mccaffrey

Day 6
Its a wrap. Back to the truck safe and sound. Left amqui this morning with freezing fog for the first half hour. The plan was the 587 towards st Irene and deceide to drop down to New Brunswick or not. 587 not a ripple sweet. Decision made to stay in QC this time. 587 to 35 to the 85 . All absolutely perfect, o traffic, passed only 4 sleds 10 miles from rdl. Stopped at ski area in biencourt for lunch. 6 sleds from New Brunswick there. Girl there that works at moose valley said it’s a zoo there, no Phil not Josie! But Just as cute and works with her. Its boys week there Everything is full including all local camps. Glad we didn’t drop down this time. 199 miles today, 1250 miles for this run. 4100 miles for the season. Ready for summer and boating season! If anyone is interested in a 2012 1200 with 19,600 easy Canadian miles on her she’s parked out by the road in front of the hotel with the key in it. Please let me know. Would like to get rid of it tonight. No questions asked

Day 5
Woke up to cloudy skies and light wet snow falling. Great breakfast . Would definatly stay here again. Jumped on the 595 south to tq5. Primo conditions, passed two sleds right out of the gate. Tq5 some good some rough to clubhouse in Carlton for lunch. Met 2 guys we saw leaving la cache for new Richmond at 6pm which was we where thinking. Hotel where booked and ride to Carlton getting there at 10pm. Good choice staying in la cache.  Took the local orange to bypass crosspoint. Not recently groomed and snowing heavy. Out of no where sled comes up behind me passes me then Eric  then rut ro! In the dust all I see is Eric’s ski tips in the air, Big drift,  airborne unfortunately couldn’t hold the landing which led to a spectacular dismount head first into the powder followed by a couple cartwheels for good measure. Other then loosing the mirror all’s good.  Onto groomers clubhouse to see him but waitress doesn’t have his number. Into selecthotel in amqui for the night. 220 miles. Snow is getting real thin down in elevation. Plenty in the hills. Back to the truck tomorrow. Eric’s sled flipped 20,000 miles on the 595

Day4
New day, new attitude! Eric’s sled has a crack in the factory weld on the heat exchanger which was puddied a few years ago in amqui. Doesn’t leak visibly until it overheats then gushes out. Changed the snow flap that was cut to throw more snow in the tunnel. So far so good. Still loosing coolant but not overheating. Picked up the sled at 11:00 was planing on stopping at club house in chandler for lunch. Sign on door back at 1. Not waiting an hour. Snacks on the trail. Tq5 to 597 to murdochville for fuel. Little rough but not terrible. Fueled up onto orange trail to la cache. One of my favorite trails in QC. Didn’t disappoint absolutely stellar! Blue skies awesome views and I think 6 sleds all day. Staying at la cache tonight, upstairs living room and own bedroom. Actually pretty nice! Thank god we picked up beer and rum since they don’t have there liquor license yet. 160 miles leaving at noon.

That’s as close to the rock we could get

Day2
Today was one of those days you remember! Blue skies, warm temps and the most scenic part of the gaspe! TQ 5 to Gaspe for the night at motel Adams. Tq5 was absolutely stellar the whole way. Passed only a handful of sleds all day. Wow is the only word for the day. Picked up a guy walking down the trail who got his sled stuck off trail. Doubled him to where he was. Didn’t speak an once of English. Got to where his sled was which was down at the bottom of a hill in the bush. We couldn’t continue down. There’s 4ft if snow. What the hell was he thinking on a Yamaha off trail by himself. We got him out but not after sweating our asses off helping. Let’s jyst say he was a happy camper! Wheels on the skis would be a huge asset for fuel and hotels! 236 miles 

Day1
Arrived at RDL Friday evening. Saddled up sat morning and the plan was Cap Chat for the night. Ran into skidoo 420 in the morning. Tq5 pretty much the whole way. Freshly groomed  sweet pretty much the whole way. At lunch called ahead hotel nanook in cap chat closed till Monday. Ok st Ann fed monts all booked. Ended up at grand nature. No WiFi working or tv in the room. Great views but that’s about it. Not impressed. Food ok.246 Miles 
 

We've been invited this weekend by the girlfriend of one of our sons to spend a night at their family cottage on the shores of Taureau Lake in St-Michel des Saints. A great opportunity for us to do the reservoir loop in relax mode on 2 days. Here is the final trail path of 303 miles traveled  during the weekend.


