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so the Pavement smoked salmon is actually road kill?🤣

Groomer, we have all lived life in the Gaspe thru your pics so being able to share a few from our trip was fun. On this trip we had a great photographer with us, Josh Bingle, from Lab City. He had done a few of the drone shots that I had posted earlier. He is going thru his camera files now, what a difference a nice camera makes! We have talked about how open and barren the Long Range Mountain highlands is. These pics.from Josh... on a blue sky day!😁.... depict how wide open it is. Also, we saw lots of Moose and many more fresh signs. Those of us from Maine found it interesting that the Moose In Labrador came from Maine. They were introduced in 1906 to Labrador. They have flourished since!

Day Deux, left Lac Taureau around 10:30, up 33. Took local trail south of Repos on north side of 33 that lets you protage across many lakes, for anyone that has not done it, it is a great run and highly recommended. On to Relais du Repos gas and go, down 345 to M20 to the 360, Picnic lunch on trail at the intersection. 345 and M20 are in great shape. On to Trois-Rives gas and go east to M19 down the river, to trail 3 to 351, made great time on the 351, back on 323, one more gas and go, getting dark light snow. Into Roquemont, big dinner and off to bed. Kudos to the Mrs for her 455 km day

Hey All, I've been under the weather this season, real tired (Work\Sleep\Work\etc...), so I have not been able to post and read as much as I wanted to, but I did find this Update (At least to My iPhone) and it could be Super Useful. So early this season I found that if I used the Google Translate App I could take a picture of a French word or words with the app and it would translate it and display it as plain text, even off the TV (News or Weather). We were reading (Looking at the Pictures) a Menu and I said "Hey, try this...". Pulled out the phone and app and there must have been an update, as soon as I put the phone over the menu it instantly translated the menu using a "Virtual Reality" interpretation. This was to the point it translated the text on the menu\background\paper\etc. I've included pics of the menu. Both are the exact same menu. The steadier you hold it the better the translation. No, it is not perfect. I did download the French Language language pack for the app a long time back, dont know if that is still needed. It is a FREE App. Wow, Technology!

according to the menu it is also cooked and burned, hope this is not one of those places play hard has been telling us to just trust the chef!!

The communicator would have to mysteriously malfunction for the rest of the trip.

great !!! went to ste anne des monts today ....business trip !!! took a few pics !!! jean-guy

Are you referring to the pounding on your back from her....? That is why my wife now has her own sled!

Excellent pictures and amazing stories. Thanks for Sharing!

Mrs GT "dont go up that. Let me get off"😀😀. Out comes the shovel to cut down the steep angle. She had visions of 2016 trail 63.🤣🤣 (A 2 mph rollover.)

Just looking at some photos. On Notre-Dame-Des-sept-Douleurs I thought I came across a clubhouse. The picture shows signs. Bar at the closest door and Restaurant at the farthest. We did not go in. At the light house the small building was hit hard by water from the wind. It was frozen top to bottom.

I confirm you that even without the communicators, the communication find a way to pass... not always with words

That just got my laugh of the day award. That is funny. Thanks for the laugh!

RoadRunner, lot of Quebec Riders post all kinds of great,helpful , and interesting thinks here that we all like, but what you have posted here is way over the top, incredible to say the least, YOU HAVE NOT WON THE DAY...YOU WON THE YEAR!! Many thanks, Bob.

I would think with a heavy sled like that the best way would be to hit that drift at about 30mph. Should plow right through it with minimal air time😲

if you remember me posting the moose pics...back in 2017 ... moose were going down the hill right in front of your sled...on the pic , they turned to the right just before the intersection of tq 5 . jean-guy

2013 west of Chapais. Thanks Mr. Snowplow driver. It was a fast shovel only escape.

Came down the 355 yesterday and it was great. But warm temps and weekend traffic could be bad on both trails. Which ever one was groomed last would get my vote.

You have an amazing eye that picks up everything at a glance, great pic.

