9 WINTER 2026 VOL. 07 / ISSUE 01 SNOWGOER. COM
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arriving in Laval, though, he couldn’ t find any available lodging |
so he pressed on through the night, putting more ground behind |
him on the area’ s famous super-highway trails and narrowing |
the gap on the others while they slept. |
He finally stopped at 5:10 a. m. when he had reached the hunting |
lodge outside of Chatham, Quebec, where the others were |
staying, 580 miles after he started the day. He parked his 2020 |
Riot 8000 next to the others’ Thundercats in the pre-dawn light |
and talked the manager into letting him crash briefly in an unclaimed |
room. |
“ I laid my head down at 5:30 a. m., and then at about 7:20 a. m. |
Lorne texted me – he was thinking I was in Laval and he says, |
‘ When you get 100 miles in call us and we’ ll come up with a plan |
to meet.’ And I replied,‘ There’ s no need to call, I’ m in room No. |
6.’” After a shower and energy bar, Trevor was ready to roll with |
the rest of the group. |
THE PERFECT CROSSING
The timing of their meet up worked out expertly, because it correlated
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with an unplanned and oh-so-fortunate short cut. |
Best as Lorne could tell when plotting his route, their big- |
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A food stop in Sudbury, Ontario |
gest challenge would be the two days past Chatham. They were
headed into a depopulated area in Quebec where both lodging
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Meeting the Quebec Provincial Police
were close enough to home where help could still reach them if anything went askew. The QPP stop, though, was a sign of things to come – one officer recognized their New Brunswick license plates and said,“ Hey, you’ re THOSE guys,” Lorne recalled. It’ s a phrase they would hear often while their social media fame grew.
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TREVOR’ S CATCHUP
While that group was putting accumulating miles, Trevor was biding his time at the family business before turning things over to his capable crew. At 6 a. m. on February 14, flanked with two longtime riding partners, he began the pursuit of his father and the Steeves father-son duo. On the first day the chase team planned to cover the same ground the lead group rode in two days, with an overnight stay at Edmundston.
But after arriving there earlier than expected they continued and crossed the border into Quebec, catching a room at Dégelis with about 400 miles on their odometers. Trevor was making up ground fast, but he was chasing a target that was moving away from him
“ When we’ d stop for gas, one guy would fill all three sleds while another guy would run in and grab food and snacks,” Trevor said.“ It was a different way to travel but we had a goal in mind.”
After a quick night’ s sleep, they left the next morning in sub-arctic temperatures. The goal was to reach Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, where the first group ended night four, but Trevor decided to extend the ride again. He bid adieu to his riding friends – who doubled back for home – then caught the ferry across the St. Lawrence River, with plans to spend that night in Laval near Montreal. Upon and fuel options were scarce – they thought they’ d have to venture far north to cross the Ottawa River. They had planned for several eventualities, Lorne said, including possibly spending a couple of nights winter camping in the woods. Trevor’ s sled was also carrying a big auxiliary fuel tank on the tunnel, just in case.
But a conversation with a local groomer operator and the spotting of a remote trail sign that merely said“ Ontario” with a directional arrow led them to an informal crossing of the broad river. It was a mile across, Lorne says, but there were snowmobile track marks to follow from previous travelers.
They were still nervous as they pulled up to the river bank in a spot where the mighty river’ s waters slowed enough for the surface to freeze. Lorne planted his Thundercat’ s throttle, and the others were fast in his tracks until they reached the other side – and an unexpected surprise.
“ There was this brand new snowmobile club that was having its first-ever family day,” Lorne said.“ They had balloons out, stringers and banners, with great big crockpots of chili, and