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Elk Lake / Gowganda Trails


Gowganda Lake Camp

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A107C Gowganda to C trail (shining tree) - groomed and in great shape

A107C Gowganda to Elk Lake - groomed and in great shape

L 136 Gowganda to Matachewan - groomed last night and in great shape

A trail Elk Lake - groomed and in great shape

With the two tractors running again we are all caught up. All of the trails are in really nice shape. :woot:

Ron

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Thats great to hear as I'm coming to your place tommorow for a few day's. Look forward to it. Not the drive up though. Probably looking at a minimum 8hrs to get there with dry roads. Shawn.

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Hey Ron, It was nice meeting you the other day although my partners were in a hurry to get going.

We did find Canyon Lake, well actually we commandeered a local just outside of Elk lake and had him guide us in. The trail in was a bit tough with a big mud hole to get by but well worth the trip, I can see how some people would never find this spot.

Beautiful ice falls, we shot a lot of video and still photo's there before moving on.

Thanks again for your help and the grooming on the trails, we nicknamed the A trail from Elk lake to Earlton "the perfect trail" absolutely spectacular as always.

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Hey Ron, It was nice meeting you the other day although my partners were in a hurry to get going.

We did find Canyon Lake, well actually we commandeered a local just outside of Elk lake and had him guide us in. The trail in was a bit tough with a big mud hole to get by but well worth the trip, I can see how some people would never find this spot.

Beautiful ice falls, we shot a lot of video and still photo's there before moving on.

Thanks again for your help and the grooming on the trails, we nicknamed the A trail from Elk lake to Earlton "the perfect trail" absolutely spectacular as always.

It was nice meeting you too. It's always better when you can put a face to a name. I;m glad you found Canyon lake. It is beautiful. From what I am told there is no waterfall there in the summer , the ice is formed from run-off and seepage from the rocks.

Looking forward to see some of your pictures

Ron

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Trail condition update:

From Elk Lake :

The "A" trail around Elk lake was groomed tuesday night - excellent condition

A107c from elk lake to Gowganda ( stumpy lake) groomed last night - excellent condition

Jeff is grooming the C106A tonight and top end of the L136 ( also in great shape)

Tractor #2 from Gowganda

I Groomed the South end of the L136 from Gowganda towards Matachewan and the A107C from Gowganda to North end of Stumpy Lake tuesday night. - Both are in excellent shape

Grooming the A107C from Gowganda to C trail near shining tree tonight. - excellent shape

From what I am hearing all trails in the north are in great shape except for the section on the C trail where the groomer is/was stuck between Gowgama and Timmins. I havn't heard if that is fixed up yet.

Ron

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Trail condition update:

From Elk Lake :

The "A" trail around Elk lake was groomed tuesday night - excellent condition

A107c from elk lake to Gowganda ( stumpy lake) groomed last night - excellent condition

Jeff is grooming the C106A tonight and top end of the L136 ( also in great shape)

Tractor #2 from Gowganda

I Groomed the South end of the L136 from Gowganda towards Matachewan and the A107C from Gowganda to North end of Stumpy Lake tuesday night. - Both are in excellent shape

Grooming the A107C from Gowganda to C trail near shining tree tonight. - excellent shape

From what I am hearing all trails in the north are in great shape except for the section on the C trail where the groomer is/was stuck between Gowgama and Timmins. I havn't heard if that is fixed up yet.

Ron

Stuck or broken ?

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Trail condition update:

From Elk Lake :

The "A" trail around Elk lake was groomed tuesday night - excellent condition

A107c from elk lake to Gowganda ( stumpy lake) groomed last night - excellent condition

Jeff is grooming the C106A tonight and top end of the L136 ( also in great shape)

Tractor #2 from Gowganda

I Groomed the South end of the L136 from Gowganda towards Matachewan and the A107C from Gowganda to North end of Stumpy Lake tuesday night. - Both are in excellent shape

Grooming the A107C from Gowganda to C trail near shining tree tonight. - excellent shape

From what I am hearing all trails in the north are in great shape except for the section on the C trail where the groomer is/was stuck between Gowgama and Timmins. I havn't heard if that is fixed up yet.

Ron

Stuck or broken ?

Both. Got stuck going up the hill. Dug a 4 foot deep trench with the right side track. Did some other silliness that involved trying to turn around and slid off into the trees.

