slomo Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 So it came to pass I left Grand Falls, New Brunswick on my way easterly to Bathurst to try the trails in that area. Before leaving the parking lot of the motel (review later - no not being compensated for the review) I noticed this: Wait a minute - isn't the world's shortest covered bridge in Latchford, Ontario? Sure is...right on the trail. Be sending a few emails out about that! Anywhoo, in my last report, the topic of the Christmas Mountain trails came up - located in Mount Carleton Park. Here is my route of travel this morning - you can see where the park is: Some pretty wintry conditions there yet and the area is remote and forbidding.....did see quite a few sledders at road crossings as conditions look good... The Bathurst area offers many different types of trails and was hoping for a more 'moderate' temperature than in my previous stop. As I get closer to town though I am beginning to worry - from the road conditions looked really thin. Although my room was not yet ready, I could get into it. Gotta love the efficiency suites at motels. Sandwich, soup, glass of milk, and out on the trails for what I thought would be a short getting acquainted ride of the area. Turns out I need not have had to worry about trail conditions after all! First pic is from the trail from motel to the main trail 19, the rest are assorted shots along the way - which went for about 125 kilometers or so..... What's this? Trail grooming? You betcha! Cathedral picture for Canuck... Two of the 6 sleds I saw in 4 hours....where is everybody? If there ever was a ride on which I was sorry I did not have one of those Martian helmet cameras, this was it....-4 temps, sunshine, no wind, no face shield. Deciding on beef stew or the famous burgers at this motel - even has a sled run named after them. Tomorrow, slomo rides to the ocean....more later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white dragon Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 nice pics again,trails look sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 Just adding a map of the trails in the area: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sledjunk Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 That trip looks amazing! Great report Slomo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetman Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 We had great riding except for Wednesday getting from Bathurst back to Edmundston. We hit a brutal logging section center of the 19 trail between the two cities. In the cloud picture my mitts and coat are soaked. The KLIM pants use water proof zippers everywhere except the center zipper; perfect all the rain running down the coat went right thru the zipper at the lower section. Awesome signage in NB. Edmundston is a quicker drive from Ottawa than getting to Kirkland Lake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techdenis007 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 On 12/03/2017 at 6:49 PM, slomo said: Just adding a map of the trails in the area: Head North East and ride some of the trails around Caraquet, take lots of pictures. ... maybe you'll stumble across the Gionet Family Monument. ... it's in Bas-Caraquet somewhere. .. I haven't seen it yet myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 4 hours ago, Gadgetman said: We had great riding except for Wednesday getting from Bathurst back to Edmundston. We hit a brutal logging section center of the 19 trail between the two cities. In the cloud picture my mitts and coat are soaked. The KLIM pants use water proof zippers everywhere except the center zipper; perfect all the rain running down the coat went right thru the zipper at the lower section. Awesome signage in NB. Edmundston is a quicker drive from Ottawa than getting to Kirkland Lake. With the highways being practically four lane all the way to New Brunswick (except for a 20 minute stretch south of RDL) if weather is good it is a fairly convenient drive for folks in southern Ontario as well. Thanks for mentioning the logging - somebody is supposed to send me a survey after my vacation ends - I will mention that some sort of warnings need to be issued about logging / trail detours etc. on the trail map for saddlebag riders. For myself doing local riding it was less of a problem. One particularly helpful club was this one - seeing their posting on March 9 while in Ontario, knew there would be some decent riding around Bathurst: http://www.bathursttrails.com/en/conditions They also posted on some logging on trail 23 that I was able to avoid yesterday. This group has a pretty good set up - private club house for members with restaurant etc. And gas on site - notice the sign - Owl's Nest Lodge will like this one eh Rich? ! They have the 'no pass, no gas' sign posted on approaching trails as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 Well, did head north east yesterday, but did not see Denis007's descendents living or deceased. Some pretty good trails though. I won't bore you with more shots of the main trails - trail 19 in fabulous shape and very smooth elegant riding. Well, maybe just two shots - I parked in the dead center middle of the trail briefly - not there was much traffic, saw 7 sleds all day - to get a picture detailing the great trail width. I