Leaderboard

Day 4.... Again we wake to subzero temps and blue skies above. We really are in no hurry to leave the Manior! An incredible buffet breakfast is had, and then it's time to start packing for a run to the Signature near Quebec City. It will be another fairly short run, but nearly all trails in our path show green on the grooming map. We take 378, then 377 out to the 3 which will be our route for the rest of the way. Part of 378 and 377 were very chopped up, but it wasn't long before we were back on flat and smooth cruiser trails. Surprisingly, there are quite a few sleds on the trails today. However, everyone seems to be behaving, and the miles are ticking off rapidly. We stop at the relais at the 3/378 junction for a little break, and off we go through the rollers and the hills. We have been spoiled on this trip as the trails have been incredible, and with the cold temps are holding up well even with the heavier traffic today. Our next stop is relais St Anne where we have a light lunch. Quite a few riders stop by while we're there. Only 55kms left from here. Once we get closer to the city the trail is deteriorating some, but nothing terrible. Many more sleds and a fair amount of quads in this area. Reach the turnoff to the Signature and the 1.2 miles in are wickedly bumped up! Glad we didn't have this all day. So....most reports on this place seem to have been good, but we were not so enthused, probably because of where we just left! The sled Coral is on the far side of the parking lot, which is as far as you can get away from check in. The rooms were very nice, but no cocktails are allowed in the sauna or anywhere near the outside tub or pool. Again, after our previous nights experience, this was a big let down. Oh well, we regrouped and took the shuttle into old Quebec for a little sightseeing, cocktails, and dinner. The ice castle was being deconstructed, so that was a let down, but bad timing on our part. Overall, another great day for all of us, the entire trip has been a great success.

So, day 3 is another extremely cold morning, and a late breakfast is scheduled. Plans are to head down the Clermont express with final destination Fairmont le Manior Richelieu. So, 83 it is, and everything has been groomed to perfection. Again, well below zero temps, but a beautiful blue sky day and the trail is crisp and fast. We are making incredible time and have no timetable, so we stop at the warming hut at the junction of 83 and 383 to warm up. And warm up we did! Anyone know what the deal is with this place? There is a kerosene heater running in there and it must have been 95 degrees! Does this run 24/7? Could not find a thermostat, so we left with the heat still pumping. The rest of the run down the express was equally fast, and only a handful of sleds were met. We arrived at the Manior at 3pm, and quickly changed to our swimwear for a soak in the outdoor tub, does it get any better than this! And, the staff delivers cocktails tubside with a smile! (Not the same service as we experienced at the Signature the next night, but more on that later) After our soaking, it's off to the casino for a little pre-dinner blackjack. Good move, as most of the trip is now paid for! Dinner is a bit of a let down, but not terrible. All in all, an incredible experience on our first visit. All of the staff were super friendly, and a return trip will not come soon enough!

https://gopro.com/v/nrJn5G5EVrdn1 The Gang spent a few days in the Backcountry around Barrage Gouin , Awesome time we had !

Started Sunday morning in Shawinigan (more snow than I’ve ever seen there) and headed out the 3 towards QC. Things were good for the first 50 miles or so ( actually mint). Around QC and all the way up to Baie St Paul was like riding Tug Hill in NY. I swear EVERYONE that had a running sled in QC was out on the trails today. It was a beautiful blue sky day ( the whole week has been like that) so we made the best of it. Getting beat up your first day and riding 200+ kinda sucks but what they hey..... stayed at Hotel Baie St. Paul for the night. Headed up to Forrestville on Monday and the trails got much better. Had a moose encounter about 30 miles before the hotel but that’s a whole other story. The 3 way before and way after tadoussac was groomed to perfection which was nice. We left Forrestville yesterday morning and headed to Baie Comeau for lunch then headed out to Godbout. What a trail. Back tracked to BC for the night. After much fanfare with the ferry problems this year we finally has positive confirmation of a 2:30 pm departure to Matane. Woke up this am and ran solo (buddies decided to relax)on the local trail that runs 42 miles north of Baie-Comeau and dead ends as groomer update showed last night. What a SPECTACULAR run and trail. Lots of 60;70 & 80 MPH sweepers. My new all time favorite!!!!! Had a beautiful ferry run over and with the weather being so nice we got lots of money shot pictures and met lots of cool people. Working our way down to QC and back to Shawini on Saturday. Havnt been to the north shore in quite a few years and it was sweet to see and run it all again. Here is a pic at 1:30 today sitting on top of the hill overlooking the Baie-Comeau ferry terminal.

Welcome QR's newest advertiser, Hotel Matagami. There probably aren't many people that travel the Baie James area that aren't familiar with Hotel Matagami. It's located at the base of the road to the James Bay. By snowmobile, it's at the peak of the 396 loop north of TQ93, due north of Val D'or and due west of Chibougamau. The shortest way by trail is about 80 miles off of TQ93, with nothing but a relay on the way, so when you do this loop, you've likely planned to stay at the Hotel for the night. The Hotel, and the town, have everything you need and would expect for your snowmobile stop-over. This is a favorite of many of our members, so feel free to share your experiences and welcome them to the site. Thanks go to Iceman for getting them on board...

We had to have the “ice breaker “ escort the last 5 miles into Matane as there was heavy ice which shut down service for two days earlier this week.

