bucket list for this go. Riding with some of the STP boys this time again, so have some good local knowledge. cheers!
    2 points
  14. x2 - Nice to see pictures & details, again.....it sure does make for a better report when you add some dialogue along with pictures!
    2 points
  15. Good eye. Stayed there last night. Good supper and breakfast. We are back in muskoka. Enjoy the ride! We stayed away from south and west of Garson and south of windy lake. Lots of locals out riding today that had trailered up north of town. Head north to top of wanapatei. C north towards shining tree looked fresh groomed today. Not sure if shining tree came down from their end. Wolf loop was excellent and top of moose is excellent as well. 56 was good once north of town too.
    2 points
  16. Heading up to Suds in the morning, staging from the STP yard. If you see me, come say hi.. I won't be hard to spot..
    2 points
  17. Looks like sportsmans lodge
    2 points
  18. 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.
    2 points
  19. Haven't decided anything yet, except we are driving somewhere tomorrow. Our sleds and trailers are parked just south of Lake Michigan. Right now I'm thinking about going up to MN or NW Wisconsin instead. They got hammered with snow last weekend. Used to ride out of Searchmont once or twice a year but haven't gone since COVID, so I was really looking forward to it. I enjoy northern Ontario a lot more and it's an easier drive to get there, but I'm starting to be concerned about conditions. I see Luc is out grooming all over and that area looks good. If we go Ontario, I'd be leaning towards starting in Searchmont and then staying in Wawa, accessing it from the lake trail, or maybe Dubreuilville, if rooms are available. I really like the trail going out to Marathon, and we've never done the part going up to Manitouwadge, but if the trail is closed we won't mess with it. Could go up towards Hearst after that or the other way out towards Longlac but that looks like it might just be a straight away for most of it (we've done the loop going towards Hearst but haven't gone West on A before). Or could just look for places to play between or around Dubreuilville. We're not too picky and like the adventure and low traffic of Ontario
    2 points
  20. 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.
    1 point
  21. Exactly, when the guy in the video has nothing good to say except for how “dialed” the gold paint looks on the spindle….🤷🏼‍♂️ viper is also the same as the past few years…. $3k more (basically gouging their clients) over last years price for a new sticker package. I love my Yamaha’s and now on my 3rd viper in the cat chassis, but my money will be going elsewhere when the time comes for new sleds. I realize prices are crazy on everything right now, but the doo & poo are at least being fair with their price increases. That’s just what I’ve noticed. 650 Indy SP is $500 more than last year…exact same sled. Doo & Poo have gone up around $500-$1000 over last years pricing. Yamaha is gouging, and I don’t like it.
    1 point
  22. Rumour going around that @Blackstar has some of that FU money....might hear some reviews and see some pics next year .... lol
    1 point
  23. If I had FU money, I'd be checking this
    1 point
  24. Trails look awesome!
    1 point
  25. Glad you’re feeling better. You guys have a nice trip. I will be back through Dub Sunday. The weather looks to be putting some snow all the way around the northern loop for us which should help out those dry spots in towns. Heading up early tomorrow and grabbing the sleds we left in Searchmont. With shortcuts it’s about 120 miles to the Edson in Chapleau plus a couple more to Valentines. Indoor parking there so no mess to clean off in the morning.
    1 point
  26. Make sure you are watching the weather, calling for 18" in 36 hours, starting tomorrow. I would bet, if you aren't in wawa by midnight Thursday, you aren't getting there until late Saturday or Sunday. Understand that storm is going to make fuel mileage on sleds suffer. Not to mention poor or no visibility of the established trails... Be smart, be safe. On our way up now, to beat the mess. Ski
    1 point
  27. Which districts are they? Do we think those riders only ride in those southern districts and don't travel? I live in district 3 and almost never ride here. Sledding involves a truck and trailer 95% of the time. I'd buy the provincial permit still like many on here would. This is part of the argument keeping permit prices low though I believe. The need to cater to the folks that get a short season. But seems the entire system is short changing itself over a few southern areas. Would be interesting to see the information OFSC has on this. Am I missing part of the equation?
