vt_bluyamaha54

Time for another ride, Gaspe it is. Given the reports I’ve been hearing I feel we are good to go for the RDL departure. Some have been here some haven’t, time to break in the virgins. Where were staying hmmm.....I’ll leave the politics out of it, that’s a no go zone this time, you’ll have to guess.
Our group of 4 consist of hparaptor, necksledr, myself and a long time lurker, perhaps after this trip will turn him into a member. NOT!!!
Tomorrow the plan is to break trail and whatever is in front of us to make chez Groomer for an afternoon glass of rouge, sorry JG too early for bacon pizza. Then off to Carleton-sur-Mer, where???? Hmmm....you’re gonna have to guess. Stay tuned for our report tomorrow night.

Left Murdochville yesterday to a groomed 597 heading south. At the intersection with 5 we headed to Percè thanks to the iMotoneige app showing it had just been groomed. Rode into Percè and it's the best that trail has been in years, groomed right into the Table Roland. Had lunch there then drove along the road and out on the pier for some pics. The sun was out to start our day but by the time we got to the rock it was snowing and gray but still got some decent pics. Headed back 5 west toward Chandler and stayed at the Hotel Fraser for the night. About 2.5 miles off trail but this place has a great restaurant and nice rooms. 

Left late today, had to do some electrical troubleshooting on some heated gear. Hoping to have some before us to break trail. Left about 9:15, had a couple tracks ahead of us heading East. Hard to tell how much new snow with all the wind but some places up high had about a foot. Visibility was poor at times with the blowing and drifting snow and it got colder as the day went on. Rolled into Murdochville about 3:00 and decided to stay the night and hope tomorrow brings groomed trails and clear skies.

Reminiscing after reading your post.... Lunch @ Auberge duRavage Feb 2017 - Liam , Eddy , Ginny , Paddy & Bill.  A great day it was.
 

The winds finally died down yesterday after 2 days of gust reaching 40 MPH.  Rode down 83, to the Ravage for lunch.  The trails were freshly groomed right up to the Ravages's door.  Came back 83, 383. local 2 to 83.  Great day to ride,  Clear skies and cold temps. 

Left the Universal in RDL Monday took 5 past Rimouski then took the local trail across to St. Donat then down to Domaine Valga for lunch. Continued back down to 5 then took the 587 north and the local cutoff to Pardou and back on 5. Took the 5 to Matane and into the Riotel for the night 200 miles.

Day 2 left the Riotel under snowy conditions and the plan was to go south to stay closer to towns and hopefully less snow from this storm. A quick check of the forecast showed up to 3/4" of ice for PALC  so we headed into the belly of the beast and  took 5 west toward Saint Anne des Monts. With the big snow in the forecast, we are not sure of what our immediate future will bring so we decide to pick a place we may care to spend an extra day if necessary. We stop for a break at the relais at St. Paulin at the intersection of 5 and 595 always a good stop. The trail is groomed smooth and 3-4" of fluff on top traffic is very light. We continue on to Cap Chat and gas up then onto the Grand Nature Chic Chocs for another break, no hurry we are close to our destination and it's early. The storm starts ramping up here, time to get to SAD-M. Get to the Hotel and Cie early with only 102 miles on the clock, hopefully we can leave in the morning. No plan for this trip other than get back to the truck by Sunday night. So far all trails are good, plenty of snow everywhere, no water holes and very light traffic. Get up here it's time

Started snowing here in the Tremblant area around supper time, got about 5-6 inches before turning to freezing rain. Freezing rain/rain today but so far the thick ice crust on the new snow is protecting it. What the frig is with this winter, we just get going nicely trail wise, then crap weather just about destroyed it, we start to recover and bam, more crap weather.

“You gotta know when to hold them,  know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run”  good sound decision. It’s wicked up there when it’s blowing. Ask Andyman. 

