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Day 3 part deux We gas last night in Grand Riviere drive 50 k to Perce, camp out take no gas cuz there’s none there. Before breakfast hour we take a tour de Ville and bank our profits. Breakfast pow wow, we decide to boycott the peninsula tour in favour of riding to Gaspe taking the local up to 597 then up to Murdockville and on to Saint Anne du Lac for our evening destination. We head out and the decision is a good one, just to give you an idea of how hard and flat the trails were, we rode into Murdockville (all 4 of us) with 226 klms on the dream meter with a 33 litre fill up, I’ll take that!! Afterwards up to Mont St.Pierre for some sight seeing but not before making some more trail side decisions in Mont Louis. Originally our 400 klm scheduled day was now reduced to a 300 klm day this morning then Necksledr throws in a wrench and suggests we move on to Matane for the night thus shortening our day to RDL ride demain. Well that brings on an extra 200 klm to the latest revised agenda. Okay I’m game so some accommodation modifications are in order. A few phone calls and we’re on our way. West of MSP up in the hills we are in a full blown blizzard conditions, snowing blowing and trail closing in quickly with drifts and snow, let’s get out of Dodge boyz, hammer down and we’re in Relais St.Paulin sucking back a few Bunny energizes. Push on and we land in Matane for the night, where? Well I can tell you they Qualify in hotelerie.

Day 3 Off to a beautiful start, up before the sunrise and profited from it. Changed up our scheduled route today for a shorter trek, given our location on the peninsula I figure some sight seeing will get in the way of riding and lengthen the day more than we like. Stay tuned for part deux.

Well it’s been 2 full seasons since the Mrs. has had any chance to ride. Thanks to Playhard she has had experience on the Vector and loves her some power steering. This weekend she is going right into the big leagues. While she has ridden my Apex before, never for a full day. Go big or go home. I know she can do it and will love it. My boss hatched this plan last week, 3 couples ride to St Michel des Saints. Not my preferred destination for sure but let’s do it. My boss and his wife Josee and we got his cousin Danny and wife Lynne. Boss Alain .....Grand Touring 1200. Josee Gsx 900 Ace Danny and Lynne 2 up on a Renegade 800 with the seat jack. Caro is on my 13 Apex XTX and me on my 18 XTX. Packed up and ready to leave friday night. Short ride to Grand Mere and join the others at Alain’s house not far from the junction on the river where 23 crosses. We can see the junction from the house. Awesome spot here on the river. Out of the gate Mrs. is running good. I know she is safe and responsible or i would not give her my sled. I want her to do her thing and at her speed. Night riding is not something she likes. But necessary albeit not so long tonight. 10 minutes in i stop to check on her and she is frosted up bad. Either a bad wire or blown fuse. For shield. I change out her wire we continue on to gas up just before river in Grand Mere. No good still frosty. Ok i will fix it in the morning. We hit the river and run up to Alain and Josee to meet up with everyone. Park the sleds and its time for Jack. He’s got me set up with the big bottle. Nice. Drinks a nice dinner and time for sleep. Mrs Ice has a big ride ahead tmmrw. Saturday morning, i change out the blown fuse she is back in the heated shield business but with temps today she won’t need it but she is convinced she will. So happy wife...you know the rest. Inside i am secretly praying trails are in good shape for her. Me I would just hammer down and go but I know if it’s rough she gonna hate it. We load up and get ready to leave. to be continued.

The huge moonscape power-line with no stakes. Just little orange ribbons , if you could fine them.