don't know how they did it, but some medium to long curves actually had banks built into them without losing trail width - throttle off, dip to turn, throttle on. Brap -------Brap Brap Brap I guess for those without the smooth silky pull of a four stroke machine..... From trail 19 - the main trail east / west I took a local trail 331 which appeared to follow the Acadian Peninsula coast - an old rail trail by the look of it and also shared by ATV's in the off season - -and finally got a distant view of the shore. The trail is actually some distance from the water except for one spot as seen on the map - your typical gas stops - fuel, food, government licensed liquor store, are spaced a regular intervals in the communities along the highway. Conditions on the local trail began to deteriorate - a recent ice storm left icy and some pretty large moguls for short distances, as well as some very bare patches, so once reconnected with trail 19, basically just followed the nose of the sled around - if a bad stretch presented itself, found another trail. Will certainly return to this scenic area with more snow in the future. On the way back, had a look at one of the many shelters on the trails....lots of wood, nice stove, even newspaper, a quart of oil, axes and solar powered lights... Here's an idea that might be of some use to people - inexpensive helmet storage..... Good news - the holes in the containers provide nice air flow for warming and drying out helmets given a good level of heat in the shelter unlike monolithic shelves in restaurants etc. Bad news....someone, somebody, has got to make a trip to Ikea... Back out on the trails today - probably go north this time, but return in time to batten down for the big snowstorm headed this way. Was thinking a quick jaunt to PEI might be possible before the end of the week,, but likely going to ride out the blizzard here in Bathurst until Thursday. PEI has 900 kilometers of trail - a 400 kilometer trail from one end of the island to the other - but their trails are not in great shape presently. Maybe next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techdenis007 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Thanks so much for sharing ! We would vacation in Caraquet as a youth, lots of cousins and 2nd cousins to play with. Grandpa was a fisherman and would fish for capelin and cod in front of the huge 2 story house facing Caraquet Bay, summer and winter. Grandma had an old wood-fired cookstove that she baked fresh bread and meat pies in ... we weren't ever hungry when Grandmaman Anna was on the job. Many many fond memories of the area. If you get bored, search for Rue Gionet, Pointe Rocheuse, NB ... you'll find where we came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake G Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 4 hours ago, Denis007 said: maybe you'll stumble across the Gionet Family Monument. ... it's in Bas-Caraquet somewhere. .. I haven't seen it yet myself. Denis, I'd have thought the family monument would be situated very close to the family jewels, and that you'd have seen it on at least a daily basis. Not stumbled on it, surely, but seen it, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetman Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 5 hours ago, slomo said: With the highways being practically four lane all the way to New Brunswick (except for a 20 minute stretch south of RDL) if weather is good it is a fairly convenient drive for folks in southern Ontario as well. Thanks for mentioning the logging - somebody is supposed to send me a survey after my vacation ends - I will mention that some sort of warnings need to be issued about logging / trail detours etc. on the trail map for saddlebag riders. For myself doing local riding it was less of a problem. One particularly helpful club was this one - seeing their posting on March 9 while in Ontario, knew there would be some decent riding around Bathurst: http://www.bathursttrails.com/en/conditions They also posted on some logging on trail 23 that I was able to avoid yesterday. This group has a pretty good set up - private club house for members with restaurant etc. And gas on site - notice the sign - Owl's Nest Lodge will like this one eh Rich? ! They have the 'no pass, no gas' sign posted on approaching trails as well. I know that place, stopped there twice for lunch. On our trip we met the head of the NB federation, I'm going to send him a note about the good and things that caught us, like no reason why a trail hasn't been groomed in 7 days - like logging ( wow, I sound like a teen ager with all the likes) He was interested in trying to figure out what ontario shows to go to and hopefully draw more sledder to NB. The Atlantic Host is clearly the most sled friendly hotel, likely in NB from what we saw. The pool and whirlpool helps at the end of the day. He is trying to get the hotels in Edmundston to spend money and build unloading ramps like the Atlantic Host has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 5 hours ago, Gadgetman said: I know that place, stopped there twice for lunch. On our trip we met the head of the NB federation, I'm going to send him a note about the good and things that caught us, like no reason why a trail hasn't been groomed in 7 days - like logging ( wow, I sound like a teen ager with all