Mrs.Ice

Day 5 Tues Feb 28 You have no idea what a great night sleep can do to you. I'm ready for my day!!! 💪🏼 There were lots of sleds at Motel Rodeway last night. We walked next door for a breakfast at Tim Hortons. Off we went on the 5 to 597. The trails were smooth and I enjoyed riding the white highways. We stopped and discussed about going to the Perce rock, but decided to skip it. I've been there in the summer already. We continued on and decided to stop to have a quick lunch at the snowmobile club instead of into town to encourage the relais in La Grande Riviere. The vegetables cream was unbelievable! I like all the bridges, not always easy to go on and off them, like that one today was very icy to get on. Lover told me that with all the bridges they don't worry about the rivers being frozen or not which is a good point. They also need those bridges for the ATV in the summer, so win win! I truly enjoy the fast ride on the 597, it was both our first time on this new section since it was modified. Don said it's much more open and wider than the previous trail. We saw two coyotes... at first I said, Oh look a dog! 😂😂 My first thought since we had seen people walking with their dogs on snowmobile trails before... not the best place but you know how it is. Yesterday and today we saw someone cross country skiing on the trail, I guess you never know what you'll see. In my trip so far I've seen a mouse, an American marten, deer and two coyotes today.

Day 4 Mond Feb 27 Monday was a rough day for me, since the one and only lover who calls me Petunia, sweet pea, sweet heart, sunshine, lover, mon amour, honey, Caro, Caroline (that's it you got them all 😂) decided to sing his high pitch song all night long. Unfortunetly I didn't get my well needed beauty sleep. So my driving skills weren't as sharp as I like them. However we made it to Gaspé safe and sound. We were leaving Mont St-Pierre heading to Gaspé. We took the only trail to get there, you know, #5. I want to thank Julie and Patrick at the Delice. They are really nice people. The trail condition was excellent the whole day. Again lots of twists and turns and ups and downs like the day before. I'm working on getting my throttle thumb on point when I get downhill. Sometimes I got it, other times not at all. Work in progress I guess. However, again some spectacular views with a big bright sun for amazing pictures on top of Mont St-Pierre and all around. Bad timing at the gas in Mont St-Louis, we picked the wrong one... Had to backtrack to the first gas station since the second one which is off the trail by 6 km had no gas when we went. The clerk was waiting for his gas delivery. We also came across a nice relais from Club du Rapide Blanc. I'm always happy to see a place where I can use an indoor restroom. You might not realize it, but for us, ladies, it's different! 😏Although, If I gotta go, and it needs to be on the trail so be it, just not my first choice. I had a candy bar lunch in the gas station at Riviere Renard because most places are closed on Mondays. In Gaspé we stayed at Motel Adams now called Rodeway Inn. Seems to be a lot of black top to get to the hotel, but at least I got wheels! Automatic ones, lover puts them down for me. 10/10 for bed comfort, squishy pillowsss and comforter. The St-Hubert in the hotel parking lot was closed (supposed to open today) but in a walking distance there is also Maestro pizza, Dixie Lee, a pub and Tim Hortons which we had for breakfast. Let me tell you that it was an early night for me to catch up on my sleep. Took two of my Pure rest pills and 8:30 I was ready for bed.

You have no idea!!! 😁

Day 1 Friday Feb 24 Went to teach my only two periods that morning, how lucky was I that this day ended up being the Friday before spring break, an early start for me. Don and I had discussed a lot about where to go during my spring break but ... I have a little something in my heart for Gaspesie. So we left home with the trailer around 1:30 pm to get to Matane by 7:00 pm. Day 2 Sat Feb 25 We left Matane to go to Redemption and all around. Actually, the real goal was to get to see the mummies, which I finally did. Yeah! See pictures. It was beautiful and colder at the top up there. Lover took the time to replace his stickers that discolored over the years. Yes I'm riding, but I'm also sightseeing. There is so much to admire in nature. My tour was organized to take our time so I get to enjoy it and relax as well. I'm not into the 300-400 km a day kind of thing. It's not fun for me. I can do it but I'm not interested. But here is the real info you're looking for, we left on the 5 from Matane, then we took an orange local trail to join 587. That's where the mummies were! Then we left 587 to 591 to get to 5 back to Matane for the night. Trails were beautiful everywhere we went. Day 3 Sun Feb 26 This morning we had quite a pleasant surprise, we met Jim & Gemma at breakfast. It was so nice to meet you! Enjoy your ride! Hope we'll meet again. We left Matane and headed to Mont St-Pierre on the 5 all day. There was rough bumpy trail near Cap Chat all the way near La Martre. Lots of ups and downs (remember I dislike that) and twisty trails, more work for me. But when I hear; ''good job Petunia'' I know I'm doing all right. Also we upgraded my training, because I was in front a lot for the last two days. It's totally different, I'm the one calling out the things on the trails, the first one meeting another sled, etc.

