doo4adoo

I don’t post offen usually for help planning trips.  I have been reading Quebec Rider forever and riding Quebec longer,  since 1987 to be exact,  and it’s hard to think of a trail or area I haven’t rode.  This years final trip was to do the complete figure 8 of the Gaspe,  which I have done many times.  The weather was warm but overall conditions were good,  a little snow starve around Carleton.  For this trip my grandson, Hunter was able to go over college break with over crew,  which at my age this was very special to me.  My riding crew, Dennis, Chuck and Tommy all have known Hunter before and we had a great time.  Chucks sled 900 turbo ski doo started acting up 30 miles before our stay at the Caribou hotel, but he was able to limp in with.  So this is where the other special part of this trip gets me to post.  At the Caribou we meet several Quebec rider members I have read over the years.  First we met Linda sled girl and her husband Joel and have a visit and she sends a pic to our old friend Saguenay Bill who I haven’t seen now in a few years.  Onto the restaurant after settling in and we met Iceman and NH Moose and Snohorse.  These guys were very friendly and most helpful with our sled problem.  Turns out to be exactly what NH moose though it might be,  the sock filter in the fuel pump.  Great visit with Ice and crew at dinner and breakfast then off to BRP dealer in Gaspe.  Great service here folks, took Chucks sled right in and had the fuel tank off and pump out within 45 minutes replacing a nasty looking fuel sock and very dirty in line fuel filter as well.  Probably got some bad fuel somewhere.  Price was reasonable and the folks at EM ski doo Gaspe were top shelf.  Then onto Murdochville for the night, but not before meeting Iceman and crew again on the trail,  another meeting with them the next day on local 150 north of New Richmond.   I have always had great responses to questions I have asked on Quebec rider in the past as I plan my next adventure,  but I must say it was special finally meeting some of the folks that have helped me on the site in the past.   Just when you think you have rode every trail along comes Icemans private trail the 150 which was perfect and that brings me and our crew to the end of another season.  To all have a great summer and stay healthy and safe,  Fred

3-16  Day 30 Back to the Delta.  The 355 trail was perfect except for one terrible section of plowed, sun dried sand and gravel that went on for too long. Not so long as having to stop to cool sleds but still too long. Nice lunch as usual at Auberge Eva. Where we were first introduced to by no other than Saguenay Bill. Thanks for everything Bill. Along the lake the snow was very thin. Around the frog to the Delta, trails are mostly good. Of course road crossings are mid March road crossings. Wheels around the Delta make life easy. We rolled in mid afternoon, and only sleds in the compound. After dark there were almost 30 between the compound and sleds out front. 
   I hope you've enjoyed my "wordy" read. And hopefully someone will be able to use something from my info. I know I've always gotten a lot of my info from you guys.
   Enjoy your summer, 
       Jeff and Sandy
 
 

Too bad about Patrick & Julie. I was going to make a point to stop there next winter. Maybe see if they will bring their food truck down to RDL. They will a large following for business. Just sayin
Thanks

Appetizers combos at Hotel Frasier, and Sugar Pie for Phil
 

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.

14 March Tuesday. 
 
Enjoyed our stop immensely with Patrick and Julie at Motel le Delice. NHmoose left with coveted intel in the form of the recipe for the smoked wings in hand. Talkiing with Patrick as we got ready to leave he drops it on us. They have been operating the Motel/Resto but have decided to not purchase the business. It’s just too much work for them, they have a young child and it’s nonstop. So they will pursue a foodtruck with their smoked menu. Visiting festivals and campgrounds. Whatever they do I wish them all the best. A new buyer for business has apparently already stepped up. 
 
They will cease operations at the end of this week. 
 
Met a group from Ontario sory did not get all their names(i am terrible with names) they had a gaspe rookie at 16years old. Spoiled rotten ruined now. He has been to Valin and now Gaspe. He is hooked. So nice to see this group sharing this experience with him. Great memories. Shout out to the Team Polaris (5) with one Beautiful Blue Ski Doo Enduro 900 ace. 
 
