Jackstraw

Fun factor day 2. Woke up to 12”-15 fresh pow pow 24”-36” snow drifts  not many sleds and yes we got stuck a few times never leave without snow Benji  
steven I’ll try to pack more trails for your group today 
mike yes I wish you were here also     are you planning on  next year here

Fun factor at a high level today started off leaving in major snow headed down 85 to Degelis raining there u turn back to RDL area still snowing hard 12” fresh powda lots of track spin . Bring your wallet it’s about 1$ per mile 225 miles almost $200 in fuel 
 

May have a sled for you, but you'd have to pick it up in Lake George Saturday Morning. I can't cross the border due to the mandates

May have a sled for you, but you'd have to pick it up in Lake George Saturday Morning. I can't cross the border due to the mandates

We did it a few years back, yes the lake is huge. Took us a little bit to find where you get off. Did eventually find it as it had snowed and no tracks.

We did it a few years back, yes the lake is huge. Took us a little bit to find where you get off. Did eventually find it as it had snowed and no tracks.

We did it a few years back, yes the lake is huge. Took us a little bit to find where you get off. Did eventually find it as it had snowed and no tracks.

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We are just back from our sled week therapy in Gaspesia: sled/eat/sleep...&repeat 😄

I don't have the time to put together a big report but this will be a pretty good summary of how it goes:
This 6-day/1000 miles ride in known territory for us (5th time) went well and even if it was a bit cold/windy, we had no snow storms or mechanical breakdowns, which gave us a very nice easy trip

However the current context have changed the planning requirements from the past years: I have never seen so many snowmobilers in Gaspesia and the accommodation offer is probably a little less than usual... anyway all the places where we stayed were already booked full when we arrived. We booked our overnight stays 2 or 3 days in advance and the only shot we delayed at the night before for New Richmond, the 2 hotels there were already full and we had to extend our trip to Carleton sur Mer where we booked the last room. So you really have to book sooner this year

Day#1 Mont-Joli/Cap-Chat passing by St-Pierre mountain total 176 miles.

Here's the St-Pierre mountain belvedere under a very cloudy sky


We had a lunch in Amqui and slept at the Auberge Grande Nature in Cap-Chat, just at the foot of the Chic-Chocs.


Day#2 Cap-Chat/Grande Vallée via trail#5 total 148 miles

It was a cold and very windy day. There has been a lot of logging between Cap-Chat and La Martre since our last visit in 2018, so the wind is even stronger on the trails.


The cold has overcome my gopro (external power wire broken) and unfortunately I could hardly shoot while riding during the trip. I was deceived because I was hoping to capture the very panoramic segment of Rivière à Claude/Mont St-Pierre/Mt-Louis, but that will be for another time...



We tried to have a lunch at the Mont St-Pierre motel restaurant which was the only one open but it was full with people waiting standing for a table so we continued and found a woody spot sheltered from the wind for a side trail snack break instead. A couple of hours later, we were able to take a real break in an heated place at the marvelous relay of the Snowmobile Club rapide blanc. Large and well equipped with even a toilet for the lady who greatly appreciated this luxury!



We stayed at the Marée Haute motel in Grande Vallée. Even the motel looks basic the food was a notch over the bunch at that place



Day#3 Grande Vallée/Percé by #597 trail  Murdochville total 200miles

So we retraced our steps on #5 trail to get the #597 and go down to Murdochville


We had this surprised encounter there! They took the wrong entrance when they left the gas station after filling up and got stuck there solid...hope no one had need an ambulance in the next hour!



It was too early to lunch there so we picked up some food at the convenience store and went to eat at the junction #597/local trail that join #5 trail to the east. Very nice fast ride pleasant to do
We had some visitors for lunch: Several small black-capped chickadees came to beg us for lunch

It was the first time those ones came to eat in our hands. We are well used to the gray jays and there were also some there who did not hesitate to claim their food too


We went down to the #5 trail and then to Barachois to refuel and admire the rear view of the perce rock which is less common to see and I like much


We then took back #5 trail, crossed the small detour near the emerald river (not so bad) and continued to take the local trail for Percé... the trail of the shame as some call it: 12 miles of big bump to do twice is the penalty to be able to admire the rock!




Being already there we reach on the mountain behind, I like well the different views of the rock, including this one



We stayed at Camp de base in Percé. We had to follow a non-federated trail to get there but it was pretty easy with the instruction given and imotoneige and the stay there was nice in this historic and unusual place

Day#4 Percé/Carleton sur Mer via trail #5 total 178 miles

We took #5 trail which we held the whole day. As I mentioned a lot of sledders in the Gaspesia right now so the trails wear out faster and we encounter good and less good trail conditions and this time our morning unfortunately was quite rough. Here the Grande Rivière bridge


Here the Chandler snowmobile tourist information relay



We slept at the Baie-Bleu hotel in Carleton sur Mer


Day#5 Carleton sur Mer/Cap-Chat via trail #595 total 181 miles

We retraced our steps on #5 trail and took trail #595 to the north. This time we got top notch conditions, trail just groomed during the night. The "moment" of the trip followed with a brief round trip exploration on Mount Lyall located on the Chics-Chocs trail, 6 miles from #595.