I can not think for a minute why the salmon crossed the road 😁 so Pave’ in this instance means Filet. Literal translations are sometimes pretty funny. 👍🏻

Could be a good time added to a St Ray area ride. Vintage drag event at Relais St Raymond on saturday 3/23, starts at noon $5

Yes, so use this at every "Out of the way" cafe!! I would trust Play Hard.... but maybe confirm what the menu at least says. Like I said, the longer and steadier you hold it the better. (Sounds weird...) Even if its literal, you maybe able to ID Pigeon Liver Sauce before you order it. Cooked and Burnt! LOL GutZ

Thanks GutZ! That’s great to know. I’ve had the app for years & never tried it that way! Feel better & retire soon!

hi p hardy !!! thx all ice was from shore to half a mile + out maybe !!! big chunks of ice at many places !!! 2 big ships far in the distance....could see north shore clearly !!! jean-guy

hi rr !!! back from a business trip in ste anne des monts !!! woow...pro pics for sure .....im out of words !!! super nice !!! thx to you and josh for sharing those pics......and yes....good camera worth the investment when you know how to use it !!! thx for the info about the moose...interesting !!! jean-guy

Middle side is that somewhere near your back side?😁😁😁😁😁

Listen, if you think Texting and Driving is hard, try it on a sled, I just want MY HALF of the trail, it's just I want the middle half....... Be Safe!! And stay off my middle side..... LOL GutZ

"First class dilemma!" Both are super-duper, when they're groomed. I'd use iMoto to make the decision. 23 is a bit faster & wider overall, but like Dooright said 355 using 73 & LT1 & SR1 are GREAT riding! If you go down 23, on a clear day, check the lookout tower 1 click north of Mt Apica relay. The relay has cash-only gas and a good lunch resto. And enables bypassing the few extra (typically lumped out) miles to get in & out of L'Etape.

hi steven !!! great weekend for pics....great light most the time......but yesterday morning ,coming back from dealership ....woooWWW...priceless !!! went to meet snowdog and stupe +2 more at the clubhouse ,late afternoon !!! happy to meet you guys !!! then ,when i left ,at the stop sign in front of gas station ....someone waving at me......sheriff was back in town ....linda + friends from ontario + nova scotia !!! while snowdog and stupe were leaving clubhouse...she caused a traffic in albertville !!! ahaha...first one in years !!! then , went grooming tq 5 .....warm ....snow no sticky ...but close....snow was like a thick mushroom cream soup !!! back around 4 20 am !!! grey sky today and still warm !!! jean-guy

It’s not only the tourists who run the middle of the trail or corner on the left, seems like at least half the sleds I meet are guilty of this. As for catching a sled thief, what ever punishment he gets will not be enough IMO.

I bet Gemma can identify with the girl who is panicking on the back of a well!!!😄 Thank You Tom! haha!!! 😄 you bet right! In fact I had pretty much fun, it was looking worst than it really was but for the passenger on the back that had not the controls in the hands it is not fun for sure. Just after this sequence I had let my partner going infront and open the trail for us.. at least the drift were cut a bit and did not splash over our head anymore!!! The only time I got a bad feeling is when we completely loose the trail at a certain moment and had made enough long in bad drifts that going back was not tempting. We use the go snowmobiling application for NB trails on our phones that is similar to imotoneige here in Quebec and it immediately locate us on the map. We saw that we were near a road that the trail was crossing so we got on the road and found back the trail at the junction. This cell phone application save our ass more than once during the trip! Thanks Mike! The snow conditions was really good, in fact the drifts were just enought firm from the wind action to get acceptable traction and not sunk my yammy but not too hard to loose control when they were not at 90 degre angle. Yes I like it too , I was wondering if someone would notice... really special, even more on this virgin snow scenery

Other than lots plow trucks bonsai'ing lots of road crossings, blue & green & orange trails were 10/10, most with 4" to 8" of cream cheese on top, all definitely well groomed before the Sunday snow.

