neksledr

They do look delicious! Had every intention of stopping there last week,  just didn't work out. Enjoy the rest of your ride, and the wings!

You can't enough of those smoked wings, can you!

They do look delicious! Had every intention of stopping there last week,  just didn't work out. Enjoy the rest of your ride, and the wings!

You can't enough of those smoked wings, can you!

You can't enough of those smoked wings, can you!

March 15 Wednesday 
 
Gotta love spring snow in the Gaspe. Woke to maybe 2 inches at motel. Had breakfast said bye to Fred and his crew headed for Gaspe. Never saw Linda before we left. Headed west on TQ5 more snow higher up and sticky stuff too. Constantly wiping visor with glove. PITA. Cest la vie today. Good practice as i have not gone red stick hunting yet this season. Yup. I still can do it. Well mostly anyway. A good way down the trail we are following trail along plowed road. I thought trail jumped off road but we were headed for bonus miles up a windmill access trail. Well no harm no foul. Got out and quickly got re oriented, all good. Some tricky spots with wind and blowing snow. I have seen much worse. But was still fun. We gas in Madeline Center I think its called. Then continue to Murdoch trail. Beautiful run up to Murdoch. Less new snow as we came west on north shore but still some new everywhere we went today. More snow as we climb into Murdoch. Took time after gassing to stop to see Jacque at Copper. I really do not want to get into anything regarding the post made but I will. I understand not being satisfied and not getting service as you feel you should as paying customers. But he is truly having a hard time with staff. And the comments about him and competition and he should sell are out of line. Ok you had a bad experience. You shared your experience. To warn others. Great. It’s over now. 
Don’t like it there? Fine go stay at chic chac or rent air bnb. Jacque has always been there to support all snowmobilers and i have never had a bad experience. He does a real lot behind the scenes there for the Club in Murdoch and this all goes unheard of. 
Thats that. Moving on.
 
Further we go down 597 it gets deeper this new snow. Patches of freezing rain now mixed with snow. At hut by local to Gaspe. Is Fred and his Team. We talk a few minutes then bail south 597. Gotta be 8-10” here heavy wet snow. Sucking gas trying to blow open this trail on the right, one has gone south it seems but everyone else headed north. We reach TQ5 but already on thr low fuel light. Ran it out at less than 80 miles. Go for my extra gas, very unlike me, I never filled it this year. Been riding with it empty. NHmoose gives me life. We cruise into Chandler. Rough near here. 
Gas up and decide to go get spare belt for NHmoose at skidoo.
 
Find our way to dealer and John is looking for a 571 belt which will also perform well with any Ski-Doo model using 417300531.
 
We get him his new belt and off to Hotel Fraser. 
 
Another great day.

Here is the ride we did on sunday March 12th

it's one of my classics ride but I admit that this season with the St-Maurice river closed and the detour in the Mauricie wildlife reserve on the #360 it added some body work to an already big day ride.
We left at 8:30 towards St-Zénon. The trails near my home were just groomed but very hard in the morning, scratcher mandatory!

There is still a lot of snow even in the south of the area. I had put on the roller skis to do 2 shorts side of the road sections but no mud to start the day. Here in the maple grove in St-Norbert

For the rest, no roadside or marginal section to go north. Here's a guy who holds his right to cross!!!

Beautiful trails going up to St-Zenon.

We fuel up at the Cabanon before continuing towards the Taureau dam on perfect grooming


We went through the dam. The reservoir level is already very low.

And started the #360 to the east. It was not freshly groomed but still nice and fast

Riding the #360 in these conditions on a blue bird day like this is near the peak of snowmobiling happiness!!!


We took a first real break at stop #440, our usual spot

The 2 picnic tables... there's still snow there!

The 2nd part of #360 to Mattawin had been groomed overnight and was perfect

The beautiful Mattawin River

We finally arrived for dinner at Marineau at 1:30 p.m. with 245 km on the meter. The lunch rush hour was already passed but despite this superb day and conditions there are already fewer sledders on the trail.

We took a good lunch break (still so well received by Marie-Josée at Marineau) refueled and continued on the #360 which was perfectly groomed

Past the #355 junction, the #360 to the south had not been groomed recently and was less good. Near St-Joseph de Mékinac village on a plowed road section the groomer will really have to built us a little sidewalk on the side of the snow bank soon, there is way enough snow for the groomer to do that.

To the south of the village there is another short short plowed road section and then it becomes quite nice

On the #23 to the south the rivière des envies is holding up and was solid but this one is always to be watched at spring 
It's not the snow that is missing there!

The St-Maurice was still solid, no slush

We then took back #3, a little bumpy but still going fast. There is a short section of plowed road in the power lines which would also require a small sidewalk to not play in the mud!
Otherwise it was riding fine

We crossed the St-Maurice at the Gabelle and it was still very good

We fueled up one last time and took a little break in St-Étienne before continuing on #3 trail. A little bumpy at first in the woods but nice and fast in the fields.

The whole rest of the trip was nice with a good snow cover

We finally got home around 7:45 p.m. with 475 km on the meter, very satisfied with our ride but haven't took long to fall asleep that night!
Despite the impressive snow cover, the season is already well advanced. Some outfitters in the north, such as Repos and Kanawata have announced that they will close after this next weekend which is quite usual for them. Some others continue to operate until the trails close...
There is still great snowmobiling to do, it's often the best conditions of the year so enjoy these last weeks of sledding
Alain

Theirs are hydraulic as well, sorta! 

