themainer

Heard that it is a group of over 100 riders from Ontario doing a ride for charity spread out all over the Gaspe in different smaller groups. At least those were the reports I got.

587 was nice today for the most part. The orange shortcut trail by Mann Settlement we were first tracks since it was groomed and it froze so hard it was like riding on glare ice. Glad I had good carbides cause it was smooth and you could hook up well!

We'll be starting from Pointe la croix tomorrow and doing about the same loop. May see you out there. Motel nanook in cap chat is the first destination for Monday night.This site is great for trip planning. My first time to the Gaspe too.

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Gonna be starting the loop clockwise on Monday too. I'm more worried about getting snow Wednesday night, but looks like it won't be too much. Planning to do the north shore tuesday since it looks like the best sunny day of the week.

After a successful first trip up last year, the ol lady is interested in going up to the area with me for a trip. She likes riding two up and refuses to ride her own sled even though we've tried many different models. It would just be us two. I was wondering how late it would still be good conditions south of the Saguenay? She doesn't like it much colder than 20F so thinking the last day of march and first weekend in April. The first day of the trip I was thinking of staying at Auberge des Battures, then going 83 down to Lac Bazile then take that local orange trail up to Anse St. Jean for lunch, then back over 383 to the hotel. Do you think the trails will hold up to do this end of march/early april? The second day I was gonna truck up to KM31 to stay there and ride over to the frozen waterfall and the "cave". I know there will be plenty of snow to do that. Has anyone stayed at KM31 before or Auberge des Battures? Also, can you cross the bay in LA Baie or is there an open shipping channel that would prevent you from doing that? Thanks for the help. Really appreciated it last year when I was planning my first trip up here.

Extremely jealous, but at least I haven't picked up the new sled yet so I have an excuse not to head up instead of working this week!

I think if I smuggled in Miller Lite so he could drink that instead of Bud he'd be happier too. Yes it was. Stayed there instead of the Tourelle Du Fjord as they were booked. Was a nice place and with the exchange rate we got an awesome dinner and room for like $85 USD a piece, but they definitely seem to cater more towards a skier or environmentalist crowd in my opinion.

The cave is just off the south end of Lac Le Mothe. You take 93 to regional trail 328 west/north. Take the first local trail you come to on your right after a few miles (the one to Relais Onatchiway). Then after a few miles take a local trail on your left, if I remember right there is a sign for lac le mothe. When you come to the big Dam on the lake you take a little goat path off to your left on the other side of the plowed road. Was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. He said he's done snowmobiling, just doing day trips now, haha. I know I'll drag him on another trip next year after he forgets this one.

Day 4: Left the Delta at 7:15am. Took 383 to 367 to 23 and hammered down for the pickup. Arrived at 12:15pm for the trip home. Beautiful day and nice cruising on 23, much more like we are used to riding in Quebec. 188 miles:

Day 3: Doesn’t Feel That Cold: Left the hotel at 7:00am due to the mighty e-tec not having enough juice in the battery for the first time ever (sled had 9,500 miles on it at that point in 2.5 years) and my inability to start it off the rope. Luckily we had booster cables which fired her right up. Didn’t realize it was -26F that morning in more than one place on our ride and we confirmed with other riders that night. Even with that cold, absolute calmness had me outside loading the sled with no gloves and no hat on and riding behind my big windshield was very pleasant. Went up the short lookout on the east side of Valin, then hit Le Chapelle for breakfast at 9:00am. Nice Place, good food, and a nice couple running the place. Took off on 93 bound for Sacre Couer. Came upon a guy from Boston standing on a corner. He missed a corner in the snow dust and hit a small group of trees trying to carve back onto the trail and got himself extremely stuck. One of his other guys in the riding group came back and we sawed and finally got him unstuck. Even in the 3 foot deep trench I broke though up past my gut (I’m 6’ 4”) and I still hadn’t hit bottom. 3 of the fattest Gorbys I’ve seen swooped down in close to watch us but we had no food for them. Left there after helping them and tried to get into the Waterfall. Fresh 2 feet on the trail on the way in and I got stuck as I was trying not to beat on the sled with all the gear on it. Turned around and decided we’ll see it on another trip. 93 to Sacre Couer was nice cruising, then the last 125 miles, though it was probably the most beautiful terrain I’d ever ridden in, took much longer than we would of hoped due to the yink yanky up down and around 90 degree corner trails. We are not used to that type of riding in Quebec and it definitely gave me a reality check on how many miles we could do in a day. Rolled into the Delta at 7:00pm. Wish I took more pictures on 383, but I just got so used to the beautiful terrain that it didn’t really hit me til later how really awesome it was: Sunrise on the Fjord: Ferry Crossing in Tadoussac:

