doonali

We took our yearly autumnal trip to les hautes laurentides region.  Put on just shy of 500 miles on the batmobile.  Friday’s loop took Sonny and I up to the eastern side of the Petawaga.  Highlights included a moose, a fisher and a full size Winnebago towing a side by side.
Saturday’s loop stared with a quick trip into Sainte Anne du Lac for fuel with Shannon. Then the afternoon loop mom and I headed on the west side of the Petawaga until we popped out on le Chemin L’epine.  We turned right and rode up to le Pensive, met the new owners, and chatted about sleds, and made our way back to camp from the top side of the Petawaga, a fox was our only sighting.
Sunday I took dad up and around Notawissi, back down to town, around the lake, and back up through the east side of the Mithcimanecus.  We popped out on la route a Parent, then headed south almost to Meekoos before heading back east into SADL, fueled back up and went back to camp.  Highlight was a deer.  When I got back Tyler wanted to go for a rip, so I took him up to snake falls.  
This morning I took a quick solo rip up to the fork for club Gatineau, then sadly headed back to park it on the trailer for the ride home.
Gas in town was 1.60, the outfitters are currently at 2.40.
I never ended up going to check out the new observation tower on top of Devil’s mountain, lots of traffic and boulder dash trails.  I prefer to run the forest roads.  Here are some pics.
 

First time through there a brazilian years ago was full cafeteria and had my 1st hot chicken. I even ate the peas 'cause they were smothered in gravy & frites were crispy.
Later years it was just the vending machines. But, y'know, it was as good as surf & turf at 30 below!

It’s surly not the needle that I avoid, it’s the agenda that is shoved down my throat $$$$$$$ http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2022_09/355A3DE7-E1DF-4607-819B-488D3C6A3328.thumb.png.b17899f01de0778ed60d69eb0e40b3ac.png

If nothing else maybe the cafeteria will be accessible to thaw out in -30 weather.

If nothing else maybe the cafeteria will be accessible to thaw out in -30 weather.

It's not the needle, it's there agenda! 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/arrivecan-border-covid-end-1.6595710
As of Oct. 1, all travelers, regardless of citizenship, will no longer have to: Submit public health information through the ArriveCAN app or website; Provide proof of vaccination; Undergo pre- or on-arrival testing; Carry out COVID-19-related quarantine or isolation; Monitor and report if they develop signs or symptoms of COVID-19 upon arriving to Canada; Undergo health checks for travel on air and rail; Or wear masks on planes and trains.

May I ask where you got this information?

HaHa, I'm sure there checking there status at the Southern Border!

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-to-drop-covid-19-vaccine-border-policy-arrivecan-to-be-optional-sources-1.6076355

Val d'or club.  They maintain 386 north, 63 east and a portion of 63 west.

Was in Le-Bel-sur Quevillon a couple yrs. ago having lunch and a pop and the bartender warned us of cops watching there establishment and targeting sledders for speed/alcohol etc. 

We took another trip up to Clova last weekend.  Left Sainte Anne du Lac Friday morning, went by Meekoos, Lunic, 100 Lacs, had lunch at Fer a Cheval then took the shortcut up to Clova.  190 miles. The shortcut bypassing Parent makes it 70 miles from the horseshoe to Clova.  Just like a few years back, the first 30 miles is straight up highway all the way to Mary Lake, the next 15 miles has some hanging branches to contend with, the last 25 miles is the good old Chemin Lepine. 
Saturday headed west on 83 and had lunch at Faillon then back to Clova.  200 miles.  This is where the snow median is.  The club built a new relais at the lookout, the wood stove is large enough to heat a house, comes with a small area to prep and cook, very nice.  They built a perch to make sure the picture comes out perfect.
Sunday morning we woke up to some fresh fluff, we knew the forecast was not great but decided to head south as planned.  Started out with heavy snowfall in Clova, switched to freezing  rain further south, and started raining just before the horseshoe.  We shook the glaze off our coats and had a break at the horseshoe, checked the  forecast and it indicated we had a 2 hour window of reprieve from the rain, so we dashed south.  The local trail back to SADL was just as good as I remember, and the rain held off long enough to get back to the truck.  135 miles.  
Trip highlights included a great time Friday night having supper with a group from Ontario, I spotted another large Lynx, and above all enjoyed the first Quebec trip with my wife since her battle with breast cancer.  I love you Zebbie.
Here are some pics
 

We are just back from our sled week therapy in Gaspesia: sled/eat/sleep...&repeat 😄

I don't have the time to put together a big report but this will be a pretty good summary of how it goes:
This 6-day/1000 miles ride in known territory for us (5th time) went well and even if it was a bit cold/windy, we had no snow storms or mechanical breakdowns, which gave us a very nice easy trip

However the current context have changed the planning requirements from the past years: I have never seen so many snowmobilers in Gaspesia and the accommodation offer is probably a little less than usual... anyway all the places where we stayed were already booked full when we arrived. We booked our overnight stays 2 or 3 days in advance and the only shot we delayed at the night before for New Richmond, the 2 hotels there were already full and we had to extend our trip to Carleton sur Mer where we booked the last room. So you really have to book sooner this year

Day#1 Mont-Joli/Cap-Chat passing by St-Pierre mountain total 176 miles.