But for us in Quebec, un 5 à 7 is still Happy hour 🍻 🍷🍹🍸 😜.

On the road again... back in the saddle. 🤩 Last year I had an extremely short season due to my injury which healed fine, but it took its sweet time all summer during my paddle board season. Anyway here we are finally! Les Escoumins, for some reason I love this area. When you hear ''Oh I'm going on the Côte Nord'', you often think or hear Mont Valin, but there is so much more than there to be explored. So as Lover said we left Trois-Rivieres, Monday at 12:30 and got here just in time before the supermarket closes. We hit nice weather to drive up here, was quite a change than the past three days we had at home. Lots of snow, lack of cold. So gotta go ride where it's good during my school break. When we plan a trip we have two main goals in mind, look for groomed trails and less traffic as possible. One of my personal goals is to pay attention at the landscape, it's sooo pretty. I know that most people ride for the miles, but I sure look around and I'm so thankful to get to see mother nature's beauty. Late morning departure since usually there is a 6-7-8 kind of schedule. I think was close to 9:30. We rode to St-Anne de Portneuf for gas, then took a mint local trail. Lover always says that the local trails are the best, I must say that I agree so far. I was scouting the rivers for my summer riding season because we were along the water for a while. On that local trail we cam across a nice little warming hut. (see photos) I don't know for you, but each season I have to get accustom once again to the whole snowmobile tralala. It takes me my first day to get comfortable once again. Then we stopped at the relais Les Bouleaux for a small snack. Most of it was nicely groomed except for one part, which we knew, but now I know I don't like to ride on fluffy snow. 😂 I guess I would not be an off trail candidate. We didn't see many people, except once we got close to the relais. Oh we saw lots of places where trees were cut down, but it seems like it doesn't compare to Mauricie, Outaouais, and other places hard hit by big snow and wind. Many clubs are struggling to find volunteers to cut all the trees that had fallen and blocking the trails. Here you can follow along our ride with the pictures I took today. https://www.relive.cc/view/vNOP43YrP2O

Thanks for the report and pictures. Appreciate it. At least I can follow along.

Gotta love this white asphalt!!!

Definitely not the house vacuum… 🙄

Hello everyone! mrs. Ice is reporting from her couch in the living room. That’s it, that’s where I’ll be for the next six weeks for sure. Yesterday afternoon, after a cross country skiing adventure with my students, we were back at school and as I was coming down the stairs in the bus, I slid and miss a step. I was being very careful because I know how slippery it could be with these ski boots and the snow on the steps. It seems like it was my turn to slow down for a while. I got my X Rays results today, fracture of the ankle, which gives me 6 weeks in a cast prohibited to walk on it. It’s going to be sooooo longgggggggg!!!! Then, I’ll wear a boot for 4 weeks. So now I’m hoping that it will be a long winter, long season so maybe I’ll be lucky to get another ride or 2 when this is done. Fingers crossed. I’ve got a new ride for now! Got to get lover to put snow trackers on this one! 😂 At least I’m grateful that I got to do Gaspé and Côte Nord this year before all of this. 🙏

