The Coast

Since I enjoy winter and snowmobiling, we decided to go back to the Lower North Shore for a vacation this year. We had a great time snowmobiling on the Route Blanche Snowmobile trail, went to the Saint Augustine Carnival, and got to watch a hockey game.

The conditions were great since there is so much snow this year. I also think that the season will last much longer than normal, since it will take some time to melt. If it does turn out this way, there will be some excellent spring snowmobiling on the Coast this year.

I will be adding more details on our winter adventure soon, and I have also uploaded some of our photos on the Lower North Shore Web Site too.

On my recent vacation to the Lower North Shore, I met Alexandra and Karl who are walking the entire length of the Route Blanche, from Kegaska to Blanc Sablon. They are from the Quebec City and Lac Saint Jean regions, and I am not quite sure what made them to decide to undertake this adventure, but they seem to be having a great time.

We met them between La Tabatiere and Saint Augustine, and it had been four months since they left Natasquan. Once they reach Blanc Sablon, they plan to take the Relais Nordik, which is the local ferry, back to Sept Iles, or Rimouski. They were making good progress, but still had a few weeks to go until they would reach Old Fort Bay.

I really like their approach, since they were trying to keep everything as traditional as possible. Karl actually made their Komatics himself, and much of their clothes and gear was also traditional or hand made. They did not take a radio or satellite phone with them, and they got their weather forecast and news from people stopping to talk to them on the trail. They spend most of their nights in a small tent that was heated with a wood stove.

They will definitley be in good shape once they reach their final destination, and I am sure that they will have some interesting stories. i am looking forward to hearing from them again, once they get back to “civilization”.

We just booked our winter vacation on The Lower North Shore. We had a great time last year, and are looking forward to hitting the snowmobile trails again this year. This is definitely a snowmobiling paradise with lots of trails, such as the famous “Route Blanche”, or White Route/ White Road. There are also very few fences or man made obstacles to get in your way; just lots of lakes and mountains to explore.

In most of the villages, the roads are also not plowed and you can drive your snowmobile in the village too (as you can see in the photo below).

Here are some more photos from our snowmobiling vacation last year. I just can’t wait to get bback there again, and will include more pictures when I get back.