Out of the Valley and TQ5 east to Murdoch trail. Had been groomed and was sweet. Trail into Murdoch also fantastic. All good north and middle. Murdochville gas n go. 597 now also showing groomed. It’s not terrible but the wrong way groomer has been here and he is at it again. Leaving some big ice balls where i want to be far right. 
He is just not very experienced i do believe. Everyone needs to learn practice makes perfect. Swift run as we are not going fast we are just flying low. Stop at intersection with Gaspe Local. Onward we continue the flight and its a smooth one down to TQ5.
 
TQ5 east to Grand Riviere. Gas and yes we go. TQ5 now and we get not too far when NHmoose hears his belt start flapping so we shut it down. He changes it out no worries. Now he has no spare. More on this later. We wind it back up. Actually really nice ride here on TQ5. At trail to Percy we stopped to bunch up. I see Gary from Bonaventure Tours pulling into trail to Percy he holds up to bunch up as well and I decided to ride up and say hi. Been a long time since we crossed paths. He says he has 3 groups running Gaspe this week. Awesome to see he is busy. His clients are All potential future Trail Pass purchasers being nurtured. 
 
Onward we roll. Down through Gaspe still good here. TQ5 is not bad at all. We push on and cruise in Riviere au Renard before 4pm. Gas here many times. Never ever stayed at Caribou. Must say pretty much a home run here. Rooms a bit noisy you hear all plumbing and people walking upstairs but, great night and great resto. 
 
Met Linda sledgirl finally and her husband Joel. Not enough hours to talk. Then met Fred, Chuck, and Tommy, i know they were 5 strong with Fred’s grandson along getting his first ride in Gaspe. So awesome to see him smile as he told us he had his grandson out riding with him. They had another big guy like me with them but like i said i suck at names, please forgive me guys. Was nice to talk with you guys. 
 
Really great day and night. 

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

Watching this it sounds like you have to get off the sled and release them
 

Watching this it sounds like you have to get off the sled and release them
 

We stopped in for lunch a few weeks ago. The mature waitress was great. She said when Covid came all the big city folk sold their expensive houses and came and bought up but was available since they were all now working from home. She said there’s no houses or rooms available for new people. Apparently they will start building new homes this year and maybe in time will help.  But the mine is also supposed to reopen again since prices are up. Can’t remember if it’s this or next year. All to say it’s not the destination for sledders  it use to be. He hasn’t added or changed anything in the museum either. Had to spend $10 to find that out. 😡
Always something or an adventure as some will say

You get what you pay for with these. Boss has on both sleds works, real nice. 
 
 

Day#4: Matane/Forestville
A day that started early to be on the wharf around 7:15 a.m. for boarding the 8:00 a.m. ferry to Baie-Comeau

Once boarding done we go upstairs in the passenger section for a 2.5 hours to relax. We had plenty of time to visit this infamous boat which has caused so much talk for the wrong reasons, but in our case everything went well.

It is therefore a little before 11:00 am that we begin our snowmobile ride on the north side of the St-Lawrence river.

and we went west on #3 trail

The Manicouagan River footbridge is very impressive

Very high in the air, it offers us a very nice view of the surroundings (to be seen in the video)

We stopped at Chute-aux-Outardes for lunch and then continued on #3 trail, which we kept for the rest of the day. Being a mountains, lakes and rivers lover, I really like the north coast.


The famous section of #3 trail in the Pessamit sector which was closed for almost 2 seasons is now reopened and apart from a few 50km/h signs we barely recognized it and realized that we had already passed when we arrived at the Betsiamites river bridge

We continued to Forestville where we arrived around 4:00 p.m. with 181 km on the clock to spend the night at the EconoLodge
I put together a fairly complete musical video memory of this fourth day that I share with you below. Set sound on and quality to 1080 for best viewing.
 
Day#5: Forestville/La Malbaie
We start our ride at 8:00 on the trail from the Econo Lodge in Forestville because we had a good day ahead with a gray weather and a little snow.

Beautiful mountainous and wooded sections on trail #3

We decided to not going down south to les escoumins to keep the day's milage reasonable and cut through by the local trail bypass

Approaching Tadoussac

We ate there before taking the ferry of the Saguenay River.