Hello! Mrs. Ice here. Did you miss me? So we went out for a ride today. We wanted to go yesterday, (Saturday) but it was -34 C. So we waited for today, it was much better -31 C when I woke up! 🤣🤣Hahaha !!! I was excited to try on my new pants which finally arrived this past week. I tested them good, wore only my hypnose pants underneath. I guess I was ambitious, will need to add another layer when it’s below -25 C. Lover was proudly wearing his new FXR jacket as well and he wasn’t cold at all! Great purchase. We didn’t go very far, we took trail 3 west and a local orange trail to St-Louis de France. Then We reached 351 along the highway. This is one of my favorite place to rip it!!! 😆Just past Champlain. However, I had to be careful due to a lack of snow, some bumps and bushes sticking out. That shouldn’t be a problem after tomorrow’s snowstorm. (Supposed to get 30 cm) We made a left and took a local orange trail to St-Luc de Vincent. Back to St -Narcisse to rejoin trail 3. We saw more sleds today than during all the days in Gaspésie. But it’s ok, I ‘m glad people enjoy the outdoors even though it’s cold and restaurants are closed. That’s why we chose to do a short one, 2 hours it lasted. Trail took us back to Turtle lake, through Shawinigan to home. After Gaspésie we brought the sleds to Moto Thibeault, our mechanic. Lover had me installed some snow trackers because my stock Yamaha tuners were close to worn out. Now, I can steer even better. I told lover that I would gain speed because it’s easier to steer and it stays where I want it to be. Awesome! What a change! Also, Mr. Iceman let me ride in the front for a very long time today! Yeah! That way I have to stay on the right even more because I’m the first one meeting other sleds, so no warning coming my way! It’s fine! I can handle it! But it was fun to be the first one. I like it when it’s just him and I but with more people I feel a certain pressure to go fast enough so they don’t get bored behind me… so I’m comfortable doing my own thing in the back! 😉 It’s was a great short ride in this cold Canadian weather. 100km

By the way we only saw 4 other sleds the whole day! 👌, trail to ourselves again! They can all stay in Mont Valin.

Day 3: Murdochville to St-Anne-Des-Monts, 180 km Hey everyone, Mr. Ice 👋 So late departure, 9:15 it was. I didn’t care because we had 100 less km to do than the day before, little relieved I was. I knew it was twisty which is good to stay warm because it’s more work for me to stay on the right at a decent speed. Don also told me about some hills... I worried a little, if you remember I’m not a fan of the downhills. However, it was fantastic! I did great, getting better at it and more comfortable. Proud of myself. 🙌 Now let’s talk serious business, what interests you the most, trail conditions. I’m not sure I have the right adjective to describe them, but I even told Don at some point, it’s like white asphalt. The groomer had left Murdochville just before us, so we reached him at some point. Don had looked at the trails and most of it was groomed overnight and the other part the night before, perfect just like I like them. It was truly unbelievable the trail quality we got for a second of January. Some part pass Mont St-Pierre, near La Martre, it needs more snow in the valley. You could see the groomer’s struggles to get up and down the hill, digging up rocks. But I think today’s pictures will speak for themselves. We’re at Hotel &Cie for the night. Nice place, gas and SAQ just in front. Takeout to our room for supper, after the little improvised sandwich dinner from last night, a nice filet mignon is in order for tonight. 😋 Tomorrow back to the truck, then black asphalt to Shawinigan. Chow for now

He gets no points for only uploading pictures, but mostly for being the guide . 😉

Day 2: still written by Mrs. Ice. 😉 Matane to Murdochville, 275 km. Before I begin today’s story telling, let’s recap on a few details from last night. At the Quality Inn the restaurant was closed on the 1 of January when we arrived but we got a delivery from a local restaurant that was opened. It’s was good. As for yesterday, at our return, the hotel’s restaurant was opened, so we ordered and they called us to pick it up when it was ready. For $102 CaD a night with breakfast included, you can’t go wrong. Now, today. I thought I had some great sightseeing yesterday, I was even more spoiled today. I took some pictures but not as many as yesterday, guess why, it was colder!!! But still got a few nice ones. Left Matane at around 8:45 I’m not going to name all the trails since there are only a few towards where we were heading. But I can tell you something useful, for the second of January the trail all the way to La Cache was amazing! And beyond! We saw our friend Keeve that we met last year. We were welcomed to warm up a bit, which we did because Mrs. Ice is still waiting for her new pants, her old ones being a little tight, I get really cold on my thighs and buns. Stayed an hour. Iceman got the grand tour, pictures to follow. Then off we went towards Chic Choc and Murdochville. We were told by Jacques from Hotel Cooper, that the first 40 km from La Cache might be so so, but we were going to check it out anyway, cause I wanted the views! As they say happy wife happy life! It wasn’t groomed, however it was broken by the machine, no drag Mr. says. Anyway, I had seen worse last year near Quebec City. It was drifted in at some places, but not bad at all according to Mr.Iceman. I thought so too. It went well, couldn’t rip it, but that was fine it’s was so beautiful that you have time to admire it. Mother Nature treated me today. I was more impressed by the frozen landscape up there than the mummies yesterday. Of course, the sunlight had to add to this. I wanted to stop and take so many pictures but couldn’t, too cold and I was on the clock to get back, fighting against the darkness, because darkness means colder. For me anyway. I still can’t get over it, I have never seen winter like that before. Jacques was right on, 40 km then we passed the groomer’s trail where he turned around. Now the trails were absolutely stellar all the way to Murdochville, white carpet like Lover said. I have to agree with him. As good as the trails are, there are some early season hazards as expected, we saw 2 places with open water. And a few dips here and there that need to Be filled in with more snow. Before La Cache , I blew up one of my fuses because my magnetic wires disconnected from my helmet and touched metal so it blew it. We stopped to change it, Got to learn about that today. My lover fixed it up for me while I was busy making yellow snow. That’s right, I’m not afraid to pee in the snow when you gotta go, you gotta go. You men have it so easy. You haven’t live until you have it all hanging out there with a windchill minus 25. That will get your attention. If I don’t do it, i’ll Get colder, so got to suffer a little to feel better. Got to see 2 moose today, a mother and her baby, probably from last year because it was pretty big. Our radio were shot at that time, so lover stopped TO warn me and I went in front to see them, after few seconds they headed in the woods. Magnificent beasts! Nothing wrong with our radios, simply should change for a new battery, probably died in the cold. They work fine. The funny thing is that Iceman was still talking to me even though I couldn’t hear... hahahah. Then, later in the day, he let me ride in front for a while, was about time with all the snow dust I endured behind him the whole day. Here at Murdochville we are the only two snowmobilers. Last night there were 2 men from PEI at our hotel, that was it. Like I said, trails to ourselves. It was a lovely second day. All worth it.

