towing Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 We are just back from our sled week therapy in Gaspesia: sled/eat/sleep...&repeat 😄 I don't have the time to put together a big report but this will be a pretty good summary of how it goes: This 6-day/1000 miles ride in known territory for us (5th time) went well and even if it was a bit cold/windy, we had no snow storms or mechanical breakdowns, which gave us a very nice easy trip However the current context have changed the planning requirements from the past years: I have never seen so many snowmobilers in Gaspesia and the accommodation offer is probably a little less than usual... anyway all the places where we stayed were already booked full when we arrived. We booked our overnight stays 2 or 3 days in advance and the only shot we delayed at the night before for New Richmond, the 2 hotels there were already full and we had to extend our trip to Carleton sur Mer where we booked the last room. So you really have to book sooner this year Day#1 Mont-Joli/Cap-Chat passing by St-Pierre mountain total 176 miles. Here's the St-Pierre mountain belvedere under a very cloudy sky We had a lunch in Amqui and slept at the Auberge Grande Nature in Cap-Chat, just at the foot of the Chic-Chocs. Day#2 Cap-Chat/Grande Vallée via trail#5 total 148 miles It was a cold and very windy day. There has been a lot of logging between Cap-Chat and La Martre since our last visit in 2018, so the wind is even stronger on the trails. The cold has overcome my gopro (external power wire broken) and unfortunately I could hardly shoot while riding during the trip. I was deceived because I was hoping to capture the very panoramic segment of Rivière à Claude/Mont St-Pierre/Mt-Louis, but that will be for another time... We tried to have a lunch at the Mont St-Pierre motel restaurant which was the only one open but it was full with people waiting standing for a table so we continued and found a woody spot sheltered from the wind for a side trail snack break instead. A couple of hours later, we were able to take a real break in an heated place at the marvelous relay of the Snowmobile Club rapide blanc. Large and well equipped with even a toilet for the lady who greatly appreciated this luxury! We stayed at the Marée Haute motel in Grande Vallée. Even the motel looks basic the food was a notch over the bunch at that place Day#3 Grande Vallée/Percé by #597 trail Murdochville total 200miles So we retraced our steps on #5 trail to get the #597 and go down to Murdochville We had this surprised encounter there! They took the wrong entrance when they left the gas station after filling up and got stuck there solid...hope no one had need an ambulance in the next hour! It was too early to lunch there so we picked up some food at the convenience store and went to eat at the junction #597/local trail that join #5 trail to the east. Very nice fast ride pleasant to do We had some visitors for lunch: Several small black-capped chickadees came to beg us for lunch It was the first time those ones came to eat in our hands. We are well used to the gray jays and there were also some there who did not hesitate to claim their food too We went down to the #5 trail and then to Barachois to refuel and admire the rear view of the perce rock which is less common to see and I like much We then took back #5 trail, crossed the small detour near the emerald river (not so bad) and continued to take the local trail for Percé... the trail of the shame as some call it: 12 miles of big bump to do twice is the penalty to be able to admire the rock! Being already there we reach on the mountain behind, I like well the different views of the rock, including this one We stayed at Camp de base in Percé. We had to follow a non-federated trail to get there but it was pretty easy with the instruction given and imotoneige and the stay there was nice in this historic and unusual place Day#4 Percé/Carleton sur Mer via trail #5 total 178 miles We took #5 trail which we held the whole day. As I mentioned a lot of sledders in the Gaspesia right now so the trails wear out faster and we encounter good and less good trail conditions and this time our morning unfortunately was quite rough. Here the Grande Rivière bridge Here the Chandler snowmobile tourist information relay We slept at the Baie-Bleu hotel in Carleton sur Mer Day#5 Carleton sur Mer/Cap-Chat via trail #595 total 181 miles We retraced our steps on #5 trail and took trail #595 to the north. This time we got top notch conditions, trail just groomed during the night. The "moment" of the trip followed with a brief round trip exploration on Mount Lyall located on the Chics-Chocs trail, 6 miles from #595. We have been there several times but never seen the place like this: mommies as far as the eye can see! Going back down to the #5trail we saw some impressive snowdrift We then stopped to refuel at La Cache which was pretty crowed. We waited for the gas but no way I would wait for a lunch there. We just continued on #595 and stopped in a not too windy spot for an outdoor snack... we begin to be used to this! We then went back down to #5 trail. Kristine was anxious to encounter the famous moose that we saw on video beating up a sledder but we had not seen it. We then turned right towards Cap-Chat again but this time to stay at the Motel Nanook Day #6 Cap-Chat/Mont-Joli via trail #5+locals total 162 miles We left on trail #5 trail to return to Mont-Joli. Here the footbridge of Cap-Chat that many will recognize... We did a short round trip on the local trail to Les Méchins to shape up the ride a bit and then came back west on #5 trail. We stopped for lunch and a last fuel-up in Matane and then continued on #5. It was another very windy day and the wind there is really strong! We arrived early near Mont-Joli and we went around the town a bit via local trails to shape up the ride a little more again. Just before arriving we passed this dozer We finally got back to our starting point around 3:45 pm with a total of 1046 easy miles for the 6 days. Also, we slept twice in Mont-Joli. Before our first sledding day and on the last day at mon Joli motel and the Quality Inn hotel. I would like to point out that Mon Joli Motel offers a free parking for the week and breakdown service in the event of a problem on the ride. You leave them your truck keys and in the event of a problem they can come and pick you up with your