Jump to content

5 day Gaspe ride, commencing March 17th


NH-Moose
 Share

Recommended Posts

Brad, Mark and I arrived at RDL Saturday afternoon to begin a 5 day ride. Universal is hopping as always. Interestingly there was a security guard hanging out in the lobby, and a couple orange vest guys in the parking area, had not seen either in past years. Dinner buffet was good, quick and easy.

So far the planned route is:
Ride out of RDL Sunday the17th to Matane Riotel.

Carlton, Baie Bleue.
Perce, Table Roland (or zip up an extra 80 miles to Caribou?).

St Anne, Brunante.   via Murdochville and through Mt St Pierre.

Matane, Riotel. With a dip down and back on the 595 to La Cache, a favorite valley trail for sure
Finish back at RDL

 

We may skip the Chic Chocs trail, but will pass through and stay at many of the usual favorites.
Stay tuned

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, scorpionbowl said:

Security must have known who was coming, lol. Good luck. We are playing mechanics today after learning no torx wrenches in the bag, at least hardware stores are open when dealers aren't. 

Torx, what an idea, fasteners that most do not have a tool for, and now there are 3 different torx screws, must be tool manufacturers need a new piece of hardware so they could sell more tools. I thought the traditional nuts and bolts were working just fine, not to mention how hard these are to get out when they corrode and strip, great idea!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lower elevation conditions are definitely thin around RDL and Matane. for example the field before the RDL clubhouse has a go-around since a 100+ yard stretch is all gravel. Or Matane in town the roads have no snow on them. I didnt use scrathers but had thought about it in a few places today. 

i think the recent weather really packed the trails, there really is no loose snow to groom. Thta would explain the lack of grooming activity on Via or iMoto.  On the good side, we saw no whoops all all day, trails were quite nice, not rutted or bumpy, and very little traffic

If you have the option to take a route with elevation, or inland it would be a better option.

Tomorrow we head to the South shore, to Carlton. Interested to witness conditions which will determine if we need to recalculate and just head for the mountains, or cntinue to Perce the next day. If its thin in Carlton, its probably worse further out on 5

Not many pics today, was overcast all day.  Here are a few from Riotel, only 2 other groups of 2-3  Seds here tonight. Not fun getting here on the bare roads, but the wheels make it very tolerable!

 

125104AE-7DE4-42F4-9BB6-E11ED7285621.jpeg

62726B18-B5EF-46A7-80F8-6D40A5EBC058.jpeg

1E2A1B43-6BDB-44C9-81C2-3D52702612A6.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, NH-Moose said:

Lower elevation conditions are definitely thin around RDL and Matane. for example the field before the RDL clubhouse has a go-around since a 100+ yard stretch is all gravel. Or Matane in town the roads have no snow on them. I didnt use scrathers but had thought about it in a few places today. 

i think the recent weather really packed the trails, there really is no loose snow to groom. Thta would explain the lack of grooming activity on Via or iMoto.  On the good side, we saw no whoops all all day, trails were quite nice, not rutted or bumpy, and very little traffic

If you have the option to take a route with elevation, or inland it would be a better option.

Tomorrow we head to the South shore, to Carlton. Interested to witness conditions which will determine if we need to recalculate and just head for the mountains, or cntinue to Perce the next day. If its thin in Carlton, its probably worse further out on 5

Not many pics today, was overcast all day.  Here are a few from Riotel, only 2 other groups of 2-3  Seds here tonight. Not fun getting here on the bare roads, but the wheels make it very tolerable!

 

125104AE-7DE4-42F4-9BB6-E11ED7285621.jpeg

62726B18-B5EF-46A7-80F8-6D40A5EBC058.jpeg

1E2A1B43-6BDB-44C9-81C2-3D52702612A6.jpeg

 

CA658A70-8382-4B7F-9F58-E303D57A4262.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, NH-Moose said:

JG, we are at the club house for lunch. I left a snack for you, Florette put it in the refrigerator 👍

Trails are great around here, much more snow than the coast.

We hope your cough goes away quickly.

Moose

bonjour nh-moose !!!

 

many thx !!! 

grippe is worse than when i left yesterday for grooming...not my greatest monday !!!...and i ve been careful not to open window of the groomer !!!

just up from a nap ...

if not bad lucky with weather we should be able to make it to first week of april !!!

merci !!!

 

jean-guy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JG, maybe pair the smoked cheese with Rouge 🍷

 

Matane to Calton. Trails are very firm, not much fluff.  Planned to go down the 591 off 5, but there was a running water crossing, not bad, others had passed, but we didnt feel like having wet feet all day, so we went back to St Luke and took the local trail south. was twisty, but dry. Moose no likey water when snowmobiling :<)

Best conditions were around Amqui and Matepedia where there was some loose and fluff on top. Coastal areas are really hard packed, not much fun as they are rutted after a re-freeze. Not bumpy, just nuisance rutted which throws the front end all around.  

Took the 587 south of Albertville, should have taken 5.  587 is rutted and refrozen, and there seems to be a lot of twisty reroutes compared to past years. Some nice stegches though.

Baie Bleue is a great stop. Did not venture out to the beach, maybe next time.

 

For tomorrow, we decided to skip the South Shore to Perce and head for elevation through La Cache, then Chic Chocs to Murdochville. From there we will decide whether to go to Caribou, or stay in Murdochville and add some local bonus miles. Depends on the how quick we get through the Chic Chocs and conditions.

 

Looks like 6-8” snow coming Friday. Too late to help with this trip, but it is needed big time to give the groomers something to work with.

 

Lots of dirt roads starting to become muddy, its going to go away fast.