Sm and Playhard, well we didn’t get cheated on our adventure ride for sure! Thursday and Friday did not disappoint us😁. Thursday started out so nice but high clouds up in the Long Range mountain highlands in the distance had other plans for us. As many of you saw earlier in the week, The highlands, a few days ago had a beautiful blue sky, and felt very inviting. 😉 As mentioned , We had heard several stories of trouble and tragedy in these highlands all week. Well we got taste of just how wild it can get. By mid morning our clear view morning ...had changed into a slow crawl, dirty visibility and several dig outs of drifts as we crawled our way up into the highlands. Wow we still got a long ways of to go! This is what its like when the weather goes bad😉 , This is going to be slow going! Just before noon we decided this is not going to work! We had just got to a rough shelter about half way in. This looks like our chalet for the night! 😊 As we settled into our very.........rustic accommodations, some gathered fire wood , others water, an inventory of overnight supplies started popping out on the rustic picnic table in the shelter. A wood stove provided heat, but that was about it. The wind howled all night, but by 3:30 am it seemed like we had a window of opportunity and visibility was better, but we had 10 sleds buried in snow and we needed to get rolling. With winds forecasted to pick back up to levels we experienced yesterday, we knew we had a a narrow window. Robert Gardner and Dixon Clements, both Cain’s Quest Champ’s and old pros at these types of riding conditions , gathered the troops and said well...it’s now ...or ....we most likely will be here another day. So at 4:40am, sleds are all running and we are heading down out of the range, at a crawl. 3 hours later, and 35 miles under our belt, we dropped down into the tree line. Lots of stories and laughs to share, but also a reality of just how quick things can change in the high country! It’s always an adventure. With 10 experienced riders it was awesome to see all the safety and overnight equipment pop out of everyone’s bags. Multiple Garmin in reaches, Spot tracker devices, food, food lines for hanging gear to dry, fire starting equipment, jet boils, tarps, ect. You guys get it because we all tend to carry those items whether adventure riding or groomed trail riding, and at times thinking, wow, do I really need this stuff? Well yes, on occasion you do! The other neat observation was to observe your riding partners under challenging conditions. This group all remained calm and focused. Good attributes for any type of ride, especially when conditions change. As mentioned a few days ago, we had planned to get into the Gross Morne Park, but do “unforeseen circumstances” we ran out of time!! We did get to see territory and ride a regions that even many locals have never done. We catch the evening ferry back to NS tonight. We will be back to the Rock again! This has been another great adventure ride. And many more things to see and experience here! Happy Trails! RR

Beautiful place, reading your post is motivation to plan a return trip!

