Gaspésie - Voyage Motoneige de Toute Une Vie – Chapter THREE (III)

[SlowTouringGuy]

Previous Episodes:

 

http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14460-gaspésie-voyage-motoneige-de-toute-une-vie-–-prologue/

 

http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14482-gaspésie-voyage-motoneige-de-toute-une-vie-–-chapter-one-i/

 

http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14500-gaspésie-voyage-motoneige-de-toute-une-vie-–-chapter-two-ii/

 

 

 

Chapitre Trois/Jour Trois/le Troisième episode

 

 

First, today’s lesson:

 

“Quelle heure est-elle”?     =     Whose Babe is That ??

“Père”     =     What you need in your hand to open the betting.

 

 

Packing up, loading sleds, and preparing to go was a struggle after that enormous breakfast.  While others skirmished with reluctant zippers I packed my waffle laden backside into my snowmobile suit and vowed never to eat again until, at least, noon. 

 

Sufficiently loaded, so to speak, we launched ourselves once more on TQ5 Est from Grande-Vallée, past Petite-Vallée, with a gas stop in Rivière-au-Renard and another down a delightful stub trail to a wind-swept village on the water by the name of Barachois.  Mid-day, we also took another great local trail into the city of Gaspé proper, right at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula. Lunch at the Adams was offered in a large, well-populated, bright bustling room in contrast to the more relaxed smaller places at which we had been dining.  But the food was very good and, despite the crowd, we were efficiency processed.  No waiting around for SJ’s Lasagna !

 

The surprise of the day and the worst trail we saw the entire trip was the last 10km into our destination, the village of Percé.  Some ‘dispute’ or ‘misunderstanding’ or ‘outstanding agreements not yet met’ have stopped the local snowmobile club from grooming that last section of trail.  In fact, one person said that grooming had not stopped – it had never begun.  As with most stories, there is more than one side, usually two, and often three.  We’ll never know but to arrive in Percé, home of the iconic Percé Rock is worth many more rough km’s than simply 10.   Our home for the night was the Motel La Cote Surprise.  A delightful place to overnight with unique bi-level rooms, a well-stocked bar, a restaurant to die for and every room faced The Rock.  Just when I thought I couldn’t eat any more, the chef at the Cote Surprise proved me wrong. 

 

http://www.hotelcotesurprise.com/

 

Samuel de Champlain visited the area in 1603 (or 1607) and named the rock Isle Percée, Pierced Island; (or Rocher Percé, pierced rock).  Perhaps his penmanship in the Guest Book left room for two versions of the story.    Our sledding for the day was approximately 245 km. 

 

There's some snow around here, eh ??

 

 

 

 

 

Through the glass from our Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Balcony 0ff the Restaurant/Bar/Lounge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Parking Lot

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason I have very few trail pictures from this day’s ride.  Hopefully, SledJunk or irREVerent or ??  will step in with lots of shots. 

 

Thanks for joining us – tune in again soon, sometime, when the spirit moves me, to catch the next episode ….  In the meantime:

 

“Hors de Combat”     =     Our Escorts are Arguing

“Baignoire”     =     A Middle-aged coloured lady. 

 

à la prochaine ………………………………

 

 

 

 

[Old Sledder]

Another great chapter in the trip, thanks for sharing!

[snowchopper]

Great pictures! Gotta add this trip to the bucket list!!!!

[Techdenis007]

Nice pics, thanks !  

 

I noticed there wasn't anyone out ice fishing .....  ? lol !!!

[slomo]

Better and better! Thanks for the time and effort posting - very enjoyable.

[whits-end]

Did you stay here in 2011?  Do you know if the ownership or management has changed?

 

Thanks

whit

[catinental couch]

Great STG. Thanks for the scenery.

[irREVerent]

Did you stay here in 2011?  Do you know if the ownership or management has changed?

 

Thanks

whit

Whits-end -- yes, we did stay here in 2011 as well, but not sure if owner/manager has changed in the meantime.  IMO, our experience (language courtesy, cleanliness, comfort, service, quality of cuisine) was equally excellent both times.

 

irREV

[whits-end]

Thanks for the info irREV.

[PaulsFST]

As usual STG, your trail and trip reports never disappoint!

 

Merci,

 

Paul.

[SlowTouringGuy]

For some reason I have very few trail pictures from this day’s ride.  Hopefully, SledJunk or irREVerent or ??  will step in with lots of shots. 

