Craig and I left Valentine Farms in Chapleau around 8:30AM Friday. It had rained a good portion of the night and was still raining when we left. It was overcast and visibility was poor as our face shields continued to be hazed by raindrops that were falling on our heads. It was tough sledding as it continued to rain all morning, and the snow was very moist and heavy, almost like quicksand - making it hard to turn the handlebars, especially on the rage with its aggressive ski set up. We pressed on and made pretty good time in spite of the conditions. We stopped at Flame Lake Lodge about 60 miles in to gas up and then pressed on to Aubrey Falls, the half way point, for gas and lunch.
At lunch we had some good homemade chicken noodle soup and a grilled ham and cheese - just what the doctor ordered. The guy who owned the place liked it the concept so much he decided to make it the daily special. The large group of Ski Doo guys that had stayed at Valentine the night before started to trickle in, as this was also the half way point to their destination of the day, Elliot Lake. We had a few more laughs with those guys and said our goodbyes as we headed out for the final stretch, another 130 miles back to the car in Sault Saint Marie.
The final ride took us through some big country. It continued to be all twists and turns with few straightaways, and Craig and I were getting tired. We stopped to take some pics and the scenery was awesome, but it was a little lost on us given our state and also the dreary day.
At the point when my odometer indicated that we should be home things got pretty stressful. Not only did my fuel light come on but we came to a trail head that was mismarked (in hindsight) as it indicated we still had 80KM to go, and we both about lost it. We were ready for a beer and a hot shower, and the last two days of riding were extremely technical and it was a grind.
It turned out the sign was wrong and we were pretty close to the Water Tower Inn, the hotel where it all started, and our base. At that point I had to take a cab to the rail depot to get the truck, so Craig stayed behind to guard the stuff and I headed out. I went and got the truck and we loaded up the sleds and got ourselves packed up. At that point we decided we were not going to make the drive back to GR as we were just too tired, so we crossed the border and headed to the Kewadin Casino Hotel in Saint Ignace. As luck would have it they had 1 room left. We checked in and headed down tot he casino for a bite to eat and a few drinks, and we ended up playing some slots and had fun reminiscing about the trip.
Yesterday we left Saint Ignace around 10AM and I did not get home until 7PM. It was a long day and today I am tired. Go figure.
All in all it was an awesome trip. Some good, some bad, but a true adventure for sure.
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