Great Escape Winter 2022 | Page 10

I had the rib eye steak with deer terrine and

covered in the glorious white dust .

handful of rooms .

gods had different plans for us – after all ,

a marvelous berry lime cheesecake . Denny

The beginning of the day carried on at a

The food was cooked in a small kitchen

it ’ s called an adventure .

has more than 36 years and 220,000 kilo-

much faster pace than the first mostly due

that was in plain view , I opted for a hot

About 10 miles back onto Trail 83 , I

meters of snowmobiling experience , but the

to the fact that – outside of the beginning

chocolate , spaghetti with bread ( always

nearly rear-ended one member , Larry Croll

fresh baked bread-and-butter spread pair-

path to access Trail 3 – we were on clear ,

with that beautiful French bread ) and my

( or “ Barry ” as asked to be called by the trip ’ s

ing that accentuated each dish was really

wide and maintained Trail 83 the major-

first-ever helping of sugar pie – a common

end ) after his sled suddenly went dead .

the impressive takeaway .

ity of the way . At this rate , the 165 miles

yet simple Quebecois dessert that I would

Luckily , a man I would come to call “ fix-it ”

During dinner we agreed on a departure

planned would be accomplished well before

liken to pumpkin pie with a brown sugar

Philippe “ Phil ” LaCroix was along to help .

time of 7:30 the following morning , and

sundown .

sweetness .

Quick to jump off the sled , take his helmet

where we would meet again at the same

We took Trail 83 up around gorgeous

At our current pace we were due to end

off and diagnose a problem , it was deter-

table for breakfast before the day ’ s ride .

gorges on each side of the trail that offered

the day with 165 miles on our odometers

mined the battery had gone completely

As group members dispersed back to

sweeping turns . The trail was nearly four

before sundown . However , the snowmobile

dead – likely due to a faulty alternator . Phil

their rooms I was able to sit beside the

lanes wide , but the steep drops on either

fire in the lounge area and scribble a few

side were daunting enough to keep a dar-

thoughts from the day while also catching

ing throttle in check unless given a clear

a few glimpses of the Montreal Canadiens

straightaway for a couple hundred yards .

hockey game in the background – the an-

Given the powder kicked up from each sled ,

nouncers were one spoke French , but the

at times it became hard to see another rid-

game is the same in any language I sup-

ing ahead .

pose .

With the sun shining bright , stops were

My room was small , but comfortable .

few and far between the first half of the day

There were only 11 channels on the TV and

except for one minor repair . Apparently still

one in English , but I hadn ’ t come to watch

working through a pinch of bad luck in the

TV anyway . We had ridden 115 miles for

beginning , Chris had a chain tensioner bolt

the day , and I was ready for bed .

loosen . However , it was only a 15-minute fix

until the group was ready to ride again . For lunch , we exited Trail 83 into the

On the second day we awoke to the realiza-

town of Riviere Eternitie . After fueling next

tion that we would likely be the first riders

door , we had lunch at Auberge du Presby-

on another 4 inches of fresh powder that

tere de Riviere-Eternite – a bed-and-break-

had fallen overnight and our sleds had been

fast with a small menu of hot food and a