50℉ at 5:30 am, high 67
Friday, September 2, 2016
Moving from Camping Lac Jolly, we stopped for roadwork and who happens by coming the other way from playing cards in Chicoutimi, but Paul and Diane Tremblay! We chatted a few minutes in the middle of the road. I commented that there are a lot of Tremblays in Quebec. Paul said he has written a book on the Tremblays of just this area. It is 97 pages long. What a nice couple! It wasn’t bad driving through Saguenay. You just have to be so alert so you don’t take a wrong turn. Driving a trailer, you have to stay in the right lane, but it is always the bumpiest, and we got caught in a right turn lane, but I went straight anyway, cutting off a couple of motorcycle riders – sorry!
Then driving along the Saguenay is lovely with beautiful farmland and cute little towns. We wanted to stop in one, but there was nowhere to park with the trailer. You can drive the entire length of the Saguenay River in an hour though, so it’s easy enough to drive back. We drove into Parc National du Fjord du Saguenay. It’s a very narrow road leading to the Information Center and follows the most beautiful trout stream, with places to park and fish. We learned at the Information Center that it was now closed for the season as the limits had been met. We signed up for a Fjord zodiac tour tomorrow at 2:00, choosing the warmer part of the day.
Then we walked down to the bay and took a few pictures. Behind us was a huge rock face, and Martha spotted people on it. They were just dots. We talked with a nice gentleman whose daughter was doing the 6-hour climb up the trail, up a ladder, across the first rock face, across a swinging bridge and on to the other rock face. This is a very popular thing in several parks, and they are always booked. It’s only $77. If someone paid me a million, I might give it a go. The gentleman said he would go, but he was too heavy, so he was proudly watching his daughter.
We felt fortunate to have any campsite for four nights since it is a big holiday weekend, but now driving to Petit Saguenay, we were apprehensive. Four days in a campground you don’t like is not good. Making the turn to Riviere Petite Saguenay, we got a look at the beautiful river. The water is pretty low. We stopped at what we hoped was the office and went in. There was a big salmon mounted on the wall, and there was a case with flies for sale. Upstairs there were rods for sale. I began to smile. The pleasant lady didn’t speak much English, but with our poor French, we worked it out. Yes, we were booked four nights – whew! Yes, there are two services – tres bien! There is WIFI – yippee. There were people waiting, so I didn’t ask about fishing, but I read a sheet on the wall similar to La Faunique that lists fishermen, what they caught and how much they weighed. I went out to look at the campground as Martha paid the bill. It is nicely-set in grassy, shades sites with plenty of room. I couldn’t stop smiling.
It took a bit of wrangling to get around the trees and get the trailer straight, but it was worth it. This will be a great spot to spend four days. Maybe we should stay longer. As we studied the brochures, we saw a salmon chute and decided to take a drive to it. A beautiful spot with a fall and a fish ladder, we walked up and down looking for salmon, but saw nothing. Martha said the campground closes in two weeks, so I think the run is over. The scenery driving back is really pretty, with farmland, little mountains and deep valleys gouged out by glaciers thousands of years ago. Back at camp we studied the area over a beer and glass of wine. There is a lot to see and do in this area.