Saturday morning, -9C under a clear sky and a beautiful sun when we left home in St-Thomas de Joliette . Finally it was not a so good idea to start from home, we were knowing that the 5 first miles were in Berthier snowmobile club that had closed during the week but still having the signage so we went for it. We got ice, ruts, and a plowed section but once in Joliette's snowmobile club, it was just groomed during the night and the fields trails were impeccable



We took the trail through St-Félix de Valois. The residential section was bare, no more snow but once crossed it was ok. Here in a maple grove tapped with buckets that we don't see often anymore



Every trails in the fields were still in very good condition, here on the old railway in St-Cléophas. All in all, we can say that the good reliable conditions began north of St-Gabriel de Brandon, souther than there, conditions were too uneven



So once in the mountains north of St-Damien the conditions were still winter, very good



The pourvoirie Réal Massé being closed, the Mandeville snowmobile club had groomed a shortcut of 1 mile which avoided us to go through there and saved us about 5 winding miles so very nice. In the 90 curve  with the wooden mirador, we then passed straight.





We then continued the #23 to the Cabanon. No spring's signs there





We stopped early to refuel and eat at Cabanon and then went right toward the Taureau Dam



conditions were impeccable in the best of the season





We took a good break at the dam, chatted with people who were there and took some pictures of the place





By taking our time a bit too much we were starting to be a little tight for being on time for the appointement with our son near the Auberge du lac Taureau so I opened up the throttle which was easy enough with these perfect conditions





several wide and fast trails sections in this area





A little before arriving at the Auberge, the trail passes right on the shore beach and you can see how low the water is, a good 50 feet lower than the summer level



We finally joined our son and his girlfriend at the agreed time. We went on the emptied lake with them before returning to his girlfriend's family cottage. They also ride a venture, 2 decades older than mine!



It's been a long time since I went outside the regular trail on the lake, you must always be very careful while riding on the emptied reservoir ice but it's impressive, very special like this dune normally submerged in summer in the middle of lake.





The view from the cottage on the reservoir is absolutely beautiful and there are many deers in the yard !!!



Kristine took beautiful shots


 
We had a great evening and a great time with our hosts. It seems to me that just a few years ago my boy was still playing with his toys at home and now we are received like distinguished guests by him and his girlfriend in a beautiful cottage ... time flies it is incredible!!!
Sunday morning we took it easy, Kristine was very proud to having snap those blue jay great shots







We then start our return and took back the usual trail on the reservoir



Although it is tempting it is not a good spot for speed runs because the ice is far from being even everywhere



We refueled at St-Michel and took the trail #63 to the Cabanon. There are some dirt spots that are starting to come out especially in the big south facing hills near the village but nothing serious yet.



The rest is still beautiful



We passed near the Cabanon and went north on the #23 trail to ride the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve. Still a lot of snow there...



The trail was nice with a bit of ripple in some curves but very nice overall



good snow and fast trails





We arrived at the pourvoirie Koubec a little before 2:00 pm and eat there. 



We then left on #350 trail to the west



And have taken the #23 on the same path from the day before but south. Here the diverted trail to the shortcut to avoid  Massé pourvoirie



the shortcut



We took a short break at the small snowmobile club's shack just up the big hill in St-Damien. Kristine took this amazing afternoon close-up of the moon 



 We then retraced our steps down to St. Gabriel.


 
As written earlier the good conditions were north from St-Gabriel and south from there the difference was noticeable on the conditions compared to Saturday morning with some dirt that was beginning to appear. To avoid the village of St-Felix we passed by St-Cuthbert/St-Norbert which at final had too bare and dirty spots and was no better than the saturday route. We had just enought water holes to cleanup the skid after  the dirt runs!!! We finally arrived home around 5:30 pm with 303 miles on the dreammeter for the 2 days.
In summary, the season is over near home but still a lot of snow north in the mountains and Mauricie side seems pretty good too. The temperature and precipitation in the next days will be decisive to know when the clubs will be grooming again. I suggest you to follow the developments here on the trails conditions website: https://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/conditions/
Good season ending!
 
