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Yesterday , Sunday west of Relais 22 on the 83 . No rain, lots of fresh all the way from Barrage Gouin to La Tuque .

Arrived at RDL. Looks like about 10 to 12 inches of new snow by the hotel, hopefully more heading south and east. Groomer has not been by the hotel yet, front desk says the club called and they will be out dragging in force tonight. Light snow just started few minutes ago and the area does look wintry. Driving up through Jackman, looked a little iffy for riding but probably okay. North of St. Marie, Montmagny and across to RDL looked like it might be okay. Few swollen streams near Montmagny. Only saw one groomed trail the whole trip. Very few tracks tracks on a few trails, none on most, but, the storm was only yesterday. mike

They have just finished cleaning the trail(downed trees, branches). lots of work had to be done thru out the territory and we have a huge territory to take care of. We got +- a foot of snow over the weekend. You can follow them on their facebook page. They are starting the grooming operations today. https://www.facebook.com/ClubMotoneigeOursBlancs/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Lost in Chic-Chics https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2020/01/12/sauvetage-heliporte-pour-des-motoneigistes-dans-les-chic-chocs Four American snowmobilers lost since Saturday evening in the Chic-Chocs wildlife reserve in the Gaspé region were on the way to being rescued by helicopter late Sunday afternoon. “The four adult snowmobilers are doing well despite the circumstances. They managed to make a fire. But they are stuck, lost in the reserve about 20 km south of Marsoui, said Sergeant Marc Tessier, of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). We are in constant radio contact with them. ” Sergeant Tessier explained that the police attempted to rescue them by snowmobile, but that it was impossible to get there. "Trained police officers therefore set out on snowshoes at the end of the afternoon this Sunday in order to bring them food and blankets and keep them company while waiting for a helicopter from Armed Forces go and rescue them, ”said the SQ spokesperson. The helicopter was scheduled to arrive at approximately 6:30 p.m. The four snowmobilers had informed the authorities that they had gone astray in the Chic-Chocs reserve around 9 p.m. Saturday.

Ski Doo has a new bag this year. It’s called the dry bag. It takes up one LinQ location and is 40L. https://www.ski-doo.com/shop/Accessories/storage_racks/linq_system/linq-dry-bag---40-l-rev-gen4-and-xu.html

I think they are still in the bush, but in the process of getting out

Hey Jack & Sandi, what time you leaving? Keep an eye out for the red Dodge. Sounds like a good crew this week. No problem here waiting in the room for better snow! BTW shorts and tee shirt here also. See ya tomorrow. Joe

bonjour paddy ' o !!! well ,for us in the gaspesie...its very small ...i ve seen way bigger...aahhah....seriously ....no...but big one !!! back from taking pics around town ...still snowing ...super nice outside...must be over 6 -7 '' now ...since yesterday !!! jean-guy

Arrived at the Mayor’s location about the same time as Mike, we chatted briefly and than we went out to do a trail conditions check and found acceptable to good riding conditions. As Mike said the new snow is 10/12” a loose and dry. Once the groomers get this packed and it has a chance to firm up it will be good going. We ran a quick 70 miles down the 85 to 565 to St Hubert, 544, back to local 44 and back to the hotel. As you all know, once you get south of the adventurers club house the conditions get much better with lots of base and new snow to work with. We met the groomers working the access trail into the hotel on the way in as Mike reported. That trail too is very rideable with adequate snow cover. We have come into RDL with conditions much worse before lol. Looking forward to seeing REVCT and Mike this week at the Mayors! Happy Trails RR

Backcountry's eat that stuff up !

how was it pushing that snow

It’s a nice ride. Old RR bed from Mont Laurier to Rivière Rouge. Then it turns north going over the top of Mont Tremblant park. Gas up at the gas station/bar/restaurant across the street from the LaMacaza airport. The food is good there, but it will be pretty early when you get there. You won’t miss it,, the trail runs through their parking lot. Then it’s on to Saint Michele. You have choices once in St. Michele if you want to add miles and time to your day by going around Lac Taureau and crossing across the top of the dam on 345, or going directly to LeCabanon. I would say, if you are just taking your time, enjoying your day, and going the most direct route, it’s a 2/3 of a day ride.

I use TD bank and they don't charge any fees as they are a Canadian bank, I think the Costco Citi card also has no fees, I use the atm's and also no fees and great exchange rate, the 2 permits were $505 .00 us dollars

Hats off to the FIRST RESPONDERS. !!!!!!!! Thankfully a positive outcome considering what could have been.

Hey I can't say who will be up there, but if you hang out in the Lobby in the Evening and don't be shy at breakfast I'm sure you can find someone to tag a long with. Bill will be there and he is always looking to ride. Later GutZ

Side note: This morning here at the top of Connecticut, my truck thermometer said 70 F and it is pretty accurate. Ugh! Jack & Sandi

Wow Paddy.. looks like a scene from game of thrones... 😄😄

It looks like the Mayor may have to get a bigger room for all of the guests and a bigger bottle of wine. If the snow isn't good, the wine will be. Jack & Sandi

Looks like it will be a QR week at the Universal, we should be there mid afternoon as well. see you both at the Hotel. Think Snow and Wine😊 RR

Hi Jack, Joe and I should arrive tomorrow afternoon also. Hopefully it will be good. Someone I won't mention by name said the wine will be good regardless of snow conditions. mike

These bags are 38L to give you an idea of size. Bigger than l need for the sled but have for our Spyder adventures. The brand is Dryspec. Secret to make dry bags so useful and versatile is using ROK STRAPS to secure them. Use the 60"long x 1 " wide. You can cinch bags down super tight and will never move.

