smclelan

My new SkiDoo gauge shows me going down a waterway and shows red and green buoys.  And it keeps beeping telling me to put on my life jacket.
 

Would like to take the GF from Pointe a la Croix-Matane-Baie Comeau- Sept Iles-Godbout-Matane-Relais LaCache-PALC..  
You guys are making it sound very doable as far as conditions are concerned.  I really like from BC to Sept Iles, it's a great and fun run.

I consider myself very lucky, 4hrs  exactly from home to the Gaspesie.

Would like to take the GF from Pointe a la Croix-Matane-Baie Comeau- Sept Iles-Godbout-Matane-Relais LaCache-PALC..  
You guys are making it sound very doable as far as conditions are concerned.  I really like from BC to Sept Iles, it's a great and fun run.

This could be possible.  Andyman had the dash on his new sled switch over to ATV mode, showed he was in 4 wheel drive! LOL

Would like to take the GF from Pointe a la Croix-Matane-Baie Comeau- Sept Iles-Godbout-Matane-Relais LaCache-PALC..  
You guys are making it sound very doable as far as conditions are concerned.  I really like from BC to Sept Iles, it's a great and fun run.

Would like to take the GF from Pointe a la Croix-Matane-Baie Comeau- Sept Iles-Godbout-Matane-Relais LaCache-PALC..  
You guys are making it sound very doable as far as conditions are concerned.  I really like from BC to Sept Iles, it's a great and fun run.

Through Tadoussac on thurs and back again on Sunday , stayed at the Chantmartin . No snow from hotel down to ferry but rest was all good .
Excellent trails right up to Baie Comeau.

Day 4. today we traveled 180 miles from Baie Comeau to Sept-tiles. Last 125 miles was slot, car fast and smooth. Had about 15 miles of rough stuff 25 miles east of Baie Comeau. Woke up to bright sunshine again this morning. Tomorrow we start heading back on similar route that got us here.

Rode to KM 31 from the Delta. Again, after second bridge, again much better. 134 to 93 7/10.  93 to Imago Village 9/10. Imago to KM 31 8/10 . Trail to Relais Chappel, the 8KM for km 31 to Chapple seemed liked 80 KM. Totally whooped up.  Got gas at Chapelle, but, line for food was 20 deep.  Went back to KM 31, got a table and some good food for lunch.  The Delta is getting less busy each day.  Called for rain on Thursday, amazing but true.

Brisk -31 when we left Chibougamau this am
Didn’t warm up much all day but 93 was carpet all the way to Quevillion
😎

Yesterday Sunday February 18, 2024, we rode from St-Michel des Saint to Marineau Mattawin round trip for a 306Kms total

After the last weekend thaw(11-12 feb) the south of my area was very thin and some clubs had stop grooming waiting for new snow. It was still possible to start riding from home but we wanted to ride some nice, wide and faster trail so we did a trailer run and dropped at the village of St-Michel des Saints. In St-Michel village it's thin but rideable and we directly reached the Taureau reservoir to take the trail toward auberge Taureau. The ride on the reservoir is rather rough, there was traffic when it was slushy and it refroze like that. If you have the heart strong enough to move between 100 and 200 feet away from the stakes it is very nice and flat and a new path formed there with many tracks but there is an associated risk and I cannot officially recommend it to you, the safe option is close the stakes.

The reservoir is not at its lowest yet but must be lowered by a good 25-30 feet already

Trail #33 past the Taureau Auberge is a little brownish in the short section that is near the beach

but when you enter on the forest road  just a little further it is very nice

There are some short spots with dirty snow or a few rocks but 95%+ that's it

We went around the Taureau reservoir on the west side and continued on #360 towards the east. The trail base was very hard with a thin layer of loose snow and new snow, very fast conditions but icy enough to have to be careful in some curves

The Mattawin River has decreased in flow a bit but it hasn't been very cold this year and there are still long sections at clear water


We took a break at 440 halt, my prefered break spot. Beautiful view on the river


The whole old path of #360 is very nice. When you enter the woods at the height of the old M20 there is some dirt in the snow on some curves but still beautiful overall, the same thing on the fast sections of the detour further on which come to join the edge of the river before the point of view

The section in the woods after the viewpoint up to the bridge was a little less beautiful but OK. The bridge was quite dry so we took out the rouskis


We left St-Michel at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at Marineau at 12:30 p.m. with 153km on the dreameter

We had a very good big meal there, love this place! As luck would have it, I also met a retired work colleague and his wife who I hadn't seen for ten years! they live on the south shore of St-Laurence river and were passing there by car, a great unplanned encounter!
We took the same exact route for return, The sun had hidden and it was snowing a little. Here the point of view.



We went at the edge of the Taureau dam for a short break

and we started it again towards St-Michel


We came across the St-Michel dozer which was starting its grooming run a few kms north of the Taureau Auberge. I have to take my hat off to these snowmobile clubs, in this case St-Michel and Mattawin who work hard and do miracles with the little snow they have to give us beautiful trails... Thank you!!!


And we were back to the trailer around 4:45 p.m. with 306km for the ride, very happy with our run. It had a bit of new snow yesterday there and at home as well, and even a bit more in Mauricie where my partner Snowcruiser told me around 6 inches of new stuff. We would need more than that to optimize all the trails but at least it help to greenish the trail map on Imotoneige!
We were hoping for better at mid february but it's hard to argue with mother nature! We still hope for more snow and cold but in the mean time the groomers do miracles with what they have and it's still possible to do some great sledding.
My video camera cooperated very well during the ride and I should be able to post some video footage from this ride soon.
Alain

Figured I’d post on here in case anyone wants to follow along or is curious of conditions. Trucked up from PA up to Amos at the Amosphere 14hr run but bluebird day made travel easy. Pretty good amount of snow here considering how crappy a year it is grooming map shows lots of activity, so should be some excellent riding. Just doing day trips and big loops each day from Amos might head to Mattagami tomorrow will post report and pics. 