own vehicle, which can be extremely nice in the event of a problem along the trip and it brings appreciable peace of mind even you don't need it. This concludes my 2022 Gaspesia trip report Florida Snowman, MrsGTRider, P Hardy and 21 others 18 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 (edited) http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/emoticons/default_yahoo.gif http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/emoticons/default_hi.gif http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/emoticons/default_good.gif (Sorry the emojis are only links?!) Way to go! Thanks for sharing! Edited March 7, 2022 by PLAYHARD MrGutz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smclelan Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Great trip Alain and Kirki, pictures as always excellent. Hoping to do a Gaspesie loop starting the 16th, perhaps I should book some rooms in advance. PLAYHARD and towing 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Hardy Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Great ride and great pictures! Thanks for posting! towing and PLAYHARD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusand Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Fantastic report as usual Alain!! towing and PLAYHARD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signfan Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Headed there right now. Should be in Matane tonight. Hopefully the groomers keep up with the traffic. Where do I find the video on this moose? As nice as they are to see I hope we don't find her on our travels. towing and PLAYHARD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerider Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Beautiful pictures of your trip Alain. You capture of best of your trips on film. Club Rapide Blanc looks pretty comfortable. Perfect place for an afternoon nap. mike PLAYHARD and towing 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doobraap Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 We encountered the moose last Thursday 25-30 miles north of La Cache and she would just NOT move off trail. 2 hours later the groomer came by and that was still not enough for her to just move off trail.. She ended up running next to the groomer and passed by all the sleds. No doubt it we pushed her on sleds she would have charged. Scary to see one coming at you!!! Snohorse, towing and PLAYHARD 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smclelan Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 We came upon a large cow moose a few years back that would not leave the trail. Some sleds came up on her fast from the other direction and she ended up running past and between our sleds. A big animal when right beside you! towing and PLAYHARD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towing Posted March 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 (edited) On 3/6/2022 at 10:39 PM, PLAYHARD said: http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/emoticons/default_yahoo.gif http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/emoticons/default_hi.gif http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/emoticons/default_good.gif (Sorry the emojis are only links?!) Way to go! Thanks for sharing! You are welcome PLAYHARD! You did and handsome job on your ride "live reporting" I raise my hat to you 👌 On 3/6/2022 at 11:01 PM, smclelan said: Great trip Alain and Kirki, pictures as always excellent. Hoping to do a Gaspesie loop starting the 16th, perhaps I should book some rooms in advance. Thanks smclelan! Before the covid we were booking only for the busy days(friday, saturday) or for place with very limited options, often just the night before without problem because we are only 3 peoples needing only one room with 2 beds it was easy to find. What we experience there on this trip was disturbing for us, I hate to reserve multiple days in advance because we never know on a snowmobile trip how it will go and it remove us the liberty of easily change the plans but it was really necessary. I would think that we were pretty much in the peak but starting the 16th with the actual conditions I think you should still preview near 2 days before at least. Talking with a small group that we cross few times during the trip I asked them If they had booking problems and they told me they had booked all in november!!! On 3/6/2022 at 11:29 PM, P Hardy said: Great ride and great pictures! Thanks for posting! You are welcome P Hardy! 23 hours ago, zeusand said: Fantastic report as usual Alain!! thanks! I would like to be able to do trip like that more usually!!! 19 hours ago, Signfan said: Headed there right now. Should be in Matane tonight. Hopefully the groomers keep up with the traffic. Where do I find the video on this moose? As nice as they are to see I hope we don't find her on our travels. Wish you the best trip possible, at least it's not the snow that is missing! I left you a link of the famous video, in fact I don't know if it is really there that it happened but it is what we have benn told... don't try to pet it and It should be fine! https://fb.watch/bCsuYO3ILw/ 18 hours ago, mikerider said: Beautiful pictures of your trip Alain. You capture of best of your trips on film. Club Rapide Blanc looks pretty comfortable. Perfect place for an afternoon nap. mike Thanks mike! Club rapide Blanc was well appreciated, very nice spot if you passing by 18 hours ago, doobraap said: We encountered the moose last Thursday 25-30 miles north of La Cache and she would just NOT move off trail. 