All i’ve been doing is polishing my trail pass!😁

NO pictures were taken to show me upside down on my head.. the sled went off and i had to tread a fine line to ripe across two huge boulders that were buried but i kinda knew they were there , i rolled sled on side and it threw off in snow thank god.. nothing broken on me or sled. i needed help to get her right side , then had to go further down the hill to get turned up the hill , but this was not a problem for the expedition ...Thanks to those that stopped to help this old man.. We had a good time and both headed home last night.. before the freezing rain.. hope to hook up again at the end of the month..

A bit more crowded, but still rockin the airport bar!...

Thanks Chris. I don’t consider it “guts” though. My first Quebec adventures began 98 or 99. I connected with some fellow NY riders on the then new thing called the internet...LOL. I was instantly blown away and captivated beyond comprehension. I couldn’t get enough of it. So much so that I was wanting to go more than I could connect with people. At the beginning I would stay around more populated areas but that didn’t last long as my love for the “bush” (and beaver) took me deeper and deeper into the Quebec wilderness. It was around 2001 or 2002 that I walked into the Relais 22 one evening for the night solo. As I’m eating in the common area at a table by myself I see these two Quebecers looking my way with a little bit of bewilderment. Finally the one tall guy gets up and comes over and says “you all alone my friend” ? I said ya....kinda crazy huh. His name was André and that meeting has literary changed my life. I wound up riding with him and his cousin Pierre around LSJ for a couple days before we departed but not without exchanging our contact info. Fast forward 18 years and Andre is one of my dearest and best friends in life. A finer individual you WILL NOT meet. Andre, (lives In Sherbrooke) his parents in St Jean de Matha and brother in L’ephinie have treated me like family ever since. They have a nice camp up on Lac Chapeau de Paille at the end of the M21 trail that we all go to winter and summer. It’s a very, very special place. Shortly after meeting André my confidence level increased as well as my experience and familiarity with how Quebec touring works. I would go at times with André but he only had limited opportunities to go. That’s when I met fellow QR member “Easyrider” on the net who also loved coming to Quebec and needed a riding partner. He’s from Vermont and lives 2.5 hrs south from André in Sherbrooke. Well it wasn’t long before all 3 of us were BFF”s. In the early and mid 2000”s Easy and I took many a bag trip around Quebec but he too only had a finite amount of time. It was about this time that in between trips with him and Andre I would fill the void with solo trips around the Gaspe, the 83/93 loop (1125 mi.) and Abitibi into northern Ontario and back runs. I averaged over 5000 miles a season for over a decade. In the last 5-6 years now my dear friend Jeff from NY (lives near me) has joined the “team” and he too has been inducted into the “Lac Chapeau de Paille” Hall of Fame. All four of us (I absolutely REFUSE to ride with more than three others) are heading up to André’s parents this Thursday for a nice 5 day trip. Two nights (first and last) will undoubtably be at the camp up on M21 and a couple others probably in Parent and maybe 100 Lacs. Besides these last two trips I can’t remember when my last solo trip was. Probably at least 7,8 or 9 years ago now. But for me to throw the sled in the back of the truck and take off alone isn’t even a second consideration. I’m more confident than I’ve ever been with my riding abilities. My machines are always newer and top notch condition. I’m more mature and level headed than when I was younger. I’m more prepared (albeit a sat phone or SpotX) as my true feelings are that it would take some of the thrill out of it for me. I make constant mental notes in my head while riding remote areas alone like where the last structure I could take refuge in was. I carry enough food to get my fat ass by for days if needed. Yes I guess that there is some very slim remote chance I could have an accident but if anything ever does happen I d be willing to bet that won’t be the cause. Like I said above this wasn’t my “first rodeo” riding alone. And not having done it in a lot of years I loved many of the benefits it does have. Friends and family back home know my whereabouts and we keep in constant touch. Plus I have found that doing these long trip threads about the travels actually helps me in some way deal with the solitude. At least one more big trip alone will be done this season. I missed and enjoyed it that much. several fellow QR members have recently reached out to me with offers to go riding. I really appreciate that and wish I had the time and money to ride at least once with everyone on this site but here’s the reality. There is myself and the above three mentioned individuals that make up my core group. If it ain’t all four it’s some combination of either two or three. I have spent years breaking in/ training these guys on how to deal with me...LOL...I’m a different kind of dude. That and my rekindled love of taking long solo journeys probably doesn’t allow much time for new riding partners, at least this year. But we’ll be sure to see each other on the trail.

I thought I could see some small light in there so I opened the door to see 4 candles burning in there so I took the time to knee at the alter (been a long time since I had a good prayer) and thanked God for everything in my life. Family, friends, health and of course thanked him for the 20 yrs he has gifted me with the ability to come to Quebec doing what I love. I also asked him if he could give me 20 more....LOL