mccaffrey

We take 571 over to Squatec. 

We head back to 518 then 5 West. TQ5 is getting a lot of traffic and it shows.

Then over for a view of the Saint Lawrence. There’s an Island with a light house off the coast. iPhone doesn’t do justice.

We take the orange trail toward Saint-Fabien. We go to check out some views. The first is up the mountain by the cross.

We find the over look by the lake. Visibility is not optimal but it’s a nice view.

We drop down across the lake and get gas. 

We take 544 back toward the hotel. I haven’t been on this on yet. It looks like it’s a plowed road with not much of a base. It’s fine today but I’m not sure how it will look on a sunny day.

We take the local 40 over to 526. The trail is very nice. We get on 85 and day light is gone. Another great day. 
 
I see my photos are not posting in order. Not sure why.

Day 8 220 Miles 
It’s snowing this morning. We head off to Ile Verte for a look. 

The hotel is packed this morning. I see many machines pulling out on the trail.
Visibility is down with the snow. 526 to 85 the trails are smooth with some fluff on top.
 

We take 567 and make a left on 565. We cut across the orange local trail and back to 567. There’s a good amount of fluffy snow on the trail.

We pass by the Island and I can see some open water near the Island shore. 

We spot a bunch of fishing shacks up on land in storage. We take 567 to TQ5.

We head off to Trois-Pistoles. After a quick fuel run to town we stopped at the clubhouse and take a break.
 

After lunch we jumped on trail 518. The sun was fighting to break through. The trail is is good shape with some fluff on top.

Day4
Today’s thought is Amqui . Dusting of fresh snow Last night and onto the 595 towards new Richmond. Freshly groomed last night and in stellar shape.  About 20 miles out blown belt on one of the 850’s quick swap and a stop at the dealer in new Richmond for a spare. Tq5 also in top shape. Lunch in Carlton at the clubhouse. Temps ridiculously warm, trails holding up with lite traffic. Into the select hotel in amqui. 225 miles. Storm coming tomorrow, we will see what transpires in the morning. Only 2 pics today after yesterday’s photo Rama. Gotta keep the picture police happy! Lol!

Day3
Today was one of the days you remember. Blue skies with the most scenic part of the gaspe ahead! Tq5 freshly groomed! Perfect all the way to Mt St Pierre. Hit all the overlooks, traffic low, never gets old! After Mt St Pierre tq 5 is pretty spanked all the way to the 597 to murdochville which is also in need of some tlc. Lunch at the copper. Thought was new Richmond but rooms all booked. Deceide on easy day into la cache on the orange trail which could also use some tlc for the night. 188 miles
 




 




 

Arrived at the Le Victorian in Victoriaville Friday afternoon. Same crew as a few weeks ago minus Momo. Figured we would try South of the Fluve for a change. Haven’t started this far west before and with the new snow we’d give it a whirl. Nice hotel, had the place to ourselves.  Plan today was RDL. Fresh groomed tq 35 to Tourville for lunch. Ridiculous amount of sleds on the trails. Passed more sleds by lunch then the entire 1700 mile loop we did a few weeks ago.  Relais in Tourville packed even at 1:30 took an hour and half to get outa there. From there to RDL  combination of blues, greens and orange trails all showing wear from the heavy traffic. At the universal in RDL for the night and this place is packed! I do believe I’m parked next to mike riders sled out back. 254 miles for the day. Eastbound in the morning.

Day2
Woke up this morning to a fresh 5” of light fluff and still snowing. Early start today with the huge crowd here, want to beat the mass exodus of sleds. I’ve only been to the universal end of March. Good god this place was packed. Still a half hour wait for dinner at 8:30. Ordered a pizza and ate it in the room, no patience for that mess! Destination today was cap chat. Took the  greens to tq35 which was absolutely stellar with the fresh powder on top. Lunch at relais st damas. On into motel nanook for the night. Other then losing Eric for an hour after fueling up and heading to the motel.  Went back twice to the last place we where together to look for him. No sign. He went down a different feeder trail and got stuck. Good thing he was able to dig himself out as we never would have found him there as the sun was setting.  Alls good now! Where to tomorrow? We shall see. 262 miles for the day

We rolled in to the hotel about 6. Another great day.

We stopped for fuel and head East. We decided to take a break at Relais Tourbillan.

We crossed the covered bridge at Saint-Edgar. The trail was holding up down to TQ5

We take a quick break at La Cache and head south on 595. Again the trail is in super condition. It’s a great run down to Pin Rouge. Last time we were in this area there were more deer than I could count. I am taking it easy on the lookout. I am surprised that I only spot 2 and they were shy no pictures.

As we head west the sky is getting a bit cloudy. It’s a great run this time around. We have had a private trail so far (54 miles). I see the lookout sign for Mount Lyall. We go to investigate. As we approach I see about 15 snowmobiles. We get a few pictures and head off to La Cache.

We get on the Chic Choc trail to La Cache. We are in luck the trail is in super condition.