Finally met Bernard! Thanks for taking care of us and putting up with Matt. We did 1000 miles in 5 days with no serious crashes or problems. It was SUPER cold Fri night going from Letape to Pont Rouge but those warming huts and the groomers kept us going.
Many of the open fields were real bony but once the groomers caught up we found mostly very good conditions.
Mon Shawnigan - St Ray
Tue St Ray - Alma. we love Alma!
Wed Mt Valin vista and back. Pictures cannot do the scenery justice. If you get near there GO!
Thurs Lac St Jean and back after abandoning elec start in the am.
Fri Alma to Pont Rouge with hangovers. COLD!
Sat Pont Rouge to Ice Hotel then back to M.Safari.

Coldwave bags lasted 23 miles. Just revalved Ohlins blew on Fri. GPSQuebec trail package is a must. Left camcorder charger in Hotel Roquemont so I think I got about an hour of helmet cam. ipod wouldn't work in the cold, neither would media player recorder (backup for helmet cam)
Pics in a few days.
Pics and

Au revoir to all the nice people we met along the way

Try disposible handwarmers in your pocket with your ipod. Going up this weekend hope it works!!

I used GPSQuebec my trip this past week -- I find it to be 90% good. In some areas (like 93 between Coronet and Chapelle, or 23 in the Park) it was just plain wrong. In fact, it didn't match GPS tracks I've recorded over four seasons. But, it's definately worth it.

If you want a solution for your helmet cam problems, you want this: http://www.chasecam.com -- I use it for a lot of stuff (PWC's, car, etc). I plan on putting it on the sled for my next trip next month.

Jack,
Please tell me what happened to your coldwave bag, I had a brand new coldwave bag that lasted a couple of hours Saturday morning before it completely tore apart and melted to my exhaust. I lost a Spyder fleece jacket, mittens, two thermoses filled with booze, a pair of leather gloves and some starter fluid. I am lucky I did not blow up!

Coldwave needs to do something about this, that bag cost about $135 and lasted three hours.

We need to put our booze in a more secure place next time. Cold Wave owes me

I think you told your spontaneous combustion story to my buddies at the Safari.

23 miles into the first days ride we stopped to make sure we had everybody and everything. I looked at my bags and the the hooks on the modular mount broke off, the metal broke. Plus the the rivets were coming loose. Also the strap that hooks to the tunnel ripped off the bag and the bag was starting to rip open. THIS WAS 23 MILES, I had well over $200 into that shit. I threw them away at the Yamaha dealer in St Ray and bought rigid Y Apex bags, fewer compartment features, etc, but the 900+ miles I put on them beats the shit out of the 23 I got out of the Coldwave crap. Whats worse is I spent 2 hours sewing on some soft fleece to protect the exhaust covers. I spent that whole first day inspecting the rig, and re-strapping everything back down, all the while thinking of how much I paid for them.

I found the GPS trail package to be at least 95% accurate even tho I purchased last year's package in August because I was too impatient to wait for the latest updates for this season. I did 900+ unknown miles almost completely without ever looking at a paper map. Those tracks saved our asses a few time. We even rode the the old 23 blind right passed the logging operation and right onto the new trail in fresh, fun, deep snow.

Yep that was me, I was lucky that I did not blow up. Melted a couple cans of Red Bull, lost my Sambuca and Ketel one thermos's and had a couple of bottles of dry gas and starter fluid in the bag. I have sent an email to Coldwave, this is not acceptable.

I rehooked that bag three times in the first 50 miles and then it all broke loose and melted just before we got to the park in La Tuque, it ended up in the garbage at a gas station up there. We had planned a pack trip to Roberval but did not make it.

I really like their apparel but they need to go back to the drawing board for their luggage.

Hats off to Bernard for great service for snowmobilers, to the groomers of St Raymond and the Caribou Conscripts Club. And thanks to Auberge Le Relais for finding us rooms that cold Fri night, even if they were 100+ miles away.

Didn't take us long...a wrong turn onto an ATV trail made us the subject of close investigation.
Trail conditions varied greatly, especially early, from zip tying the throttle to saddlebag busting bumps. Anybody find a Sonicare toothbrush?
Mt Valin at sunset and night. Spectacular!

Is the area in general busy? We are thinking of heading up there next week and haven't made any reservations as of yet. Do you need the reservations for during the week too or just the weekends?

BD...rode all over the place up there last week.....hardly saw anybody. Trails are great.....good food, good NL. As far as reservations go depends where you want to stay. We booked in advance as we didn't want any issues. FYI it was way cold last week....-30 and more. Didn't bother us ...just make sure you have the right gear if they are calling for similar temps. Handwarmers/ hot shots, gas line a-feeze & similar items probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

If I were you I'd load'n go!
Gowser

I don't know anything about cold wave bag specifically, but, one thing that has always helped keep my bag on the sled is after strapped to sled, put a bungee net over the whole bag. This keeps bag from wiggling around in the bumps and provides a repair net for unexpected body part damage, like busted hood, etc. (only needed once, but worked well). atake care, DAve

Thanks for the tip Dave, my bag was clipped to the attachment device that I bought with it, clipped to my rear bumper and then riveted to my sled under the seat. It should not come off, but the metal hooks they use for the attachment system are weird and need to be fixed. I did not get a response from Coldwave yet, I will give them one more day and then the gloves come off.

During the week you should be OK. But I know from last week's experience for the weekend you will need reservations at most places. So without them your options will be more limited and may cause you to have to ride farther for a warm bed for the night. We had to alter our plans a bit on Monday and called Bernard can he called back with the numbers to a few places and we found rooms. Friday night we tried to alter our plans again since it was freaking cold and it took some searching to find a vacancy, and wound up riding a bit farther than we had planned for the day. Play it by ear for the weekdays but reserve as early as possible for the weekend.

hey jack thanks for the drink and and to bad the bartender did'nt give you ride back she was hot.going up thrusday hope it's as good .