Best choice you could have made.  When your gut feeling isn't good, its time to re-think.  A day in the hotel and some quality time with the boys isn't bad.  I respect the younger ones for having a little common sense.
Jack & Sandi

March ’17 until last Wednesday
Dream and plan for next trip to great trails in Quebec   Wednesday 1/17 Trailering snow covered roads from Maryland to Hotel Lac Carling (a site sponsor I might add). Dinner, drinks, politics.  After dinner I was advised trails closed. PLENTY of snow here but damage from last Friday's rain. At least truck is secure, we think.    Thursday  Planned ride to Village Windigo. Woke 4a. Study reports, closed in spots, passable in others.  Lac McDonald closed, Linear Park closed, 319 N closed at 63.  Everything else open.  Re-route planning, contingency ideas. Gas at Motel du Chasseur.  Windigo calls and says trails closed in their area - we’ll see. Bad hole soon after turn left on gold local to get to Chasseur.  Snowy.  Occasional rocks and icy corners.  Passable but not what you come to Quebec for. Plan is to take new route to Mt. Laurier via Duhamel and local up Lac des Iles and wing it if can’t get through.  Campfire if needed. Windigo calls again - trails closed please bring your money but not your sleds. Lunch at Madorick - good food, prompt service.  Owner tells me not to try Windigo - too many klicks.  1st timer with us, an experienced snowmobiler on first saddlebag trip, is toast already.  OK I give up.  Where to? A little mind eraser magic and iMotoneige points to Auberge Chez Ignace - Lac Nominingue.  Owner is a renowned wine maker transplanted from France.   Uncork some rouge, served with Cheetos, WTF (I think the husband rushed out to buy provisions after I called).   Math homework with the kids and cat.  Weird but super accommodating.  Nice rooms, hot tub. Right on the Linear park (they advised me it was OK even though RED on iMototneige).  Dinner amazing, breakfast perfect, sleds secure in covered enclosure.  We’ll be back when there is actually snow between points A and B to stay with new friends.   Friday 7a breakfast A little drone work Live stream departure by new ami Tony. 63 to gas in Riviere Rouge. 319 N barred on linear park. Bridge to take 63 over Red River is bare with no sleds signs.  No choice. Back on trail.  Good size hole on 63 east prior to 322.  Passable where shallow.  Head north on 322.  Powerline trails very rocky almost no snow.   FML,  Shoulda move launch point north or elsewhere but 1 buddy really wants to go to 100 Lacs. In the woods the trail is often good - full on winter, in the open spots bad to terrible, borderline irresponsible.  And bad timing for the open house weekend. About 1/2 way up the trail is shaping up and not bad, still a few rocks and some icy areas.  After the 322-319 intersection 319 N turns into a single track goat path for several miles, I did not measure.  Whoops are bad for 2-3 miles but then it opens up and is Ok.  All passable clearly but partly seemingly not opened yet this year.  By the time we reach the Le Reufge at the 53 intersection its actually quite good.  Actually winter. And Snowing. Mekoos for gas and lunch.  We are a little early (rare for us) and no other sleds that aren’t staff or rentals waiting to be abused.  Good lunch, some connectivity and off we head to 100 Lacs.  Mekoos to 100 Lacs 8/10 except at the very end on the new section was a bit icy.  We arrived before 4p. - Too much drinking time allowed for this group.   I was not aware of the advertising brouhaha at this point but Paul was away promoting the business anyway.  Good candidate for site sponsor really.  There is a new lady there Maria, who speaks perfect English among other languages and was very hospitable along with all the staff at 100 Lacs.  100 Lacs to us is a super cool QC experience.   I did not meet a single QR member here despite the usual pre and post dinner camaraderie under the moose.  We stayed in Chalet Gerry with the mice or some other woodland creatures. In the am the morning they used a leaf blower to clear the few inches of fresh snow covering the sleds.    Saturday Slow breakfast. Gas (no good explanation for not gassing on arrival) 53-319-322-63-323-43- local to Saint Jovite. My sled hates me, or at least it thinks I hate it. Great riding up most of the way to Mekoos.  Fresh snow had fallen the entire time but my optimism was not rewarded. This was a stupid choice with a non-refundable comfortable 3 bedroom condo and a taxi ride to Tremblant for an over-priced meal.  Don’t ride this area until at least a foot of snow falls and the clubs can shape it up.  I know it was open doors but snowmobile trails need snow to be “open”.     Sunday 7a breakfast No sleds to fix parked warm in then bunker below the condos.  Rocks, snow, rocks, snow.  Plenty of snow and decent conditions still in Pine Hill area.  Thankful that the worst of the Tremblant area was behind us.   Roll back to Lac Carling. In the truck by 11:15a but not before a little drone work on Lac des Seize Iles. 2 different trailer tire blowouts on the way home.   No sled mechanical issues, no blown corner excursions,  new carbides all around probably -  I had new ones in the trailer already that I left off. 1200 miles now on my Winder. IMotoneige worked very well for navigating having a better interface than any Garmin.   