    1 point
  28. I bet they ban snowmobiles, atv’s etc from towns in future too. Taking about a gas chain saw, weed whacker and blower bans. Noise, emissions will drive that to happen.
    1 point
  29. yup you were in great place this year for green trails
    1 point
  30. I don't think regional permits will get the people who are riding with no permits to change what they do. I also don't believe it has been much of an issue in the last few years in our local area from what our club's trail patrollers have seen at least. It may however help retain the permit buyers who are on the cusp of quitting the sport or who are considering riding without a permit purchase.
    1 point
  31. Just got in from Tall Pines trails. Best I've ever been on. Not a single bump. 115k. No road running was a bonus
    1 point
  32. Day permits were a disaster which is why they were cancelled. The whole permit discussion does come back to enforcement. Until they solve that day permits don't work. Would you have the same issue with a southern permit? Maybe. Provide an upgrade option mid season to encourage those venturing north to do the right thing. At least with a southern permit, you've collected the first $210 from the guy that chooses to break the rules vs $40 or $50 for a day pass when they ride all season with it. I think the biggest mistake OFSC could make is holding seasonal permit prices as is or only moving forward with a $5 or $10 increase. Can't underfund things year after year and not expect a decrease in quality over time.
    1 point
  33. And they made it. Damn.....lol
    1 point
  34. D5 got three days this year. Worst we have had in years. I don’t like regional permits many will just buy cheaper region one and ride where they want. Who is going to stop them. That’s why early permit exists really. Offer early permit in May and June. Get funds earlier kind like snow check for trails. should be a day permit available though. I like to see that change.
    1 point
  35. It seems to me that since changes have been made the last 5 to 10 years you do not hear as much about short fall of money….or I’m just oblivious or perhaps not as hot a topic as it once was. Money is not sitting with clubs that only see a couple weeks of activity, it’s being distributed to where needed more effectively. So does the 200 cover the needs vs the wants based on current permit sales?!?!? Does charging more to address some of those wants or short falls a good thing, sure, but I imagine a not for profit organization shouldn’t have a boat load of cash just sitting there either for a few reasons. Charge more if needed, bare minimum should be an incremental increase each year that falls under the radar for most, especially those buying 20+K sleds….lol I really like the idea of paying different percentage for grooming hours based on when done that makes the most sense based on activity…..as long as it doesn’t cause a club to not groom now based on availability of resources.
    1 point
  36. need a sleigh like Mylene from Follow her North utilizes, for fuel. bring one workhorse sled, and a sleigh, everyone take turns driving it throughout the trip. give up your sled with no extra weight, for a run on the sleigh sled, for a section, then back on your sled, and someone else takes the sleigh. or take someone who doesnt mind, driving the exxon valdez, and let them drive that for the trip. Ski
    1 point
  37. Elliot Lake Weekend Some photos I snapped while in Elliot Lake this past weekend. We did a 14 lake Cross Country run on Saturday. Weather was perfect! It was also the annual Dunlop Lake Lodge fishing derby which made for a good conversational crowd at the lodge.
    1 point
  38. Just got in from Dorset area, trails were great. Lots of sleds out. Passed the groomer.
    1 point
  39. Parts of fergus were absolutely mint this morning. Managed to put on 90km. hillsburgh, Dundalk, parts of Orangeville were very good yesterday. Wife and I did 190km and it was awesome! Plenty of snow out there! There are definitely some thin areas, but no biggie considering the winter we’ve had. I know a guy that went to Durham today and he said he’s never seen it so good!