Day 6 - Tuesday 1/23 - Fer A Cheval to Windigo. We wake up to some new snow which was great to see, but now it’s spitting a little freezing rain. We hear reports of LOTS of freezing rain to the South. Right where we are supposed to be heading for the day (Saint Zenon area). The area was a little light on snow when we started, so now we’re a little concerned. Executive decision time – after breakfast we make a call to Martine at Windigo. She says no problem, see you tonight. We’ve never been; we were supposed to go last year but had an issue and never made it there. Out the door around 9:00am with a “nice easy day planned”. No such thing as we all know 😊. As we’re leaving, it’s still freezing rain a bit. One of the guys says “well I’ll take this over rain any day”. Sounded good at the time. Wrong! We head North on 13 to catch 83 towards Parent. We gas up in Parent and the freezing rain starts to pick up as we leave. Do we stop for lunch and hope it passes, or push on. We decide to push on. As we get closer to Wemo, it’s REAL bad. Everyone is plugged in, but that’s no help. We could only go about 2 miles at a time and we’d have to stop altogether to clear shields as they were completely iced over. You could ride for about a mile using your left hand as a constant windshield wiper (and I mean constant), then lift your shield and ride for about another mile until the pain was unbearable, then it was time to stop and start all over again. This was going to be a LONG day. We make it to Wemo and stop for gas. As we’re there, it starts to turn to snow. Thank goodness. We leave Wemo on 83 and most of the freezing rain had passed. We’d hit it occasionally, but it was at least manageable now. East to the local trail down to Windigo. We get in around 5:00 with 200 miles for the day. Again, we have the place to ourselves. Excellent meal, hospitality, and accommodations! Sorry we haven’t been here before now, and we’ll definitely be back.

Day 4 - Sunday 1/21 - Chibougamau to Lac Faillon. Minus 17F as we head out. Trails were in excellent condition. Groomed wide and safe. A beautiful morning to ride. Stop in Chapais to top off on gas (figure if we have an issue in Desmaraisville, we have a shot at making Quevillon; if we don’t top off, we have no shot; everyone on a 1200 Renegade that we’ve yet to run dry; but, we have a 900 Ace in the hole this year, he’ll bail us out for sure 😊). Down 93/the railroad bed - they’ve rerouted us off of the rail bed in what seemed like about 50% of the trail. A nice change for sure! The railroad bed is fun for about an hour or so, then it tends to get old imo. We pass the groomer on the way to Desmaraisville, even before him, these were the best trails we’ve seen so far. Thank you! Into Desmaraisville for gas, and then onto Quevillon and Seneterre. These trails were in excellent shape. Seems as though they always are. Top off in Seneterre and then onto 83 heading East towards Lac Faillon. We pull in around 6:00 with 305 miles for the day. Slight issue with our reservation – seems as though they were expecting us on February 21st, and not January 21st. No worries they say; we have the place to ourselves and they’ll get supper started. Very friendly and accommodating! Got to catch the end of the football game, had a great meal and a great time. We’ll be back for sure!

Got into Drakkar yesterday and did a quick 115 mile ride east. Trails were in great shape plenty of snow. Passed a groomer around 4pm on trail 3. Cold but beautiful day.

My apologies for not reporting trailside; just thought I would share our recent trip. A group of us (normally 6, but 7 this year), had our annual trip planned to leave out of Mont Laurier on Thursday 1/18, riding West through Val D’Or, up to Matagami, and around the Abitibi Region. As everyone does, we were checking conditions and reading everything we could on QR the week before leaving. Things were not looking good, especially in the Mont Laurier area. Executive decision on the Tuesday before to reroute the trip. We’ll head East and North as the conditions looked much better. Changed our starting point from Mont Laurier to LeCabanon; a few phone calls later and reservations were changed (funny how you plan the trip for 6 months and can then re-plan it in only a couple of hours 😊). Day 1 - Thursday 1/18 – Drive to St. Zenon. Stay at Auberge LeCabanon. Short trial ride to Le Glaciere to test everything out (50 miles) – 2 brand new sleds making the trip this year.

Day 9 – out of the truck compound at 7:00am heading back to the States. Minus 26F when we left and we beat the weekend crowd. 1600 miles for the week (had to make a quick trip around the lake before we parked them just to turn over the 1600 😊). For this trip we went where we saw snow – made some changes before we left and then one time in the middle of the trip. Every trip is an adventure. No issues for any of the 7 sleds (although my reverse would not engage after day 2; that was more of a nuisance than an issue; read something about that happening on some Ski Doo’s riding lots of miles in Quebec; maybe creates a ridge or groove on one of the gears preventing it from shifting into reverse? oh well, it’s at the dealer now under warranty; we’ll see what they say). We had another great trip!! We took a vote at dinner – good vs. not so good trail conditions for the week – the score was about 40% good vs. 60% not so good. Not sure we’ve ever had that. Oh well; still nobody complaining. Hopefully they get more snow and the groomers can do their magic.