Day 4 - This was to be a positioning day, and we accomplished it. Left Matane early this morning and made it to Thetford Mines which will give us an easy run back to Vermont in the morning.  Will post pics and summary after we pour some beers down. 409 miles
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_03/20230309_174414.thumb.jpg.924d7aa79d914968da448a2435285b93.jpg

Don, is this the same machine being used? Two things I  noticed last week when we saw him is hat the front blade is missing the the right part of the wing, and the drag was not grooming, but just panning the back. Seemed odd??

Theirs are hydraulic as well, sorta! 

Theirs are hydraulic as well, sorta! 

Day 5- Today will be easy,  so we delay starting time until 6:30am. Temps fell to around 20 overnight,  coolest temp we saw all week. Groomer had been through so departure on trail 25 right in front of hotel flat and hard. Take that down to 540, over to 65 and into Weedon to top off fuel. From there jump on 55 until the 523 which brings us right to customs in Beecher Falls. Pass thru with no issues and run last 15 miles to camp, arriving before 10:30 with 135 miles. Flat light run, so very few pics. Deer were absolutely everywhere, use extreme caution in these areas! Total for 4.5 days of riding ended at 1556 miles. Maybe 25 miles of those had bumps, the rest were like riding in heaven! Just an incredible end of year run.

Wait...what?? Ya know, I thought they looked a little different than the rest, and they did make a funny moo sounding noise....but I guess what really confused me is they didn't run off like the rest of them 😅.  

Day 5- Today will be easy,  so we delay starting time until 6:30am. Temps fell to around 20 overnight,  coolest temp we saw all week. Groomer had been through so departure on trail 25 right in front of hotel flat and hard. Take that down to 540, over to 65 and into Weedon to top off fuel. From there jump on 55 until the 523 which brings us right to customs in Beecher Falls. Pass thru with no issues and run last 15 miles to camp, arriving before 10:30 with 135 miles. Flat light run, so very few pics. Deer were absolutely everywhere, use extreme caution in these areas! Total for 4.5 days of riding ended at 1556 miles. Maybe 25 miles of those had bumps, the rest were like riding in heaven! Just an incredible end of year run.

Incredible everything Alain, really appreciate it!

Wait...what?? Ya know, I thought they looked a little different than the rest, and they did make a funny moo sounding noise....but I guess what really confused me is they didn't run off like the rest of them 😅.  

Wait...what?? Ya know, I thought they looked a little different than the rest, and they did make a funny moo sounding noise....but I guess what really confused me is they didn't run off like the rest of them 😅.  

March 8 / Day 3.          So not gonna lie, the predicted weather was causing some panic as we sat on the south shore and temps in the morning were 35 and climbing through the day! Our plans of heading to the Rock didn't seem like a good idea. No problem,  we'll head into the mountains and see what the weather does. The 5 is groomed perfectly as we depart Baie Blue at 6am and we are first tracking all the way. We break left onto the 595 and head towards LaCache. This was groomed yesterday, but was smooth and fast as you might expect.  Pulled into LaCache, topped off fuel, and we were talked into breakfast sandwiches! We were 'Welcomed to the Palace' by the guy and lady working, great people! The crossover trail to Murdochville did not show any recent grooming, so we were hesitant to take it, but what the hell, off we went. It was very drifted in the first high points, which made for a lot of fun! Not a trail for those looking for smooth sailing,  but if you're up for an adventure,  send it! It got better over the top, and we actually met the groomer in front of a relais, but hood was up with hydraulic fan problems, hoping it worked out. On to Murdochville for fuel top off, quick pic of the Copper, and then on to Mount St Pierre. The mountain trails ran just fine, but when dipping down into towns, it was solid mashed taters! Very tricky on corners, and lots of extra spinning. Continuing on the 5 headed west the trails were really good going, with the exception of dropping into towns. After Relais Moulin the trails were stupid fast.  The long straights were almost boring cruising at 75 and beyond! Just an an amazing day was had after initially worrying about forecast.  Pulled into the Quality Inn in Matane at 5pm with 351 miles. Not bad first 3 days, well over 1000 miles!

So, up and out of the gate at 6am this morning,  trying to beat the crowd.  2 other sleds beat us out, but we leap frogged with them most of the morning,  couple nice guys from Maine. Took the 5 and trails ranged early on from good to wind blown and drifted bad. A freezing fog was sticking to our visors making visibility very tough for a while. The sections of trails that had been groomed overnight were incredible with a couple inches of fresh on top, really great riding.  The ungroomed bumped up sections obviously not great, but they were short lived and gave us a taste of reality! Stayed on the 5 all the way to the 579 which ran us into the 587 and into Groomers clubhouse in Albertville.  Great lunch there, and pics for Chris to follow! Asked if the bearded ex-groomer was around, but no luck! From there we took a few orange trails to get back on 5 east which was in Incredible.  We did jump off left on the shortcut orange into L'Alverne, then onto Carleton-sur-mer where we'll spend night at Baie Blue. Another extremely fast paced day with great trails, shut the motors down at 3pm with 294 miles. Weather not looking promising for tomorrow as temps rising overnight to 35 in the morning. Will check maps in morning and plan the day. Very low snow here.
 

Day 5- Today will be easy,  so we delay starting time until 6:30am. Temps fell to around 20 overnight,  coolest temp we saw all week. Groomer had been through so departure on trail 25 right in front of hotel flat and hard. Take that down to 540, over to 65 and into Weedon to top off fuel. From there jump on 55 until the 523 which brings us right to customs in Beecher Falls. Pass thru with no issues and run last 15 miles to camp, arriving before 10:30 with 135 miles. Flat light run, so very few pics. Deer were absolutely everywhere, use extreme caution in these areas! Total for 4.5 days of riding ended at 1556 miles. Maybe 25 miles of those had bumps, the rest were like riding in heaven! Just an incredible end of year run.