scorpionbowl Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Day 1: 340 miles from Montmagny to Amqui via TQ35. We started the trip the day after the massive rain and warmup. The snow overnight gave much needed cooling for the entire trip. Trails were mostly very hard packed with some icy stretches and some water on trails. Many fields are very thin and water crossings are ok with some skimming. It's only going to get better from here, getting back to the truck wednesday might be interesting, given the forecast. We will be inspecting Groomers work tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 hi scorpionbowl !! i ll be on tq 5 later tonight !!i should be at the st fidele cb by 9 am.hope to start grooming by 2-3 am !! see you tomorrow !! jean-guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Good to hear guys keep it rolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Keep the updates coming as we need to know how the trails are holding up in the Amqui area. As we have a trip planned for later this month. Hoping that the trails hold up good- I know groomer will do his best on TQ5-we plan to do most of our riding in his area. Speedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerider Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 I was at RDL yesterday morning (Friday)and it looked pretty bleak around the hotel. People who rolled in to RDL on Thursday night coming from Rimouski said trail 5 was bad. And it was horrible the last few miles getting to the hotel. I had to head home as the wife has a bad bug, and driving from RDL towards QC, didn't look too good. However, from Montgamy down to (almost) St. George it looked like mid winter conditions. Appeared they did not get much rain, got a few inches of snow, trees were coated with snow, trails looked great and lots of sleds using them. So I am guessing the middle area of Chaudierre, Bas St. Laurent and Gaspe may be still excellent riding. Beace/St George to Maine border had lots of thin spots. Just an FYI. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 I was at RDL yesterday morning (Friday)and it looked pretty bleak around the hotel. People who rolled in to RDL on Thursday night coming from Rimouski said trail 5 was bad. And it was horrible the last few miles getting to the hotel. I had to head home as the wife has a bad bug, and driving from RDL towards QC, didn't look too good. However, from Montgamy down to (almost) St. George it looked like mid winter conditions. Appeared they did not get much rain, got a few inches of snow, trees were coated with snow, trails looked great and lots of sleds using them. So I am guessing the middle area of Chaudierre, Bas St. Laurent and Gaspe may be still excellent riding. Beace/St George to Maine border had lots of thin spots. Just an FYI. mike Thanks for the update Mike Speedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH-Moose Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Day 2: 270 miles. Now we are two. This morning Marty had to break for home, Scorpion-Bowl and I carry on. Amqui to Carlton to LaCache to New Richmond for the night. Amqui south on 5 we met Groomer as he mentioned in his post. Thank you Groomer for fixing the trails!!! I know you work hard so we can play! Great photos from early this morning too! At the very top of the Mont Carlton loop, we took the trail towards LaCache ( sign said 68km) it was intraveled for what looked like a few days, but we took it. Turns out we think the map is a little wrong showing the trail at the very tip. Had we gone a few km more west I think we would have found the real trail entrance. About 20-30 miles in we wanted a reality check so we loaded Andymans gps track and found we were in the bush so we made our way back to the real trail, which was MUCH smoother and wider like an indy track!! Thanks Andyman! It was fun bushwhacking anyway, even that was better than the best trails back home in the states even in a good winter. Think we got the last room at Francis, and the restaurant is booked, so we eat in the bar. All in all, trails were firm but smooth. No whoops, dirt, or water all day. Definately deep snow out here, its awesome!!! Thank for the heads up Speedy, we know it will be a VTT dirt/mud trail on the way back in to Montmagny next week but it is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 bienvenue !! great meeting you and scorpionbowl !! thanks again for stopping by !! jean-guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo420 Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Heading your way next week grommer, glad to see all the trails are still in great shape,hope to see you and I want to thank your brother in-law for all the hosptality and take him up for a little back country riding next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH-Moose Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Day 3: 310 miles. New Richmond to LaCache to Murdochville to Chandler to Perce to Riviere Renard. Carabou is deserted, only 1 other sled in the lot and a couple cars. 595 was good, the chic chocs were groomed at a bad time, so it was near ice. 597 south of Murdochville was pristine, till they switch grooming, then it was junk aouth of the bridge at River St Jean. Many reroutes from 597 to Perce. The Perce trail was junk as usual. 5 north of Perce was junk, including a washout that required some water skipping. Things were much beter near the town of Gaspe till Renard. Moose here: I'm banning Perce from the acceptable gas/food/lodging list until there is a proper trail into town. Its crazy at the most sought after landmark on the peninsula,the town has no trail. You have to run the gravel on the side of the highway, with many hidden driveways and crossings. Its unsafe and not for me. We bought gas and left. With some fuel planning the town can be avoided. And after seeing the rock on/off for nearly 10 years, I can be picky. Too bad its a nice stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Heading your way next week grommer, glad to see all the trails are still in great shape,hope to see you and I want to thank your brother in-law for all the hosptality and take him up for a little back country riding next year. hi skidoo420 !! looks like i was in the moon today !!ha!!ha!! no problems.if you think about it ,send a pm a day in advance to let me know !! i ll tell my brother in law !! thanks !! jean-guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doo4adoo Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 just a note to all to watch for fields with water and rivers. We just came back and while the main interior was good the area in the Matane to RDL was poor. Last night about 10-15 miles east of Mt Joly we came into a field with some sleds stuck in heavy slush. We were able to skip it but with the recent thaw and rain some fileds & rivers are now dangerous. A few miles further my buddy came over a crest to where a river is and in the dark plowed into the edge of ice where the shore line section had broken off. The ange of appraoch and night time riding gave us no warning. Ne was thrown about 20' onto the ice and his front end is done. He is OK and with the help of locals we were able to have our machines trailered to a local hoten for teh night and drove up to our truck in RDL this am for a very resonable fee. I will post more of the trip later in the Gaspe section but jut remember conditions will change quickly in some area with water at this time of the year and we need to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpionbowl Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Day 4: Riviere Renard to Carleton, 355 miles, via 5, 595, LT, 5. Renard to Madeliene was junk, after that, everything was as good as it gets. It's very warm, with a lot of melting, but no issues on this run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldsmoke1 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Day 3: 310 miles. New Richmond to LaCache to Murdochville to Chandler to Perce to Riviere Renard. Carabou is deserted, only 1 other sled in the lot and a couple cars. 595 was good, the chic chocs were groomed at a bad time, so it was near ice. 597 south of Murdochville was pristine, till they switch grooming, then it was junk aouth of the bridge at River St Jean. Many reroutes from 597 to Perce. The Perce trail was junk as usual. 5 north of Perce was junk, including a washout that required some water skipping. Things were much beter near the town of Gaspe till Renard. Moose here: I'm banning Perce from the acceptable gas/food/lodging list until there is a proper trail into town. Its crazy at the most sought after landmark on the peninsula,the town has no trail. You have to run the gravel on the side of the highway, with many hidden driveways and crossings. Its unsafe and not for me. We bought gas and left. With some fuel planning the town can be avoided. And after seeing the rock on/off for nearly 10 years, I can be picky. Too bad its a nice stop. [/quote im banning myself from the hole tip of the gaspe every time its wooped out and very few signs is there a $ prob there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH-Moose Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Day 5: 270 miles. Carlton to Amqui via 587 to St Flavie via 579 Carlton to PLX TQ5 was rough with TQ5 reroutes. But the it was heaven once on the 587 green trail Wide, smooth, perfect, amazing. Did a helmetcam, ran for almost an hour of non stop "cruising". From amqui to St Flavie 579 in falling snow. Blowing, near whiteouts in the fields. Point and shoot between the pairs of stakes because you could't see more than 1-2 pairs at a time. Was not easy riding in low visiibility so we bolted north to Gaspesiana for the night. Water was all frozen up, i think we saw the place where sleds were stuck in a field, there were lots of frozen ruts and footprints all around. No problem today. Cold tonight, with a couple inches already on the ground with a couple more inches forecast tonight should get us back to the trucks in Montmagny, by white trail. The forecast changed from +7c To -2c. Passed a whopping 2 sleds on the trail all day today, and at gas stops we saw a group of 4 and a a group of 3 riders. Coldsmoke, i completely agree, the trails at the tip usually suck compared to the rest. My guess is so few businesses directly benefit its difficult to get the entire community to buy in. Poo at Perce, a few hoteld and the gas station. There is trickle down, but thats hard to put a $ value on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hey! It's great to hear that mother nature is seeing you back in to the trucks! ATV season soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH-Moose Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Like Scorpion-Bowl says, if you plan your trips based on the weather forecasts you'd just stay home and miss all the good chit. The best trips often start out as a crap shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazysnow Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 looks like some more snow in " CAUSAPSCAL " today 2 to 4 inches :yahoo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 looks like some more snow in " CAUSAPSCAL " today 2 to 4 inches :yahoo: hi john !! ha!!ha!!! ya,about 3 '' yesterday !!just back from outside town,windy up the hills !!few drifts on the roads !!! just lucky im a good driver !!!ha!!ha!! -3c and grey sky,fleurries time to time !! jean-guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpionbowl Posted March 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Day 6: 272 miles. Mont Joli to Montmagny. 5 to 35 to 551. 4" new snow to start, up to 8" new around Rimouski, down to 1" new at Montmagny. We were the first on many trails, everything was frozen, saw one sled. Conditions are much better inland, and good enough down to Montmagny, but things were thinning fast. The 551 was perfect just like it always is. Overall, 1815 miles for the 6-day trip. You couldn't ask for anything more, other than more grooming I guess. Before the trip, the forecast was 45+ degrees for today and yesterday, that warmup never came, luckily, and we have another perfect season ender... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Right On glad to hear it guys. Gaspe was good to you Again. Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 All righty! Now we need to get back on the antidepressants 'till next season... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH-Moose Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Rather than pill form, your summer time anti-depressants have 4-wheels and come in VTT and H1 sizes - LOL All righty! Now we need to get back on the antidepressants 'till next season... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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