 

 

 

I do remember, however, that this was the day we met two groomers.  The first one we met was on a narrow trail at a good elevation - the groomer was climbing and we were descending.  The operator took a good deal of time "working" the snow on the inside (thank goodness not the cliff side) of the trail with his blade.  He would back up then come forward again with his blade flattening the snowbank.  After several passes, one by one we slowly crawled past the groomer on quite an angle while one of our party stood between the moving sled and the groomer to prevent sled and rider tipping off the bank into the groomer.    Lots of high fives and much thanks to the operator to get 11 sleds through that tricky situation. 

The other groomer passing was much less sensational - although it was interesting to see the operator's dog sitting on his lap.  

 

Otherwise, lots of Vite on smooth and lots of ocean views !

[Canuck]

 - although it was interesting to see the operator's dog sitting on his lap.  

 

 

 

Feeling sheepish?

 

 

_

 

What an awesome report, STG.  Thanks for enlightening us with details of the "road trip".

[Reved]

Wow! 4 great threads that I final had a chance to read. One of these days we'll  make it out there. Looking forward to using the new french phrases on the locals. Thanks STG, irREVerent, slomo and Sledjunk for posting all those great shots.

[white dragon]

great pics,thx for sharing

[SlowTouringGuy]

FOUND THE MISSING PIX !!!   "Someone" had dated and sorted them under the incorrect date.   SHEESH !!    

 

[sledjunk]

Beautiful!

[Ultrafrozen]

Pretty inspiring!  I might have to head out this weekend and count some hydro poles.

[irREVerent]

Thanks, STG...nice job on your report and pics, as usual.  Glad you found and added some more pics, as well as the anecdote about meeting the two groomers.  I'm still in awe of how much trouble that first groomer operator went to on that narrow hill, to allow us to get safely by, one-by-one.  When he was done widening the trail for us, I was so glad that he shut the groomer down and stepped out of the cab onto the track to watch us each go past...it was a pleasure to momentarily stop, shake his hand and offer an emphatic "Merci beaucoup!" 

 

The other anecdote from that day that I recall was our difficulty trying to locate trail-accessible gas after our lunch stop in the town of Gaspe.  In retrospect, of course, we should have stopped at that gas station at the highway crossing on the south edge of Gaspe as we continued south...but we didn't.  Once mid-afternoon rolled around and we still hadn't seen any signs, we started to get somewhat concerned...especially given that our previous gas stop had been mid-morning in Riviere-au-Renard (about 140 kms to the north), and  the fact that night's stop (town of Perce) no longer has any open gas station.  So, we stopped trailside to reconnoitre, and STG decided to make a cell call the folks at Info Motoneige Gaspesie (the snowmobiling tourism office in Chandler) to get some advice about where we could find gas soon, before ending our day in Perce.  Turned out they were only able to advise about gas stations shown on the map, and the closest one of those was on an unmarked side trail about 15-20 kms back the way we had come, in a little hamlet on the highway called Douglastown...otherwise, they could not advise us on any other option between where we then were and our destination in Perce.  

 

So, then STG decided to call our Perce hotel on the off chance they might be able to help us locate some fuel...wonder of wonders, it turned out that they stockpile full jerry cans of fuel at the hotel, for the benefit of their guests arriving off the trail without having been able to re-fuel for some distance, and they had 12 full 20-litre cans on hand...so we reserved those and carried on south, hopeful that we would reach Perce without anyone in the group running out.  Not 5 kms further down the trail, we came to a freshly-groomed, unnamed side trail with a gas pump symbol on a well-worn sign.  With help from Mr. Google, we managed to identify the existence of a gas station on the coastal highway in the hamlet of Barachois, and called their number to verify that they did have fuel, and that we could actually get there by trail...the answer (in English!) was "yes" and "yes", although the gas station rep who answered wasn't sure how long it would take us on that side trail...the estimate was "somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes" (LOL)  So, off we went, and 10 minutes later, after a very pleasant ride along this unmarked side trail, we arrived at said highway gas station in Barachois, happy to fill up and be back on our way toward Perce.    

 

Similar to STG, Mrs. irREVerent and I took relatively few pics that 3rd day, although I'm not exactly sure why. Anyway, here's a sampling of the few that we did take:

 

1.  Waiting while the groomer figures things out...

 

2.  The back side of Perce Rock way in the distance, between buildings at our Barachois gas stop

 

3.  The front side of Perce Rock, from our room at La Cote Surprise in Perce

 

4.  The sleds awaiting our departure from Perce the next morning...brrr!

 

5.  Some of our motley crew awaiting another "light breakfast" (not!) at La Cote Surprise

[Wildbill]

nice luck on the gas great report . never pass gas 

[Mossy]

nice luck on the gas great report . never pass gas 

No kidding! It floats right up my bib!

[14 snow]

Awesome report and pictures.