 

5E8CDB6F-30E9-4CB8-A53A-8018832B6FDD.jpeg

37929A51-7896-4959-9E0F-DE22E97809D5.jpeg

1A294C4F-1A8B-40A3-B91B-7937495C39E5.jpeg

D4A72592-8683-4961-B066-69C2E966140F.jpeg

0E24C14E-E0E6-4741-B4F0-E2B5BDE467EE.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Left Baie Bleue, 595 toward LaCache was a rip, beautiful trail. Had plenty of gas so we didn't stop at La Cache. Was overcast when entering the Chics, but sun peeked out for us on the east end. Glad we didn’t miss that trail. Into Murdochville for gas, soup and ailes. The plan was Caribou, but after talking with the guys from Oneida, it looks like the 8” of snow we were supposed to get friday is now ½” of rain. Their plan was to bolt back to Montmagny early and head home.

We recalculated and came to the same conclusion, better to be in the truck driving than riding. So we ended up tonight in Mont St. Anne a day ahead of schedule.

 

Chic Chocs were fluffy, tons of snow at the highest elevations. Mont St Pierre and north shore are really nice conditions, with only a few bare spots starting to show on some hills. Much better than the south shore.

 

Maybe Amqui tomorrow, hopefully have time to ride 5 down and back on JG’s awesome ribbon of white 

 

 

A35B04F6-2028-4E07-A05B-0749CE498768.jpeg

1A008833-26F7-4FA4-89BA-EAE1FD6BFF68.jpeg

93FC5B13-72C3-44B7-8A8C-8A3855E0AAC3.jpeg

05377F50-B286-45D3-AE61-76E2AEF34A44.jpeg

7172E0EC-5223-44E8-8135-2C3021CF9282.jpeg

13124B2F-7F93-4E02-8B94-2605E4FBF9B6.jpeg

7F4172B3-BF55-4617-8CA3-D7CD881CC70F.jpeg

FE7ADC87-07DD-41A4-BC89-B982360FC37E.jpeg

93261A1E-8BE9-4CC7-B03B-5A5CD082CB1C.jpeg

AA6FBB83-2014-43CF-A4D9-BF8D22E0B185.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From St Anne De Monts, trails were flat and fast. Good snow cover and the groomers were out. The 900 Ace was happily maintaining 7900RPM so the miles clicked fast towards Matane.  Not much traffic out today except near Matane, and luckily it all came at once. We happened to be stopped in a farmers field, and while we were there several groups of sleds passed, probably 25-30 overall, some looked like tour groups of 5-8. We could see them coming from a mile away so we just waited till they passed.

The entrance to the 591 south that had running water a few days earlier, was now frozen solid so we too that to Amqui. Drifty and a little lumpy, but not bad. At a trail junction, I PM’d Groomer from the trail to say we would be heading to the clubhouse one more time.  He replied and said he would join us, so ripped the 5 to Alberville, wow was that a fast stretch, awesome!

Groomer joined us for coffee and conversation, was great to catch up in person and sharing stories. The place filled up, lots of locals riding in for a beer.

JG said the mummies were naked, so we had to go check that out!  Sure enough, the warm temperatures melted most of the snow off the mummies.  We climbed the tower for pictures, what a view.

Some year we need to get back to the golf ball near the ski area.

 

Finished the day with a rip to Gaspesiana in St Flavie.  While unloading sleds who pulls in but Lance and Doug from Oneita who we’ve been leap frogging with for days. Our 2 groups are the only sleds here tonight.

A walk out on the dock for sunset pics was beautiful. Seagulls, icebergs, and rolling waves.

 

Lots of bare black dirt patches in the farmers and road crossings field between here and 5, easily passable today but just days from being impassable with the warm weather coming. Supper was great, definitely a great place to stay and eat.

 

Next Lance and Don are off to Montmagny, and we are off to RDL to drive out before the rain. Supposed to be 41F

F1C4E02C-E8E6-4F47-84E9-1C5E43F3A5AF.jpeg

ED28EDF6-4C4E-46FE-9463-2A5A49AD5A4E.jpeg

85CC2295-9AA2-47B8-B79D-452C960DD342.jpeg

A55DD6A3-D405-41DA-8C46-6B3420F384AB.jpeg

E3BC1F38-C693-4E26-A36E-97DA15954374.jpeg

55A06FAA-A82E-48C4-A186-AA836F92EF4E.jpeg

3C51A9F0-5903-47C9-A601-7F8362920D23.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Left Gaspesiana, the trail in/out is OK for now, with just the tips of the farm field hills as bare dirt, maybe 10-20 feet long.

We took 578 West, and then in trying to cut inland I made the mistake of taking the 579.  All good for a while, then a detour and plowed road for several miles into Domian Valga. Oh well, at least we're riding ;<)   From Valga South to 5 was nice fluffy trail.

We heard of issues on 5 and its closer to the coast, and there is a logging note on iMotoneige so we took the 35 to St Loius Du Ha Ha (same way we rode out on) to stay in elevation.  All good there and up 85 to RDL. The gravel parking pan Universal is nearly 100% snow free, and much is thawing so its getting muddy. Had to move the rigs to a snow covered corner to load. 
Shorter ride than expected, but spring time flexibility kept us dry ;<)


We arrived home Thursday night, all dry driving except the last hour. 

Its definitely spring riding conditions most anywhere on the coast.  If you're planning to go Gaspe, get it done, and plan to focus on the interior and not try to loop the perimeter unless it gets/stays cold and 10" new snow comes. Grooming is still happening around the perimeter, but the trails are solid, not much to work with. Mashed potatoes in the warm days makes for Popeye arms to steer, and re-freeze at night.
Inland still has nice snow, and the Chic Chocs are still awesome. Shoot for elevation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...