the likes) He was interested in trying to figure out what ontario shows to go to and hopefully draw more sledder to NB. The Atlantic Host is clearly the most sled friendly hotel, likely in NB from what we saw. The pool and whirlpool helps at the end of the day. He is trying to get the hotels in Edmundston to spend money and build unloading ramps like the Atlantic Host has. That is good news about wanting to attract out of province sledders. The only fly in the ointment is, as you mention, sudden bouts of logging and no warning. Just wanted to mention the choice of accomodation in Bathurst.... The Atlantic Host is certainly favoured by snowmobile writers - they don't mention Danny's Inn at all and I think it is a good choice as well. It does lack the pool, but you have a choice of different types of rooms - you can cook for yourself or wait in a restaurant - the Atlantic Host has motel room type only so you're captive to restaurants. Depends entirely on personal preference and what type of riding you are doing.- both are good choices. I was impressed with the amount of parking at both places for trucks and trailers - the Atlantic Host coming out a bit ahead in this category. But I really dislike it when paid people leave out information that is useful to their supposed clients. https://www.atlantichost.com/ http://www.dannysinn.com/en/ Gadgetman - go to the New Brunswick tourism site and check for a provincial highway map. They offer a survey for which in return for filling out, you can win $250.00 worth of lobster. Check off snowmobiling for every question. I got an email back from someone asking if I would send them my impressions after my trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 9 hours ago, Denis007 said: Thanks so much for sharing ! We would vacation in Caraquet as a youth, lots of cousins and 2nd cousins to play with. Grandpa was a fisherman and would fish for capelin and cod in front of the huge 2 story house facing Caraquet Bay, summer and winter. Grandma had an old wood-fired cookstove that she baked fresh bread and meat pies in ... we weren't ever hungry when Grandmaman Anna was on the job. Many many fond memories of the area. If you get bored, search for Rue Gionet, Pointe Rocheuse, NB ... you'll find where we came from. Better get out here again pretty soon Denis - my French is a little rusty, but it looks like they're selling the family house.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 I was shocked and stunned to check my trip odometer B when I went to fuel this morning that I covered 313 kilometers in yesterday's all day riding around. Was pretty beat getting up this morning that's for sure. Did manage to get out for 150 klicks or so before back and other parts began to complain - as a lone rider first sign that your situational awareness might be impaired so time to call it a day. Here are a few pics of probably my last ride this season, barring a Easter weekend miracle. Headed northwest of Bathhurst on trail 19 and came back the same way. Another club house....looks like the groomer just got back.... Yep... We will see how snow amounts are tomorrow, but my guess with predictions around 1 1/2 feet and a heavy blizzard wind, the trails might be a bit tricky unless the groomers get out on them. Heading back west on Thursday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white dragon Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 great report slomo,your sled looks well set up.as well as the silky smooth 4 stroke motor...putt...putt...putt...what were temps like ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 8 hours ago, white dragon said: great report slomo,your sled looks well set up.as well as the silky smooth 4 stroke motor...putt...putt...putt...what were temps like ? Started at about -10 to about -3 when I was done.....some spring sunshine brown rot apparent in places, blizzardio here today - not sure if we'll get out on the trails or not - plenty of drifting. put put put - sip sip sip. brap brap brap - glug glug glug. Did not even use a full tank (40 liter) day before yesterday, gas mileage encroayableaux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 Back in Ontario after one day of waiting out the blizzard across eastern Canada - trails were too drifted to ride. Total drive time about 10 hours to GTA- highway across the north of New Brunswick was snow and ice - took a bit of time, but reaching the Trans Canada at St. Leonard, and then Quebec and eastern Ontario, conditions were wet and bare, and completely bare west of Quebec city. I am shaking my head in disbelief after having seen images of the blizzard in Quebec on TV and then driving the highway - you'd never know any snow had fallen as a result of how quickly they cleared the highway. Highway 20 had been closed for a good stretch due to bad weather - it was perfect to drive the next day. I certainly enjoyed my trip - will definitely return to this area. Another interesting factoid is that other trail systems, such as PEI, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland are fairly proximate to each other if you happen to like variety with little additional travel. I have sent emails thanking the various trail clubs for their hard work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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