Easier by sled for sure.

So tonight we’ll shake things up a bit, you’ll read about our today’s adventure through Mrs.Ice’s eyes. Hope you like it. 😁 After hearing Mr.Iceman’s melodies all night long, we opted for a late departure since we’re only riding to the mummies and the surroundings to be back at Quality Inn for a second night. 10:30 it was. Started on 5 to 591. At the beginning, near the hotel, I have to admit that we’re missing some snow. However, only 10 minutes up the mountain and it’s much better. Snow is somewhat loose, so a little shaky but for sure rideable, I just need to adjust my driving. I don’t know about when you’re riding, but I love to look around at the nature, see the fresh snow in the pine trees and sitting on all the branches. Oh, how I was spoiled in today’s sightseeing so early in the season. I kept stopping to take pictures for me, for you, so you see it for yourself, but a picture never truly represents what your eyes can see on the spot. Anyway. I guess I was stopping too much... someone’s patience was challenged, hahaha. 😅 Trails were really great all the way to La Redemption. Only saw a few sleds, you know when you can count them, but lose the count because they’re too far apart... gotta love to have the trails to yourself. 👌 I realize that I dislike to be tilted on one side due to an incline on the terrain, we were in the fields at that point, good to ride on, but lack of snow to ride straight on flat. Lover said it was good practice for me. I guess. But I also need to tell you that I do not enjoy big downhills, but I did encounter a few on Cote Nord last week and I’ m sure will see more this trip. I’m getting used to them slowly, gaining confidence each time. I get good advice. I know i’m In great hands. 591 to 587 now. Got to see the beginning of the mummies’ formation, how nice it was to be in winter’s wonderland. My Hands froze up there because I took too many pictures, Oups. It was worth it though, so beautiful. I can only imagine the look in February. Wow. Then, we saw a sign marked canyon about one km off the main trail, 587. Up we went, It was impressive as well. Sketchy trails for us to get there, but we managed. Lover said there are tracks, we can go. Afterward, we came to a point where I was asked if I wanted to go back the same way as this morning or this other trail, little longer he said. Apparently was 30 minutes, 40 some km more. I said you pick. Junction of 591 and a local orange trail. It goes towards St Paul. So off we go on that new trail. Some narrow and twisty parts, which I don’t mind because it warms me up. Then here it it, some sort a wide trail on a dirt road. Perfect to go a little faster, just a little. 😉 It brought is all the way back to trail 5, we completed our loop from the east. We made It to home base near 4:30. It was a good 240 km. Overall, it was a lovely day, not as nice as it was in Escoumins last week, but for January 2nd, it has advanced pretty well, can’t complaint. Forgot a thing or two that I will add here. We do have radios to talk to each other, lover warns me for things to look out for and sleds coming. However, if we’re too far apart I’m on my own. So I’m working hard for my turns to be sharp and tight on that right. I try to be more on my right than him. 😜 not easy. Last, we came back in the dark, it has been a long time since I rode in the dark. I was flashed by another sled once no clue why, until lover told me I had big lights on. 😬 Mrs. Ice