Here, leaving Baie Ste-Catherine

It was more snowy in the afternoon but it was riding well

We took trail #378 which goes further north instead of keeping trail #3 which went down along the river. The route is beautiful but it was more bumpy on the 2nd half, we regretted it a bit.
Arrived at the petit Manoir du Casino around 4:30 p.m. with 290 km on the dream meter

The services on site are very good and the 2 spa areas, especially the Spa O'Quartz with its tropical decor and its many pools and waterfalls, is an exceptional place to relax after a good day on the snowmobile.
I put together a fairly complete musical video memory of this 5e day that I share with you below. Set sound on and quality to 1080 for best viewing.
 
Day#6: La Malbaie/Quebec
An outstanding sunny day awaited us for the last day of our trip, seen from the hotel on our way to breakfast...

We stayed closer to the St-Lawrence river to continue west taking the locals and trail #378


Here's the view at Baie-St-Paul

We took #3 trail further west. The trails were all very nice.

We took a lunch break at the Relais Ste-Anne, happy to see that it survived the covid's time well.

We resumed after lunch for the last segment, still on trail #3 west

Here crossing the Montmorency River on the west side  of Quebec city

As we expected a little, the trails were more bumpy when crossing Quebec city, especially west of this small bridge (St-Charles River I believe) where my wife seriously think of just walking through it !

But it got back to normal maybe a 12km further just after Val Bélair and we quickly returned to our starting point a little after 3:00 p.m. with a little less than 220 km for the day.

We were impressed to see the foot of snow accumulated on our van and trailer and had a good snow removal job to do, but despite the 2 hour drive to do, we came back home for dinner very happy with our trip and to relax in our stuff.
So an another very nice trip for us without problems which filled our heads with beautiful memories that I try to keep even more present with the help of my videos that I put together for each day.
Here's the last one, Day#6 La Malbaie-Quebec which is very nice with the beautiful sun we had. Set sound and quality to 1080 for best viewing.
Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Alain
 

I understand how you feel about losing a GPS.  About 5-6 yrs back we were at the Quality Inn Matane,  set my GPS in the mount and headed out. Came to the intersection of the TQ5 and noticed my GPS was gone.  I knew I had put it on so turned and followed our tracks back in right to the parking lot, it was no where to be found. Turned and headed back out pissed at myself for loosing it.  I realized i set it in the mount but did not screw in the lock screw.  Back to the TQ5  and started down the 591, about 15km down the trail I felt snow built up under my boot on the running board.  Still mad at myself for losing the GPS I slammed my boot down a couple times to break the snow up.  Looked down and it was my GPS, luckily face up!  Never have forgot the lock screw again!!
You guy must be super tired after such a big trip......one of your pictures of deer were actually cows! LOL
Amazing mileage for 4.5 days.  Thanks for taking us along.
 

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.

So....back to day 4. Day again was set to start at 6am, figured we would push as many miles out ASAP possible to get closer to Vermont with the temps climbing like they had been. At 5:55am we are leading bags on sleds ready to go when I realize my garmin GPS is missing.  Go back to room, nothing.  Go to front desk to see if it has been found, nothing.  Assume at this point that I left it on sled and it has been pilfered,  ugh.  Oh well, lesson learned,  let's go. Run off first 44 miles on freshly groomed trail 5, we are first tracking and fast. Next 44 miles are on day old grooming,  but still really good going. Take fuel at 5/35 jct, then continue on at a real good clip. Had some conversation with Florida Snowman last night about our itinerary for the day,  and he had said they were headed for Moose Valley today.  We had no sooner passed the moose valley sign, when around the corner comes the Snowman and Skidoo 420! After initial high 5s and how do you do's, I tell Tom about my lost GPS,  and he points to my jacket chest pocket and there is my GPS!! Talk about feeling foolish! Great seeing fellow Quebec riders, we say our good byes, and we are off. We run the 35 for the next 150 or so miles, and are making unbelievable time. Stop at Tourville relais for lunch and fuel. Our gas mileage takes a hard hit on this 35 rail line,  but wow is it worth it! How these sleds don't implode at these speeds for distances amazes me. We break off 35 for a short run on 25, then take 541 /540 into Thetford Mines to Hotel du Domaine for the night. Pretty posh place I must say! We are in great shape for an easy 140 mile run back to VT in the morning,  it has been a great run for sure. Ended up with 409 miles of totally bump free, and mostly smooth running.  Very few pics for the day, but a whole lot of fun!
 