2/24 Plans were made for a Westward run with QR's infamous Florida Snowman, so a 3:45am departure from Vermont took place, destination Auberge-Motel Drakkar in Shawinigan. The new 900T Enduro with zero miles on it was in the back of the truck for the ride. Roads right out of the gate were slick as my intentions of getting ahead of the pending storm had failed. All the way up and until I was through the tunnel and onto Rte 40 headed east the roads were a nightmare. After reaching Rte 40 the pavement dried up and good time was made. Arrived at the Drakkar with the Snowman prepping his ride ready to go. After a quick trail pass switch to match my new sled we were ready to go. Hit the trail right around 9am and everything is groomed flat and fast a few local trails out of town onto the 23 and jump on the river for a quick run up to the 360. Continue on to Matawin for a quick top of fuel and keep on moving all the way to Repos for more fuel and some soup. Had to wait a little bit for fuel as they were transferring from one tank to another. We also got behind a tour group that was thirsty for fuel. After we fueled the Kanawata Express was a super quick run and we splashed a little more fuel, said hi to Mario, visited with a few Vermonters, and then off we go towards Barrage Goin. It is now snowing very hard and we are pushing 10-12" of fresh snow. Lots of fun and no other sleds on the trails, so good time is made. Pull into Gouin and fill gas again and the horses are shut down for the day at 5pm. We are the only two here. Great walleye dinner and we call it a night. 265 miles 2/25 Up for a quick breakfast and on the trail a little before 8. Still snowing and we run out on jump on the road headed towards Parent. An easy foot of new snow on the road, but the plow has been through and cleared 1/2 the road just for us, so sizzling time is made for the 60 mile run into Parent. It has been snowing hard the whole way and vision is very tricky at times. Take fuel and jump on the 83 headed to Clova. Visibility is getting really bad and the guy on the Yamaha misses a turn ever so slightly, and it was here that we found out exactly how deep the snow is! About 1/2 hr later we have the 1/2 ton Yammie re-directed and back on the trail. The 80 miles from Parent to Clova were done with a lot of caution as digging the sleds out was not how we wanted to spend the day. We roll into Clova and tell Dominic of our plans to reach Val Dor this afternoon. The rolling of his eyes and wagging of his finger saying 'NO' was all we needed to know! He informed us the drifting was very bad and that some sledders were stuck 1/2 in between and supposedly holed up in a camp for the evening. He informed us that the wind had been gusting at 80-100km and the passing would be ill-advised. Why we were not ready to park the sleds for the day, we took his advise when he informed us that the wind was going to be setting down and that groomers were headed out from Senneterre and Clova tonight making for a perfect day in the morning. We checked into the schoolhouse, checked e-mails and messages, and headed back to restaurant for a great steak dinner around 6pm. Not a bad day to shut it down early. 140 miles 2/26 Super cold in the morning, -16 degrees as we loaded up the sleds to continue west. A quick breakfast and we're on the freshly groomed 83 before 8am. We wet the groomer making his return trip about 20 clicks out of town. We now have double wide groomed all to ourselves. The groomer had turned around at Balbuzard, but another groomer from the west had been there and done the same. We finally met our first sleds at our 75th mile of the morning. We pull into Auberge du Lac Faillon at 100 miles for fuel and to thaw our frozen bodies! An hour plus of hot chocolate and warm wood stove is just what we needed. Back on the sleds we go headed towards Senneterre. We catch the groomer, wave our thanks and continue on. A couple of young guys on Cats caught up to us at some point and went by us like fighter jets. We soon caught back up to them as they were helping a couple get unstuck in some of the wicked drifts in part of the big burn. As luck would have it, they were still there to assist 'the guy on the Yamaha' again as that tank just will not tread drifted snow. Sorry Tom, at least I didn't take pics! The rest of the trip into Senneterre was uneventful and we take fuel and make a run up to Amos just because. This section was the only part of our trip that had any real bumps, but the run on the way back to Motel Senabi seemed much quicker as it is certainly easier leading the horses back to the barn. We passed one groomer on the way back and saw signs of lots of groomer activity for the following day. Checked into Senabi at 5:30 and ordered out for dinner. 308 miles 2/27 Plans were made to be on the trail at 6:30am for a long run up and over the 93 to Chibougamo and beyond. All the trails maps showed green, so we wanted to get on them early. This plan was curtailed slightly as the Yamaha did not want to fire in the -18 temps. After locking ourselves out of the room at 6:20am (a quick knock on the owners door fixed that), the Ski Doo got the Yammie singing and we were on our way.Trails were nothing short of incredible on this perfect blue sky cold morning. Gas stops in Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Demaraisville, Chapais, Chibougamau and the Saw Mill were needed as we pushed all the way to Chateau Roberval where we pulled in at 5pm. Just an incredible day with very light traffic. 412 miles 2/28 Another very cold -18 morning to start our run to the trucks. A little later start and then take the 83 to 355, a quick splash of fuel at Lac Bouchette, sail down flat fresh groomed trails to LaTuque for fuel, and then make the final push to the truck. All trails were an easy 9 and the trip was a great success. Arrived at truck at 3pm and headed for home. Great to meet Tom and ride some incredible trails. Tons of snow up here and looking like a great spring riding season. Somewhere along the way I apparently lost my Drivers License in a Canadian snow bank which made for an eventful border crossing with no ID.... 234 miles (not many pics as my phone would shut down because of the cold)

We are snowed in at the hotel hoping to get out of here in the morning and get back to Quebec

And( (L' Etape) QPP with a radar gun on weekends 😳 Limit is 50k 😇