Frost Bytes Day 5... Media Day!

Command Center here, the Darkside bloggers didn't have internet connection at their destination last night for their post on Day 5 (yesterday Feburary 2)... so here are all the photos they did forward on when they had service throughout their day!

If you were following along on the Tracker yesterday you'd see that part of the journey including crossing the St. Lawrence Seaway by ferry.

Let's hope FrostBytes returns to recap Days 5 & 6!

-Darkside Command Center

Frost Bytes Day 4...BURRRRRRRR

Hello All,

Its the FNG here reporting to you live from a long eventful day on the trail...  Our day started out an hour earlier as we had a 200 mile run to make from La Tuque to Chicoutimi our stop tonight.  

Our run began with -18 temps (Not including the wind chill) but at least it was sunny and not a cloud in the sky.  We meandered through tight winding wooded trails for about 40 miles before stopping off at an outfitter to refuel and take a much needed warm up break in front of their fire. 

That's just about when the trip started picking up, it started with Bob getting sucked off the trail into deep powder and having to be yanked out.  A short while later while caught in a day dream it happened to me, luckily team rodbob was there to pull me out, while my wingman Vinny the driver was 9 miles ahead on the trail before he realized I was not behind him.  After  some "positive" reinforcement we were settling down for lunch. 

We had lunch overlooking Lac Saint Jean which is a enormous lake here in the bush. I half thought pulling up we had got to the ocean (duh salt water can't freeze).  We had a quick lunch and fuel stop and were back on the trail..  

In the middle of our 97 mile leg from lunch to hotel we had several mishaps.... the first was rob falling off the side of the trail and pinning the ski of his sled on a tree (rule of thumb if its smaller than 3 inches its traction, if its bigger than 3 its a tree!). This was all tree!  So after getting out his hand saw and sawing it down we had him free and back on the trail.  About 30 miles from town my heated shield stopped working, mix that with dark, snowdust and frigid temps..it will make 30 miles feel like 60.  So after toughing it out and staring through a quarter sized hole in my mask we finally got into town.....  Thank God!  Turns out it just couldn't be that easy, our leader Ole's sled quit. As luck would have it we were right in front of the gas station!  We jumped his sled got it to the pumps while we all fueled and warmed up inside.  OK now we can make it to the hotel and shed all this gear, Nope! His sled quit again that was one time to many, we left him there to get a taxi while we worked our way to the motel.  As we arrived and got checked in he was there to meet us.  After unpacking and hot shower we are all sitting down to a well deserved dinner. All in all it was a long day with cold temps and fast trails!

If you have any topics you would like discussed mention them in the comments!

-Alex

Frost Bytes...Day 3. A Good Warm Up Day to Brrrrrr

It was a cold one this morning...-15 degrees F.  We were prepared for an all day cold.  We got lucky and by noon it was 5 above.  Still required a stop by the local Ski Doo dealer for a little extra cold weather gear.

Currently we are in La Tuque where it is currently 6:20 pm with a local temp of -6 (feels like -21 according to the online weather) with a high of -10 tomorrow. (side bar, for the 3rd day in a row I just deleted my Frost Bytes edition(this time my error) but BIG kudos to Big Al, he hit the "undo" button for me! Saved me from tilt, too). We rode about 160 miles today... not bad considering our projected number was 190, so we are now net positive on the overall! 

Our day began at around 9am, with our first stop for RS Young to get an extra pair of thermal pants for the extreme cold we are about to run into.  Reports are a possible -40 on either Monday or Tuesday, depending upon the front coming in.  (Factoid: -40 is the meeting point where Celsius & Fahrenheit meet at the bottom end of the scale, and my references to the temp is always F ). We had a nice day of riding, with a combination of mountain, twisty, to open valley/power line runs with varying heights of rolling hills.  Beautiful scenery and beautiful trails, real enjoyable with  the variety we had.  After about 50 miles through the National Preserve.  The whole day was full sun, and by the time we were back on the sleds after lunch, it was very comfortable 5 degrees (we were prepared for worse).  We made our destination by 4:30 today.  If any of you recall from our prior adventures, this is pretty impressive.  It seemed our usual arrival time was well after dark.  We will contribute this to our Leader Jim "Olee" Oleander, and congratulate him, on getting his new Ski Doo 1200 4 stroke.  He' s definitely upped the pace during 25 -30 mile  jaunts between 5 minute breaks on the trail.

Our lunch today was quite enjoyable at the Restaurant Marineau, in Mattawin.  One of our servers was fluent in English, and quickly joined in on the praise and affection that was being heaped upon Big Al at the lunch table. She gave us all quite a few extra chuckles, thank you.

This is completely irrelevant...I took a break to take a shower before dinner.  The BEST shower I've ever had on a snowmobile trip.  I may be prejudiced right now because I couldn't shower last night because the other guys ran the hot water out while I was working on this stupid blog. ​

Another uneventful day, really.  Nothing on the trail too exciting. Big Al did piss off a local when he wouldn't move out of the center of the trail so the local could pass.  For about 5 miles.  RS Young left his company ring on the nightstand of last nights motel, and to call them to have it shipped home COD.  That's bout it. Just another day.