It looks a lot like one bad decision led to another and a head strong guy decided he wasn't going to be beat. Well, he got beat. And so did the equipment!

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Trail condition update:

From Elk Lake :

The "A" trail around Elk lake was groomed tuesday night - excellent condition

A107c from elk lake to Gowganda ( stumpy lake) groomed last night - excellent condition

Jeff is grooming the C106A tonight and top end of the L136 ( also in great shape)

Tractor #2 from Gowganda

I Groomed the South end of the L136 from Gowganda towards Matachewan and the A107C from Gowganda to North end of Stumpy Lake tuesday night. - Both are in excellent shape

Grooming the A107C from Gowganda to C trail near shining tree tonight. - excellent shape

From what I am hearing all trails in the north are in great shape except for the section on the C trail where the groomer is/was stuck between Gowgama and Timmins. I havn't heard if that is fixed up yet.

Ron

Stuck or broken ?

Both. Got stuck going up the hill. Dug a 4 foot deep trench with the right side track. Did some other silliness that involved trying to turn around and slid off into the trees.

It looks a lot like one bad decision led to another and a head strong guy decided he wasn't going to be beat. Well, he got beat. And so did the equipment!

P2271493.jpg

P2271494.jpg

P2271495.jpg

P2271496.jpg

P2271497.jpg

DSCN26120057.jpg

DSCN26130058.jpg

DSCN26140059.jpg

DSCN26150060.jpg

Thanks for the pics, STG. It's a friggin' mess (technical term :P ) on that hill...the day we went through there (Feb. 23rd) we were heading north toward Cochrane, and it was a real challenge to get up that icy exposed rock face (especially for those without studs) :shock:. There wasn't as much snow on it as shows in your Feb 27th pics, either. It required a fast run at it to be sure you'd make it up, but that was a challenge because of the bad bumps at the bottom, and the huge crater half way up

Given how steep and rough that hill is, we wondered if this is perhaps a regular problem...and why the trail couldn't be routed around that spot to provide an easier climb for the groomer.

The 15 kms of ungroomed "C" trail north of that hill were a real treat as well...too bad the Timmins club couldn't be talked into grooming that power line south of the Post 392 turn-off, down to that bad hill, at least temporarily. With L143 closed this year, there's no alternative to get between Timmins and Shining Tree, or vice-versa. Thank God the rest of "C" along the power-line was groomed to perfection. :D:D

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Sorry i haven't really been following each post on this thread but if i understand correctly this is the "big" hill on C trail along the power line just south of Post 392? On a section of trail that the Gogama Club looks after?

If it is I'm proud to say i have groomed that trail a few years back. Was at a buddies cottage in Gogama for the week and offered to give the local operator the night off and go grooming for him. It was a 15 hour run in the middle of nowhere, very lonely and very cold. I was given specific operating instructions on how to get up that hill and told do not spin the tracks and there is no where to turn around, if you can't make it your screwed. There was a lot more snow that year and backing off trail was not an option. I had been over the hill a few times on the sled but never gave any though how steep it was for a groomer. Well traveling along I kept waiting for the big hill to come up...when it did I almost craped my pants. Your pictures do not do the hill justice on how steep it is in a groomer. Well I did what i was told and made it with no problems...but I learned just what a hill was. I'm sure the groomer was almost vertical so I could see how someone could have problems if they slipped on the rocks or ice.

I feel sorry for the poor operator but i'm just glad it wasn't me.

That may even be the same groomer I ran, it was a TS110 and i can't imagine the Gogama Club has got a new one since

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When we came down thru there on the 15th there was some ice build up @ the bottom, but the rest of the hill was OK.

Dave, was something up w/ your camera when you were @ Canyon Lake? The pics look like something Andy Warhol took back in the 60s :rotflmao:

Finally how was the HoJo in Kirkland Lake? I've heard mixed reviews about the place.

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I'm not sure why the pic's did that....other than that camera is crap to begin with. I also had some I took that never showed up.

I think it's time to get a decent camera.

We only ate lunch at Hojo's and the food was par with any other place and lots of it. I also had heard stories of the place and so had some of our group but I found it ok.

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It was a 15 hour run in the middle of nowhere, very lonely and very cold.