We left the Greater Toronto area at 10am and arrived at Village Windigo at 6:30pm. We stopped in Bancroft for lunch coffee and fuel; we found a great place across the street from the gas station called Vito’s Pizzaria. Couple of chicken parm sandwiches and fries to go and we hit the road. Great driving conditions the entire way. We had a fantastic dinner at Village Windigo and now we are enjoying some wine by the fire in our chalet. Tomorrow morning we start our 4 day saddle bag ‘luxury’ tour, destination Pourvoirie Windigo. Stay tuned, Carm and Roger

Glad to do it Stan. They gang here at QuebecRider.com is second to none

Welcome QR's newest advertiser, Motos Thibault. Those who ride Yamaha may already be familiar with them. They are located in Trois-Riviere ( and not associated with the one in Sherbrooke). I'm fairly sure every member here on QR has at least one story of a dealer going beyond your wildest expectations to keep you up and running and on the trail...this is a perfect example of one of those dealers. Pierre and his staff will do everything possible, to do just that, keep you riding. Many members here are long time customers of Motos Thibault, and no doubt will chime in with their own experiences. Thanks go to Playhard for getting them on board...

Sorry, not relevant to your question about boondocking, but... If you hand the menus back to the chef and tell him he has your full confidence, he'll go "off the trail" with some amazing sh#t!

Adventure began on Friday as the 6 of us (3 couples) left Vermont with temps in the mid 40s and rain threatening. As we crossed the border in Highgate the rain starts to fall. Destination is the Rouqemont in St Raymond, with 2 nights planned at the Delta with Saguenay Bill, then down to the Fairmont for a night, and one more night at the Signature and then a short trip back to the trucks for a black trail home. After getting above Montreal the temps start to drop and the roads get dicey. Around Shawinigan it's white out conditions as the snow is piling up! We finally arrive at the Rouqemont at 8:30 after a nearly 7hr trip. Good thing this place make beer 🍺 Dinner and drinks, then in bed by 11. Place is packed with sleds and trucks/trailers, but everyone seems to be slow moving in morning. After a quick breakfast, we load our gear and head north on 23. Groomer map showed green, but that was a late post I think? We pushed an easy 15" of fresh all the way to LEtape where we all needed fuel. Petrol and lunch and we're back on trail. Stopped briefly at Mt Apica relais, but kept motoring. Less new snow the further we move north, which is kinda nice. Took the 368 west which was absolutely incredible, we were making great time here. Rolled into the Delta around 5pm with 210 miles on the odo, a great trip up. Met Bill and Pepper in the lobby, as well as Pat and Gary and a few other Quebec riders. Great to see Bill, and he also gave us perfect directions to visit the 'cave' in the morning. To be continued....

Went that way once back in 14 .. Awesome place to stay

Thanks for all you do and keeping the site going👍

Would think you would need a super long auger!

At the bridge in Baie Comeau on tuesday

Village Windigo is a great place stayed there a few years back with my wife.

Out in the st Lawrence

Very cool!

The do giddy up .. no specifics from us as we just cruise but friends who have identical 900’s have beaten 850’s. 😜

Fort Kent, Maine to Amqui, Quebec today. Trails were great!

Sounds like George might need some knee pads?

Wife met George and reminded me several times, 'only til death do us part'. Dog is a humper. George just keeps smiling. Cat hates the dog and George.

Yes Mike, looks good! I see you have had a great year! Good for you! Hope to see you soon! Oilman

Mike, we're all 'curious' about George and the reception you both received when introductions were made to the family?

A very cute couple!!!!

Just arrived by sled and checked in at the Universal! Great day of riding!! Oilman

Ha! Too funny! And the cards she stuffed into my saddlebag reminded me that that particular night was Feb 14th! (Thread hijacking done, sorry!)

FYI For $10 you can put your sled in the heated garage at the gas station across the street. Pretty handy considering the average nightly low temp up there. IMO the west side of 396 is way nicer than the east side.

Snowmobile Trails Maps for Garmin GPS Map Trails Snowmobile 2019 v11.1 The map is still available on PC, Mac, Android, and is compatible with Garmin GPS. Here are the links where you can recover the files. For PC Trails Snowmobile PC For Mac Trails Snowmobile Mac For Android Trails Snowmobile Android For PC, specially designed card for Garmin GPS cars such as Nuvi and Zumo PC card (Nuvi or Zumo)

Above & beyond is every day stuff for them. Seriously committed to doing the family business proud. Too many stories to tell, but could be coaxed after a couple/few JD's. These guys pull magic tricks with solutions, before you even know you need it. Icing on the cake for the whole quebec sledding experience, way past things "mechanical/technical". Just keep their number handy, and call them if you get in a pickle, you'll see.

Absolutely THE BEST dealer I’ve ever dealt with period! Pierre Parent & his team ROCK!

23803.mp4

Day 2 of couples tour.....After a late breakfast and really no hurry to be anywhere, we leave the Delta around 10am, destination, the cave! Bill has given us a hand drawn map (not to scale) to locate the cave, then slip out the back trail for lunch at onatichiway. On the way up, during a routine exercise for the 850 across some very long, super hard packed sections of 267, a belt decided to give up it's life. After a mere 850 miles of lifespan, a replacement was needed. The worst part was having to pick out 3,283 pieces of former belt from the clutches in 2 degree temps with howling winds beating you up. After that project is complete, we continue on to the cave. First visit here, and it did not disappoint. As we are deep in the cave trying to locate the bear that Bill said resides there, a local drives down the very narrow trail and into the cave with his Jeep! Very cool place, glad we visited. On to Onatichiway for lunch, then a super fast run to Mt Valins and down the 93 and back to the Delta by 4:30 with about 140 miles. Thanks again to Bill for the map! A few pitchers and dinner, then off to bed. Tomorrow we head to the castle...

Figured my average speed today for this year. 36.6 mph.

83 Surfaced to Auberge du Ravage by Club Motoneige Saguenay. Today.