mccaffrey

No , not open the past few winters 
But Benoit has cameras working there ... he has a snapshot of us dumping fuel and posted on there fb ! 
 

Wow rode from Forestville the the Ferry in BC last night. Trails were good considering.  There were a couple spots starting to bare up, certainly surprised it is showing yellow and red today.  

Guys are still riding there no problem. Thin in spots, others good.

Someone loved her first time ever to a Pourvoire
 
 

More…..
 

 

Day 2 Saturday 
 
Noticeably warmer this morning after a cold night. We headed out after breakfast in no hurry to go no particular place. We decided to follow the groomer for a bit. So from here down the TQ93 then to the 373 all of it mint. Groomer has broken up the majority of the ice and yes still some icy spots and the usual south and west facing full sun areas starting to melt through. This is end of March conditions on the 2 of March. That is this season. 
 
373 across to TQ93 then down to orange trail through Site d’ours and over across river to Relais Buttes. Spent time talking with Gaetan there. Did you all know that the Relais closes all off season. It opens December 1 and he does Christmas parties for businesses then that carries him through until trails open. Then when trails are done so is the Relais. Interesting. Mrs Ice had the tomato and stars soup and she loved it. 
 
2 other sleds here. So far we have seen about 15 sleds all morning. We say goodbye to Gaetan sadly I won’t be back this way (not in the plan) as it’s noticeable the difference just a little bit further south here. I am bailing back north. The good stuff is shrinking must stay north. Not un rideable at all, just not what we are looking for. 
 
Up 373 to TQ93 took the gas just to take it at La Dore’. We did not know it until Mrs Ice saw on FB we crossed paths with The Snow Traveler from FB as our radio conversations were intermingled with the open mesh. Wish i knew I would have loved to meet them. Maybe another time. 
 
Debated on next move but ran back on TQ 93 then over the famous bridge from last weeks run (Mark and Phil sr love this crossing) lol. Complete the loop passing orange trail again and its TQ93 to the river lookout. Had to take the paddle boarder to see this river. Nice break here coats off its warm but there is a cool breeze. 
 
Back up to the TQ93 and still great trails all good softening up now and real nice. Run to Lac a Jim here a late lunch. Took time to ask about summer and paddle boarding Lac jim is 10km so small by my Mrs paddle board standards. Few other sleds here but been pretty tame for a Saturday. 
 
Straight shot back to Home sweet home Girardville. All alone again private accommodations. 
 
Great relaxing day. We aint here to set no records. Going to take time to look around and see. 
 
Plenty of time for the mrs to take lots of pictures so enjoy them.
 
Tomorrow we go on an adventure. 
 
Stay Tuned. 

Drove up from Vt to Forestville Sunday and met up with Roadrunner our friends from Maine .
Left this morning on rock hard  local trails towards Chenail du Nord  After a quick stop we're off to the Pipmuacan Reservoir. Dropped on down to pourvoirie Itouk to say hi to Luc    the place was rocking on a sunny Monday afternoon  !  Next stop La Chapelle then off to Km31 for the night  . 215 miles for the day 
Was awesome this morning to see and chat with Trailblazer in Forestville and meeting Linda sled girl here at the 31 ! 
Tomorrow,  we'll see . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Started in St Raymond last Monday, up to Relais 22 then to the Gouin for the night.  Day 2 went to Val Dor/Chez Vic.  Day 3 to Quebellion/Motel du Lac (had a problem with sled that took most of the day so was not able to squeeze the Matagami loop in). Day 4 the 93 through Chibougamou to Buttes for a large beer 🙂 then the Jardin for the night.  Day 5 back through Apica to St Raymond.  Just under 1400 miles, everything except the section of 83 around Roberval was very good.  Was home in NH by 10PM!

Great time sledding with the solid boyz from New Hampshire, Vermont, and  Quebec.
Long last reunion with Team Vermont who are the king of Forest road travelers.
Perfect weather and snow conditions 7 day Excursion.
Had a enjoyable perfect 2 week season.
Looking forward season 2025

Day 7 Sunday 
 
Great night at Windigo, drinks, conversations, stories throw in the nosh on the wings and smoked meat sandwiches. Oh yes. 
To Team Vermont….looking forward to next seasons rendezvous. After saying our goodbyes and loading up. 
Everyone ready to go. 
My sled loves it here so much it doesn’t fire off on the first go. Never good. This will take extra effort. Get coolant heater plugged in. Decided to hook up Daniel’s big jumpbox. Spins over real nice this go round and finally fires. Maybe 15 minutes of giving it attention, For what its worth by far not the coldest night out this week, but is the one night i did not cover my sled. Maybe nothing maybe something, 
 
Up driveway out of  Windigo. TQ83 magic carpet ride back all the wsy to Relais 22 . 
Bridge still unsafe for groomer straight out back of Relais 22 on TQ83. 83 west this year is just north of Relais 22 its 30 km longer then going out the old trail and over the bridge.
 
