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Cote Nord and Lab loop


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1 hour ago, revct1 said:

We're following your reports RR.  The fan base is back here cheering you guys on.  Happy trails to you.

Jack & Sandi

Revct, we had a great day,  as many of you guys know,  that run from Forestville to Sept Isle is a mix of everything,  from the old burn in Baie Comeau, to the roller coasters between Comeau and Godbout, then piston alley into Sept Isle. Just a little of everything!  We had a good 295 mile run,  a minor,  but could have been major breakdown. Fixed and into Baie Comeau by 5pm, we were into Port Carter at 2:30, but needed repairs. Funny, pulled into the repair shop, and who is there, but the remaining part of , our crew also in the shop for repairs. Each of us with rear axle bolts broken.

Nice scenery today, a couple of the guys had never been over the big bridge,  they loved that. 

Headed for havre tomorrow, we suspect ..bye bye to those great groomed trails

 

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The rear axle bolt on one of the 154 free rides broke and disappeared, just north of Godbout. If the rear axle had come out, it wood have been a yard sale of parts flying and possibly a spoiled track.  We noticed it, McIvered a hd wire tie wrap thru the rear axle and  tied it off to both rails to keep the axle in. It worked for 50 miles!  We lucked out for sure!20170222_141746.thumb.jpg.ec830e433426b842642340b1ec3154fc.jpg20170222_141756.thumb.jpg.4bf5e978c17237d16c51ea0f5f5dcf54.jpg

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That is just some awesome MacGyvering there guys, tie wraps and steel wire is a must aboard as is Tow ropes and bungles. Funny thing....I met a guy on an Apex broke down in the trail on Saturday with the same issue. Must be a bad batch of steel out of China.

Looking forward to more reporting RR but will there be wifi or cell service in the next couple days before you hit Cartwright or Goose Bay?

Stay safe and have a blast.

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Roadrunner,  I am anxiously following your trip. We've been only as far as Sept illes several times which is far enough for us. Today we were traveling towards baie comeau from godbout and we think we saw two in your group heading east. One of the sleds looked like the lime and blue colored sled in today's pic. Stay safe and have a great trip

       Jeff and Sandy

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56 minutes ago, Northbound said:

Roadrunner,  I am anxiously following your trip. We've been only as far as Sept illes several times which is far enough for us. Today we were traveling towards baie comeau from godbout and we think we saw two in your group heading east. One of the sleds looked like the lime and blue colored sled in today's pic. Stay safe and have a great trip

       Jeff and Sandy

Northbound, we fueled and left Baie Comeau about 10:30 and were near Godbout around 12 :15. You should have met 5 of us, but we may have been spread out a bit? This is what some of the sleds looked like.

 

TB, we are hoping for decent wifi along the way, met some guts tonight who got hauled out of the Cote Nord on a car carrier today, said the trail was very rough. We are hoping that their rough and our rough are two different things!!

Hope to  have wifi to report more tomorrow

RR

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Today Cloudy. Snow beginning early this morning. Risk of freezing rain this afternoon. Snowfall amount 5 to 10 cm. Wind becoming east 20 km/h late this morning. High minus 1.
Tonight

Snow ending this evening then mainly cloudy. Wind becoming northwest 20 km/h near midnight. Low minus 3.

 

Well at least it's not -30 and wind and snow, but the visibility will be compromised some today. We would rather have that clear blue sky to run what is probably the least traveled, marked or maintained  trail of the entire FCMQ trail system. Breakfast at 6:30 and than we will head east.

RR

 

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Thanks for the updates & pics RR. I think in our minds we're all along for the ride.

I remember Rob making a similar trip maybe 10 - 15 years ago. What did that group use for sleds? It appears all the sleds on this trip are very well suited for this type of adventure.

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4 hours ago, 182ray said:

Thanks for the updates & pics RR. I think in our minds we're all along for the ride.

I remember Rob making a similar trip maybe 10 - 15 years ago. What did that group use for sleds? It appears all the sleds on this trip are very well suited for this type of adventure.

182 Ray, At dinner last night,  I asked the group of 8 , how many have done this run to Blanc Sablon, we all chuckled when we discovered, none of us had,  and it was Robs only time on that trip in 2006ish, and that was his only time out thru. It's not very often we put a trip together that most of us have not find lol. Rob lead the group today:good:

 Trip report coming next

RR

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4 hours ago, markusvt said:

I am thinking 25 miles out of Sept Isle and 25 miles outside of Have St Pierre will all be very good.  In between will be a mix of groomed, bumpy and untracked.  Internet and phone on this leg for you is mostly good, after that.............

Markus

We got an early start,  on the sleds around 7, we were off on our journey!