https://www.lequotidien.com/2023/03/08/des-motoneigistes-boycottent-les-monts-valin-8b9a64bcb39ee55126b5ec6b83324c1e?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR07FSF4kOV9YLBusqGwGKaDDKqUfVD_f3xrRJl2NCBR0A8s8MnenxBIFj8#Echobox=1678237750
Snowmobilers boycott Monts Valin
CHRONICLE / The Monts Valin are being boycotted by snowmobilers and tourism businesses are paying the price. The saga of the "$400 tickets", given by the patrollers of the Martin-Valin zec to snowmobilers who have not paid their right of way, has spread like wildfire.
"We announce that there is currently a boycott of the Valin Mountains and we are paying the price. Tourists are talking to each other on social networks. There are petitions from customers who are also circulating against these ways! No matter how many tickets are issued, the damage is done! The snowmobilers BOUDENT the Monts Valin", wrote the owners of the Domaine l'Or-Piste outfitter and snowmobile relay in an email addressed to the MRC du Fjord-du-Saguenay
Cry of the heart
"The diplomatic line and the correspondence with the MRCs, the ministers and the tourist associations are over. Nothing is happening, the clientele is boycotting us and the Martin-Valin zec continues to give $400 infraction tickets to snowmobilers who travel on their territory. It doesn't make sense, my dining room has been empty for two weeks. On Saturday, I had two customers sitting at a table when usually there is a line outside", denounces the innkeeper who shares his distress with the Auberge du km 31 and the Relais La Chapelle, which manage tourist operations under a cover of more than 10 feet of snow.
"Two weeks ago, I had four snowmobilers sitting at the Inn and they were depressed. They had come in from the North Shore and they had each received a $400 ticket [for riding without access rights]. I didn't know what to tell them, they ate soup, it spoiled their appetite. They left saying they would never come back to the Valin Mountains. The word went out on social networks, the snowmobilers launched a boycott of Monts Valin, it will hurt the tourism industry," says Charles Marchand, innkeeper at Domaine l'Or-Piste.
On the one hand, the Ministry of Tourism invests in the Valin Mountains for the development of winter tourism and on the other hand, the Zec Martin Valin under the reign of the Ministry of Wildlife and Parks, harms and puts obstacles to tourists. Ministers Caroline Proulx and Andrée Laforest should discuss this with Minister Benoit Charrette! and this, urgently!", wrote the owners of Domaine l'Or-Piste to the MRC.
"We are a start-up business that has lived through two years of pandemic and we have just opened the restaurant Le Saloon in the middle of the forest in January 2023 with all the issues of being on an unorganized territory (TNO), we can tell you that this saga initiated by the Martin-Valin zec is too much! Finally, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel, because our restaurant has experienced an excellent start with a satisfied clientele from Quebec, Ontario, France, Switzerland, the United States and we see ourselves as a trigger for adventure tourism on the Valin Mountains during the winter, "he denounces in his letter.
 
It has to stop
The people of Domaine l'Or-Piste, Auberge du km 31 and Relais La Chapelle are right to say that enough is enough. Frankly, the tourist industry of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean invests considerable sums of money to attract snowmobilers to the white gold paradise of Monts Valin and the management of the Martin-Valin Zec scares away tourists by issuing infraction tickets to tourists who cross their territory.
It's time for a minister to stand up and tell the administrators of the Martin-Valin ZEC not to respect the law, to let snowmobilers ride on federated trails and to launch a national appeal on social networks and in the media in general to let people know that this practice no longer exists and that tourists are welcome in the snowmobile paradise, without fear of being double-billed
No reaction
At the office of Tourisme Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the general management has indicated that it will not grant an interview on the subject. "Tourism Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean is aware of the situation and has been working with local partners since the beginning of the winter to find a solution. The ATR is aware of the comments made by clients and is concerned about the long-term effects on the destination, particularly on businesses in the sector. However, they are not in a position to know the impact at this time. It is wrong to believe that the client will systematically choose another destination, since the region offers many other alternatives, sectors and tours that are very interesting for the snowmobiler, which is why it is still too early to make a decision at this stage," said the organization by email

We took a ride to get my bag. It was where I left it. The scenery along the way was super. A nice 92 mile ride. We pulled over to take a few pictures of the ice in water. I noticed the snow covered mountains (Chic Chocs) in the background. 
 