Day 8 - Thursday 1/25 - Mekoos to LeCabanon. We step outside our cabin at 7:00am to this very loud howl. Takes us a minute and we realize the sled dogs live just on the other side of the woods from us. They must have been hungry for breakfast as they were all howling in unison. Pretty cool to hear. We had planned to take the southern routes back to LeCabanon, but Bobby says to stay North. Parts of 319 and 63 along the rail bed are closed due to lack of snow. Decision made, we head North the way we came in. Yuk; back through Manawan. Out 319, up 53 North onto 33 heading East. Manawan was worse than yesterday. We had checked the grooming reports before we left and it looked like Manawan to Repos had been groomed. We all have our fingers crossed. 33 towards Manawan, across the bypass, and boom; there were the fresh groomer tracks. Thank you! Groomed nice into Repos. We stop for gas and lunch again, déjà vu. Out of Repos on 33 heading South, jump onto the lakes and head all the way down until we can jump back on 33. 33 for a short bit until we hit Canada Adventure, and then onto Lac Taureau. Quick stop at the tepees for some pictures and then South to Saint Michel and then 63 into LeCabanon. In around 4:00 with 165 miles for the day. The trails around Saint Zenon could use more snow, but again they had done a great job with the snow that they have.

Day 7 - Wednesday 1/24 - Windigo to Mekoos. Wake up to a great breakfast, grab enough gas to get us back to Wemo and off we go. Same route we came in yesterday (83 West back towards Parent). What a difference a day makes. We don’t love to backtrack, but we didn’t see a thing on this route yesterday. Seemed like a completely different ride. 83 needs grooming! The roads around Wemo were fine, but when things narrowed up they got rough. Doesn’t look like it’s seen a groomer in quite some time. We hop on 345 and head south towards Kanawata. As we get closer to Kanawata, the trails turn real nice. Groomed wide and flat. A nice ride down past Kanawata and onto Repos. Everything was good in that area. We stop at Repos for gas and lunch. It was busy as usual, but we were in and out in no time. Onto 33 heading East towards Manawan. We weren’t looking forward to this. It was groomed nicely as we left Repos, but then, as we expected, as we get closer to Manawan, the trails are beat up real bad. Not sure we’ve ever been through this section on smooth trails. Yuk. We take the Manawan bypass (to avoid town), but continue the beatings for about 30 miles. We also catch a section (5.5 miles to be exact) of active logging. Very little to no snow on the road, and it’s sanded to boot. We were glad to get on snow again. We catch a break later on 33 where it’s been freshly groomed. I’m thinking we’re good to go all the way to Mekoos but this only lasts for about 20 miles or so as we head South on 53 We seem to lose the groomer (not sure where he went). The last 50 miles on 53 and 319 into Mekoos are pretty rough as well. We get into Mekoos around 6:00, tired and bruised, with 252 miles for the day. Bobby, Sebastian and company always take good care of us. A nice cabin, nice meal and a great atmosphere. Always love coming here.

Day 5 - Monday 1/22 - Lac Faillon to Fer A Cheval. Out the door around 9:00am. 83 towards Clova. Trails were in OK shape into Clova. Stop in Clova for lunch and gas, and then onward toward Parent and the Jct with 13. There was some logging around the junction, but it wasn’t terrible. Onto 13 heading South towards Fer Cheval. Crossed the new bridge over the river and the trails were excellent all the way along the river into Fer Cheval. Got in around 4:30 with 200 miles for the day. Another excellent meal and stay in the Condos at Fer Cheval. We’ll be back again.

Day 3 - Saturday 1/20 - Roberval to Chibougamau. 373 North to Saint Felicien. 20 miles of pure torture. Hind-sight is 20/20 for sure. Everyone talks about the wind-blown fields around Roberval. We know this and have seen it first hand in the past. This was nothing we could have imagined. Essentially no snow for much of the 20 miles (at least it was frozen). I would call it impassable, but we did it. If they didn’t get new snow with the last storm, I would not recommend this section. In hind-sight we should have probably added a day and went around the lake to the East. Funny when you’re in it – are we almost out of it, or should we turn around? Oh well, the 20 mile mistake was behind us. Fortunately, nobody overheated, and nobody broke anything. We find snow in Saint Felicien, a quick apology to the sleds and on we go. 373 to La Dore, top off on gas and hit 93 North to the Saw Mill. There was some grooming around Saint Felicien and La Dore, but as we headed North, no signs of a groomer. We stop at the saw mill for gas and a quick snack and then on to Chibougamau. Nothing groomed until we get closer to Chibougamau. Into the Nordic for the night. 205 miles for the day.

