2nd stage – Rouyn-Noranda to La Reine and La Sarre, about 150 km
Wednesday February 15th 2012
We stayed last night at the Alpin Motel in Rouyn-Noranda; we got there directly from the urban snowmobile trail. Gas station was available and our sleds were protected by a security system. We received a warm welcome and our spacious rooms were just exquisite. We enjoyed delicious food at O’Toole’s, the hotel restaurant.
This morning, we met our guide Mr Roger Larivière, volunteer of the Club Motoneigistes MRC Rouyn-Noranda. He was going to guide us to our halt in Palmarolle where other guides were waiting for us. It was -12o C, no sunshine, when we left and trails had just been groomed. We crossed the city on the urban trail where signs are perfectly set for tourists like us.
Along the way, we rode alongside lakes and the scenery was wonderful. It was easy to ride on this sinuous trail. After a few kilometers, we reached the chalet of the Club de motoneige de Palmarolle that overlooks a huge lake. We stopped for a short while to meet our two guides, Claude and Louise Lemaire, husband and wife, respectively 73 and 71 years old. Snowmobile keeps them young, they said. Would that be the ultimate sense of snowmobiling, a youth therapy? We chatted a while and before leaving for the village called La Reine, we met two tourists from Sherbrooke; Mr Gérald Fournier was visiting the Abitibi region for the first time and Mr Éric Lapierre had been here about 20 years ago.
I asked them why they chose the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. They said they were attracted by the trail outstanding conditions, the beauty of the scenery, the well groomed and wide highway trails with great signboards, even if somewhat inadequate between Quévillon and Chapais regarding gas stations; signs indicated gas, but there was none. Despite that, they were very pleased with the hospitality of the people, the food and the accomodation. Éric said it took him 20 years to come back but next time, he would be back before 20 years; he noticed huge improvements at many levels since his last visit.
We left with our guides for La Reine riding on trail passing through the undergrowth. Then, we rode on a very wide trail, we crossed villages and piloting was easy. As there were almost no curves, we had to be careful not to speed over limits. We reached La Reine, a small village of about 100 residents, where a bridge connects the Province of Québec to Cochrane, Ontario. A strange door located in the middle of nowhere was indicating «At the world’s end»; I can say now that I went to the end of the world once in my lifetime.
After this visit, we left on this beautiful trail for La Sarre. After a few kilometers, we arrived at the Motel Villa mon repos located in the center of the city, so conveniently reachable by snowmobile trail. We said goodbye to our guides who showed us magnificient sites and we sincerely thanked them. Then, we ate a good meal and went for a good night sleep.
3rd stage – La Sarre to Amos
Thursday February 16th 2012
It is -18o C, rather cloudy sky. I met Mr Yvon Leclair, president of the snowmobile club and we talked about his involvement in his club. I have been charmed by this open-minded and respectful man. Then, I met two long-time volunteers and our guides for this day, Camille Labbé and Dominique Dufour, from Club motoneige Abitibi-Ouest. On our way to Amos, they proudly told us that we were riding on the portion of the trail they were responsible of. We talked about their involvement in the club and about the pleasure brought by snowmobiling. The trails towards Taschereau were outstanding; I had great pleasure taking pictures of the landscape to immortalize my trip. Then, we arrived in Taschereau, a small village on lake shore with a railroad along the snowmobile trail. We halted at the O’Brien Pub to meet our two new guides from Club de motoneige d’Amos, Mr Jean-Guy Many and Mr Donald Bouchard, the manager. After a quick and satisfying lunch, we said goodbye to our guides from La Sarre.
On the trail we went again, heading for Amos our final destination of the day. Our guides took us to the Domaine du Lac Berry where we met the friendly owner, Mr Hébert; his cabin is the snowmobilers’ gathering place. Mr Hébert said he loved welcoming snowmobilers, so pleasant people, and furthermore, he was helping the club in winter. After this visit, we rode to the Amosphère Resort for the night. The beauty of the trails was just breathtaking; it seems like highways on snow mostly in this part of the trail to Amos. Once at the hotel, we thanked our guides and companions and parked our snowmobiles in the heated safe garage for the night. We were very grateful to the hotel employees for their top-quality welcome. We settled in our room and then, we ate a good meal followed by a good night sleep.
