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goulais river area - march 15 - 2018


slomo

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Leaving a balmy minus 14 or in Kap, we head south

 

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along the highway past Hornepayne where there is still plenty of snow....

 

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and arrive at Blueberry Hill Motel in time for a short introductory boot over local trails....

 

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Interesting place to stay....Canuck did not mention in previous dispatches that Sherpa porters would come in handy to hump your equipment up a fairly steep flight of stairs to the second floor location of the rooms....but, with ms. slomo in the pool with some of the local women who gather for water exercise classes (and the good natured lady who checked us in turned into an exercise nazi apparently) headed off down the field and over the highway to the trail.....which initially was somewhat confusing....

 

disclaimer - I receive no discounts, compensation,  or other consideration from any enterprises mentioned or pictured in these posts including the cheese place in a previous forum post....

 

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Temps above zero a bit, spring riding for sure and some ground showing on trails exposed to the sun .....sublimization evident....but many trails in great shape and recently smoother over....

 

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Did not see another sled in two and half hours or so....my plan for the next day was to follow the D trail north in some sort of circular route that would leave me back where I started, but might have to do some seat of the pant changes as I go.....ran into this....dog said it was only a kilometer....but most of them haven't switch over from imperial measure yet and can't be trusted....

 

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Will return, rouskis down and see how it goes.... meantime, back on the snow to clean up track and chassis....

 

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More later if not stuck in mud.

 

 

 

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Day 2 ....

 

After a few hundred kilometers of riding the last week, decided to alter plans a bit - no circle tour, but went north on D 40 klicks or so returned south to get a look at D and D130 into the Sault for future reference only having 1 day here this time around....

 

Sad to see, but groomer broke down at southern end of the road running mentioned yesterday. Operator told me he was trying to push snow onto the road and lost a track.

 

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About 3 kilometers of this....after this point....

 

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but worth it at the end....not too bad for me....put down both scratchers, loaded the skid with snow prior to the bare road and put down the rouskis...followed a truck over a 1 lane bridge over the river - he kept checking his mirrors trying to figure out what the heck I was....end of road running and into a nice forested area..

 

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These other pictures are from the rest of my travels so you can see the varied geography of the region.....certainly a change from the relative flat lands of the Northern Corridor I left a couple of days earlier...

 

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Educational system fails local Polaris dealer (and possibly a sign making company) ...good reason to send Blake G over to ream them about their spelling....

 

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Could not find the trail to the Fairmount(?) Hotel, but the Ambassador was easily trail accessible, and was pretty well empty. 

 

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Not sure what is next this year for sledding......but enjoyed this area.

 

 

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Thank you for another entertaining and helpful report. Your a nomad at heart, especially while riding your rouskis camel along 3 kms of bare highway. 

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9 hours ago, Blake G said:

Thank you for another entertaining and helpful report. Your a nomad at heart, especially while riding your rouskis camel along 3 kms of bare highway. 

They're was another entertaining aspect to our stay - ms. slomo at the motel breakfast was being regaled by some sledders from Michigan about a recent Gaspe trip on which they had travelled.....got a memory flash and sure enough, after finding AC+YA's trip with White Dragon et al here on the forum, was able to point to his mug shot and say "was this the guy?" Sorry I missed them  - they were headed up to D'ville and had stayed at Blueberry Hill over night.

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Slomo we stayed @ the Ambassador when we did the Tracks to Trails train trip. S-I-L rode behind me on her sled after we towed my dead sled out to Heyden.

I think we were the only sledders there that time too. Some other guys on the trip (the 3 Americans who unloaded @ D'ville?) were staying @ the Glenview Cottages.

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On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 5:22 PM, slomo said:

They're was another entertaining aspect to our stay - ms. slomo at the motel breakfast was being regaled by some sledders from Michigan about a recent Gaspe trip on which they had travelled.....got a memory flash and sure enough, after finding AC+YA's trip with White Dragon et al here on the forum, was able to point to his mug shot and say "was this the guy?" Sorry I missed them  - they were headed up to D'ville and had stayed at Blueberry Hill over night.

Hi slomo,

 

Spoke with your wife I guess and had no idea either.