Day 2 - Friday 1/19 – LeCabanon to Roberval. 23 to 345 to 360 to Mattawin for fuel. The trails around LeCabanon had “enough” snow, but could certainly use more. They really did a great job with the snow that they had – groomed flat and safe. As we got closer to Mattawin, the snow depth improved, but the grooming was not as good. Everything was acceptable. 360 out of Mattawin to 355 North towards Lac Edouard. 355 was very rough until we hit the rail bridge. From there North into Lac Edouard was groomed. Stopped in Lac Edouard for lunch and fuel and then onward towards Lac Bouchette. Rough again all the way to 83. 83 into Roberval for the night. It was getting thin again as we got closer to Roberval; groomed but they could use more snow. Hotel Chateau Roberval for the night. 260 miles for the day.

X3! All the lefts become rights & visa versa! And all the ups become downs & visa versa! I've only done 6 days, 3 each way, but it's a great ride out there & back!

So, our shortened trek changed a bit when I suggested to JG that we push on to Matane! 302 clicks later, we're sitting at the QI sipping on a few cold ones. Great run up, Trailblazer will give full report later

Wow on those photos. I always envy Trailblazers trip computer averages compared to mine.

Has he been taking lessons from you :)

Sitting at Groomer's clubhouse, here are some pics from yesterday. Not sure why the need for crossing guards at the road bridge in Cascapedia but they are not much help lol

woooWWW jg ......a+++ jean-guy

Morning Jack! Mixed reviews on the 850 so far. I realize that the sled is not far out of break in, but this thing is sucking oil fast. Also, I'm taking many more litres of fuel every stop compared to JGs 1200. Granted, I'm leaning pretty heavy on the flipper, but I need to keep pace with the Trailblazer! One more thing.....10 clicks outside of Perce last night all of the guages lit up and were flashing intermittently. Did that a few times, then all systems seemed normal. Not a good feeling when we're as far away from the truck as we can get!

Sept Isle and back is easy, its somewhere after that the real adventure begins.

I've been to Havre-Saint-Pierre and back 2 times , it was a challenge both times for sure .

Day 2 Out’ve the gate we are blessed with groomed trails from the evening before and not just local but the whole friggen day. 595 Nord couple tracks just to stir it up then gas at La Cache and I have to tell you guys new renos here and no more mystery soup anymore. Cross over to Murdockville a few tracks coming our way but our side we were the first. Blue jay day over here so very scenic into Murdockville. 597 Sud as expected super fast to the 5. 1/2 hour out’ve Perce we were greeted with Quebec’s finest, why is it I can’t get away from these guys? These guys were the kind you wanna get stopped by, they actually let sit on their sled for a photo shot. Where we staying hmmmm I can tell you we’re eating a someone’s Table.

weather permitting, that is the most important part, made it half way 6 years ago, got in a big storm and allowed my 2 riding partners to talk me into turning back, it was a good idea, be ready for big weather, be prepared and have fun.

X2 we did it to Sept Iles last year and I cannot wait to go back, I believe a trail is entirely different going the other direction.

I can wait to go back. Up and back is a non issue. Spectacular views both ways. If been as far east as Pointe de Mingan. Left from Mt St Anne.

Thanks doonali. This is perfect. 160 miles on the first day is probably a good idea because its usually a shit show getting 10 guys going on day one.

RoweBoat, And a photo of the sled parking in the outdoor pool area with a locked gate. I will be up there mid next week for 2 nights. schooter

Attached is a photo of the truck and trailer parking area

Timberland Thanks for all the information it is very helpful good to know what the trail is like twisty,straight,etc. It is going to be challenging not ever riding this trail system ,where gas is etc. We carry 8 gallons of gas with us just in case. We are excited and a little nervous but I am sure we will have a great trip.