Please note that there is a Menu change for Wednesday nights supper at the lodge. Bar-B-Q Chicken instead of Chicken Cordon Bleu. Call 548-9174   
    It was an unbelievable weekend with probably the heaviest traffic we’ve ever seen. This was compounded by a 25 cm snowfall Wed night through Thus morning. Groomers ran steady, but could not keep up. Speaking with the operators on Saturday, they were quite frustrated and tired. So we gave them a rest on Saturday night and went back to work on Sunday morning. Both groomers are still on the trail this morning. We are concentrating on trails linking to the lodge from Bathurst to Governors. The #2 groomer is now in East Bathurst after a double run to the Host to the Lodge. The #1 unit is working between Governors & the Lodge on 23, 507 and 503.

    We may be seeing a break with the weather as the long range shows not much in the sign of snow. We have permission from the ORVE to post their findings as we had many emails saying that they never see them. This is their report for Jan 28/29 weekend: “ORVE in an effort to increase awareness and promote safe operation of off-road vehicles conducted numerous checkpoints in the Popple Depot, California Lake, Nepisiguit falls, Nine Mile East region.  As a result of theses patrols there were 449 field contacts made and 11 violations noted. Among the offences noted were violations of the off-road vehicle act, and the Liquor Control Act please assist ORVE in making your trails safe by contacting Off Road vehicle Enforcement at offroadvehicle@gnb.ca or 1-877-449-2244 to report unlawful off-road vehicle activity.  Your ongoing support is appreciated.”

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Andre from Holland

    -18 in Bathurst this morning: We might have received 13 cm near the city on Wed, but as you approach the lodge & then out towards Governors on 23 it varies from 20 to 30 cm. We had the #2 unit running since 5 AM on Thurs. and it is still on the trail this AM. It traveled from East Bathurst on the 19 to the Host and from there to Rogers Lake on Trail 23. his morning it is back to the Host in Bathurst and on to Bass River where it will turn with a fresh operator and run back to Nepisiguit Lodge and head for Trail 22, which will happen sometime tonight. The #1 groomer left from Rogers Lake for Gov from Rogers Lake early this morning on Trail 23, he will also do the 503 to Trail 19.

    There was a good turnout for the Wednesday night supper & many thanks to LS Wear Parts who sponsored this supper the last 14 years. Guests from N S, PEI, and one all the way from Holland.
      -11 in Bathurst with about 13 cm of very light powder down with lots of air in it. This will not hamper the conditions this morning as the trails are very flat. The #1 unit is back at Nepisiguit from Serpentine on Trail 23. The only grooming today was a scheduled run from East Bathurst to the Host and out to Nepisiguit by the #2 unit. We’ll let the traffic take the air out and reschedule the groomers for tomorrow.
Drive safe and please use good judgement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The NB Trail status map is loaded with errors for our area. All trails below have had multiple passes since Saturday and are V Good to excellent
Bathurst to Lodge: 19/23                          

Trail 19 to East Bath 19/23  

Trail 23 Lodge to Nine Mile Shelter:            

Trail 23 Nine Mile Shelter to Rogers Lake :  

Trail 23 Rogers Lake to Red Pine Shelter:       

Trail 23 Red Pine to 23/503 TV Tower road.
Trail 23  23/507 TV Tower Road to Governors

Trail 23 Governors to Serpentine 

Trail 22 Nine Mile Shelter to 507/22   

Trail 22   507/22   to 301/22  
Trail 52  Lodge to Taylor Bk Rd
Trail 507 507/22 to Trail 23/507 Red Pine Shelter 
Trail 503 TV Tower to Trail 19 Simpson Fields          

Trail 504 Governors to 15 Km towards Mt Carleton    

   Tickets for tonight’s Lodge Supper still can be reserved at the Lodge 548-9174
    -15 at post with a flurry forecast for today. The #1 groomer left from Rogers Lake for Serpentine this morning on Trail 23. The #2 unit will run from Bathurst to the Taylor Brook Road & Nepisiguit Lodge on the 19, 23, & 52 and return to East Bathurst on the 19.
    All trails are flat and hard with the number of passes plus cold weather.
Caraquet has been up to Bass River on the 19
Miramichi has been up towards Nepisiguit on the 52
Chaleur has been on their trails steady
Simple safety rules to follow out on the trail.

Don’t ride two abreast.
Stay on the right side, especially in corners

Follow at a safe distance.
Stay well back of the snow dust from the sled in front.

When stopped, stay out of the way of oncoming traffic.
Driving recklessly: minimum Fine $292 plus impoundment of snowmobile.