    1 point
  40. Both kids use them in their hand and feet, once they feel the need for them based on how cold the day is or their moods. Usually feet/boots first, than maybe hands. Actually it was only the last two rides this year the kids went on that they used them in their gloves, before it was strictly boots. And we also use them when we go skiing, so they come in handy often throughout the winter. Wife buys a big box of them from Costco that sit in the cupboard in the garage. You should consider them when the boy gets older and outside with you, it can really turn things around when they start to feel the cold. They put off some good heat and so easy to pack and carry with you......and snacks of course too are a must!
    1 point
  41. they have went to this model for michigan's sled trails. but, they also get a small portion of the fuel tax for funding on top of trail permits. and for the most part the off raod motorcycle/orv/sled, communities are joined and each have their own seasonal permits, that fund updates for all seasons, and all users. Ski
    1 point
  42. Agree 100%. Personally I think that secure land access is the single biggest risk to the sustainability of our sport. Without land access nothing else matters. Funding is part of the solution and it may not be as expensive as one could think given, as you said, when you could be offsetting the costs with reduced costs of continuous reroutes. Legislatively there needs to be work done to reduce or severely limit liability/ exposure to landowners and trail operators when user have “willing assumed” the risks.
    1 point
  43. how about, the funding to make/deem snowmobile trails permanent, so logging/mining, private entities, cannot disrupt them during season, without that entity paying for use, and or rerouting? ESPECIALLY ON CROWN LAND. Our region suffers from this yearly. so much money and man hours wasted when someone decides... we need to use this now, immediately... yeah, we know we told you we didnt need to this year but... I cant imagine just in our area, how much money has been wasted/lost in the last 20 years, to this. Ski
    1 point
  44. Grooming data is not very helpful unless you have the traffic data for the trail as well. Posting just the grooming data will only encourage the “chase the groomer” mentality which only exacerbates the problem of concentrating traffic on specific trails. Which would you rather ride, a trail groomed 7 days ago or a trail groomed yesterday. With out traffic data the rider would tend to select the trail groomed yesterday thinking it will be a better ride. But if you knew the trail groomed yesterday sees hundreds of sleds per day where the trail groomed a week ago see little traffic. Which one do you think is in better shape? the idea of a regional permit is not new. The very first iteration of MOTS had a regional permit proposal. The province would have been divided into 5 regions (vs 16 Districts) each having its own permit pricing structure. There would still have been a province wide permit but at substantially higher price. The catch was that permit revenues for regional permits stayed in the region. The concept died a very quick death as it eliminates one region subsidizing another. There were also issues surrounding the combining of 16 districts into 5 regions. It would have been interesting to see a full analysis of the proposal.
    1 point
  45. I like the idea of identifying road running which is becoming more prevalent with continued loss of private land owner trails. Especially this winter many of want to avoid the road rash……
    1 point
  46. Some interesting "out of the box" ideas for sure. I agree that the sport needs new ideas to continue to be viable. My thoughts are simplistic in comparison, I would like to see some functionality on the OFSC Trail map: 1. FCMQ has has a layer which shows when last groomed, why can't the OFSC map do the same; (Heck, New Brunswick shows the groomer in real time.) 2. I would like a third color (purple?) which identifies road running, and or bridges when the trail is open but be advised lack of snow. I see some clubs flip to Yellow for lack of snow, but no snow for a few KM's is a whole other matter for sleds. Example, the section in red is a long bridge, which is a road way, I expect that the club has identified that there is no snow on the bridge, not that the province told the OFSC that snowmobiles can't use the bridge. Flip that section to Purple - no snow road way. As we all know, no snow on roadways or shoulders is very different than in the dead of winter when the ground is at least frozen. Also, I'm not talking about simple road crossing, I'm flagging when we have to drive along a road for hundreds of meters, and it is dirt, or rocks, or bare pavement. My 2 cents.
    1 point
  47. Not sure but if not park at stp lot across the lake, quick run down the trail from there leads to the lake, scoot across lake, grab gas at Rockies and head north.
    1 point
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