It's now 7:15pm, we are sitting in the room having a tasty adult beverage, listening to Kid Rock, while I type tonight's edition...  Tomorrow's Frost Bytes is going to be brought to you by a guest writer, so tune in tomorrow night to get a different perspective of this DarkSide Adventure!

Cheers

"Stick"

Frost Bytes... Day 2, Al is still Big Al...But there was a wrong turn

Big Al has beat the over/under, still no Donkey.  But true to form, the Dark side team missed the trail head, going to Saint-Michel-des- Saints.

We left Mekoos around 9am. We gained about 8'' of fresh powder overnight.  The temperature was around 10 degrees at departure, but sure felt like it was dropping throughout the day.  Currently the temperature is -0- degrees, with a forecasted low -18 overnight.  According to reports, the temps are going to continue dropping for the next few days.  I believe I heard a low of -24 and a high of -10 on Monday or Tuesday.  Super Duper.  Break out the heated vest and an extra layer. 

If you are really dedicated to the DarkSide Adventures, I believe our Spot Tracker GPS is now up and working.  You can probably hit the "Track Us" button on the home screen and click on either of our units to see where we are at during the day (Command Central, feel free to post a blurb if I misrepresented any of those directives).  If you did follow us today, we made pretty good time, with few stops.

Our fuel stop was in Manawan, a small indian town.  After a quick fuel stop, we ventured about 20 miles down the trail for lunch.  But wait, it's just not that easy for us.  A few miles outside of Manawan, we missed the trail head and went about 4 miles out of our way.  We realized we were on the wrong path when we ran into some locals at the end of the road.  That gave me thoughts of Deliverance.  A quick turn around of the 10 sleds, back tracked the 4 miles, and we were back on the right path.

Our lunch stop was at the Outfitter Lac du Repos.  The visit to Lac du Repos was much more pleasurable then our visit 3 years ago.  At that time we showed up at the end of the lunch serving time.  The little old lady that runs the place, like the Soup Nazi, was not very thrilled to see us at that time.  The only thing left to serve us was soup, which is a very generous term.  The soup was beef broth flavored water, with 2-5 chunks of carrot, and if you were lucky, you got a chunk of potato!  This time however, we must have arrived early, because we had soup with plenty of fillings, and our choice of chicken fingers with fries, macaroni with meat (goulash) or a chicken sandwich.  Much more filling this time, and the little old Soup Nazi was actually very pleasant to our group!

Big Al, is still Big Al at this time.  He beat the over/under.  But be patient, the Donkey is bound to make an appearance.  It's inevitable. 

It's now 7:10, I had the first version of this Frost Byte edition ready to post 25 minutes ago. But I lost my internet connection and my words.  It's time for dinner. And somebody just had a bottle of wine delivered to our table... and I am DUN.

But before we sign off this evening, we would like to give a shout out to our Travelocity Gnome Tom "Tom Cat" Hughes.  We know you are out there stalking us on the GPS tracker, and looking for our updates.  We miss you Tom Cat, and wish you and your gang were with us!

Tune in again tomorrow, if I don't get totally aggravated with losing my work each evening, I may even produce another Frost Bytes at that time! ( these guys will ensure I do continue the blog, don't fret... all 7 of you!)

Cheers...

"Stick"

Snow Flakes The First Day...

The DarkSide Riders are now all safe and sound at Meekos.  We got lucky and got our favorite cabin.  It has 8 rooms with smaller than twin size beds, 2 per room, down the interior corridor.  At the end of the corridor, there is an open great room with wood burning stove, kitchen table and efficiency kitchen.  The perfect location to sit at the fire or the table and rehash the awesome experience we are all having again!

We left Mt Laurier around 10:15 this morning with a warm 15 degrees.  This is my first time on the sled this year, and it was super duper to be able to start my season on the super duper Quebec trail system.  Even in areas that could use more snow accumulation, the freshly groomed trails were frozen and the ski`s dug into every turn.  As we rode north to Meekos, the snow noticeabley increased in depth.  It was a short day, only 75 miles.  This was by design, as the path we are taking is new for about 80% of the trip, and to make the required fuel and lodging stops, our first day was a short one to make the rest of the ride fall into place.  Tomorrow`s ride is projected, without any wrong turns, to be about 150 miles.  We will see, right Craig.

The exciting part of our day was at lunch.  There was quite a lost in translation moment, when Video Mike order a grilled cheese with bacon, and got Rob`s, Connecticut Jim`s wingman (profile coming soon), grilled cheese withOUT bacon.  Video took a nice man size bite out of the corner, noticed no bacon, inform the french speaking waitress, who promptly returned it to the kitchen to repair.  She then came out with Video Mikes grilled cheese WITH bacon and gave Rob the grilled cheese withOUT bacon. The. Same. Exact. Bitten. Grilled cheese. Still missing the bitten corner. 