Gas n go and quick conversation with Christine at 22, knowing full well that many sleds are bearing down on this place from up the TQ83 coming for lunch on Sunday. 
Up we go and as expected busy trail. But all well behaved. Love the new Sena 50 really top shelf. Nice ride back up TQ83 then secret trail to 355 from TQ83 was a stunner. Said goodbye to our trail mates as they were headed to load uo and haul south today. Great guys NH Moose aka “bullwinkle” anytime anywhere goes without saying. Mark ditto do not get to see him enough. Great guy. Phil sr newest member of Team Iceman. Another rider. Gets it done solid. Loved spending time on and off trail with you all.. Until next time boys.
 
Snohorse and I continue on TQ83 junk. And junk. Seriously not good. Big difference in conditions here. We suffer on to local orange to Saint Andre. Ok but best up. Went in another local trail tour then a retrace of our route back to 355 and Auberge Eva. Only people here tonight. Private hotel and restaurant. No one else. 
 
We stitched it together as my partner in trails Snohorse says. Successful week stellar trails with excellent company. Some new discoveries and some new memories on long cherished sections of trails. Some of our favorites, 
 
Is it the last ride? 
 
Stay tuned
 

Day 6 Saturday
 
Cold this.morning. Not sure what was the temperature but a cold start. Cold makes white asphalt. I happen to admire white asphalt quite a bit and we saw lots of it 
Exception being the local trail from La Dore to TQ83. But the local orange was still ok. Just not perfect. 
 
Joined up with the TQ83 and at first was not liking it. Quickly changed at intersection to local trail south. Fast run down as the top of the TQ83 they are grooming the road as the trail for a god part of it and it’s fantastic. Gas and Late lunch after the rush at Relais 22. Out of there we got places to be. 
 
More sleds out today, but duh? It’s the weekend. Even so, we only caught uo to 2 sleds we easily got by. Only the second pair we had to deal with in front of us in 6 days. Sweet. 

Quick burn to Windigo and wrapped up a stellar day with a stellar night reminiscing and breaking bread with our brothers Team Vermont. Always great fo be at Windigo with Martine Stephanie and Daniel….even better on a Saturday night……and even better with the plan coming together to meet up. 
 
Lots to catch up on and that we did. Sure wish we could do this so much more often.
 
Great times with Great people. 

Day 5 Friday 
 
Woke at Pouvoirie La Dore. I like it here. Snowing again. Not super cold as my gatorade aint frozen on porch. It’s cold thought This will hold me over until getting some coffee. Boys are stirring around looking like the warm has lost the battle this go round. Wind picking up still snowing on and off. Enjoyed talking for a long time with Stephane last night. Quite interesting as I learned alot we all did asking hunting and fishing questions trying to get an understanding on how they do it all year. Great place and super hosts. Go and stay they have one big chalet with four bedrooms 
So 8 singje beds max, only chalet insulated for clients thus winter. Next year probably 1 more. But this will remain an intimate place. More personal to stay here. For lunch they have been doing well. Many clients. They make their living May to November. 
Like i said before there is just something about this place. 
Stephane met us after a great breakfast and we took a ride out and up the lake and back. He took us out the back over the bridge and showed us the way to join up with the local orange trail branche ouest. Interesting.  But not as fast as the TQ93. 
He showed us another nine mile loop around the lake by the lodge. This has Team VT written all over it as he said no problem go and explore, their are trails everywhere. We had to say goodbye for now and bailed out the backdoor to La Dore. Still snowing on and off temps already noticeably colder, wind is biting. TQ93 to Gas n go La Dore. 
Trail mint. Been 95% all week. Very little traffic. This being the “Tour to nowhere” we got nowhere to go to. All day to do it. Now those of you that pay attention know what is next……if you guessed trail bingo = winning. 👍
 
Stayed in the sweet spot. All around above lake. St Felicien to Dolbeau. To 373 then back across 373 searching for red sticks with wind howling in the fields. One of those days you think about where to stop for a break and finding somewhere tucked in the trees to block that wind. Temperature has plummeted and with wind not great for the hands being out of the gloves too long. Only real rough spot few KM between middle orange trail and TQ93 up near Lac a Jim. Everything else very nice. Likey likey. 
 
