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viper2

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Posts posted by viper2

  1. Worst year I can remember as far as snow, and I have been riding Quebec since 1989. We got lucky and got 2 trips in, neither had a tremendous amount of snow but good enough. The trip last week to the Gaspe from RDL was a gamble that paid off. As we rolled back into RDL last Saturday it literally felt like the trail evaporating around us and it literally was. Our annual Maine trip is a no go, supposed to be leaving tomorrow but bare ground like most of Quebec. Next year has to be better 

  2. Day 6, last day left Valga and doubled back south to 5. When we get to 35 we take that, some of the trails around Rimouski are showing red again and since we took 5 on the way out we will try and stay more inland. Stay on 35 to the 546 cutoff and take that, it’s in really nice shape. Local traffic is starting to pick up now but everyone is acting nicely. We take the 571 when we hit it then the 544 into St. Cyprien and have a good lunch at the St. Cyp. Continue on the 544 to the Orange local, think it is 44 but not positive and take that to 85. 85 still in good shape and covered well but icy. After the Adventiers clubhouse things get pretty bad. Mostly dirt and gravel with a little snow here and there to the 526. The 526 is no better and pretty much no snow the last 2 or 3 miles into the Universal. We had a great trip, the clubs are all out doing their best and trails are mostly good. All towns are bone dry getting in and out, even Murdochville is dry blacktop at the gas station. Many areas WILL NOT survive the warm up and rain this week. It will take a good dump of snow after Wednesday to open it all back up. 142 miles for the day 1050 for the week

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  3. Day 5: gonna end the trip with 2 short days instead of 1 big one. Today we rode from PALC to Valga. Took 5 all the way to Albertville. Trails pretty thin near the towns. Should have took the orange trail to avoid Causapscal. Also really thin around St. Marguerite and Albertville. Continued on 5 to 587 to St. Irene, much better here. Had lunch at the Ski Hill then went up and checked out the lookout tower up near the Radar. Looks like winter up there but not like a normal one. Continued through the mountains on 587 to 579 and into Valga for the night. Early day, a little too early really 😂😂 150 miles for the day.

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  4. Day 4, Left Pabos, took 5 West and trails are still pretty nice. Not great snow depth but the clubs have done a great job with what they have. Trails were all in pretty good shape until New Richmond. Really thin there and some bare corners but not terrible. Same for Carleton, mostly smooth but thin. The thinnest sections and most bare spots were around Nouvelle. Definitely spring conditions there. The snow started getting better and less bare spots and snirt as we headed West. In PALC tonight.

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  5. 2 hours ago, wng-2 said:

    👍Hope it goes well! What's the destinaton today?

    Just going to Pabos tonight. Rooms are hard to come by. Not sure why, not many sleds on the trails. We called a couple places last night when we got in for tomorrow and everything in our range was booked. A short ride today will be nice, yesterday was a long day

  6. Day 2: Left Riotel FYI don’t have to go up the big hill. Go closer to the road around the back of the little brown building and it will take you right up to the road. Everything dry pavement in town, got up to the trail and took 5 East. Mix of good to fair with a few great sections mixed in. The most snow is in the elevations, all the towns are scratchy like late March. First 30 miles from Matane is pretty thin. Staying in Grand Vallee tonight. The deepest snow of the trip is out here, probably from Mont Louis to here. Calling for a warm up Thursday-Friday, we will see

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  7. Day 1, word of the day….Thin!  Got 2” overnight made it nice leaving RDL. Never seen it so thin here in February. Trails pretty smooth, not enough snow to be rough. Snirt is gone with the fresh snow. Get out of town and take 5 East. Rimouski Club says stay on 5 for best conditions. Hasn’t been our experience but let’s try it. Away from town coverage not bad. Once we get to Trois Pistoles it’s actually pretty nice. Continue on 5 to the 35 outside of Rimouski. Traffic is light all day groomers are doing their thing. Meet back up with 5 East to 587 short cut to 5 at Padoue. Took the 5 all the way to Matane to the Riotel. Very scratchy in town, basically blacktop and dirt.

