Be My Trail Valentine
One Couple Shares the Love of Riding in Quebec
BY BILL AND LINDA HEINZELMAN PHOTOS BY GREG BURTOFT
We were up relatively early on a comfortable winter morning in rural Quebec, starting a new snowmobiling adventure in the Lanaudière region, about 100 miles northwest of Montreal. Following our guide up a relatively narrow and twisting feeder trail, we were climbing a round-topped mountain en route to a major trail. Glancing in the side mirror on the sled, I could see more distant mountains emerging into view as we gained altitude. And by the time we reached the top, we could see we were surrounded by steep, snow-covered peaks in all directions.
Right then, we knew we were in for something special.
Let’ s Go!
A few days earlier, just minutes after sunrise, we headed out of our driveway in East Millinocket, Maine, with sleds in tow. Our destination? Sainte-Emelie-de-l’ Energie, Quebec, for our annual Valentine’ s week sled trip.
After 7.5 hours of windshield time, we arrived at“ the Auberge” – Auberge du Vieux-Moulin – where we met up with our guide, Bruce Cody, of Snow Tour Quebec.
Cody normally runs saddlebag tours around Quebec from January through March, but after being away from home( and his wife) for such extended periods of time, he decided to do a lodge-based couples’ trip during Valentine’ s week, which also corresponds with his wife’ s birthday. He created a full-week experience with six rides to different destinations, returning to the Auberge each evening for a group dinner.
Considering our own Valentine tradition of snowmobiling, it was an obvious one to join – and to repeat. This was our sixth year doing this trip and, so far, we have met some great people and made lifelong friends.
Once we arrived at the lodge, we unloaded our Ski- Doos, unpacked our luggage and gear and then settled in for a great week ahead.
The Auberge du Vieux-Moulin is a beautiful resort in the heart of Quebec’ s Lanaudière region, about 2.5 hours( 100 miles) north of Montreal and three hours( 150 miles) west of Quebec City.
It is run by second-generation owner Kevin Fournier, his wife, DdAndree, and extended family. The lodge provides well-appointed rooms, a gourmet restaurant where we enjoyed breakfast and dinner each day, an
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