2 hours later the groomer came by and that was still not enough for her to just move off trail.. She ended up running next to the groomer and passed by all the sleds. No doubt it we pushed her on sleds she would have charged. Scary to see one coming at you!!! I was not too worried about an encounter but my best half was! Many sledders had to wait for passing it for hours the day before and the same day we were there in the same spot you mentioned but luckily it was not there when we passed Edited March 8, 2022 by towing PLAYHARD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted March 8, 2022 Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 20 hours ago, towing said: I left you a link of the famous video, in fact I don't know if it is really there that it happened but it is what we have benn told... don't try to pet it and It should be fine! https://fb.watch/bCsuYO3ILw/ I guess I missed the detail in previous posts? I'm sorry to say this but: I hope it was the dumbass sledder, not Bullwinkle, that wound up with the broken leg? Was it a notorious Gutz post explaining that when they put their head down and pull their ears back, it means they want you to rub their belly? jak, towing and MrGutz 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGutz Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 1 hour ago, PLAYHARD said: I guess I missed the detail in previous posts? I'm sorry to say this but: I hope it was the dumbass sledder, not Bullwinkle, that wound up with the broken leg? Was it a notorious Gutz post explaining that when they put their head down and pull their ears back, it means they want you to rub their belly? Exactly!! Or was it dont pet them.... well its a fifty\fifty thing .... whats the worst that could happen.... LOL GutZ PLAYHARD and towing 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signfan Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 She was still at it today. We were about 45 mins sitting waiting. A group came from the other direction and pushed her past us. Not a fun situation. She was about a 1/4 mile south of the northern most warm up shack on the 595 trail. We met one group that turned around over her. Lots of others coming through. This is not a good situation. Must be something wrong with her to not be timid at all. We should have avoided that trail. PLAYHARD and towing 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towing Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, Signfan said: She was still at it today. We were about 45 mins sitting waiting. A group came from the other direction and pushed her past us. Not a fun situation. She was about a 1/4 mile south of the northern most warm up shack on the 595 trail. We met one group that turned around over her. Lots of others coming through. This is not a good situation. Must be something wrong with her to not be timid at all. We should have avoided that trail. You got the scenario that may put you in trouble when she get squeezed between 2 sleds groups, exactly like in the video. With the actual snow cover there she want a break and use the trail, yes her health may be part of the problem too but some wildlife officers already seen her and took no actions. There have been many similar encounter in other area of the Quebec reported in the last week...hard winter for them. It's part of nature and it is us that are the guest in their yard PLAYHARD and jak 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signfan Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 PLAYHARD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 7 hours ago, Signfan said: Must be something wrong with her to not be timid at all. We should have avoided that trail. That's what some folks say about Mrs. Playhard. jak, towing, P Hardy and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusand Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 On 3/7/2022 at 9:31 PM, towing said: You are welcome PLAYHARD! You did and handsome job on your ride "live reporting" I raise my hat to you 👌 Thanks smclelan! Before the covid we were booking only for the busy days(friday, saturday) or for place with very limited options, often just the night before without problem because we are only 3 peoples needing only one room with 2 beds it was easy to find. What we experience there on this trip was disturbing for us, I hate to reserve multiple days in advance because we never know on a snowmobile trip how it will go and it remove us the liberty of easily change the plans but it was really necessary. I would think that we were pretty much in the peak but starting the 16th with the actual conditions I think you should still preview near 2 days before at least. Talking with a small group that we cross few times during the trip I asked them If they had booking problems and they told me they had booked all in november!!! You are welcome P Hardy! thanks! I would like to be able to do trip like that more usually!!! Wish you the best trip possible, at least it's not the snow that is missing! I left you a link of the famous video, in fact I don't know if it is really there that it happened but it is what we have benn told... don't try to pet it and It should be fine! https://fb.watch/bCsuYO3ILw/ Thanks mike! Club rapide Blanc was well appreciated, very nice spot if you passing by I was not too worried about an encounter but my best half was! Many sledders had to wait for passing it for hours the day before and the same day we were there in the same spot you mentioned but luckily it was not there when we passed Wow, thanks for posting the video Alain... I remember years ago a buddy of mine tried doing that with the snowmobile to make the Moose move and it didn't even flinch, he backed up quick. towing and PLAYHARD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doobraap Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 I had heard from the groomer driver they think she was looking for her babies who may have died. It is really strange for her not to just dip off the trail for a minute like most other moose encountered. PLAYHARD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snobeeler Posted March 10, 2022 Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 (edited) On 3/8/2022 at 10:53 PM, Signfan said: She was still at it today. We were about 45 mins sitting waiting. A group came from the other direction and pushed her past us. Not a fun situation. She was about a 1/4 mile south of the northern most warm up shack on the 595 trail. We met one group that turned around over her. Lots of others coming through. This is not a good situation. Must be something wrong with her to not be timid at all. We should have avoided that trail. Just saw this we were there also we were the group of five heading north. Edited March 10, 2022 by Snobeeler PLAYHARD and towing 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smclelan Posted March 11, 2022 Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Once you have seen a large moose go off the trail and go right up to their neck in snow you can understand why they don't want to leave the hard packed surface. P Hardy, jak, Snobeeler and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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