Update on Hotel Bernieres.  We rode by on the way home earlier this week, Jan 16th, and took a few pics.  There is a sign in front of the hotel saying it will open the end off January 2018.  There are a lot of contractors there but I will be impressed if it opens that soon.  The lobby would have to be re-located because there is nothing where the old lobby was.  The original part of the hotel was to the right of the pic and is gone.  These two pics are of the section that was built a few years ago and will not be torn down.

Contractors pouring cement at -12̊C (10̊F).  How do they do that?

The trail crosses the road in the same place but then runs along the edge of the road instead of going behind the businesses.

Looks like easy access to the Normandin.  St. Hubert is a little further down the street.  The motel is to the right side of the road by the blue construction trailer.  Don't forget the Police Department is on the right before the gas station.

  There is still a lot of work to be done on the hotel.  I hope there is parking for truck trailers when it is completed.
Jack & Sandi

Day drip on Saturday 1/20  rode out of Jackman.  Rode 75 north to 55 east to 545 south back to Maine.   Trails were in much better shape than I expected a little in spots but a great ride.  Didn't take many pics.
 
 

Thank you Steven - and everyone else (some “behind the scene”) that keep QR relevant, positive, and informative for the rest of us. 

Day 4
After an awesome stay as usual at Windigo with Martine and Daniel, unbelievable dinner of wings and smoked meat. Tabernac it was good. Enjoyed hanging with Florida Snowman, Jackstraw and Eric. Great bunch of riders in that group. 
Slept like a baby. Left Windigo and got a track from a local at the bar there last night. I know the shortcut back to 73 but wanted to be certain. Awesome run right to 73 cutting off a ton of time and KM’s. 73 was THE best trail I saw all this run. Unbelievable. 10/10 to La Tuque. Into La Tuque took the gas. Left there not sure what to do next. Had no real destination yet. We were winging it. I had called Roquemont but was full when i checked Friday no rooms for Sunday night. So....we headed south on 355 the section from La Tuque to the Rail Tressel was excellent. Arrived at junction 351/355 decision time. I wanted to go 355 to 360 then run past Mattawin. We started down 355. Big mistake. It was like it had been not groomed all year. Wicked rough big moguls. F-this. We are turning back. So down 351. Better but still rough. Need more snow on this. Got better closer to 23. 23 to Lac au Sables was near perfect. Stopped for gas there and snacks. We had to this point seen minimal traffic which was shocking considering it was Sunday, nice weather and free weekend. I was thinking maybe it was due to a Zombie Apocalypse but, no upon arrival in Lac au Sables i found Everyone and I mean Everyone. The resto next to the gas surely was over the intended capacity by the fire dept. it was mayhem. No cheeseburgers today. Gas and snacks. I decided to take a chance and Emily at the depaneur/gas was kind enough to give me her cell phone to call Roquemont. Well what do you know? Bingo! They had 2 cancellations. 1 room 1 bed, 1 room 2 beds. Sold Team Iceman. We are in. We continue on 23 part is back to the old route then there is a new section bulldozed up and over the Mountain after ND du Montuban, its a warzone. Bad Bad. We stick on the 23 and arrive at 353/23. 353 is bad. I send Snohorse on a Recon run down 23 while I wait for Louie. The intel is good. Mint trail the 23. We go. It’s a winner. 23 great to 3/23. Then we start to hit traffic. Trail mediocre at best the weekend has taken it’s toll. So it is. 3 all the way to 73. Passing as i can but I got Louie. Love em. But he cannot run at our pace. I decide to just pick them off one by one and we will gather up Louie after. As long as we don’t change trail he knows continue on 3. Its so so to poor. I mean poor. Arrive at jct 73 up to St Ray. We wait for Louie. We give him a break and time to warm up in the hut. Traffic is getting crazy now as it’s getting dark. 73 to St Raymond. Looks like it was carpet bombed. Used up. Fini, kaput. It’s painful. We run to gas/depaneur near Dion Moto to get some beer, pepsi(for the Jack) and snack. Then over to Roquemont. Complete Garbage hear, weekend has done it. It’s used up and rough as hell. Groomers got lots of work ahead of them. Now trapped here, half day back to Chez Ice tmmrw gotta take the new ride for her first service. Not sure whick trail to take home will look at grooming tmmrw morning. 
Also if anyone finds a sac on the trail between Dion Moto and Roquemont please bring to room 215, Snohorse is now drinking my Pepsi with his Jack and we got no Pistachios to munch on. A reward is being offered. Urgent. 
Until next time mes ami’s 
 

