Halfway haven open this year

[Hoosier]

We rode up in Ontario last weekend (3 and a half days), from Searchmont to Chapleau, over to Wawa and Dubreville, then back to Searchmont. Had a great time. Saw 5 or less sleds on the trails each day. Got to break trail in 2 feet of snow most of the way from halfway haven to Chapleau - there was one set of tracks to follow. Snow is thin for Ontario standards but would be considered good most other places away from the mountains.

Great that halfway haven is open again. Yes the gas there is expensive but it's expensive for him to bring it in there, and he's looking into some ways to save on that. Exchange rate is good right now too...

https://www.facebook.com/halfwayhaven/

After seeing the bug bar pictures with 100's of sleds sitting outside, it makes you appreciate the low traffic up North.

 

[groomerdriver]

We rode up in Ontario last weekend (3 and a half days), from Searchmont to Chapleau, over to Wawa and Dubreville, then back to Searchmont. Had a great time. Saw 5 or less sleds on the trails each day. Got to break trail in 2 feet of snow most of the way from halfway haven to Chapleau - there was one set of tracks to follow. Snow is thin for Ontario standards but would be considered good most other places away from the mountains.

Great that halfway haven is open again. Yes the gas there is expensive but it's expensive for him to bring it in there, and he's looking into some ways to save on that. Exchange rate is good right now too...

https://www.facebook.com/halfwayhaven/

After seeing the bug bar pictures with 100's of sleds sitting outside, it makes you appreciate the low traffic up North.

Nice to read about this....thanks! This is a bucket list trip for me. Halfway Haven could charge USD20 per gallon and I wouldn't care. This kind of trip to me is not about saving money.

How much was the gas per litre?

 

[Hoosier]

Nice to read about this....thanks! This is a bucket list trip for me. Halfway Haven could charge USD20 per gallon and I wouldn't care. This kind of trip to me is not about saving money.

How much was the gas per litre?

$2.10 there, about $1.05 everywhere else. Canadian dollar is $0.69 right now, so not too bad (works out to about $5.50 USD at halfway haven and $2.75 everywhere else). It's not like you need to fill up there each time. We don't put nearly the miles on in Ontario that we do in the UP (no railroad grades to eat up miles, so that keeps the costs down too). Rode about 150 a day, where we normally ride 250 a day or so in the UP.

Sean who runs Halfway told us we has to pay X dollars to bring in a load of gas, which includes clearing the road to the camp. He is trying to get a tank about 4x the size, so that will bring the delivery costs way down. Plus they now have an old road grader, so planning to start doing that work themselves instead too.

Fun riding up there. The trails between each spot are all about 60-90 miles. It's awesome seeing maybe one set of sleds up there on each leg of the trip.

 

[groomerdriver]

$2.10 there, about $1.05 everywhere else. Canadian dollar is $0.69 right now, so not too bad (works out to about $5.50 USD at halfway haven and $2.75 everywhere else). It's not like you need to fill up there each time. We don't put nearly the miles on in Ontario that we do in the UP (no railroad grades to eat up miles, so that keeps the costs down too). Rode about 150 a day, where we normally ride 250 a day or so in the UP.

Sean who runs Halfway told us we has to pay X dollars to bring in a load of gas, which includes clearing the road to the camp. He is trying to get a tank about 4x the size, so that will bring the delivery costs way down. Plus they now have an old road grader, so planning to start doing that work themselves instead too.

Fun riding up there. The trails between each spot are all about 60-90 miles. It's awesome seeing maybe one set of sleds up there on each leg of the trip.

Personally he could double the price if he wanted and sledders (like me at least) would pay it and not even flinch or beeyotch. God that had to be a fun ride!

 

[Hoosier]

Personally he could double the price if he wanted and sledders (like me at least) would pay it and not even flinch or beeyotch. God that had to be a fun ride!

Yeah, nobody complained one you see what it is involved in getting gas up there. It's been closed for 4 or 5 winters too, which really made it tough to ride in that area. Definitely fun to ride up there - with the lower traffic you really get to talk to people at some of the stops quite a bit. Stayed at the Bristol in Wawa, talked to Willie there quite a bit. Tried to stop in and talk to Luc the Groomer Guy in Dubreville, but we was out grooming. We might try to go back in March.

 

[switch07]

How was the snow and trail conditions from Searchmont north? Thinking about doing this again, been awhile. Need passports? Parking ok at Searchmont? And finally, cost of trail permit?

 

[Hoosier]

How was the snow and trail conditions from Searchmont north? Thinking about doing this again, been awhile. Need passports? Parking ok at Searchmont? And finally, cost of trail permit?

Searchmont to either Wawa or Chapleau was great on trail. We stayed on trail because there isn't much of a base yet. Wawa and North needs more snow but not bad either. Yes, you need passports. We parked at Searchmont since there isn't gas there currently, so too far from the Sault to Halfway on our sleds. If you carry gas you may be able to ride from the Sault. There's a spot in Searchmont with cabins and a big parking lot. We parked there for $10. Some trucks were just parked along the road too, presumably for free. Trails permits are $25/day now, which is about $18 USD. I think the season permit is $260 if you're staying for awhile. You get credit towards the season pass so no reason not to just buy daily ones to start (it's cheaper if you buy pre-season but we don't plan that far ahead). Trails are really starting to open up up there this week.