MJD

WE do a loop out of RDL once or twice each season . We always allow a full 7 days (sled Sun AM to Sat PM) to get back to RDL plus we let people know we will do our best to be back for work on monday, but we may be a day or 2 late , like said earlier delays can happen. I have arrived in RDL on Saturday evening and woke up to 2' of new snow on Sun AM , got to Matane extremely late that night (no fun) and woke up to another 18" of new snow on Mon AM. I have made the mistake of thinking we should get going instead of waiting it out in the motel for a day to let the groomers do their job. The grooming is normally second to none but they can only do so much with the amount of snow they get in that area sometimes. We have also hit perfect weather and no breakdowns and done the entire loop in 5 days, if that happens we just add a day or 2 of riding on somewhere. if your making good time when your at the east end 597 / 595 and the trail from Murdochville to La Cache is a nice ride. But make sure La Cache is open. Hit it closed last season but we were able to get some gas from a Logging camp just north of there. TQ 5 is a pretty busy trail at times and there is lots of really good riding and scenery on the green trails also, if you want to take those routes . We did a nice run over new years weekend from RDL to Matane ,then to Point La Croix on mostly TQ5 , then 587 & 579 & TQ5 back to Rimouski ,and last day TQ5 & 35 to Squatec , 571 down to Deglis and than hammer down on TQ85 to RDL . That was a very enjoyable route , had the whole family on that one , 8 sleds and 2 cabooses with kids in them.

Went to Mont Joli area from Matane and then TQ5 to Local trail to Andgel de Merci then to La Redemption on 587 took green trails to Cabano them up to RDL on thursday and returned to Matane via Sayabec on Friday , They were all good , as said prior I would stay off of TQ5 between RDL and Mont Joli (it's passable but very thin)

We stayed there last weekend , rooms are OK , probably wouldn't want to Honeymoon there , food is good. Trails were good , little hard and some icy spots in the Mont Louis toward St Anne des monts for an hour or 2. Murdochville to La Cache was real nice last Sunday.

We left RDL friday am , went out 40 to 45 miles on tq 5 toward Rimouski and turned back to truck reloaded and trailered to Matane, very low snow conditions , lots of water on trail and dirt and rock showing. Did not think anything would be left next weekend there to let. Us get back to the truck. Went from Matane to Mont St Pierre friday afternoon,then Gaspe on TQ 5 then up to Murdochville on saturday , accross to le cache and back to Matane today (nice ride so far) Heading for ghost trees in AM , then Albertville for lunch, hope to ride some of Groomers trails and end up in Pointe la Croix tomorrow night. Then ride to Carleton and up to le cache on a local trail and end up in Matane tuesday night to meet up with another 3 of the guy's that bailled out last week.

Thanks for the info . We should be in RDL by supper time tomorrow. Just myself and my 16 yr old son going now , everybody else bailed . Should be a good trip , hoping to see the ghost trees , the pictures look pretty cool. Thanks for the GPS on the trees Phil 1 , I'll confirm them and leave them at groomers clubhouse for him. Mark

Heading to RDL tomorrow finally , I am Seeing some rain and warm temps in forecast for next 10 days. Does the area have enough base to handle the rain and warm temps that are forecasted for next week? Later in the week Enviroment Canada is talking highs in the 8 - 13 deg C mid to later next week for RDL. We are planning on leaving from RDL on Friday AM heading toward the Gaspe and plan on spending a few days touring the local trails and a little sight seeing etc , Do people that have been there lately think that we will be OK getting back to RDL next Sat or Sunday or Should we launch a little further east? Anybody have the GPS Coordinates for the Radar (ghost tree area) near Redemption ? Thanks in advance Mark

