Airstream Time

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Driving back to Tadoussac, the very efficient crew guided us onto the ferry and in 10 minutes we were on the other side. After stopping for a very slow road construction site, I noticed two dump trucks, a pickup and a car behind me, but there was nowhere for me to pull over to let them pass. After you haven’t driven for a few days, it takes a while to get back into the feel of pulling a trailer, so I was surely being a bit too cautious. One dump truck finally passed me and gave me a sign by waving his arm up and down. I read the sign to be, “You must keep up”, so I tried the best I could. Then the pickup passed me when the road turned to a double lane going up a steep hill. A long blast of the horn was clear enough. Then the last dump truck and car passed without communication, but I didn’t look over to see if he was making any other signs. Maybe he was the nice guy of the crew. Another construction site in the middle of a busy town, and you realize how tough this road is, especially for so many who work. Delivery trucks, construction trucks and tractor trailers often hauling huge pieces of equipment.  Delivery trucks have to make schedules and I know slow, cautious RV drivers drive them crazy. I will do better getting out of their way. 

We arrived in La Malbaie with the goal of visiting Fred and seeing Haute Gorge National Park. We found a little municipal campground at Base Plein Air, where the young man spoke no English. Martha is getting better with her French, and checked us in. Across from us someone had a very big party the night before. Bottles and cans were strewn all over the place. Fortunately, it was totally quiet. The bathrooms were very clean, and it turned out to be a nice, little campground. 

After getting situated and fixing lunch, we went to Haute Gorge National Park. We decided on a bike ride that follows the river north until it turns west through the mountains. You could also do this with on a boat cruise and the ranger will tell you the history of the park and the river. Riding for an hour, we came upon a campground for tents, so if you are a hiker or kayaker, you can stay here for the night. There are bathrooms and there is water. There are also places to hang your food so the bears don’t steal your breakfast during the night. The Malbaie River is a beautiful river that travels north through Grand Jardins National Park, where I had fished it. Then it turns east through the mountains into Haute Gorge National Park, then down to the town of La Malbaie and into the St. Lawrence. It would be fun to hike and fish this great river above the campground. Later, in the town of La Malbaie, we would see people fishing for salmon.

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46℉ at 5:30 and high of 70

Monday, September 12, 2016

I would love to keep driving north as there are many things to see and explore, but I need to fly to Baltimore for a few days, so we will turn south tomorrow. With that in mind, we drove north to explore a couple of towns, and it is always interesting. We stopped at Cap-de-Bon-Desire for an hour and then to Longue-Rive and Portneuf sur-Mer. Both have incredible salt marshes where we learned that Canada has 25% of the salt marshes of the world. There were hundreds of seagulls, and we saw several Blue Herons and a falcon. There were a lot of geese, and we are starting to see ducks migrating. 

We stopped for lunch at a busy diner where truck drivers were giving each other grief in a dialect that sounded like a Creole dialect from New Orleans or a Guinneman on the Chesapeake. They were having a big time and making the busy waitress laugh. We couldn’t understand a word.

Back at camp we did a load of laundry, then took a little wine and peanuts back to Cap-de-Bon-Desire for one more visit, and what a show we saw. It was slow at first, but as the sun set maybe six whales fed along a slick edge or water a hundred yards away. You can only take so many pictures of whale’s backs, and then you just relax and watch the show. The park is only open Wednesday to Sunday now, but you can walk in. It’s probably a mile and a half walk all the way to the water. Maybe it’s less, but it’s a pretty good hike. No matter, there were maybe 25 people there, enjoying a beautiful evening in a beautiful spot where whales, ducks and seagulls pass right in front of you, and the sky turns pink as the sun sets.

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On a perfect, clear, calm day, we sat on the rocks at Cap-de-Bon-Desire. They had seen a Blue and a Fin whale in the morning, so maybe that was it all we would see. I took a little nap on the warm rocks knowing everyone else was on the lookout. After about 30 minutes a whale was sighted. By the time we left for lunch, we had seen three whales. No tail wags, but seeing whales so close is very cool. Sightings are all by chance. We did catch a glimpse of a big one down toward our campground, but it never resurfaced where we could see it.