Alain

Wow, beautiful day, great trails. Left Mt Joli heading south on 5 and 587. Stopped by the Redemption look out tower to see the mummies, but it was too overcast to see much, observation tower is plastered with ice, we have no  in interest in climbing. So much show in this interior region!!
Lots of cool looking drifts creeping across the trails.
Stopped at Groomers clubhouse for a smoked meat sandwich, waitress asked if we were the group from New Richmond, she was to call JG to summon him for a visit. We said we know JG, but had no arrangements. 
Great food, friendly service, and we were off to the south coast on 5.  Was sweet, fast, and we made good time.
Later, on the orange bypass above PLX, we saw a rotopax gas can in the trail, just past a huge drift, looks like someone slammed the drift and didn’t realize they dropped the can. I put it off to the side of the trail so no one would run it over. Hope they came back for it, looked expensive ;<)
adjacent/above a road, we passed a couple sleds with NH stickers, should have stopped to say high, but we were all rolling. Maybe the group from New Richmond?
Gas in Nouvelle, and settled in to Baie Blue in Carleton. Pub is closed this week for renovations, ate at the upstairs in the main dining room.
Tomorrow we’re off to LaCache, Murdochville, and then up to the north shore. No telling what the Chic Chic mountains will bring, and we want to see the sled museum at a Copper, Steve likes to have a lunch, so we have short, medium, and stretch goal destinations in mind. Murdochville, Mt St Pierre, St Anne Du Monts.
The only thin spots were on the south shore, south facing hills were slushy, the one long driveway is down to the mud...see picture....it’s going to go fast soon, but this week is awesome!!
Saw a groomer that missed a turn and was stuck in a drift, must have walked out last night.
Marty rides so fast he rode an inner idler wheel down to its hub.
At Carleton, we rode out by the docks and the lighthouse. A lot of moving sea ice near the shoreline. Marty preferred to have cocktails in his room, so he missued out on the best part of the trips scenery so far. We all have our priorities I guess.

Powder turn ... 101

https://quik.gopro.com/v/lPH8EsYkl0/
 
A few weeks ago the team (doorite , markusvt , Dave , Todd & Richard . made a run to Revelstoke BC to play in the steep and deep for 3 days . What a time we had  !  !   Knowing its not Quebec trails here but thought we'd share a little of our trip. 

The season is over for my boys and me. David flew in from North Carolina on Thursday to Watertown and nephew Mike and I picked him up at the airport with the trailer loaded and truck fueled up. First question was are we going back to home before we leave. Answer was nope don't have time.  We have reservations at the Drakkar.  Best part is my other boy Christopher  and his group of three were meeting us there a little later. 
Friday morning comes and off we go. Big group of seven but all have riden in Quebec and are all good riders. We leave the hotel and head for Roberville. Rt. 3 to a local trail to the river. Good place to get the boys to get the kinks out. Up 360 to 355 and on to La Tugue for lunch. Next we have to decide do go 355 or 73 to 83. Farther 73 to 83 so it's 355. Problem is more places to stop on 355. Same amount of time to get there I believed.  Long day but we made it. 
Next David, Mike and I decide we are heading north because we can stay an extra day. The other group headed south to Quebec city . It was great to spend time with all of the boys especially my boys as they live so far apart. 
Saturday David, Mike and I head for chibougamua.  Bad spelling. Trails were good but mostly great. Hard fast and smooth. 198 miles and we were at the Nortic hotel. Great day with the boys who take very good care of the old man. 
Sunday up and heading back south going to Relay 22 and maybe farther. Now the temperature is 13 below as in our scale. Had to stop and put on an other shirt and a hoody under the Helmet. Fingers got cold and never thought they would get warm. Not a lot of sleds were out there with us. I think below the sawmill we did meet Phil and his group but I'm sure they wanted to get where they were going like us. At La Dore got gas and headed for Relay 22. Local trail little rough to 83 but that's part of the adventure.  Got to Relay 22 and had to make the decision to stay or go. I had one beer and decided this was the place for me. The boys did agree and we were in bed by 9. 
Up early this morning and off to the truck. Trails were hard and smooth and a nice ride back. 175 miles and at the truck at about 3. Total of about 900 miles for 4 days. Hit the road and home at 8 30 tonite. 
All and all we road 2300 miles, mostly in Quebec with no big issues and no one got hurt.
I am very lucky to have 3 very great people I get to ride with as in David, Mike and Jimmy who take care of me and make sure I have a great time. They are all 25 years younger of me. 
So everyone have a good summer and hopefully we all get to tell of our adventures again next year. Be safe everyone.