viper2 Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Decided Friday afternoon to roll the dice and head to the Gaspe. 2 hours from our launch point of RDL. Will make tracks tomorrow and see what is out there. Crappy year gonna take the gamble. As much as we hate to waste time on the ferry, if need be we can cross to the North Shore or head down to Moose Valley. Time will tell wng-2, Florida Snowman, iceman and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Start and end far enough north and you will be fine. Gamble and you'll see the cost of a taxi or a U-haul. 😉 iceman, MrGutz, Pipeman and 1 other 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerider Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Here at RDL it is starting to spit snow with a few inches forecast tonight. If I understood two men in the lobby a short time ago speaking broken English, I think they said good snow east of RDL. iceman, nyskidooerinnewhampshire, NSHM and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 19 Author Report Share Posted February 19 In the restaurant now, very thin snow here at the hotel. Not looking for exceptional just rideable. Place is a ghost town nyskidooerinnewhampshire, smclelan, dooright and 2 others 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowmaster2112 Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 8 hours ago, markusvt said: Start and end far enough north and you will be fine. Gamble and you'll see the cost of a taxi or a U-haul. 😉 exactly what Mark says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wng-2 Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 11 hours ago, viper2 said: Decided Friday afternoon to roll the dice and head to the Gaspe. 2 hours from our launch point of RDL. Will make tracks tomorrow and see what is out there. Crappy year gonna take the gamble. As much as we hate to waste time on the ferry, if need be we can cross to the North Shore or head down to Moose Valley. Time will tell Good luck! I hope it goes well. I will be watching. 🤞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipeman Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 5 hours ago, snowmaster2112 said: exactly what Mark says Unload at Chapais and the surfing will be good.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastMark Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Any riding left ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSX800 Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 On 2/18/2024 at 5:48 PM, markusvt said: Start and end far enough north and you will be fine. Gamble and you'll see the cost of a taxi or a U-haul. 😉 Exactly. Happened to us last week. Coming down from Saint Felicien to Mattawin. Got to LaTuque. Just got gas and was sitting on sled talking with one of the guys while the rest of the group was in the convenience store getting something to drink. Just happened to look at the app on the phone. Crap, we have a problem! What? 355 is closed for about 20 miles leaving LaTuque. Wait, 345 is also closed from the dam to LeCabanon. Got rooms at Marineau LaTuque and a rental pickup truck from the Dodge dealer. Drove to LeCabanon to retrieve the trucks and trailers the next morning. Some debate on whether or not we would have made it. Overall group decision was to pull the plug. North was very nice. dooright, zeusand, Je me souviens and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 19 Author Report Share Posted February 19 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. mccaffrey, wng-2, Je me souviens and 15 others 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerider Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 Nice report. Believe I saw your group getting ready to leave the Universel this morning. I should have said hi, but it looked like you folks were hurrying to get out on the trail. Have a great trip. mike wng-2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quebec bob Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 Great read and pics...been over that low old wooden bridge many times...very surprised it hasn't been ungraded...hope some more snow comes for you wng-2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 21 Author Report Share Posted February 21 Day 2: Left Riotel FYI don’t have to go up the big hill. Go closer to the road around the back of the little brown building and it will take you right up to the road. Everything dry pavement in town, got up to the trail and took 5 East. Mix of good to fair with a few great sections mixed in. The most snow is in the elevations, all the towns are scratchy like late March. First 30 miles from Matane is pretty thin. Staying in Grand Vallee tonight. The deepest snow of the trip is out here, probably from Mont Louis to here. Calling for a warm up Thursday-Friday, we will see towing, Florida Snowman, iceman and 8 others 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Have a great ride. It is what it is this year you will get into it. Its not all bad. Enjoy! P Hardy, zeusand, viper2 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wng-2 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 5 hours ago, viper2 said: Day 2: Left Riotel FYI don’t have to go up the big hill. Go closer to the road around the back of the little brown building and it will take you right up to the road. Everything dry pavement in town, got up to the trail and took 5 East. Mix of good to fair with a few great sections mixed in. The most snow is in the elevations, all the towns are scratchy like late March. First 30 miles from Matane is pretty thin. Staying in Grand Vallee tonight. The deepest snow of the trip is out here, probably from Mont Louis to here. Calling for a warm up Thursday-Friday, we will see 👍Hope it goes well! What's the destinaton today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 21 Author Report Share Posted February 21 2 hours ago, wng-2 said: 👍Hope it goes well! What's the destinaton today? Just going to Pabos tonight. Rooms are hard to come by. Not sure why, not many sleds on the trails. We called a couple places last night when we got in for tomorrow and everything in our range was booked. A short ride today will be nice, yesterday was a long day P Hardy, wng-2 and dooright 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wng-2 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 2 minutes ago, viper2 said: Just going to Pabos tonight. Rooms are hard to come by. Not sure why, not many sleds on the trails. We called a couple places last night when we got in for tomorrow and everything in our range was booked. A short ride today will be nice, yesterday was a long day Indeed. Lodging has become a pain. Hopefully you can get around the south side before the warm up. Unless you plan to go back North via Murdochville. Good luck. Je me souviens 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 22 Author Report Share Posted February 22 Day 3, left Grand Vallee and backtracked on 5 to 597 down to Murdochville. Trails in really nice shape! This part of the Gaspe wins for the most snow award. Lunch in Murdochville then continue down 597 and Piston Alley, all groomed up nicely to 5 again. smclelan, wng-2, mikerider and 10 others 12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Snowman Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Looking good guys. Keep rolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastMark Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Enjoy ! Nice pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 23 Author Report Share Posted February 23 Day 4, Left Pabos, took 5 West and trails are still pretty nice. Not great snow depth but the clubs have done a great job with what they have. Trails were all in pretty good shape until New Richmond. Really thin there and some bare corners but not terrible. Same for Carleton, mostly smooth but thin. The thinnest sections and most bare spots were around Nouvelle. Definitely spring conditions there. The snow started getting better and less bare spots and snirt as we headed West. In PALC tonight. P Hardy, MrGutz, wng-2 and 10 others 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smclelan Posted February 23 Report Share Posted February 23 Yes that could be considered thin in spots P Hardy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wng-2 Posted February 23 Report Share Posted February 23 Excellent! I am glad you made it through there. Back to Riviere Du Loup today? I hope it goes well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PISTON LAKE CRUISER Posted February 23 Report Share Posted February 23 Can you imagine the liability if something bad occured on that brown trail. Those sections really shouldn't be open. I know a group of 12 guys that are supposed to leave tomorrow for a 12 hour drive and week of riding in Gaspe. While trying to decide whether to cancel or not they look at Imotoneige and see open trails but can't see what the reality is some areas (unless they are QR's of course). Like everyone else, they don't want to cancel a chance to ride Gaspe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper2 Posted February 25 Author Report Share Posted February 25 Day 5: gonna end the trip with 2 short days instead of 1 big one. Today we rode from PALC to Valga. Took 5 all the way to Albertville. Trails pretty thin near the towns. Should have took the orange trail to avoid Causapscal. Also really thin around St. Marguerite and Albertville. Continued on 5 to 587 to St. Irene, much better here. Had lunch at the Ski Hill then went up and checked out the lookout tower up near the Radar. Looks like winter up there but not like a normal one. Continued through the mountains on 587 to 579 and into Valga for the night. Early day, a little too early really 😂😂 150 miles for the day. zeusand, Je me souviens, smclelan and 9 others 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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