smclelan

Great report and pictures Andy. Sounds like you three had one hell of a trip. To go that many miles and be vitually incident free is a true testament to sleds today, especially the Polaris!!

Sounds like you had a good trip. Glad I could offer a few suggestions. I have traveled the Gaspesie Region more times than I can rememeber and have never had a bad trip there yet. The people of the Gaspesie are the friendliest you will find anywhere! Good to hear you woke up the Groomer Guy, he always seems to be on the couch!!

I would never do that, good volunteers like you are very, very, rare and you do an excellcent job. Now I may ask the President if the club could buy you a pair of glasses!!

What are you doing grooming the ditch you 'Ole Fool" Is the eye site starting to get weak?? Too much wine the night before ?? Good to see you got it back together and going. Is that the that the trail to 8 Mile Lake?

That section between Baie Comeau and Godbout is my favorite piece of trail in Quebec. What a ride!! Hoping to do it next week if the trail opens between Forestville and Baie Comeau.

This is by far the latest (January 13th) season opener I have had for the Gaspesie. However it was not disappointing by any stretch. Day One: We left from Pointe a la Croix on Thursday morning, myself, Macdav and two other friends. Conditions were a little thin for the first kilometer but as soon as we got up on the hill is was good. We traveled the TQ5 to Albertville where we met and had breakfast with Groomer. We then struck off toward Matane. The area a couple kilometers south of Causapcal through to just North of Amqui was very thin only a few inches, but still lots of lubrication for cooling. Once North of Amqui it was all great. We cut across the 591 on Groomer suggestion to ride perfect trails right into Matane. We gassed in Matane and continued on to St Paulin for lunch, a mistake!! The kitchen was closed at St Paulin due to a faulty exhaust fan. From there we pressed on toward Mont Saint Pierre (MSP)for the night. You can not pass "The Bus" without taking a picture. 280 miles for the day. Day 2: We left MSP before breakfast and headed to the Outfitter just past the 597 for breakfast, another mistake! They aren't serving food yet this year. There was about 6km of trail plowed just outside Mt Louis for windmill and electric tower construction, no biggy there was lots of snow. We ended up going to Grand Vallee for breakfast. We then doubled back and came down the 597 to Murdochville. The snow heading into town was incredible. We gassed in Murdochville and cut cross country to La Cache, we stopped at the lookout for a picture but it was a little overcast and you couldn't see as far as you might like but still spectacular scenery. We left La Cache and headed up the 595 took the local trail toward Cap Chat and spent the night at Relais Chic Chocs. I highly recommend this place. 270 miles for the day. Day 3: Had breakfast before we left, see we can learn!! We went back down the local trail to the 595 for some pictures and a little tour. By late morning we headed back up the 595 toward St Paulin again. Lots of snow on the trail going up the hill. There must have been 30-40 sleds at St Paulin when we pulled in. Had a drink and at a few chips. The exhaust fan is supposed to be fixed by first of the week. We then headed to Matane playing in the powder all the way. We stayed at the Riotel where we met up with Andyman, Timbo and a few of Tim's potato brother partners. I was very saddened to hear Chopper is home with back problems. Hope you are feeling better soon Rich. Only 160 miles for the day. However it was a long night!! Day 4: Breakfast at the Riotel hehe. We then all struck off as a group to have a coffee with Groomer at the Albertville clubhouse. At the clubhouse I was lucky enought to get to see Groomer become an official Potato Brother! Timbo made the official presentation! A very exciting and prestigious event to watch!! From there we all left the club and headed out a couple miles to where the local trail splits and heads toward Saint Alexandre des Lacs and an unmarked local trail goes to Sainte Marguerite (a secret trail Groomer shared with me). Andyman, Timbo and company headed North and the motley crew I was with went south. We stopped a small local bar in Saint Marguerite for quick break before the last run to the truck. A very nice spot, they had snowmobile videos playing on the big screen. 130 miles for the day. All in all a great trip, great trails, great snow, and great friends.

Looks like things are starting to come together in your area. Hopefully this week Amqui will open their trails up to Matane and there will be some snow fall between Pointe a la Croix and New Richmond to get the TQ 5 in the Gaspesie region opened.

Good to see you are on the trails!! Hopefully next Thursday you will see Dave, Mac, Stephen and I. Should there be enough snow to get to Matane we will be going through your area and stopping at the club. I think there will be a loop on the North Shore by then.

The pictures are of downtown Murdochville!! I think that is the most snow I have seen there. The pictures are within the last week I believe.

WOW!!

The first two pictures, is that Val Brillant? Were they taken with the same lens, zoomed in and out?

That is pretty cool. Unfortuneately that was not outside your window Groomer!!

The trails sections on each side of the 597 to Murdochville have opened for the season according to Patsy's site. This is a high altitude area so they get snow a little earlier. Last winter just 15 miles east of the 597 there was 9' of snow on the level, on the south shore at the same time there was grass showing! Hopefully a few more will open before next weekend, that is when I have plans for my first trip of the season.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Follow me, I know where I am going!

"Heavy Snowfall Warning in Effect!"

Very good News!!!

Very sharp looking sled.

Check the Regional Forms. Each one has a local area weather forecast pinned at the top.

Good report and some nice pictures, thanks.

Thanks everyone. Take note I am not the oldest in the group!! LOL

Report with pictures!

That was a big storm, just ask Andyman! We spent a lot of time in the bar until we could get out to catch the boat across the river. There were a lot of sleds storm stayed at the motel.

Touche!!!

The winter of 2006, behind the Quality Inn. This is what we woke up to see in the morning. The sled on the left is a SD GSX and the right is an RX1!!