Snowmobile

The sun slowly drops belyond the horizon of the Abitibi forest. The trail leads us to an immaculate lake, covered by about 15 inches of fresh, powdery snow. Weillé, our group's leader, signals for us to follow him as he speeds towards the frozen water. We follow in his trail for a while, but the confidence that we recently acquired about our driving skills takes over, and one by one, we leave the snowmobile path. More suited to the hardened snow of the trails, our snowmobiles become more difficult to handle in the tight turns. The important thing is not to lose your momentum, as photographer Denis Bouchard will soon find out.

No matter. Snowmobile enthusiasts' first commandment is: Thou shalt help your fallen friends. As soon as one of us gets stuck in the snow, we have to fly to his rescue and dig up the snow caught under the chain to give it back its friction. It's solidarity in its purest form. Even though this is basically a solitary sport, with hours of solo riding, we always have to make sure we're following somebody, and, most importantly, that we are being followed by somebody and that all are present and accounted for. The camaraderie that develops on these long snowmobile trips is indescribable. In case of mechanical problems, everyone helps everyone else. Despite the delicious impression of freedom snowmobiling provides, a lone rider stuck in the forest without his snowmobile has about as much chance of survival as a tree in the heart of the Sahara.

At the end of the day, these snow bikers get together for a good meal and a welcome drink in a game preserve that seems to magically appear in the depths of the forest. One of the most surprising of these is undoubtedly Le Balbuzard, with its fascinating log architecture. This snowmobile rest stop was built by Annick Montagné a few years ago. "I tried to give it all the things I would have liked to find elsewhere." She explains. "It's good looking and very comfortable." She quickly adds. "It's on a gorgeous piece of land, too! I was looking for true nature," explains the woman who visited over 120 game preserves before settling here. We have to admit that all that research paid off; her game preserve is one of the few in a natural forest, which is not slated to be cut down anytime soon. It hasn't been over-hunted or -fished either, so there's a lot of wildlife to enjoy. "You're safe from the stress of cars and the big city here," she continues. "Visitors who come here are left with the same impression I had: They have found a little piece of wild and natural heaven."

And how about that menu! Annick Montagné's culinary talents would make any cooking dummy want to become a great chef. Her recipes are mostly made up of fresh meats and seafood cooked at your table, thanks to a simple, portable hotplate. The main courses are accompanied by a multitude of sauces, each more delectable than the next. A guaranteed delight.

Once you can tear yourself away from the dinner table, various activities are sure to catch your fancy. One of the most interesting is off trail snowmobiling on the Balbuzard extensive land. Some of the American tourists have even said it is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. To give you an idea of just how large it is, I can tell you that there are 200 lakes on this game preserve; only 35 of these are accessible by land. Therefore, you can understand just how easy it is to find a patch of virgin snow to discover by snowmobile. "Nothing is impossible at Balbuzard," claims Weillé, the preserve's supervisor. "Just ask and you'll get what you want. We have camps far away from the main lodge and you can go on two- or three-day hiking trips. Because we can customize trips according to your degree of ability, it's safe and easy. It's a solitary sport, but when you arrive at a rest stop," continues Weillé, "you're part of a community. Everyone has fun with everyone else. We all talk and try to decide who has the most powerful engine."

Those who take part in the day trips usually have a great time. When they come back in the evening, they're exhausted but happy. They've seen gorgeous, unspoiled nature, far from the "snowmobile highways." Not to mention the numerous lakes where we can all ride side by side at 60 kilometres per hour. It's not unusual to cover about 150 kilometres in a day. At that pace, the infinite spaces of the human mind are at one with the wide, open spaces of nature.