Riding in the Gaspe is always an adventure! I have never been to a place that can dump as much show in such a short time and effect trail so much. Extremes of weather and elevation make it an adventure.
Glad you didn't have any serious issues and did get lots of good riding.
My riding partner and I left Riviere du loup on Sunday morning (Feb. 16). it was snowing and the wind was blowing. There had not been any grooming since the storm started on Friday. It was difficult to stay on the trail due top drifting and poor visibility. We got stuck several times. We spent the night in Matane. The next morning, Monday it was still snowing and the snow was getting deeper the further east we traveled. When we reached the hilly terrain near St Anne des Monts and Mt St Pierre it was a real challege getting up the hills. About 4pm we stopped to have lunch in Mont St Pierre. The restaurant was full and the Motel parking area was full of sleds. Where did they all come from? We passed only a handfull of sleds on the trails all day. The waitress said the trails were impassable and everyone was staying put. The Motel was full. We called the Copper Hotel in Murdochville but they were full also. Finally found a hotel in Grande Vallee, (48 miles east) that had room for us. On the way there we passed a group of 5 and a group of two couples. We could tell there was a groomer ahead of us without a drag because there were two deep ruts with a high spot in the middle of the trail. We caught up to him 8 miles from Grande Vallee. He was breaking the trail, in 3 ft of snow, attemping to climb a steep, winding hill. While we were waiting there the other groups caught up to us. One person rode up to speak to the groomer. he said it would take him all night to reach Grande Vallee. We all turned around and backtracted to Riviere Madeline where we found a little restaurant that had a couple of rooms. There were already sledders there that had ridden the road from Mt St pierre. He only had room for two people. Lucky us. The group of 5 took the road to Grande Vallee and the two couples hired a flatbed to take themselves and their sleds to Riviere au renard, where they had reservations. The next morning (tuesday) the Motel owner said the groomer from last night could not climb the hill and returned to town. They were going to send two machines, one of which is a Bombardier, which is better in deep snow to open the trail. A call was made to a club in Chandler for info on trail conditions. They said the interior trail 597 was groomed all the way north to trail 5. We rode trail 5 west until we reached trail 597 and headed south to Chandler. The trail was groomed to Murdochville and slightly past, but then it was only broken by sleds for about 50 miles. Totally rideable since there were no steep hills. Once we reached Chandler the trails were all groomed. They had gotten less snow than the North side. Spent the night in Perce. The next day we continued counterclockwise around the North side and almost everything was groomed. The rest of the week the trails were great.
My riding partner and I left Riviere du loup on Sunday morning (Feb. 16). it was snowing and the wind was blowing. There had not been any grooming since the storm started on Friday. It was difficult to stay on the trail due top drifting and poor visibility. We got stuck several times. We spent the night in Matane. The next morning, Monday it was still snowing and the snow was getting deeper the further east we traveled. When we reached the hilly terrain near St Anne des Monts and Mt St Pierre it was a real challege getting up the hills. About 4pm we stopped to have lunch in Mont St Pierre. The restaurant was full and the Motel parking area was full of sleds. Where did they all come from? We passed only a handfull of sleds on the trails all day. The waitress said the trails were impassable and everyone was staying put. The Motel was full. We called the Copper Hotel in Murdochville but they were full also. Finally found a hotel in Grande Vallee, (48 miles east) that had room for us. On the way there we passed a group of 5 and a group of two couples. We could tell there was a groomer ahead of us without a drag because there were two deep ruts with a high spot in the middle of the trail. We caught up to him 8 miles from Grande Vallee. He was breaking the trail, in 3 ft of snow, attemping to climb a steep, winding hill. While we were waiting there the other groups caught up to us. One person rode up to speak to the groomer. he said it would take him all night to reach Grande Vallee. We all turned around and backtracted to Riviere Madeline where we found a little restaurant that had a couple of rooms. There were already sledders there that had ridden the road from Mt St pierre. He only had room for two people. Lucky us. The group of 5 took the road to Grande Vallee and the two couples hired a flatbed to take themselves and their sleds to Riviere au renard, where they had reservations. The next morning (tuesday) the Motel owner said the groomer from last night could not climb the hill and returned to town. They were going to send two machines, one of which is a Bombardier, which is better in deep snow to open the trail. A call was made to a club in Chandler for info on trail conditions. They said the interior trail 597 was groomed all the way north to trail 5. We rode trail 5 west until we reached trail 597 and headed south to Chandler. The trail was groomed to Murdochville and slightly past, but then it was only broken by sleds for about 50 miles. Totally rideable since there were no steep hills. Once we reached Chandler the trails were all groomed. They had gotten less snow than the North side. Spent the night in Perce. The next day we continued counterclockwise around the North side and almost everything was groomed. The rest of the week the trails were great.