 

I love Blueberry.  Great people there.

 

Too bad the roads were burnt off.  The trail south along Hwy 17 after the Ambassador then jogs west and then south along the road to the Fairmont Hotel.  Only a good trail after a snow storm and only until they plow.  If you want to stay in a nicer hotel in the Soo, trailer to Searchmont and start your ride.  When trails are good in the heart of the season, Blueberry or Ambassador is fine, but roads are burnt off now.  The north side of the loop to Searchmont had a section of the trail close (maybe private land?) and left a mile or more of road to use.  The back side of the ski hill in Searchmont has a road section which in years past was trail running in the ditch but never burned off like now.  Whitman Dam Road from town out to the bus turn around always burns off too.  guess the plow guys refuse to leave any for sleds cause somebody down near the trail start complains if they leave any snow on the road.

 

All great riding up in the mountains to the east of the Soo, but no gas out that way has really hurt family sledding on the longer loops.  The D100 down to the golf course and then connecting to Echo Bay is great and makes for another way to get east, but weather the past couple seasons has not been great for the area.  Hopping down to Drummond Island is something we love and the ice has not been cooperating for long seasons either.  Guess lack of snow may have been the worst part this year? 

 

The Goulias River is great to run from The Zone down to the Cedar Swamp to hop back onto the D trail.  It is still good, but as you know the road sections are done now.

 

Would have loved to meet and show you around in the prime season.  So much fantastic riding in prime season there and all the way to Elliot Lake. 

 

We went up and rode from Dub to Hearst to Longlac/Geraldton and back to Dub this past weekend.  Great ride with Luc and Canuck.  Not the best time of year for the city side of SSM.

 

Wish I had know you were there.  BTW those stairs are there to keep us sledders in shape.

 

Scott

 

 

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I'd love to read aboot a trip to Gaspe'!

 

 

i take it that this is in 

general?

 

 

.

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1 hour ago, Ox said:

I'd love to read aboot a trip to Gaspe'!

 

 

i take it that this is in 

general?

 

 

.

OX,

 

Go to the main club house page #2 and find the Gaspe trip pictures...........

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4 hours ago, Ox said:

I'd love to read aboot a trip to Gaspe'!

 

 

i take it that this is in 

general?

 

 

.

Also a  nice trip in the summer.....and with your American dollar you would get a very favourable exchange rate with the Quebec D'argent - their monetary unit.  Here are a few pics from a trip last summer....

 

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You can see how they get all the snow in the winter....

 

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Lobster delivered to your dock....fresh....

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Wait - what?

 

K-Beck has different money?

 

Shirley you jest?

 

 

.

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3 hours ago, Ox said:

Wait - what?

 

K-Beck has different money?

 

Shirley you jest?

 

 

.

Yes, false news...

 

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and stop calling me Shirley....

^_^

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How.....do I follow the train of thought.....of some of you guys!

 

After seeing these Gaspe images, thinking summer might be more fun than winter!

 

Thx Slomo. And Ox!

 

 

 

 

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Thanking me?

 

Well, you are most welcome kind Sir, but I have no clue what for. 

 

LOL!

 

I have stayed at the Blueberry before, but that was >20 yrs ago, and the trail from there to Searchmont was hard to find/follow for us at that time.

Otherwise I have nothing to add to this thread. :(

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2 hours ago, Ox said:

Thanking me?

 

Well, you are most welcome kind Sir, but I have no clue what for. 

 

LOL!

 

 

 

For the segue into "Don't call me Shirley'. Great line from 'Airplane'. (1980).

 

Met the great Canadian actor and comedian, Leslie Nielsen,  while getting paid $$ as an extra in a movie, Prom Night - great joker (recall he walked around with some sort of 'fart' device. He got a kick out of it. Jamie Lee Curtis, co-star, didn't get the humour).

 

Anyhow, that line always brings a smile.

 

 

 

 

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Glanced at Leslie Nielsen's bio and got another chuckle (posthumous humour) :

 

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"Let 'er rip"

 

Leslie Nielsen's gravestone bearing his epitaph, a final reference to his favourite practical joke, a fart machine.

 

(from Wiki)

 

 

 

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