That pretty much sums it up. :crazy: You just keep hoping tonight isn't the night the gremlins are going to get your tractor when you are 7 hrs away from anything. I am sure some of the other guys that have been doing it for years have some stories.

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When we came down thru there on the 15th there was some ice build up @ the bottom, but the rest of the hill was OK.

Dave, was something up w/ your camera when you were @ Canyon Lake? The pics look like something Andy Warhol took back in the 60s :rotflmao:

Finally how was the HoJo in Kirkland Lake? I've heard mixed reviews about the place.

revrnd, we stayed there on our way back from Cochrane to the truck at Liskeard....it was OK, but certainly nothing special -- ditto for the food. Definitely showing its age, and needs a freshening up. Finding it from the west ("A" Trail) was a bit of a challenge if you aren't familiar with the maze of local trails in and around Kirkland, which we weren't. Should have come in from the north on the A108 instead...much easier to get to from there.

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It was a 15 hour run in the middle of nowhere, very lonely and very cold.

That pretty much sums it up. :crazy: You just keep hoping tonight isn't the night the gremlins are going to get your tractor when you are 7 hrs away from anything. I am sure some of the other guys that have been doing it for years have some stories.

OH yea ! I was only out there for 15 or 16 hours and came back with a whole new sense of what the north could be like. But of course that was the reason i went out...well that and i didn't want to sit around the camp and get drunk....again.

-the snow is different there than here and acts very different in the drag

-like i mentioned there was a lot of snow that year...don't be a wise ass and try to widen the trail and drop the drag off the edge...cause it literally disappears right up past the lights...god for bid if the power unit had fallen off.

-somewhere just south of Tatachikapeka (sp) Lodge I was getting a tired on...rather than falling asleep at the wheel I knew to take a short nap. Well the temps were very cold...can't say what it was on the trail at the time but when i arrived back at the cottage(24 miles from where the groomer was parked) at 5:30 am it was -47c. Any how back to the nap...do you realize at that temp the groomer motor does not put off much heat and after idling for 10 min it's gets dam cold in the cab...i awoke very quickly and lost my interest in sleep.

-this was just a 15 hour tour snapshot, i did not have to deal with downed trees, swamps, washouts, rocks or anything of the like.

-had i had problems I had my sled suit with me and a sat phone but help would be at least 2 hours away so try standing in the bush at -40 for 2 hours.

Now any groomer operator always has my admiration for what they do but some of these guys that travel in remote area's and the chances they take dealing with hills,swamps, tress and the list goes on really do deserve all the respect in the world from us.

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Hey Ron, we made it home this morning. We stopped over at our friends who run a place north of Sturgeon Falls. We ended up staying two nites there. We took the sleds off trailer for an hour and put them right back on. Trails were terrible. Icy and very very bumpy and very thin. We were spoiled up at your neck of the woods. I wish it was closer because I'd be back again. At least we had a good visit with our friends before departing at 5 this morning, got almost home before the storm started. White out condtions here all day and all night. I spent 5 hrs plowing and it needs to be done again. I've had enough of working the snow but still not enough playing in the snow. Again, thanks for the hospitality and a pleasure to meet you and Giselle, and your boy's.

Shawn.

P.S, that trail going toward Elk Lake on our drive out looked awsome!

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Hey Shawn

Glad you guys made it home safe. I was watching the storm on the weather channel and figured it hit your area pretty hard. It dumped some major snow ! Don't know if I would want all of that here right now. Happy you guys had a good time. Whenever in the area stop in and say hi.

Try to get out and enjoy some of that snow while you can

Ron

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All trails are in great shape. We picked up another 5" of snow last night with 1-2 more expected thursday. I am going out tonight and tomorrow night to groom the L136 and the A107C from Gowganda to C trail near shining tree. Sure is a better March than last winter. This week last year we had hit 50deg. F. Looks like a great weekend to do some sledding and fishing . :woot:

Ron

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Ya ok Ron. Rub it in.

Shawn.

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Keep the reports coming, looking to get a late season trip in.

Not too much new here. VVVVVERY quiet. We have had a group in for about 4 days and they have seen 8 sleds total in their travels. Trails are in great shape . We will probably start grooming again this weekend as the Colder evening temps return. We had about 3 inches of fresh snow yesterday . Don't hesitate to call or email when it gets close to the time you plan on heading north . I will still post when things change.

Ron

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