Month: August 2016

I prefer staying in a provincial or national park, but Rouillard Campground has grown on me. This is a family-owned campground, and they are very nice people. They gave us a nice, quiet spot, and they work very hard to make you comfortable and provide everything you need. Maybe a little early, but they are decorating for Halloween. Some people live here and go to every day jobs. Some are retired, while some come and stay all summer. Others, like us, are passing through. It is interesting to see the variety. As we were working very hard to find a campground for our next stop, I went into the office and kiddingly asked for a double expresso. The young lady, who had always been so nice, pulled up Columbia Supreme Keurig cup. As we left, Martha went back in and told her how much we enjoyed our stay.

I sat down to work on the blog, and this flock of ducks just walked right past me!

This one seemed to say, ÒSo are you going to feed me or what?

Very cute little par three golf course I would love to have played.

la Bibliotheque, a nice little library

Permanent resident

Office and WIFI cafe

In the morning we set out for a hike to Lac Vierge on the north side of Lac Normand. We walked through the campground and down by a great playground ship that is built like an old sailing ship, then down to the beach. At the end of the beach, the trail begins and is nicely marked with a map. Following our pacesetter, Martha, I took pictures then scrambled to catch up. She isn’t particularly fast, but she never stops. Like the Energizer bunny, she just keeps going. She is pretty good at finding her way and knowing where she is, but I always bring a trail GPS. It comes in handy whenever there is a question of where you are, how far you are from somewhere or if you are headed in the right direction. I am still learning how to use the device (a Garmin GPSmap 62stc). 

This is another beautiful trail, and the park does a great job of marking the trails and yet you feel you are in the wilds. There is no better way to become familiar with this park than to walk it. This forrest is just stunning! Following the Energizer Bunny, I took pictures then tried to catch up. There is a beautiful view of the lake at the top. Along the descent, there is a series of three ladders and the middle one is broken. This is a new one for me, as I have never climbed down a ladder on a hike. Martha thought it was very cool. Then where do I put this dangling camera around my neck? I didn’t want to step on that broken part, but on further inspection realized it was wedged against the rock wall. This is another fantastic hike! We didn’t take the whole loop, but when we got back to the beach, three hours had past and we were spent. We ate our lunch there, and I would have taken a swim if I had a bathing suit. Martha waded a bit. Back at camp, Martha discovered blueberry bushes right in the campsite and was picking a bunch when I returned from the shower. 

Thursday, August 11, 2016

60 ℉ at 5am and mid 80’s middle of the day

We broke camp, did the necessaries, filled the water tank and set out for Parc Du National Mauricie about 10:00. Mont-Tremblant is a wonderful park. Six days is not enough time to really get to know the park. We did all the usual things, hiked the most popular hikes, biked, and swam in the lakes. A beach to us is Nags Head on the ocean with large sandy beaches and salty waves. In Canada a beach is a smaller sandy beach on a lake with water so pure you could drink it. On a hot day, it is so refreshing to take a swim. Just like our ocean beaches, the water can be cool or cold at first, but once you get in and swim around a bit, it is wonderful. There are no sharks or crabs or sea urchins, but brook trout and smallmouth bass. It takes a while to change your mindset, but once you do, it is quite wonderful. Mont-Tremblant has so many beaches, you can have one to yourself, just kayak over to it, of float along the Diable River and take your lunch. My very favorite part is hearing the loons cry at night. We got one taste of the real park when we went up to Lac du Bois Franc and had a medium-sized lake to ourselves for just an hour with two loons swimming at the other end. You could smell the forrest and the clean air and feel like you are in the wilderness. How incredibly beautiful. I would love to come back.

Driving the back roads, mostly 348 and 350 and then 157 north to Mauricie. I felt like I was driving the highway to Stewart in British Columbia as we drove along the incredibly beautiful St. Mauricie River. It is a very large river with blue waters. I kept watching for salmon running. There were lots of boats, sailboats and lots of fishermen. Campgrounds along the river were chock full, so there must be salmon! Finally arriving at a teeny park office that was so small, we thought it was just two bathrooms, which we needed badly. I turned around and headed back to the car when Martha called me back. A very nice lady helped us. The only hookup available in the entire park is water, and Martha wanted it. I assured her water is not our issue as we have no power source to recharge the batteries. She signed up for three nights, but I knew we would never make it. I got a park fishing license and bought a book on fishing regulations. So much to get in the park, so much to camp, so much to fish, and then $12,50 to cross the bridge over the St. Mauricie River. If you wan to fish Lac Norman, you put your name in the hat at the campground where they have a drawing at 9pm each evening. You must then pay $20 to fish that day! Then you have to drive 41K up a dirt and gravel road. Sheez! Crossing the bridge and heading up the very dry and dusty road, a huge truck, loaded with logs comes barreling down the road. This brings bad memories of our former fishing trip. These guys must get paid for speed as they just fly down these roads making a huge cloud of dust. We will need a new air filter for the truck. The nice lady told us to stay on Rt. 1 the entire 41K to the campground. There are many turns along the way. Periodically you get a view of another big lake surrounded by forrest, and now and then a moose bog. This washboard road with rocks in it and bumps and dips will shake everything loose. This was a first for me as I have never taken the Airstream this distance on this kind of road. Surely all the rivets would pop out, or the kayak would loosen as we bounced along. Fortunately we only passed two logging trucks, but we passed several of what looked like food trucks. Then there was the occasional Toyota car or a Kia driving right down the middle. What kind of people would be camping in this spot? Who would drive this road? Why?

We finally made the campground about 4:00 and set up in a beautiful site. This campground with a small office has 70 campsites. Maybe it is 60% filled, but it is Friday and a weekend. Our kitchen sink cabinet door hinge came apart, but otherwise no apparent damage. I found a screw on the floor. Mostly people are in tents, and they are families, having driven their family car. Children are everywhere. There are also campers and pop-up campers, and people who towed a boat up here. Martha’s other requirements were flush toilets and showers, and they are here, the shower house being powered by a big solar panel. We walked down to the beach, which is the biggest we have seen. There were two young boys carrying their paddles, chairs and towels back to camp. There was a parking lot at the beach, a volleyball court, picnic tables and a dock where maybe 15 boats were tied up. Martha tiptoed into the water, reporting that it was much like the lake at Mount-Tremblant. This lake is huge though. I thought I was on Lake Superior! Of course there are ones much bigger, but this is a very big lake to us. Canadians think nothing of driving these roads, and everyone seemed quite happy to be here. It’s a pretty strenuous drive to get to Nags Head too. 

We took advantage of the showers and settled in for cocktails and dinner. It is supposed to rain for the next two or three days, so we prepared for it. You always have to prepare for it as it can be blue skies one minute and a passing storm the next. The gentle rain came in the night and was still raining in the morning. I got up in the night and turned the battery off, hoping the refrigerator would stay cold. Through the night I kept thinking about power. Where are the energy leaks? Martha did well to get a site with water as we would not have to use the water pump. Hopefully we wouldn’t need the furnace. Was there water in the batteries? Did it all bounce out on the drive up? Would our Canada National Parks pass have gotten us in?