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  8. 5 hours ago, BOBLER said:

    ust called auberge presbytre trail beautiful from l’Etape to their door. Open

     

    Thank you, have stayed there few times and that section of trail is always good, but yet fcmq reports closed

     

    Probably don't have all the signs up yet. As has been reported previously, the FCMQ has had a slight change this year in that clubs cannot mark their trails open until they are 100% marked and signed. It has to do with their liability insurance and a lawsuit 

  9. Are you planning on checking out the Christmas mountains in NB? Might be worth it, We rode the trail one year from Grand Falls to Houlton. We were staying in Maine and did a day loop crossing into New Brunswick at Hamlin into Grand Falls NB. We took 12 and 44 down to Houlton. The trail was good not real twisty but a lot of road and driveway crossings. If you take the trip make sure to check out the world's longest covered bridge in Hartland NB. I feel your trip is manageable on the Cambellton to Houlton. We went from Stockholm through Grand Falls to Houlton then back up to Stockholm in one day but it was a long one 

  10. On 1/11/2024 at 1:38 PM, PISTON LAKE CRUISER said:

    I don't understand how a cell phone app could ever work properly without a cell phone signal.

    Like snobeeler said,it works off the GPS in your phone. Check it out next time you are in the bush. Cannot use all the features but the mapping is there

  11. 56 minutes ago, gowser said:

    I run a Garmin Zumo with track maps. Works fine everywhere including QC. Used it 2 weeks ago in Valin. Also run the FCMQ app on the phone but that doesn't work without a cell signal so great to have the Zumo / track maps. 

    We have always been able to use the app without a cell signal. Did something change this year?

     

  12. 13 hours ago, ChrisWright said:

    Hello all.  Been trying to call up to Clova to make a reservation for this winter.  Not having any luck getting the call to go through.  Rings a handful of times and then switches to a busy signal.  Does anyone know if the number may have changed?

    Thanks!  Hopefully we will be riding soon!

    Not much happening this time of year there when there is no snow. Maybe wait until there is snow on the ground and someone will be there

  13. On 2/21/2023 at 5:57 PM, zrtkat said:

    Viper2

    Can I explain my reasoning this year to getting a 7 day pass versus buying a season pass early before deadline . Every year we have come to Quebec snowmobiling we purchase a seasonal pass and we only come up snowmobiling for 7-10 days . This year was different due to my health we did not know if I would be able to go or not till  after December.

      So yes I agree the seasonal pass is the way to go before December and next year we will be purchasing early for sure, I am not on here complaining about loosing Money on trail permits,and first 2 nights of lodging, I think it is only fair for the lodging to charge me because they could have rented them out .

       I am more upset about not doing what we love to do and thats snowmobiling in Quebec ,So all we can do is let it go and look forward to next year enjoying what we love to do

      Hoping the season is long for people snowmobiling in Quebec

       Greg

      

    I get it, I have bought week passes in the past. If you were to do it again I would suggest waiting to purchase it until you land at your starting spot.

  14. I think is a good lesson here in economics. You spent quite a bit of money for nothing. I could never understand why someone in our sport would not buy the season pass before the December deadline. The price is $145 Canadian more than a 7 day pass and $25 less than buying a 7 day and then a 3day. You are good for the year then, get the sticker in the mail long before you go and can come and go as you please. With all the money we spend in this sport it seems crazy to me to try and pinch pennies here  

  15. Sorry forgot to post the last day, Day 4 Thursday. Decided to do a shorter day so we could get loaded up for home Friday morning. We took 63 West to St Zenon then continued to LaGlacier. Trail groomed nice to LaGlacier but rough after there. Trail passes through a forestry operation and there is about a 1/2 mile on the plowed and sanded logging road. This is the smoothest section of 63 Lol. Go down past Bazinette still rough. Finally groomed again at St. Emilie and we continued to St. Damien. There we picked up 23 and took it to 350 to Koubek’s for lunch. After lunch headed up 345 and back to LeCabanon 130 miles for the day. 750 miles for the 4 day trip. Trails mostly good some great and some rough. This area as always has a lot of traffic and gets used by a lot of tour groups. We still like it for the simple reason there are a lot of different loops that can be made from one spot and a lot of great places to stop trailside. They usually get very good snow as well and many use it as a gateway to the Quebec North

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  16. Day 3: We left LeCabanon at 8:30 and took 23 East to 345 and continued to the Barrage. After crossing the Dam we took 360 to Mattawin. We arrived by 11 and gassed the sleds and took an Earl lunch at the Marinou. We decided not to continue the loop to Grand Mere because 360 hadn’t been groomed in quite some time so we headed back up 360 and this time at the Dam took 360 around the top of the lake. It was perfect and we met up with 33 where we continued towards SMDS then jumped on the lake to town. Gassed up and took 63 to LeCabanon. 63 was beat but was to be expected especially with the warmer temps and sun. Got back at 4 pm with 200 miles on

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