Day 2: Cold Warning: Started off at 9:30am as there was an “extreme cold warning” in effect due to the high winds and -12F temps. Even with my new wizbang grandpa windshield the cross wind was still nasty. In the woods was great, but the route around the lake had many, many fields which all seemed to be drifted even with a fresh grooming the night before. Ate in St. Honore at 2pm and then went up the “The Cave” which now I realize must be an old tunnel they drilled to let the water go around the Dam on Lac Le Mothe when they were building it. Still very cool sight. Made it back into the hotel near Saint Rose at 6pm after only 210 miles which seemed like plenty that day: Nice windbreak: The Cave: A little farther in: The lights of Saguenay:

Finally got the pictures off my phone. Did 935 miles in 4 days, left from St. Raymond on Wednesday in the blizzard and returned saturday under a beautiful blue sky day. Definitely gave me a better appreciation for what riding in Quebec is. Around Valin and the Fjord is much different than southern Quebec and Maine in respect to making time. Due to us pushing it back a week due to the storm last week we lost the other 3 guys in our group so it was another classic father/son trip. I appreciate all the advice and info I was able to get on this site. Made the trip alot easier knowing what to expect. Day 1 is Red, 2 is Green, 3 is Yellow, and 4 is Purple Day 1: The blizzard Left St. Raymond at 7:30am with a foot of fresh on the ground and a blizzard warning in effect. By leaving 30 mins later than planned we were able to follow a set of tracks from the hotel all the way to trail 355 just before La Tuque and there we met 2 sleds coming the other way which gave us more tracks to follow. This helped greatly in making time. As we got closer to Relais 22 the snow was lightening up but with the same amount on the ground. On a 90 degree turn I just happened to look over my shoulder to the left to see if Dad was still behind me and noticed a 1200 buried on the side of the trail which I would have never seen if I didn’t look that way. Helped him out of 5 feet of snow and he was very appreciative. Arrived at Relais 22 at 3:30, ate, fueled, and left by 4:10 for the last 80 mile push to Roberval. Trail was ok cruising for the first 50 miles as we were thinking the guys telling the horror stories about the trail at Relais 22 had obviously never ridden the Greenville RR bed on a Saturday afternoon. The last 30 miles into Roberval featured honest 3 foot deep moguls in some hills and corners and we realized maybe he wasn’t exaggerating. Helped 2 more sleds get unstuck and saw the ATV groomer buried on a corner as well. Fields in Roberval were horribly drifted, but we made it to the hotel at 8:00pm, 288 miles: Stopped to clear a downed tree: Relais 22:

Is everyone in the entire northeast US at the Delta tonight? First time I've heard more English than french in 4 days!

Is it legal to ride this plowed road? Seems like a good short cut to get to Parent time wise

How quick do you think they will groom after Wednesday's storm in your opinion/prior experiences? Hoping Thursday we can still hit some fresh groomed up towards onatchiway, not just the Trans Quebec and green trails.

Ah, ok, now I know what trail you're talking about. So once I turn off 93 to head north up that trail will it be on the right or left? How far off the groomed trail will it be? Thanks for the info on this, Im hoping the cave will be easier to find.

Interesting. So the cave is south of Lac La Mothe near the dam from what I can tell? And the waterfall is near/on which lake? We don't have GPS's and the local trails online aren't marked with what number they are.

Well, it was originally 5, one who knows the area like the back of his hand, now it's down to just dad and I. We can make really good time on our own and have a good time.

Haha, yeah, from talking to one of our buds who is up there alot he said we should try to do alot of the orange around valin if we could, only way we can fit it in is if we skip the big 93 loop. We'll save that for next time.The route mapped out is 273 miles with stops every 100 miles or less for gas. We may add more or less depending on how well we are making time and the conditions of the trails.

Thanks for the advice so far guys, much appreciated. I think we'll stay at the Jardin in St Felician as we were already looking at that one along with the Borealie. Where is La Chapelle? Can't seem to find it on the map or google, although I did find the ski resort you were talking about. This is what I was thinking for our day 2 approximately. We run 800 etecs so I don't like going much more than 100 miles between fuel stops although we will have one sled with an extra 2.5 gallons: Any alterations or suggestions you'd make on this route? Any good lunch stops around Lac Sebastian?

First post here though ive been browsing the last week or so. Our original plan to ride to Matane from Maine got ruined by this rain so we've shifted our focus to a trip up to Lac St Jean. I've never been so I don't know anything about the area other than what we've been told by others in our riding group and what I've researched. Planning on staying at the Roquemont in St Raymond (pending snow conditions) Tuesday night next week after the ride up and leaving the truck there til Saturday while we saddlebag. First day we plan to ride from St. Raymond up 73 to Relais 22, then up to St. Felician for the night. 2nd day we're going to ride around the north side of the lake then over to the Mt. Valin area to check out the mountains then I was thinking of staying at the Tourelle Du Fjord. Third day we'd do the loop down to Taddousac, take the ferry, then come back up 383 to the Delta and stay (we already have a reservation for this night since it's friday) then the last day will be from the Delta down 23 back to St. Raymond. The 2nd day is the most up in the air on desired route. Any must see sights, must ride trails, best restaurants, etc or any other lodging recommendations? We usually have no problem averaging over 250 a day south of the river, I imagine riding is better around this area.