Spring melt meant this northern Quebec snowmobile misadventure wouldn't quit

Two snowmobilers in their 70s needed the help of police and the former owner of their cabin to get out of the dense bush north of Dolbeau-Mistassini, in northern Quebec, after rain and warm weather made getting out by snowmobile nearly impossible.

And once they managed to get out of that emergency, they andtheir rescuers were faced with yet another one a complete road washout.

The two septuagenarian snowmobilers were supposed to return home on Thursday, according to Jacques Savard, who was a part of the first rescue team. Savard wasalso the former owner of the chalet the snowmobilers were staying in.

"Their relatives were worried," said Savard, who received a call from their wives Friday night when they still hadn't returned.

The cabin is a 25-kilometre snowmobile trip into the bush at kilometre 152 of a forestry roadowned by Resolute Forest Products. The road heads north from Dolbeau-Mistassini in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec.

We got stuck 50 times.- Jacques Savard, former cabin owner

On Saturday morning, Savard and two Sret du Qubec officers left on snowmobiles, a trip that usually takes about 20 minutes.

"It took us seven hours and 15 minutes. We got stuck in the snow about 50 times," Savard said because the weather was so warm and there had been so much rain, the snow was "like salt."

For the final fourkilometres, the rescuers abandoned theirsnowmobiles and traveledby snowshoe.

The group finally arrived exhausted at the cabin late in the day Saturday, according to Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu, a communications officer with the Sret du Qubec.

"They found the two men unharmed," Beaulieu said, and called their wives by satellite phone to share the good news. They would spend the night and try to leave early Sunday morning, when the snow was less soft.

Adventure not over

Just a few kilometres away from where they came out of the bush the forestry road had completely washed away into a raging river.

"There was a lot of current and an enormous crack in the road for about 50 feet," said Daniel Cantin, the director of the fire service for the municipality of Dolbeau-Mistassini.

Watch the rescue over the washed-out road here:

Forestry road washout in Northern Quebec

4 years ago

Duration 0:50

Now five people two snowmobilers, two Sret du Qubec officers and Savard needed rescuing, according to Cantin.

"Firefighters built a kind of a bridge over the river to allow [the group] to evacuate," he said, adding he hopes the snowmobilerswillthink twice in the future before heading out for a snowmobile adventure in the month of May when the forecast calls for rain.

For Savard, who was a part of the rescue team, efforts by police and firefighters to get everyone to safety were appreciated.

"They made us a bridge with a ladder and cords and floaters. It was very well organized," said Savard.

By then, the wives of the two men in their 70s had arrived at the washout.

"Everyone was happy ... especially seeing that there hadn't been an accident or injuries. It could have been much worse," Savardsaid.