Since there is very little breaking news today, this would probably be a good time to introduce all my followers (I`m up to 7 and my mom now) to Alex ``Big Al`` Young.  He also, affectionately, goes by ``Donkey``  At this time he is Big Al, but the first time he screws up, which the over/under right now is by 1:45pm tomorrow, he will be referred to as, lovingly, Donkey.  Big Al is the DarkSide`s newest and YOUNGEST member to date.  The self proclaimed Òld Soul, is on his first saddlebag ride.  He has rode periodically with his Uncle, and was frost bitten enough to buy himself a superior Bombardier Ski Doo 800 Renegade Backcountry.  Alex is having another excellent adventure with his uncle, as well as old and new friends ( he is fine Julie, and he said he loves you).

As we``re ``socializing` around the cabin``s kitchen table, for the last 2 hours, there has been a steady snow fall, accumulating about 2 inches so far.  By the time we take off in the morning around the 9 o`clock hour, there is expected to be significant, continued, accumulation.  (Who ever is up first, be sure to brush the fresh snow off the machines for the late risers)

It`s approaching the dinner hour and it`s time to sign off.  Before anybody flames or corrects any grammaghapical errors that may be contained in today`s blog, realize I had to use the lodge`s FRENCH keyboard laptop to produce this evening`s Frost Bytes.  (THANK YOU Douglas!)

Check in tomorrow at the same frosty time, on the same frosty channel. Until then...

Once again, before I can hit the ``post`` button I have a request from the peanut gallery to remind you all that Video Mike, as you recall, from SnowTrailsTV.com,  is politely asking you to like him on Tweeter, Twitter, whatever.

Cheers,

`Stick``

Frost Bytes 2015... Back LIVE and on the TRAIL for 2015!

You read the headline correct... we are back live in Mt. Laurier Québec for our next DarkSide Adventure!  After taking 2014 off from the Frost Bytes Blog and the daily thinking inside my helmet for ideas all day, editing, and critiquing from the peanut gallery that I ride &  live with for 10-20 days at a time before publishing, I am back to chronicle the daily adventures and mishaps of our saddle bag ride through the Bush of Northern Québec.  Plus the "overwhelming" requests from our followers for our daily recap (I think there were 5 requests and my Mom (Thanks Mom, love you)).

Currently, we are in Mt. Laurier Québec at our familiar and hospitable lodging at the Quality Inn, that our friends Michel & Renee' own, and is run by their beautiful daughter Mariane.  Unfortunately, Michel & Renee' aren't joining us, as they have chosen the beach in Southern Florida versus the current 8 degrees with a forcasted low of -13 tonight!  Thank you Michel and Renee' for the excellent accommodations (Renee' be sure to rub extra sun tan lotion on Michel).

This year's DarkSide Adventure team consists of the usual cast of characters (jokers on my left and clowns to the right) of Craig Willour & Jim "Jimmer" Olender fearlessly leading us, with Jim from Connecticut (Jim has brought a friend that we will profile later) and Dan from Grand Rapids MI in the middle, and R.S. Young, Vinnie "The Driver", Stick, and to my left, rookie Alex "Big Al" Young from Flint MI bringing up the tail end.  Of course, we also have the legendary Video Mike from SnowTrailsTV.com filming our successes and misdeeds for your viewing pleasure.  Shameless Plug: Be sure to check out SnowTrailsTV.com, either online, on your local cable network & FaceTube (Facebook for the rest of you), as he actually does excellent coverage of all snowmobiling genre's. (Before I hit the "Post" button he wanted me to also inform you he "tweets" now!)

Our ride out begins on Thursday morning (January 29), with the 10 riders heading to Meekos Lodge.  It is currently sunny and warm (8 degrees, see above) in Mt Laurier.  We actually left yesterday around the noon hour and spilt our trip into 2 legs, overnighting in Kingston Ontario.  We chose to do this differently in 2015, then the normal 11 hour straight thru ride, so we would be at our launch site early today for final preparations for our 12 day saddlebag ride.  We arrived at the Quality Inn today around 1pm.  We apparently have gotten pretty good at our pre-trip preparations, as it's now 3:05 and we are enjoying a tasty adult beverage at the hotel, and ready for departure (even after losing my first draft of Frost Bytes to cyber space).

I need to give a SUPER DUPER shout out to our Command Central back in Flint MI, our  eye in the sky, peas to our carrots, white on our rice, Mrs. Mitchell (Thanks Steph!) Stephanie has worked endlessly for the last 36 hours, fueled by Starbucks, to get our new website up and running and providing me the good fortune (sarcasm) to bring you Frost Bytes 2015!  Stephanie and her staff at Command Central are also working right now to bring you the live tracking of every moving moment or our trail ride live to you via our Spot Tracker GPS.  So check in often, tell your friends, and follow along, we're taking you on the DarkSide.

Catch ya tomorrow, Cheers...

"Stick"