We wanted to get ahead start on the weather system coming in, You hit the report perfectly,  the first 25 miles were great to the Mosey River, then the next 45 miles,  would make you ask your self  I am doing this because I want to right? This section had the machine thru without a drag,  a long time ago. But not marked particularly well,  rough,  but rideable,  helps greatly to have a gps.

This section,  would be ugly, after or during a snow storm, we lucked out today with decent visibility and some sleds have been thru. Than after 45 miles, and crossing river Tortue, bang, there was a fairly fresh groomed trail!  Wow, should have checked fcmq and the groomer surfacing report, we would not have been so shocked,  from there on in we rolled it out fast, checking into to Hotel du Havre around 2 PM and 170 miles on.  A great first day on out journey,  prepared to rough ride it in, but very happy, the last 100 miles were great! 

On to Chevery tomorrow! 

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Looking good RR and Company.  Havre St Pierre is the furthest east we've ever been.  That was many years ago when we were a little more adventurous.  I remember that middle section had little branches stuck in the snow with a piece of red ribbon tied to the branch to mark the trail.  It took us a while before we even realized what the ribbons signified.

Keep on riding.

Jack & Sandi

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We had a small delay today with the sleigh, the Sleigh manufactured by Jean guy... Sleigh Masters Inc.. had a tie down bracket failure. The sleigh is owned by Robs, Team Maine. Fortunately,  we had the warranty,  service rep with us from Jean Guy Sleigh Masters for the repair. The ultimate issue is who pays.  Team Maine claims defective material!, Jean guy Sleigh Masters claims product abuse!  We see a warranty claim dispute on the horizon!! :unknw:

Having a great time with a great bunch of guys! 

RR

 

 

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Nice run, dam bummer that that warm temps hit them pretty good too.  We ate at Julies, I would not be surprised if we were the last american snowmobilers that ate there, and that was 2 seasons ago.

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RR Looks like all is good so far.  I'm watching wishing I were there.  Did you guys hit some low snow areas or was it just wind blown?? Keep up the great reports as communications allow.  Hope the weather stays on your side.  Last week in the Gaspe was the warmest February riding I can remember.  Usually more like -20 than +20. Enjoy and be safe.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, dmccrea@twcny.rr.com said:

RR Looks like all is good so far.  I'm watching wishing I were there.  Did you guys hit some low snow areas or was it just wind blown?? Keep up the great reports as communications allow.  Hope the weather stays on your side.  Last week in the Gaspe was the warmest February riding I can remember.  Usually more like -20 than +20. Enjoy and be safe.

 

 

DM, great to hear from you,  yes, those areas that look like low snow coverage , are actually in a burn area, they are wind blown and boney, once you get down out of them,  there is plenty of snow. I figured you were following along, Will keep posted as we can. 

From what it sounds like, if you want to experience the Cote Nord East and don't want to wrestle with the 45 miles of marginal trail, east of the Mosie, some people trailer to Havre, and head east from here.  An option, unless your a die hard rider, like many on this site, than you pound out the 45 miles of rough stuff to get to the good stuff lol

it sounds like the further east we go, the more the trail gets used by some visitors and lots of  locals, we will find that out and report in:good:

RR

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We hit a really bad section of trail last week in the Gaspe. Lower section of the 597 in the interior.  There's a big canyon in the lower portion from the time we started down they were three feet high three feet apart the whole way.  When we got almost to the top on the other side there was a drag frozen in the middle of the trail.  Might be where the Perce groomer burned up not sure but that section definitely hadn't seen a groomer in a very long time. What we refer to as vintage tug hill.  Enjoy

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12 hours ago, revct1 said:

RoadRunner - Does everybody carry something a little bit different for tools, parts, MacGyver items to cover repairs, breakdowns, unforeseen axle bolts breaking?

Jack & Sandi

Yes Jack, we broke down a list of things we wanted, and rather than have 4 of everything and the accompanying weight we broke that list out among us. We took pics of what we were carrying and started the packing process. Here is a sample pick of some assorted small hardware that is in a small pouch on my sled.

The planning process is part of the fun. Couple that with an extensive back up of parts or the ability to locate parts in Lab city that Rob has with his Team Maine connections there, Robs wife, Tina is usually near her phone and has all our Spot/inreach devices addresses,  so she can relay messages and report locations back to us if we get separated, or find the parts and arrange transport if needed. Rob and Tina from Team Maine are big assets for a trip like this!

Currently , we have the 1200 expedition with some sort of a fuel system issues, it is running, but very iradic at low and mid range. No engine alerts so not an apparent problem that we could find on the buds system. We hope this will work its way out this am and not become an issue. We will see!

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Off to Chevery this am

RR

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