skidooboy

It's official, river ice is gone. Ski

Blue bird day today. River ice is breaking apart, lots of warm temps coming. Apple friiters are being made in Batchawana at the Voyager now... Smelt and spring are coming. Ski

With all that said, your best bet unless dead set on Longlac is... Wawa to Hearst, and over night. Then stay in the Hearst area a few days riding the local loops (they have a bunch of good day riding), then back to Wawa the same way. Without Halfway Haven it is really a fuel mileage crapshoot if you can loop from Hearst to Timmins (225 miles), Timmins to Chapleau 175 miles, Chapleau to where Halfway was (60 miles), with no fuel, services and back to Wawa from there (75-80 trail miles). Keep us posted on your trip, many of us can help you decide, and give info. Good luck! Ski

Wawa to Dubreuilville is roughly 55-60 miles depending on route. Dub to Hornepayne is 100 miles. Hornepayne to Hwy 11 (where Mooseland/Bambino's Truck Stop was) is approx 60 miles no services). You can then go East into Hearst about 40 miles (The opposite way to Longlac area), and overnight. Or Head west to Longlac which would be approx 107 miles at the hwy11 corner. From Hearst to Longlac is 162 miles. This year as Nunz stated, there was a new place to get fuel at the Pagawa River. Once in Longlac, you can go to Geraldton and the Greenstone loop or, you will have to deadhead back the way you came, as the trail goes to Caramat but, does not go to Manitouwadge any longer. You cant go from Wawa to Dub, to White river, then to Manitouwadge to Longlac like we used to (pre 2008ish). The trail system is broken up, further to the west and north. Not everything is connected. Depending on the snow, and the condition of the roads, you could possibly make it from Caramat to Manitouwadge but, you would be at the mercy of the Industrial road, which depending on the status, could be plowed tight, and sanded, or could have 3 feet of powder on it. If it is not plowed, it could eat a lot of fuel before you got to Mani. The last time we did that route, we went Geraldton to Hillsport (105 miles), then on to Mani (another 40). Without the detour to Hillsport it is approx 60 miles from Caramat to Mani. So, approx 90-100 miles of road/trail, no fuel, no services, no trail, plan accordingly. The trail has been taken back over by nature, from Caramat to Mani, that isnt even an option now. If they open the new motel in Hornepayne this fall, you "could" ride wawa to Hornepayne, and over night. then Hornepayne to Longlac, and over night. Do the greenstone loop, and over night, then head back. If the motel doesnt open, you could ride wawa to hearst (approx 250 miles), and over night, then on to Longlac the next day. Good luck. Ski

Ice is holding on, snow is going, going, gone. Ski

More snow coming tonight through Tuesday. Winter is trying to hold on. Ski

Back to winter overnight. More snow coming for weekend, then another warm up. Yep... it's spring in North Ontario. Ski

Not getting any better for us sledders. We might head up at the end of the week. Ski

Cuts two ways, Insurance may "want" them on until April 1st but, most if not all real snow tires state do not drive in temps above 45 degrees. The soft compounds do not take heat very well. Ski

No change. Had a little snow, wind cold yesterday. At least it will be light until 8pm or so now. Ski

@Puggz, did you ever find the hitch you wanted? Ski

First thing to go when the economy tanks is... Recreation. The ones that get used the least go first. Organized sledding is in deep trouble. Ski

Just about all the clubs have closed their trails now. even in the far nord corridor. Ski

Hell, there are spring flowers blooming already, at our Michigan place. Crews are already working on residential outdoor projects. Our guy started Monday on us. New siding, fascia, soffit, windows, 2 sliding doors, and redecking, our 2 decks. Added some exterior insulation sheeting, and tyvek wrap too. Ski

Sad in Dub. Looks more like late April, instead of late February, early March. Never turned a groomer track, this year. A first for our club. Wawa has closed some trails, turned everything to yellow not closed. Guessing they will close everything tomorrow, only keeping them "open" for the big fish derby access, this weekend. Ski

Drain the fuel, put fresh fuel in at least half tank (I prefer full). If it isnt E free fuel, add some marine stabil to it, start, run, to full warm up temp. We left our sleds for 18 months, due to covid. After returning, I drained the E free fuel out, added fresh, they started right up, and ran to temp. No problem that first year, with our 2 strokes. Isnt looking like we will ride this year, so, I will be doing the exact thing this year. Ski

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/weather/ontario/cochrane +10 By monday in Cochrane. They are supposed to get a good dump of snow tomorrow and Wednesday but, 50* is gonna hurt. Ski

Not much has changed this past week. Some snow in the forecast but, warmer temps on long-term... It wont last long. With the big orange ball out more now, the next 6 weeks, could take us right out of winter, straight to summer. I'm over this. Note the street shots... When you do come back, the town isn't as sled friendly as it once was. They heavily sand all streets curb to curb. The place looks like it is based with gravel roads. Ski

Look at the lower drive shaft bearing, on the Brake caliper side. Common issue for the shaft to allow the bearing to spin on the shaft. Several fixes available, from several vendors. Good luck. Ski

Country Cat in Mn has them under the cat number, ebay has them under the yamaha number, the first ebay search hit Full Throttle Motorsports in Lansing Mi, which isnt very far from me. I hope this helps. Ski

Nothing to write home about, in the last week. We didn't get the snow the south got. Just enough to make it look white again. Another plus temp warm up for 4-5 days coming, the last days of feb, first days of march. Ski

Better get at it while you can. Right behind it is warmer air, going to be 36 here in Michigan (directly west of your storm area) on Sunday, and 50 by Wednesday and long term forecast is 50-55, 10-14 days out with lots of overnights above freezing, and rain some days. Not trying to be a dick, just letting you know to watch the long term, in case you think you have a week or two, or more to enjoy the riding, and are thinking about putting it off a bit. Make hay while the sun is shining. Good luck to all, get some riding in. Me, Ima be in a walleye boat on the Saginaw Bay, or Saginaw river, for next week. Lots of big girls in the system right now. Ski

It is going to take a lot more than 4" of fresh from the Soo, to Hearst, to even get started. Looking at the 14 day, I see another possible warm up too, which doesnt make me, or any of you happy. I am seriously going to be in my boat walleye fishing in Michigan, this week. Ski

What the sun didn't take, the rain is killing. It will take a week or more of very below freezing temps, and close to 2 feet of snow for us to start to provide trails, we are all used to. Unsure if our area can recover, and even open this season. We are here in Dub, and onsite, it isnt pretty all along the algoma region. Ski