Martha read a story written by a young Innu who must have been on the river a lot fishing, and he had many stories about the whales. He got to know them well over the years and named each. Apparently their tails are like fingerprints, none being the same. Whales will lay on the surface when sleeping, and he would go up and pet them. He felt the whales could recognize his boat and they would come to him, often following him for long periods of time. Once he had people on board when two whales swimming together lifted his boat, scaring the passengers to death. He explained how man is the scary one as he had seen people shoot whales from shore. Some would harpoon them with big drums attached. The whales would swim until they tired out and they would sink to the bottom and die. It became his quest to stop these things, and through the years he was successful at stopping it.

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60℉ at 4:00 and 74℉ high

Friday, September 9, 2016

We had previewed a couple of campgrounds on our way to Les Escoumins and found a great one. It’s nice to be able to drive through a campground to preview it. Camping Bon Desir is one of the most beautiful campgrounds I have ever seen with tent and camper spots right on the St. Lawrence. It is setup on different levels of a hillside so each level has great views, like a giant ampitheater. It has several lakes in the campground and there are hiking and bike trails, so today, we packed up and left Tadoussac to move a whole 25km nord (north). Arriving at the campground, the office was closed and the sign on the door listed the taken spots. Just go and pick a spot and tell them when they open at 2:00. There are so many beautiful spots, it was hard to choose, but we settled into #30. The wind was blowing hard and it was still chilly. 

We needed groceries, but Martha suggested walking a trail at the north end of the campground. All we had was the campground map, so we had no idea what we were doing except it said 3K. It turned out to be a National Park hike along the St. Lawrence. We had on Keens and a lot of layers that I soon started shedding. I stopped to look at a track that did not look like a person, unless they had a very flat and wide foot. There were no claw marks, but I suspected a small bear. There were beautiful views of the river along the way. Soon we started climbing to the top of a ridge, then winding our way around the cove. I had seen a lighthouse on top and suspected we were going there, but it was more than 3K. After walking for over an hour, we came to a park entry hut. Fortunately Martha had brought the park passes. Those things have really paid off! We bought two types of passes, the National Park passes, which are good for two years, and the Quebec passes, which are the only ones we have used so far. Although most of the parks we have visited are called National Parks, they only take the Quebec pass. You pay for it after eight visits or eight days any park. Then you get one free night of camping and 15% off purchases at their stores. 

There is a lot of history of the lighthouse and how they powered their foghorns. Today with all the navigational technology, there is no longer a need for foghorns. They even have a coffee shop. We walked down the trail to a viewing area, which is very cool. It is a rocky outcropping on a point jutting into the St. Lawrence. The wind was still blowing off the water making it chilly, but there is also a glassed-in shelter with a porch on the front where people were gathered. Martha was soon talking to a handsome park ranger whose mission was educating people about the whales and the area. He said it was 300 meters deep right off the point! I asked him if we were at the end of the whale season. Happily, he said no, we are right in the middle. Soon he pointed out a Minke whale about a half mile away. Of course they go down to feed, then surface for air. The ranger said they could surface anywhere, but soon he breached closer to us, and Martha saw him in her binoculars as the crowd in concert said,”Ahhhhh”. 

I held the camera at the ready for quite a while, but nothing happened. We happened to be looking straight ahead when he breached right in front of the rocks. Fortunately he gave a big blow to attract everyone’s attention to a concert of “Ohhhhhh”! It was very cool. We will have to make regular trips here – maybe driving up. Walking back toward camp, I heard bells as Martha shoved me off the path. A very professional-looking biker came past saying, “Excusez-moi”. He was riding fast in his official outfit. I was struck by his massive thighs. It wasn’t long before he rode back toward us and stopped, saying he saw a big, black bear and decided to turn around. He was nice enough to warn us and we chatted a bit before he rode on. He rides in competitions and had just done a training event at Massanutten close to where we live. A very nice man, he pilots ships on the St. Lawrence and exercises regularly on the trails along the river. Martha let me walk in front as we continued down the trail. Now we noticed the side trails. I looked for more tracks, but kept my eyes up mostly. Just as we got to camp there was a big trail crossing a boggy creek and going up to a tent site. I noticed it when we started the hike and wondered if people really would walk through that water. Now I realized they wouldn’t.

With boulangerie Pizza and a salad for dinner, we sat in front of a nice fire and marveled at the view. The wind had died down and it was a perfect evening to watch the stars come out. What a spot!