Here's the St-Pierre mountain belvedere under a very cloudy sky


We had a lunch in Amqui and slept at the Auberge Grande Nature in Cap-Chat, just at the foot of the Chic-Chocs.


Day#2 Cap-Chat/Grande Vallée via trail#5 total 148 miles

It was a cold and very windy day. There has been a lot of logging between Cap-Chat and La Martre since our last visit in 2018, so the wind is even stronger on the trails.


The cold has overcome my gopro (external power wire broken) and unfortunately I could hardly shoot while riding during the trip. I was deceived because I was hoping to capture the very panoramic segment of Rivière à Claude/Mont St-Pierre/Mt-Louis, but that will be for another time...



We tried to have a lunch at the Mont St-Pierre motel restaurant which was the only one open but it was full with people waiting standing for a table so we continued and found a woody spot sheltered from the wind for a side trail snack break instead. A couple of hours later, we were able to take a real break in an heated place at the marvelous relay of the Snowmobile Club rapide blanc. Large and well equipped with even a toilet for the lady who greatly appreciated this luxury!



We stayed at the Marée Haute motel in Grande Vallée. Even the motel looks basic the food was a notch over the bunch at that place



Day#3 Grande Vallée/Percé by #597 trail  Murdochville total 200miles

So we retraced our steps on #5 trail to get the #597 and go down to Murdochville


We had this surprised encounter there! They took the wrong entrance when they left the gas station after filling up and got stuck there solid...hope no one had need an ambulance in the next hour!



It was too early to lunch there so we picked up some food at the convenience store and went to eat at the junction #597/local trail that join #5 trail to the east. Very nice fast ride pleasant to do
We had some visitors for lunch: Several small black-capped chickadees came to beg us for lunch

It was the first time those ones came to eat in our hands. We are well used to the gray jays and there were also some there who did not hesitate to claim their food too


We went down to the #5 trail and then to Barachois to refuel and admire the rear view of the perce rock which is less common to see and I like much


We then took back #5 trail, crossed the small detour near the emerald river (not so bad) and continued to take the local trail for Percé... the trail of the shame as some call it: 12 miles of big bump to do twice is the penalty to be able to admire the rock!




Being already there we reach on the mountain behind, I like well the different views of the rock, including this one



We stayed at Camp de base in Percé. We had to follow a non-federated trail to get there but it was pretty easy with the instruction given and imotoneige and the stay there was nice in this historic and unusual place

Day#4 Percé/Carleton sur Mer via trail #5 total 178 miles

We took #5 trail which we held the whole day. As I mentioned a lot of sledders in the Gaspesia right now so the trails wear out faster and we encounter good and less good trail conditions and this time our morning unfortunately was quite rough. Here the Grande Rivière bridge


Here the Chandler snowmobile tourist information relay



We slept at the Baie-Bleu hotel in Carleton sur Mer


Day#5 Carleton sur Mer/Cap-Chat via trail #595 total 181 miles

We retraced our steps on #5 trail and took trail #595 to the north. This time we got top notch conditions, trail just groomed during the night. The "moment" of the trip followed with a brief round trip exploration on Mount Lyall located on the Chics-Chocs trail, 6 miles from #595.




We have been there several times but never seen the place like this: mommies as far as the eye can see!




Going back down to the #5trail we saw some impressive snowdrift



We then stopped to refuel at La Cache which was pretty crowed. We waited for the gas but no way I would wait for a lunch there. We just continued on #595 and stopped in a not too windy spot for an outdoor snack... we begin to be used to this!

We then went back down to #5 trail. Kristine was anxious to encounter the famous moose that we saw on video beating up a sledder but we had not seen it. We then turned right towards Cap-Chat again but this time to stay at the Motel Nanook


Day #6 Cap-Chat/Mont-Joli via trail #5+locals total 162 miles
We left on trail #5 trail to return to Mont-Joli. Here the footbridge of Cap-Chat that many will recognize...



We did a short round trip on the local trail to Les Méchins to shape up the ride a bit and then came back west on #5 trail. We stopped for lunch and a last fuel-up in Matane and then  continued on #5. It was another very windy day and the wind there is really strong!

 
We arrived early near Mont-Joli and we went around the town a bit via local trails to shape up the ride a little more again. Just before arriving we passed this dozer



We finally got back to our starting point around 3:45 pm with a total of 1046 easy miles for the 6 days.
Also, we slept twice in Mont-Joli. Before our first sledding day and on the last day at mon Joli motel and the Quality Inn hotel. I would like to point out that Mon Joli Motel offers a free parking for the week and breakdown service in the event of a problem on the ride. You leave them your truck keys and in the event of a problem they can come and pick you up with your own vehicle, which can be extremely nice in the event of a problem along the trip and it brings appreciable peace of mind even you don't need it.
This concludes my 2022 Gaspesia trip report

Great ride! Thanks for sharing.
What model large screen Garmin GPS are you running? Thoughts on it?