All riders arrived back to their trucks and trailers in Temiscaming QC, safe and sound. Today’s ride was 151 miles.
I need to go back one step. In my enthusiasm to type this stupid effing blog this morning, I overlooked one very important detail from Hotel Mistral. The shower in our room was an absolute 4.6 stars out of 5! This beats the prior 4.4 star bathroom I wrote about a few years ago. It was a split design, with the sink bowl and mirror outside the shower and camode room. The shower room was fantastic. The floors and walls were nice grey tile, and heavy glass sliding doors for the shower. The shower head put out an awesome broad spray pattern with the perfect pressure and stream size, with perfect hot water. But what moved the needle was a feature I’ve never seen on the trail or my many travels. Mounted on the wall, in front of the camode, about 6 inches above the floor was a small electric heater with adjustable heat and a timer for up to 45 minutes. GAME CHANGER. I put my slippers and clean underwear under the heater before getting into the shower. Oh my lord; It was so nice to have warm undies and slippers to go off into the world with, after a great shower. Just saying.
Ok, so breakfast was at 8am, because the restaurant doesn’t open until 8am. The usual snowmobiler breakfast you’ve seen described for the last 13 days, do I really need to elaborate, again? There was not much of a rush, as we only had 150 miles for the day.
And it was COLD. My engine temperature gauge read -15 degrees at start up. The first cold day of our trip, fortunately. I know my saddlebags were a lot lighter for the ride, as I wore every piece of clothing I had, for a total of 3 layers. I heard many other riders say the same. We did a little math at breakfast. -15 degrees with a 60 mph wind is around -55 degrees wind chill. You will find any weak spots in your gear pretty quickly with those numbers. And the high for the day was projected to be 4 degrees.
Before departing, Stick was standing near The Mail Man, when Mail Man said “ i have never been in such a hurry to end a vacation and get back to Rudyard, MI. Only 23 more hours to go!” I just chuckled and went to my sled.
Another un-eventful day on the trail. Except around the 12 mile mark. When we crossed a road and made a turn, we were missing 6 sleds. We waited on the side of the trail for a few minutes, before Action Dan went back to look for the missing riders. They all soon caught up, and the report we got, was The Mail Man, bringing up the rear of the pack, let the pack slip away from his sight, and made a wrong turn. We were fortunately still in cell range, and he phoned Chip Nasty for a location. For someone anxious to get home, he sure is dilly wicking around.
Mile mark 75, I believe, was the fuel stop. It was still VERY COLD, and the fueling station we stopped at, had only one pump. And that one pump was the s-l-o-w-e-s-t gas pump I’ve ever experienced. I think it took us 30 minutes to fuel the sleds. I saw some of the riders use their jerry can of fuel they carry on their sled to speed up their process, for when they got their turn at the pump.
After fueling, and only about 10 miles down the trail, we came upon a local snowmobile club relaise. One last lunch on the trail. And it was a good one. Cheeseburgers all dressed, made with love from the little old lady working the grille, onion rings, hot dogs and French fries. Robere’ struck up a conversation with the nice lady, expressing his pleasure with his burger, and she started describing a special jalapeno burger she makes. She then up and says, you just hold on, I’ll make one real quick and cut it into 8 servings so you guys can try it. It was delicious too. Minced jalapenos, onions and seasonings all mixed into the meat, and grilled on the flat top. She made a short lunch on the trail a fun experience.
After lunch we had 80 miles to go, and it was about 2pm. I was thinking it was going to be about a 5 pm arrival. I was pleasantly surprised. The trails the rest of the way in were long, straight runs, soft bends, and we were carrying the mail. A great way to end the trip and get in around 4pm, including 2 quick breaks along the way.
The total miles on this trip ended right at 2,600 miles. The Yamaha’s said anywhere from 2,601 to Yamaha Kevin’s 2,643 miles, to the Ski Doo mileage of 2,578. Definitely not what was advertised in the brochure when I signed up. The brochure and website said it was a 2,100 mile trip! As Orange Helmet and I said to each other, it feels good to know we can still do that kind of mileage. To put 2,600 miles into perspective, that’s the equivalent of riding your snowmobile from South East Michigan to South West Florida, and returning. In 13 days.
Burnt Piston Dave arrived here about 3pm yesterday. I haven’t been able to talk with him yet to see what he’s been doing for the 28 hours, but I did overhear he walked a 1/2 mile this morning to get breakfast at the diner down the road. And he bought a six pack of Labatt Blue on his walk back.
It’s about 6:30 pm, Connecticut Jim and Wiki Rob have already hit the road back to Vermont. The rest of us are gathered in the bar area of The Canadienne. Some are gathered around the bar, and Action Dan has a hot pool game going with the owner of the hotel.
This trail has come to an end. Thank you to the 7 or 8 followers that tagged along. It’s time for me to get back to SW Florida. There are palm trees, beaches and bikinis there.
Until our trails cross again,
Farewell,
Stick
PS: Hey Fact Checker, the last fact check was just my regular typos, there wasn’t an intentional error. Orange Helmet found an error, and, after discussing it, we left it for you to find. You are two beers in the hole.