At the last minute I decided to drive to RDL two days ago, on Sunday. Didn't have much hope for great riding, but was going stir crazy sitting around the house.  I also heard SkiDoo invited the sled magazine press to Quebec starting Sunday to ride the 2025 sleds. Several years ago they did this same thing and stayed at the Universel in RDL. It was great getting to talk to the factory guys. Turns out (found out today) this time around they went northeast of Montreal. 
Driving up thru Maine, Jackman actually looked pretty decent. The Chaudierre region of Quebec looked like toast, no riding there. In fact I didn't really see good snow until about 30 miles before RDL. Pulled into RDL seeing bare tar everywhere. Yuck!!!   Less than an inch of new snow fell Sunday night.
Today I finally decided to unload the sled and take a look around the area. Anyone who has been here knows how big the hotel parking lot seems when it is bare tar. Onto the trail heading for the clubhouse.  Snirt, dirt, some ice, and more snirt. This may be a short ride. I remember my January trip here, 1,800 miles of low snow but perfect conditions, except on the last day when the warm up came.
Drive by the club house, closed today.  Thinking head South and SW.   In the blink of an eye, or maybe someone spiked my morning coffee with magic mushrooms, I was in the middle of all out winter, a true winter wonderland. Beautiful packed powder, groomed to perfection, trees coated in white,and what appeared to be a better snow depth than my January trip. Giddy up MXZ baby.
Further I got, it appeared this area got half a foot of fluff Sunday night.  I did a 100 mile loop that was 5 star riding,  every bit as good as the 5 star meal I had last night at Hotel Levesque.  Quick meal at Exploreteur Clubhouse. Eventually made my way north to trail 5.  The last few miles of trail 5 was much lower snow pack but still really nice except for a couple snirts here and there.
Since arriving here, weather forecast changed from a cold week to a gradual warm up starting tomorrow and rain later in the week. Hopefully I can remember to bring my camera on tomorrow's ride.
Several groups left for Gaspe in the past few days. Just saw one sled return via flat bed a few minutes ago.
mike
 
 
 
 

I agree, I have felt it is the larger launch points ( Cities ) that are not seeing\realizing the economic impact of our involvement in their areas. I'll use Jonquiere area as an example. The main trail ( 83 ) has been moved and rerouted and cut-off and rerouted through the town and you get the feeling the Town does not give a crap or see us as a valuable resource. The club(s) has fought for us over and over again.
So with a drop in length of season this year and fewer sleds..... will it open the eyes of the business communities...???
Will it translate into more acceptance as a revenue engine and an embracing of the fact you want the Trailz running to your door not pushed out to the periphery.
Just thinking out loud.
GutZ
 
 
 
 

I'm pretty certain that the affected businesses and many of the public especially in small and remote areas already know the value of snowmobilers to their business. The impact may not always be positive as there are many "entitled" sledders out there. Although they are the minority the results of their actions are felt and remembered more than the majoritys actions. I can tell you from more than 30 years of club and trail work experience that reroutes and trail closures are not something the clubs want to do (just more work for volunteers to do) but are a necessity based on circumstances. JMHO

Very nice to see snow on the bridge...good mileage for a crew that big...have a great day tomorrow...nice section you are heading into.

Day 3. Escoumins to Baie Comeau. 175 miles. Another sunshine day made for mild temperatures in the high teens. Trails were very good, except for about 30 miles, which were OK, but had chop in all the turns.The building by the water in the last picture is our hotel for the night. Le Manior
 

Late start this morning around 9:30 since the ol lady doesn't like -10F snowmobiling. Rode over to the cave, Begin, Nature Otis, up to 373 across to Onatchiway, then back down 373 to the Ski Mountain 170 miles. Heading south to the cave over to Begin that first 60 miles was nothing to write home about, the rest of the way was good to excellent, met 2 groomers on the way home. Tomorrow heading for the frozen waterfall, possibly Sacre Couer loop if they groom and she's motivated enough. Better than sitting home on the couch, but definitely not usual Quebec conditions as we knew it wouldn't be. 

Beautiful sunshine all day albeit a lil on the cool side
93 was in top shape all the way up.
Great ride
All tucked into our cozy cabin at the Marina for the night.
Sandra and her partner are great hosts
Gowser

Day 1, word of the day….Thin!  Got 2” overnight made it nice leaving RDL. Never seen it so thin here in February. Trails pretty smooth, not enough snow to be rough. Snirt is gone with the fresh snow. Get out of town and take 5 East. Rimouski Club says stay on 5 for best conditions. Hasn’t been our experience but let’s try it. Away from town coverage not bad. Once we get to Trois Pistoles it’s actually pretty nice. Continue on 5 to the 35 outside of Rimouski. Traffic is light all day groomers are doing their thing. Meet back up with 5 East to 587 short cut to 5 at Padoue. Took the 5 all the way to Matane to the Riotel. Very scratchy in town, basically blacktop and dirt.

In the restaurant now, very thin snow here at the hotel. Not looking for exceptional just rideable. Place is a ghost town

Good to hear a positive report.  I think the imotoneige site has people hesitating.  Fair conditions in Quebec are good any where else. Thanks for the update on the 595.

Today we started a eight day 1500 mile saddlebag trip with Myself, Eric, Ken, Dan, Randy, and Kurt .Started in Saint Raymond and on to Sept-Iles. First 10 miles was snirt but not real bad. Got much better after that. All the way to Mount Apica. Rough for 20 miles after their then Pretty good almost all the way to the Delta. Was not bad getting into the Delta with wheels on the skis. 185 miles for the day.