We are heading toward the Gaspe for a 6 - 7 day tour on the 7th of March from RDL, Depending on how many miles you plan on sledding / day and how many days you are planning on being on the sled , there is a lot to see and quite a few different trails to take. Matane to Murdochville would be a choice I would make at Matane depending on weather and conditions , the trail from Murdochville to La Cache is a nice trail in good weather , but it can get nasty in a wind. I personally prefer heading north on 595 from La Cache in the afternoon , I find that the scenery is nicer and wild life is more abundant in afternoon than AM when we are going through the Park and reserve between La Cache and Saint Paulin. Most of the Gaspe trip is quite nice , If you are going to drop into NB at Pointe Le croix , you will be missing some nice trails and scenery in the Pointe Le Croix /Amqui / Sayabec areas. I am sure there are members on here that can speak from experience from a trip this winter , on what's open or closed this season. Maybe give the forum a little run down on what your group would like to do / see / and the type of riding you guys like , and i am sure you will get a few suggestions. Mark

We are planning on heading to RDL to start a Gaspe Loop on the 25th of Feb . I was talking to a guy that drove through that area on Feb 13 and he said there was not alot of snow along the HWY. How are the snow and trail conditions from a sledders perspective in that area. I see from Groomers pics that once we get to his area , all is good. Just want to make sure that we can plan on meetting the rest of our group in RDL or should we head a little further east to start out. Thanks in Advance Mark

Trailblazer Earl made the tank , fixed to the tunnel extension , siphons automatically into main tank , works and looks real good. I'll let Earl know that you need some info on it. He's pretty good at sharing info , He's just a little P O 'd right now due to the incorrect volume of some of the pumps on our last trip to PQ. Mark

Groomer I don't think it is People trying to rip off tourist's. I think the pumps are calbrated improperly and the stations(oil companies) are ripping off all who buy at those pumps. (luck of the fill up I guess) Earl was one of the Sleds in our group and yes he has a fabricated spare tank on his Apex. It holds 11 Liters , I've seen it numerous times full @ 11 maybe 11.2 liters max . He is referring to the : Petro Canada on trail 526 just on the edge of RDL. : Petro Canada near TQ 5 in Sayabec : ? gas station in Rimouski East right beside the Hotel Le Empress (high test pump closest to road north end out by 3L+ ) ( high test pump north end closest to station cashier was right on 2 days later) If you need the name of the station in Rimouski I can look up a reciept and let you know. Mark

Speedy Most crossings will be bridges or staked trails . If they are not safe the club will detour you around the crossing. Detours normally have good signage. We were down Groomers way on Thursday and the trails and scenery were awesome. If you are heading to RADAR near La Redemption on 587 you may want to check to see if it's groomed north of the 587 / 579 split. Wasn't groomed on thursday but probably will be by now. Sometimes you can get a little more detailed trail conditions on WWW.admdq.org Have a good trip. Mark

We went from Rimouski to RDL this A.M. and the trail 5 thru their area was in pretty decent shape , had a few bumps here and there but overall in pretty good condition for as much snow / wind they had on Monday. Didn't hit much rain at all until almost in RDL around 10:00 am.

Hi Groomer We went through your area on thursday , I haven't been through that area in years , You have some beautiful scenery and trails in the area. When we were at the clubhouse you were out grooming according to the cook. We fuelled in Amqui then headed toward RADAR on 587 , got to the 587 / 579 Split and we turned around and headed toward Sabeyac ? , One of the guys with us had hurt his back / ribs in a little tumble back in the New Richmond area and we didn't want to punish him any more than we already had. We'll see RADAR next year I Guess as everybody on this trip said that the Carleton / Amqui / albertville / Sabeyac/ area was the best of the trip. We ran into some fairly tough conditions on Monday from RDL to Matane during the storm and on Tuesday from Matane to Murdochville until most of the trails had a groomer pass on them. Thanks Again for the info and the nice smooth trails in your area. Mark

We are heading toward Rivierre du loup on March 5th for a Gaspesie Loop . How's the snow / trail conditions , are they good everywhere or is there some area's to stay away from. Have heard some rumours that Rimouski and Bonneadventure areas are a littlelow on snow. Is this true? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance Mark