We have made several trips to this area. The ride around Nipissing  is a great trip.

It was the Jan. 23rd weekend and the conditions where great. After a good breakfast at the Inn we headed North West to Field. On down to Verner. This is where the trip gets a little sketchy. We ended up lost, and found ourselves out on Nipissing Lake. We finally found our way to Noelville where our Hosts where still waiting dinner for us. It was 12:00PM. Five hours behind

schedule and nerves a little frayed to say the least. The Country Side Motor Inn was a clean, warm, and friendly place to stay. The rates where very affordable as well. After a good nights sleep we mounted our sleds with as much enthusiasm as we possibly could after a very short nights sleep. Nevertheless we hit the trails for our return trip back to North Bay. We traveled through the deer yards around Golden Valley to Restoule and back to our trucks at Pinewood Park Inn. It was an awesome trip even though we could have done without the lost part and the extra 5 hours traveling. Some of our guests vowed never to travel with us again. Come to think of it, they haven't.

I'm not certain but I think Tanya was ready to bail and leave her sled on the trail after being lost for several hours. Backtracking and then backtracking again for fuel was getting to be a strain on even the most avid, seasoned sledder. By the looks of this picture Todd was getting an ear full.

Chebogan Restaurant Good Food and gas

RAPSON - BOWES SNOWMOBILE TRIP Feb. 19 to 23, 2003 North Bay - New Liskeard - Gowganda - Latchford - Back to North Bay  Per Day - 267km - 272km - 213km - 204km -

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2003 -      - 5:30 pm left Orillia Area      - 9:00 pm arrived at Torbay Cottages, North Bay Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 -      - 8 am ate at restaurant on Lakeshore Road in North Bay      - 9 am left Torbay Cottages, North Bay        (705 trail to AD trail north to A trail)      - Gas fill up at Tomiko      - North on A trail through Martin River      - Noon ? - Temagami Country Style for lunch      - North on A trail through Latchford      - 5 pm arrived at Quality Inn in New Liskeard, ate supper there and stayed over night.        166 miles (267 km) Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 -      - 8 am ate at the Quality Inn in New Liskeard      - 9 am left New Liskeard on A trail to Earlton      - 10:20 am gas at Earlton Co-op - 192.7 mi (310 km)      - Lunch and gas at Kirkland Lake - 239 mi (384.5 km)      - Took A trail then C106A trails to Matachewan      - 3:25 pm - gas at Matachewan      - Took C106A and then L136 trail to Gowganda      - 4:30 pm - stopped by OPP on trail      - 6 pm - arrived at Gowganda at Auld Reekie Lodge where we ate supper and stayed over night.        335 miles (539 km) Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003 -      - 8 am ate breakfast at Auld Reekie Lodge.      - 9 am filled up with gas and left Auld Reekie on A107C trail.      - Took a photo of bridge over Montreal River.      - Got gas at Elk Lake and took A trail      - 2 pm ate lunch and filled with gas at Earlton.      - Took A trail to New Liskeard and filled with gas        442.8 miles (712.5 km)      - Continued on A trail to Latchford arriving at the Northland Motel at 4:30 pm        467.7 miles (752.5 km)        Ordered in Pizza from Cobalt because there is no restaurants in Latchford Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003 -      - 7 am got up and packed, made coffee and ate a muffin.  There will be a scheduled power outage in the area from 8 am to 2 pm and the weather is -20 C with wind chill of -31 C so we left at 8:10 am and took A trail south to Temagami      - Brunch at the Busy Bee Restaurant in Temagami at 10:30 am. Got gas there.  505 miles (812.5 km)      - 2:30 pm got gas 10 km outside North Bay near The Portage Restaurant where we saw antique snowmobiles and I took some photos.   577 miles (928 km)      - 2:45 pm arrived at Torbay Cottages in North Bay where we left our trucks 594.7 miles (956.9 km)      - loaded snowmobiles on trailers an left there at 3:30 pm -stopped for gas south of Huntsville - Arrived home approx. 7pm. The mileage and Kilometers is a running total at the end of the day.

The scheduled power outage was unbelievable. It was 20 below on the thermometer and the power was to be out at 8:00am the following morning. They had set up places for the local to go and stay for the day while they had no heat. It also meant no gas, no restaurants. The owner at the Northland Motel advised us to be up and have coffee ready in room early, he brought us homemade muffins for the morning. There would be no where to have breakfast until we found a town with hydro further south. Meeting the OPP was interesting and a little deflating, to say the least. It was getting late in the day and we where tired and cold. We met up with 2 very nice OPP and one lady warden. They informed us that we shouldn't be trying the trail into Gowganda that we had planned. They said it was bad enough in the daylight and it was almost dark now. They thought we should take an alternate trail that would take us at least an hour or more than the one we planned. We had a short meeting and discussed the pros and cons and the girls won out. We where sticking to the plan. Our destination was far enough away as it was. No detouring now. The trail must have improved since the officers where last on it because it proved to be a good one with no problem. You never can tell from one day to the next what trails will be like. The same being true of times and distances. It could take 1 hour today on a good groomed trail and 3 hours tomorrow on a trail that has been beat to the dirt. Time of winter and amounts of snow can all play a part in how long or how easy a trail can be. Trails also open and close from year to year as well. Check your current maps to make sure that the route can be made on the same trails. Accommodations can change hands or be shut down, maybe not staying open the hours that they did previous years. Call ahead and make sure. I have been notified by at least 5 businesses this winter and asked to update the info for New Owners of Lodges motels and restaurants. An excellent trip with good friends and lots of snow. Happy Sledding

		Torbay Cottages North Bay 1-888 786-7229 www.torbay.net
585 Banner Avenue North Bay Ontario We left our trucks here until we returned 3 days later.

705 647-7357
Hwy 11 North		New Liskeard Ontario	www.choicehotels.ca/cn657

		1 800 511-1191 Gowganda Ontario www.youroutdoorinn.com
		Northland Motel Latchford 705 676-2096 No web site