     Both groomers are idle tonight. The #1 unit just got back from the 301 on Trail 22. The #2 unit had its regular maintenance, went on a short run  and is set for tomorrow. The two groomers ran steady from Saturday morning, first trying to get the 35 cm under us then dealing with the moguls left by too many sleds to count. With the temperatures down to where they were and the moderate traffic after Sunday afternoon, we pretty well have the trails where we want them. The #1 unit will be off to Serpentine early tomorrow morning. We put 152 grooming hours on in that period. Operators went non stop.
      We have a minor mud bog problem near the CNR track in East Bathurst. Dan & his crew will try to masterfully fix this tomorrow.

      Tickets for Lodge Supper on Wed night can be reserved at the Lodge 548-9174
     -16 and clear at post. Trails are gradually getting back to normal, especially with these lower temps. Both groomers were out again yesterday. The #1 has a defective GPS box and can’t be tracked. It has been working weird and now it has completely gone from view. It was out working the 23 from the lodge to Governors and also up over TV Tower on the 503. The #2 unit is now in Bathurst for grease and a look over plus drag maintenance. I will be talking to the operator of the #1 unit this morning.
Simple rules to follow:

Don’t ride two abreast.
Stay on the right side, especially in corners

Follow at a safe distance.
Stay well back of the snow dust from the sled in front.

When stopped, stay out of the way of oncoming traffic.
Driving recklessly: Subject to minimum Fine $292.50 plus impoundment.

   This will be the final chapter in a plea to those sledders who think they are the only ones on the trail. I have had many emails echoing my views on what is taking place with reckless abandon on our trails, not only here in the Nepisiguit area, but all over. Rules of the trail we would like everyone to follow. Our trails are wide enough in 95% of the system. Stay on your side of the trail and if you think you are going to slow then edge closer to the right and keep an eye on the rear view mirror. No riding two abreast. If stopped park well to the side of the trail especially never on turns & blinds. In the corners, please slow down and stay on the RIGHT side of the trail. Follow the sled before you at a safe distance 300 to 500 feet and this is a matter judgement depending on speed, which would make it farther, and especially in snow dust (case in point: a rider in the Moose Valley area ran over his buddy who flipped off his sled and he didn’t see him due to driving to close in the snow dust). Keep the speed down where you are in total control. There are many more points I could bring up, but if we could accomplish the above, it would go a long way in making our trails safe.
    Just a footnote to the above: We have to give our children special courses on operating and safely handling a snowmobile. This brings me to wonder the juvenile behaviour of some of our adult drivers. If you feel that you have reason to believe that someone is driving to recklessly, approach him and ask him why he was doing so.

    It looks like the Recipe for Disaster has caught a lot of our viewers attention , because there has been a flood of emails 100% in favour of this message. If you haven’t seen the message, please scroll down to earlier posts. The ORVE have picked up on this as they read our posts everyday as well with our site averaging over 35,000 hits per day through the week with a drop off on Sat & Sun. I’m not going to elaborate as in the previous messages as to what I think boils down to 5 to 10% of the snowmobiling population and it is this few that can ruin a great sport like ours to the point where we‘ll be limited as in our sister Provinces. If we don’t take our responsibilities as safe sledders before someone gets seriously hurt, then I’m afraid there will be a lot of liberties lost. Please pass along this message to your fellow sledders.
     I must remind you that this is not only happening on the Nepisiguit trails, but all over. There has been a lot of traffic here in the north with snowmobilers riding from throughout the Maritimes so with that many people on the trail you have to be that much more aware of what is coming around the next corner.
ORVA SECTION 20    A person shall not operate an off-road vehicle in a careless, reckless or negligent manner or in a manner likely to cause damage or injury to other persons, to property or to the environment.    Minimum Fine $292.50 plus the fact that they can impound your snowmobile. Go to links of interest for the ORVE and the act.
Four of many emails
1. I have been snowmobiling up your way for the past couple of years with my husband and i love it, you have beautiful trails. Your message about the above subject is great, too many machines going way to fast in curves and driving 3 - 4 wide, I think you should post that message in every shelter and lodge out your way because a lot of people to not access this site and want even see this message, just my thought! If speed keeps going on up there we will no longer go because of fear of getting killed or badly injured! You have an absolutely beautiful place to sled, I just hope it doesn't come to an end for us because of a bunch of idiots!!!!!