Constantly Promoting? Oh ok. 
This is getting out of control, now I need to be politically correct in which things I can post and cannot. Easier to just not post anything then what you got on the site? Not much content. I’ll post what I want when I want, and if your offended, then go take a time out in a safe place. Or delete my membership and send back my $25 bucks, no problem.
btw thanks for the hijacking. Much appreciated. 

You nailed it Steven. Nothing has changed since we helped rob start this site years ago. There is nothing wrong with members talking up their favorite business establishments. No one should feel that it is their job to promote advertising on QR either. There are several members here that do, and it is appreciated. That should be left up to the individual to decide 

There seems to have been a misunderstanding of the rules by some members on this board, I would like to clarify the rules as I understand them. I am not sure if there has been a change since Rob explained them to me when he started QuebecRider, and asked me to help as a moderator, if so one of the Administrators should correct me. 
No business is allowed to promote their products or services on this site in the forms without becoming a paid Advertiser, not even the classified section.   Individuals can not sign up and put links to their own business sites, with out becoming  paid Advertiser.
 
Somewhere here in the last couple days someone has got confused in the rules of our site and upset other members. The original purpose of QR was time give riders a place to talk about their adventures snowmobiling throughout Quebec. With that, tell of good trails, poor trails, trails with not much gas or maybe poor signage. QuebecRider was a place for those with a passion for the sport to tell others where good snowmobile friendly restaurants, gas stop,sled dealers and hotel's along the trail network can be found. 
I have been on QuebecRider since about the second day Rob turned it on, this is the first real issue I have seen come up and it seems to have some members upset. I hope what I have provided for information above will put an end to the apparent grey area surrounding mentioning a snowmobile friendly business in your post. 
 
Is there a place you stay that goes above and beyond and people are going there because you have written positive reports about them great. Why not mention the site to the business let them look it over, if the can swing $100 to become an advertiser we welcome to our sled Community. We should all try to get our favorite spot to help support QuebecRider. 
QuebecRider is a message board full of guys and girls that love snowmobiling in Quebec and telling others about theirs adventures, lets keep that going. I hope this puts an end to the issue that has upset some of our members. 
Ride Safe
Ride Sober
Have Fun
Should you have questions on the rules as I explained them do not hesitate to PM me. 
Steven

Thursday 1/18 Day #4) Lunch run to The Roquemont St Raymond. Tr 3e, thru Chez Roger (closed), down to 351ne (fast & wide as usual). Visit Centre de Peche Marchand in St Anne de la Perade. Trailside rendezvous with Iceman & Snohorse! Little detour just before St Ray (prob washout from the rain?) off 23 over to 73, same miles to The Roq. Saw Team Iceman again there. Chow & gas & return on 351sw right into gas & home base in Cap de la Madeleine.
 Total miles 680’ish
 LOVING the ’18 Apex XTX. Single can for both front shocks (YRSS) really does feels flat. And 146 Ice Attack XT out back doesn’t feel “long” at all. Didn’t bother recording fuel mileage during break-in, but it seemed close to the ’13 @ 100+ miles per tank.
Red!...

White!...

And Blue!...




 
New toy delivery in St Raymond!...

 

 
Damn, gotta turn in the toys in Trois Riviere already?!...

 
The Man, the Myth, the Legend, Mssr Iceman...