Bingo card full it’s time for early happy hour. Into Girardville. Happy campers. 
 

Day 5 215 total miles. A bit of a snowy day today so not as many pictures they don’t look as pretty haha. Tons of sleds today guess everybody is out anticipating, perhaps the end of the riding season unfortunately. Since all the traffic trails were a bit more bumpier than normal, but still not bad at all. Decided to head down to Rapide 7 so left amos south to Rivière-Héva then to Malartic then continued down the 309 to Rapide 7. Back up 309 then into Val’dor and then snaked our way back to Amos the long way! 

Day 4: 298 total miles epic day! More amazing riding cold nights and days really make excellent trails! 90% of the trails today were 9.5/10 just simply awesome! Today ride took us from Amos over to Seneterre then up to Quévillon the the trail between the two places which is TQ93 might be one of the best stretches of trail I’ve ever ridden in Quebec! After lunch in Quévillon back down 93 to Seneterre then continuing south to Lac Simon for fuel. After that we did a loop north of Val’dor to take us back into Amos! 

Wed 
at Otis Nature 
trails varied today 373 rough in spots lots of use on it. 
still much more better than terrible. 
It’s all riding
limited internet here
Today’s run 
210 miles
 
 
 
 

What's one to do when you desire Quebec pub grub? Jump on the sled and get it. Thirty-eight miles bump-free from camp on the local Pittsburg USA trail system to the Chartieville QC Customs house. Three of us produced documents & after exchanging pleasantries with a very courteous and joyful customs officer, we traveled an additional twenty-eight miles to La Patrie via 65 & 525. We passed the local groomer inbound & outbound, laying the flat trails with the small amount of snow he had to work with. Upon arrival, we had a great lunch in the very crowded Resto-Bar La Patrie. Surprisingly, the bar & dining room were packed for a Thursday afternoon with tradespeople & snowmobilers. 
The Canadian trails were mint; however, sections in the fields, thankfully short in length, were ugly as they had no snow or were snirt & slush. On our return in Chartieveille, we encountered a sick groundhog that refused to vacate the trail. 
Minimal snow is forecasted locally for the next 24 hours. Failure to get a few inches of new snow and those short stretches of no snow & or muddy slush I described will only be lengthier, deeper, and muddier as the sun was high, bright & warm today. 
Stay safe. 
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_
 
 
2024_02/5BE825AB-C159-4B78-BB0D-706991706481_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.cd3061fdf6fdb3d584b1f408b0019900.jpeg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/0421365F-7BF5-4D89-8EB3-6B483DDEB544_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.13b4c9b9b583773e53f1786f533ff867.jpeg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/3666EF67-AE76-41E2-B4D1-FC2A273A2C86_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.f4b8ad0927ba3d221f2c1e81fac398f8.jpeg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/F4E4A43B-6401-4A96-8D6B-EA393354FFDF_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.9eab277864329782377757629137d1ac.jpeg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/IMG_5319.jpg.03b620b05d31cd827bfc7ad704969f34.jpg
 

.

Awesomeness here at Pouvoirie La Dore. 
Stephane taking me in the morning to show me route back to La Dore using the Branche West orange trail. 
 
plus a tour of the property here. Great people. 

Started from Mattawin with a fresh 1" .. maybe  on top of a flat hard trail heading west on 360 . As we gained elevation new cream cheese topping now 3-5" .
Kanawata for lunch.. got to use the pay at the pump set-up .. kinda cool . 
We did some of our typical adventure riding ducking in a off 345 n 83 on the way to the Gouin 
We did stop off at Camp de Casey  to use there wifi real quick  .
 
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_204515_Messages.thumb.jpg.163d502e011ce5d03d5874168f10fe97.jpg
 
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_190226_Gallery.thumb.jpg.8b7dbe74bcbd48709b36fac65f120384.jpg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_184741_Gallery.thumb.jpg.89da974af3d4cd45546b882e1135dad6.jpg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_184714_Gallery.thumb.jpg.7945f8cd068781dddff96e4d6d4c6c91.jpg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_183314_Maps.thumb.jpg.b7ff88ce3f8f1dda88997f14bd070bb4.jpg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_181336_Gallery.thumb.jpg.df71c16ceee13b8870c9da09f8653c15.jpg
http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_02/Screenshot_20240222_184656_Gallery.thumb.jpg.b75a43ca4f8f0e4cfc91a96c2a9a9131.jpg