2. I have to agree with all that was said thus far. Last week was my first time to sled up at the Host, out to the Sugar Shack and surrounding areas. Not even 5 min out on the trail from the Host and some idiot on a Polaris comes flying around the corner on my side of the trail. Good thing he was able to flick his sled on one side to avoid me. I'm like most people out there I think. When the trail is long, straight and flat, I like to open it up. But I'm always very cautious on the corners, constantly hugging hard to the right side of trail. Its this practice I think that have saved me from collisions over the past few years. I'm not sure what has to be done to change things but we need more policing on the trials, especially the high traffic ones. This is my 4th season snowmobiling and I'm all over New Brunswick enjoying my sport but I have NEVER once ran into any kind of policing on the trails. I know we have lots of trails but there really shouldn't be any reason why on a Saturday afternoon that I shouldn't see at least one person policing the main provincial trials. Anyway, those are my thoughts on this.
3. Here are my concerns about trail riding. Why when you stop it has to be in the middle of the trail and not on the side. Don't pass on a blind hill or in corners you never know what could be coming on the other side. Snowmobiling is a wonderful sport like anything it only takes a few to ruin it or someone's life. Please use your judgment and a bit of common sense.

4. Hi Don - Just a point - Alot of the crazies out there are the "children" or adults pretending to be children who have already figured out that it is open season to more or less break the law while on the trails. The definition of children and what age range this means is up for argument. If the Crazy or otherwise ???? parent give their young adult children the means and methods to head to the wild west this behaviour will be hard to get under control. Ultimately there will be accidents and hopefully no deaths and then there will be more rules and regulations for all to obey. Moral of the story is " Be Responsible and think about others" Signed Happy Sledder

      What is going to happen when a set of crazies are barrelling down a trail on a corner three abreast. Not a pretty sight if you’re going the other way. Gentlemen, you have to use your head as this is going to lead to disaster. You have to realize that you’re not the only ones on the trail.

Did you ever think what would happen to you if you were the cause of a fateful tragedy as result of such behaviour, let alone the innocent victim who was out enjoying a run on his snowmobile?

      Another thing that we’ve been receiving problems on is people riding on the wrong side into the turns. Please stay on the right side of the trails especially in the turns. We like this to be a family sport and these people are quite fearful for all the above foolishness. This is not only happening on the Nepisiguit trails, but all over. There are places to race and it is not on the trail system and those that insist that it is okay; well I have one answer for that. You are not welcome on our trails.
ORVA SECTION 20      Minimum Fine $292.50.  Go to links of interest for the ORVE and the act.
ONE OF MANY RESPONSES FROM VIEWERS

     What is going to happen when a set of crazies are barrelling down a trail on a corner three abreast. Not a pretty sight if you’re going the other way. Gentlemen, you have to use your head as this is going to lead to disaster. You have to realize that you’re not the only ones on the trail.

Another thing that we’ve been receiving problems on is people riding on the wrong side into the turns. Please stay on the right side of the trails especially in the turns. With the above attitude, we are going to drive people from the sport. We like this to be a family sport and these people are quite fearful for all the above foolishness. I had one gentleman tell me yesterday that he does most of his driving off trail to avoid the crazies. This is not only happening on the Nepisiguit trails, but all over. There are places to race and it is not on the trail system and those that insist that it is okay; well I have one answer for that. You are not welcome on our trails.
ORVA SECTION 20    A person shall not operate an off-road vehicle in a careless, reckless or negligent manner or in a manner likely to cause damage or injury to other persons, to property or to the environment.    Minimum Fine $292.50.  Go to links of interest for the ORVE and the act.

From a viewer: Please keep mentioning the fact that other people are on the trails besides the rodeo sledders. My wife and I and are very reluctant to do the Bathurst trails because of what you mentioned on the trail report (recipe for disaster). It is no fun sledding when you know that idiots are on the trails. My kids have been at us to take them out sledding, but I will not take them due these crazy drivers. Keep the posts coming, I read them daily. Thanks

Here is a brief history of grooming status over the last 6 years.
Year 10-11 Preping Trails Dec 26 . Started grooming on the 28th
         after Storm on Dec 26 & 27 Extremely mild weather. Lots of
         washouts and wet areas. Conditions much improved by Jan 20.
         Feb 21 over 260 Cm down in Bathurst area with great conditions.
         Mar 14 20 mm rain on 11 & 12 but very manageble. -5 deg
         Mar 31 No trails closed yet with great base depth
         Apr 15 Last day out of the Lodge. Still great up high
         Apr 07 08 09 Last Grooming Days
         Apr 23 Lot s of people still sledding in the golden triangle
         Apr 27 Game over with the rain & mild weather
Year 09-10  Start-up Dec 29 last grooming Mar 28
         Poor year as far as linking trails throughout the Province
         We had a good year except for linking to the City
Year 08-09  Start-up Dec 16 and never looked back.
Year 07-08  Start-up Dec 15 and never looked back.
Year 06-07  Preped Trails on Jan 15 and started Jan 19.
Year 05-06  Dec 25  50 cm storm and started on 26 and 27.
Year 04-05 Start-up Dec 17, Melt down with warm weather and 50mm of  
             rain on Dec 24. Never got any better and closed the trails Jan 3 
             due to ice and not enough snow cover. Started back up on Jan 10.