Well that’s a wrap for us. It’s back to work for us. Have a great summer everyone.

Steven....we ride, we take fuel, we take quick pics, no exceptions!

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!

We continue on towards Trois Pistoles.
when we get to the falls the trail is back in good shape. The clubhouse was closed. The snow was very thin around the clubhouse. We get on the power line run and the trail is in nice shape. When we passed the 518 intersection we can see that it’s fresh groomed in the direction we’re traveling. I have a feeling this hasn’t been done in a while. The other side of the trail looks rough. We have about 30 miles to go. We caught up with the groomer In about 10 miles. We were happy to get those miles. The last 20 were pretty rough. It was a long day for us. We were happy to arrive at the hotel.

My gloves are wet it’s not easy to get them on so not much picture taking.
We make it to 35 and head toward Pohenegamook. Thankfully someone has broken trail. We are covered in powder. When I crack my visor snow gets on the back side of my glasses!
Its a real powder fest. We are somewhere about 1/2 way to Pohenegamook approaching a street crossing and I am seeing two trails. Which one? I go to the right and get buried in a drift. This is the worst. Gemma gets off. I see a tractor on the street coming over. The man points out the trail which is to my right but is drifted and not easy to see. The man let’s me hook up the winch to his tractor and I get out of the hole. I thank him for the help and we continue on. It’s slow going. I have had enough of being stuck.
We plow our way towards Pohenegamook. We see the clubhouse with the arches.
 
 
 

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.
 

Left from camp in Averill VT this morning at 6am, pulled into Universal in RDL before 5pm with 373 miles ticked off. Easily the most incredible day of riding I have ever had, trails were an 11/10 all day long! We are only two, so pace was kept swift all day with gas and go's and a quick lunch. Didn't take many pics because of that, but I've got thousands of primo shots in my memory bank that I wish I could share! Plans are to head towards Gaspe in the morning and do some exploring. This place is packed with sleds, so need to be on seats early in the a.m.!

Kelly and I made a second trip to the Gaspe after getting frozen out a couple weeks back.  We clicked off 690 miles around the Gaspesie on fresh groomed trail for all but about 25 miles.  It is like catching the Holy Grail if you can make to loop all the way on freshly groomed trails. 
Started from Pointe a la Croix as usually, fresh groomed right out the door to past the cable bridge where Snowmaster 2112 caught up to us with his group. We chatted on the side of the trail then continued to the Albertville gas for breakfast. Met Snowmaster and his crew there again, but there were heading out to beat a storm on there way home.....we all know how that ended.  Thankfully no serious injuries. Kelly and I pulled out and took the local trail right before Lac Matepedia to St Adeleme for a break, lots of people there.  We then headed to Grande Nature, perfect trails till we got about 15mi before the turnoff above Cap Chat.  Good into Grande Nature. We had called about a week before and all that was left was a Scandinavian cabin. Have never stayed in one of those before, always up in the main building the cabins are awesome. The food there was incredible and the atmosphere is great. Left the next morning and had about another five or eight miles of rough stuff until we got to the Saint anne Des Monts turn off from there freshly groomed again right across the whole North Shore. Road through to the town of Gaspe and stayed the night at the Hotel Plante.  We went to supper with Northbound and Sandra it was a great evening. The next day we headed out again on freshly groomed trails all the way into Perce where Kelly wanted to get the iconic picture in front of the Rock, every snowmobiler has to do this at least once. In and out of there still on fresh groom trails we went through Chandler and got gas and stopped for lunch at the Chandler clubhouse, very busy there they were having drag races. Pulled out after lunch and sailed into New Richmond that evening, stayed at the Fin Gourmet. Next morning again out on freshly groomed trails and road back to the truck in Pointe-à-la-Croix.
Been riding in Quebec for 22 years and have never run so much freshly groomed trail before, the gods of grooming were smiling at us. Here is a few pics from our excellent adventure.