Sunday August 7, 2016
Waking at 5:00, the temperature was 55 degrees and it looks like we got a little bit of rain. You can pick up a weather forecast for the week at the Discovery Center, and it called for a perfect 76 with passing clouds. Our adventures of the day were to hike to Lake Poisson and see a waterfall. This is rated a moderate hike of 7.2K round trip – sounds good. Then in the afternoon we would just drive north through the park to see more before we move to the eastern part of the park tomorrow. The hike started with a gravel road, straight uphill for what may have been a mile. It finally leveled out and became a trail opening into a beautiful meadow with a small lake. We continued on to a divide and a sign that said falls in 1K and followed it to a very pretty lake. The hike around the lake to the falls was strenuous. Being August, there was only a trickle of water coming over the falls, but it was pretty. We rested and had a granola bar before starting the trip back. Obviously not in good enough shape, we were spent when we got back. After lunch, Martha read while I went to the Discovery Center to post. I could connect on my phone, but not on my computer. Asking several people, I finally resolved that they probably set it up this way so the WIFI doesn’t get bogged down with people like me uploading tons of pictures, movies and other things. I will need to find another place outside the park, maybe a Timmy Horton’s or Mickey D’s.
We took a drive north to try to see more of the park and found a beautiful waterfall, and only a 750 meter walk to it along the Diable River. This river is really special! It is so beautiful and flows in and out of lakes through the entire park. It has many personalities as it travels, but this waterfall is probably where it got its name. If you were happily traveling along in your canoe, it could be very difficult to stop before going over the waterfall and it is all rocks below. Otherwise this is an incredible river. I have only seen three fishermen on it.
Driving further north, the road turns to gravel, reminding me of our previous fishing trip across Canada and the hundreds of miles we traveled on gravel roads. It does a number on your shocks and tires, but it is very pretty. The drives through Mont Tremblant are listed in National Geographic’s 500 best drives in the world, especially in fall colors. There are tons of maples and others I don’t know, but it would be spectacular.
There are 48 miles of bike trails in this section of the park, some being perfectly manicured roads really. Others are trails through the woods. This park gets heavy use being only a short distance north of Montreal, but somehow they keep it so nice. They use a variety of “adventures” to help pay their expenses.