We have been there several times but never seen the place like this: mommies as far as the eye can see!




Going back down to the #5trail we saw some impressive snowdrift



We then stopped to refuel at La Cache which was pretty crowed. We waited for the gas but no way I would wait for a lunch there. We just continued on #595 and stopped in a not too windy spot for an outdoor snack... we begin to be used to this!

We then went back down to #5 trail. Kristine was anxious to encounter the famous moose that we saw on video beating up a sledder but we had not seen it. We then turned right towards Cap-Chat again but this time to stay at the Motel Nanook


Day #6 Cap-Chat/Mont-Joli via trail #5+locals total 162 miles
We left on trail #5 trail to return to Mont-Joli. Here the footbridge of Cap-Chat that many will recognize...



We did a short round trip on the local trail to Les Méchins to shape up the ride a bit and then came back west on #5 trail. We stopped for lunch and a last fuel-up in Matane and then  continued on #5. It was another very windy day and the wind there is really strong!

 
We arrived early near Mont-Joli and we went around the town a bit via local trails to shape up the ride a little more again. Just before arriving we passed this dozer



We finally got back to our starting point around 3:45 pm with a total of 1046 easy miles for the 6 days.
Also, we slept twice in Mont-Joli. Before our first sledding day and on the last day at mon Joli motel and the Quality Inn hotel. I would like to point out that Mon Joli Motel offers a free parking for the week and breakdown service in the event of a problem on the ride. You leave them your truck keys and in the event of a problem they can come and pick you up with your own vehicle, which can be extremely nice in the event of a problem along the trip and it brings appreciable peace of mind even you don't need it.
This concludes my 2022 Gaspesia trip report

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I'm getting ready to go riding in Quebec in a week...and even after all these years in the saddle...I have benefited from all the posts in this dialogue...it's hard to read and look at all these pictures, but also refreshing to understand how much we all can, and will benefit from the reminder  of our responsibility to each other while on the trail. I think everyone on here understands that, I really appreciate everyone's input here, a lot of great perspectives  on reality.

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Nothing good happens on trail at night.

Success. Made it to Hotel Nordic in the daylight, barely! Johnny at Gouin booked us at his place for for 2 nights due to the snow depth and consistency, (he did not thing we would make it and would have to return back), bet we did NOT need it.  He said this was not a ride for children 😜 Funny guy. His side trail yesterday was FLAWLESS😏
Very deep snow for the 50 miles on the Gouin made for a bit of tough going and it only got more challenging from there on. More stucks that we bargained for due to the insane snow. ( The 2 recent mega snow dumps have buried everything!)
We did ride 10 miles of the 93 coming into the Hotel. Unbelievable nice trail! Don’t walk, RUN to Chibougamau, the snow and trails are that good! They will be riding for WEEKS more here no doubt 👍
 

This party's a wrap!
The past 2 weeks have been amazing!
With a bit of everything we love about Quebec Riding!
Thanks again all for joining along!
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After hanging out in Maine for a week riding with the crew up there,(love those guys!) it was time to go back to Quebec on a bit of an adventure ride. We started this morning from Mattawin and headed out the 360 then up the M20 then to the end of M21. All of it very very nice, lots of snow here.
I would say there were 40 sleds that stayed overnight in Mattawin so I thought there would be lots of sleds out here, but all day it’s been very quiet, advantage of mid week.
Headingout this morning we quickly caught one of the groups that left before us. We passed the back two guys and then the front guy decided to pick up the pace a bit and was riding very very well. Older guy on a Yamaha with textbook perfect riding, I thought it might’ve been Iceman. He was cranking that thing staying inside of the turns and not letting any cobwebs grow on him that’s for sure. We kept the pace up until the intersection of M20 and then he had to stop and wait for his buddies. As far as I know he might still be waiting.
We got to the end of M 21 and then did off trail all the way over to Kanawata , beautiful day, no traffic in the bush. We did get to follow a pretty large wolf on the M21 for awhile. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen one up here close, I always forget how huge they are!
Celine at Kanawata was in a super good mood today and made us a great lunch after Stefan filled us up with gas, $2.35 a liter please.
After lunch we headed off to Barage Gouin for the night. It’s nice to have the restaurant open. Carol is also in a super cheery mood and we are only one of three groups here for the night. A massive group was leaving as we arrived, they had come across the reservoir from Poirier Martin’s outside of Clover. 
Tomorrow the plan to go across the reservoir and then straight north to
Chibougamau, no trails just straight north. We hear we might find snow!

Some of us would love to come up an ride but forced vaccinations is not acceptable. Love your ride reports regardless !
 

Still overdue for a solid round of Pacman up & around these magnificent trails!
Maybe/hopefully sometime sooner rather than later!
 

Sleds put away??? Season just getting going!!!! Best time to Ride is now till April 1 st!!

Also presidents week, super busy everywhere

Also presidents week, super busy everywhere