I'm truly deplorable.  I absolutely LIVE for enjoying anyone's and everyone's ride reports, then I finally get out there and get caught up with being out there and stay up too late and wake up too early and don't frickin post?!  So sorry!  Here's a bit of last week's ride snippets:
Sunday Auburge Drakkar, great to see Reggie and be back in Shawini after the too-long off-season.  Kick-ass visit for eats & brews at the Devil's Hole. Congrats to them for naming an obscene price for their commercial production business and Molson-Coors paying it!‎ (Rumor is near $50mil: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/trou-du-diable-joins-the-ranks-of-six-pints-specialty-beer-company-656394273.html)
Monday 1/15 Day #1) Truck to Trois Rivières to the sled shop to take delivery of the new love of my life. There's not a thing wrong with the old '13 XTX except a new Ice-Ripper after 20k miles. But this '18 model was last-call for this platform.
 

First fill up of fun-juice in Cap-de-la-Madeleine and we were off for a 4 day bagger. Four of us with totally different riding experiences ranging from Virgin to Addict, but all great on the chemistry.
Had some drifted up & whooped out fields on the first leg over to Grand Mere, then up the river with some single track up top by Mekinac but all pretty smooth. North & west of the river we had the trails we came for.  
After the river we got gas @ Mattawin, no need for a sit-down lunch across the street @ Marineau‎, so we grabbed some deppenauer snacks and continued across the top of Reserve Mastigouche. We had some fluff and mostly indy track. Really hard base with plenty on top. Pretty cold when out of the sun, but no complaints.

 

 
West of the park plenty of refrozen ice spots across the trails from the warm up, some puckery "hang on" moments, but most patches groomed flat to the trail.

 
Some needed navigation, but almost all are frozen solid:

 
The very cool (and English speaking) groomer out of Canad Adventure was kind enough to wait with me while my guys caught up and passed safely:

 
Then on to a fine dinner & cocktails @ Auberge du Lac Taureau. No gas dude on duty. Waited a while at -15f. Dinner time!  Came to find out the next day he was colder than we were, walking a mile and a half in from the lake where his sled went kaput, but he had a GREAT attitude about it! Anyway, too bad our first day was so long that we had no umph to drag our sorry butts to the pool: 

 

 
To be continued...

We have valuable resources in all the great people here that are able to cover a large part of Quebec’s trail system with very current reports on conditions, closures, fuel, and services. Like everyone else, I find this invaluable and wonder every day how I snowmobiled before I had it.
i have never been aware that this site was having any financial difficulties - and if it was I am quite sure most of us would do what was needed to assist and “keep the lights on”. 
All that being said, it isn’t really fair to those who have chosen to sponsor this site for any member to do advertising for a business or service who isn’t paying for it.

Snow is deep. Drifts are big. Riding is fun!  Different riding than the usual groomed trails but just a different fun.  Deep powder playing was a blast. Trails are single sled wide, but if the groomers get out they will be incredible. Cold weather but nothing to bad to be an issue.  Beautiful sunset tonight.  

Yes we usually do ride with Ed W and 603 Back country.
 
Also, we had a very nice ride today from Levis to the Maine border below Armstrong. We took 75 all the way and it was near perfect. It always amazes me what they can do with a snow storm.  We ran some similar areas earlier in the week and they were worn down very thin in places.  Riding in The Chaudierres is looking really good

The Eastern Chaudierre region will survive the rains of Friday.  The 1 3/4" of rain that hit this area opeed up a lot of streams and rivers but trail 75 from the Maine border to Armstrong club house was fine,  545 to 55 had 2 bad wet holes, but otherwise was good. Word is groomers should be back out tomorrow night in many places from lac etchemin east.  We did find one groomer out today. Beauceville east  should be very passable for all riders by mid week. The club houses were busy today with locals. (Armstrong below) It's awesome how they all come out to support!
Happy Trails
RR

Beauceville Clubhouse is a great starting point. Although it isn't "secure" (gated, fenced/locked up) Mike, I and many others have left our rigs there many, many times without incident. (and I have never heard of any issues there - ever) I believe someone is there 24x7 and the HUGE lot is lit. We unload, go inside, get dressed, and grab something to eat before heading out. It is also right at the junction of 55 N/S, 75 N/S.
I like to support these clubhouses because when they close, it hurts all of us.