Riding in the Gaspe is always an adventure! I have never been to a place that can dump as much show in such a short time and effect trail so much. Extremes of weather and elevation make it an adventure.
Glad you didn't have any serious issues and did get lots of good riding.
My riding partner and I left Riviere du loup on Sunday morning (Feb. 16). it was snowing and the wind was blowing. There had not been any grooming since the storm started on Friday. It was difficult to stay on the trail due top drifting and poor visibility. We got stuck several times. We spent the night in Matane. The next morning, Monday it was still snowing and the snow was getting deeper the further east we traveled. When we reached the hilly terrain near St Anne des Monts and Mt St Pierre it was a real challege getting up the hills. About 4pm we stopped to have lunch in Mont St Pierre. The restaurant was full and the Motel parking area was full of sleds. Where did they all come from? We passed only a handfull of sleds on the trails all day. The waitress said the trails were impassable and everyone was staying put. The Motel was full. We called the Copper Hotel in Murdochville but they were full also. Finally found a hotel in Grande Vallee, (48 miles east) that had room for us. On the way there we passed a group of 5 and a group of two couples. We could tell there was a groomer ahead of us without a drag because there were two deep ruts with a high spot in the middle of the trail. We caught up to him 8 miles from Grande Vallee. He was breaking the trail, in 3 ft of snow, attemping to climb a steep, winding hill. While we were waiting there the other groups caught up to us. One person rode up to speak to the groomer. he said it would take him all night to reach Grande Vallee. We all turned around and backtracted to Riviere Madeline where we found a little restaurant that had a couple of rooms. There were already sledders there that had ridden the road from Mt St pierre. He only had room for two people. Lucky us. The group of 5 took the road to Grande Vallee and the two couples hired a flatbed to take themselves and their sleds to Riviere au renard, where they had reservations. The next morning (tuesday) the Motel owner said the groomer from last night could not climb the hill and returned to town. They were going to send two machines, one of which is a Bombardier, which is better in deep snow to open the trail. A call was made to a club in Chandler for info on trail conditions. They said the interior trail 597 was groomed all the way north to trail 5. We rode trail 5 west until we reached trail 597 and headed south to Chandler. The trail was groomed to Murdochville and slightly past, but then it was only broken by sleds for about 50 miles. Totally rideable since there were no steep hills. Once we reached Chandler the trails were all groomed. They had gotten less snow than the North side. Spent the night in Perce. The next day we continued counterclockwise around the North side and almost everything was groomed. The rest of the week the trails were great.
My riding partner and I left Riviere du loup on Sunday morning (Feb. 16). it was snowing and the wind was blowing. There had not been any grooming since the storm started on Friday. It was difficult to stay on the trail due top drifting and poor visibility. We got stuck several times. We spent the night in Matane. The next morning, Monday it was still snowing and the snow was getting deeper the further east we traveled. When we reached the hilly terrain near St Anne des Monts and Mt St Pierre it was a real challege getting up the hills. About 4pm we stopped to have lunch in Mont St Pierre. The restaurant was full and the Motel parking area was full of sleds. Where did they all come from? We passed only a handfull of sleds on the trails all day. The waitress said the trails were impassable and everyone was staying put. The Motel was full. We called the Copper Hotel in Murdochville but they were full also. Finally found a hotel in Grande Vallee, (48 miles east) that had room for us. On the way there we passed a group of 5 and a group of two couples. We could tell there was a groomer ahead of us without a drag because there were two deep ruts with a high spot in the middle of the trail. We caught up to him 8 miles from Grande Vallee. He was breaking the trail, in 3 ft of snow, attemping to climb a steep, winding hill. While we were waiting there the other groups caught up to us. One person rode up to speak to the groomer. he said it would take him all night to reach Grande Vallee. We all turned around and backtracted to Riviere Madeline where we found a little restaurant that had a couple of rooms. There were already sledders there that had ridden the road from Mt St pierre. He only had room for two people. Lucky us. The group of 5 took the road to Grande Vallee and the two couples hired a flatbed to take themselves and their sleds to Riviere au renard, where they had reservations. The next morning (tuesday) the Motel owner said the groomer from last night could not climb the hill and returned to town. They were going to send two machines, one of which is a Bombardier, which is better in deep snow to open the trail. A call was made to a club in Chandler for info on trail conditions. They said the interior trail 597 was groomed all the way north to trail 5. We rode trail 5 west until we reached trail 597 and headed south to Chandler. The trail was groomed to Murdochville and slightly past, but then it was only broken by sleds for about 50 miles. Totally rideable since there were no steep hills. Once we reached Chandler the trails were all groomed. They had gotten less snow than the North side. Spent the night in Perce. The next day we continued counterclockwise around the North side and almost everything was groomed. The rest of the week the trails were great.
Gaspe loop
in Gaspe Peninsula
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