Journal Entries

Now that we have an all-access park pass to Quebec's "national" (i.e. provincial) parks, we are starting to explore more of the hiking options within a reasonable driving distance from Montreal.

Today we decided to check out Park National de la Yamaska, which is a large-ish park surrounding the Choiniere Reservoir. Around the circumference of the reservoir are trails, beaches, campgrounds, and picnic areas. We decided to circumnavigate the reservoir by stringing together a series of hiking trails an multi-use trails. All told, it was a 19km day on very flat, but very pretty terrain.

The trails wind through old fields, abandoned apple orchards, and re-planted forests (as seen from the rows of trees in this photo).

White blaze.

Cool rock formations.

@brienne and @mypictograph were no slouches today. The got up at 7am so we could get an early start - both giving up an opportunity to sleep-in on a Sunday morning.

The last time we hiked this section of trail (Franconia ridge) it was cold, windy, and foggy - we were thru-hiking the AT heading north. This time we decided to do it on a beautiful day, and the views were fantastic. We decided to take the ridge southbound this time in the hopes of meeting some thru-hikers along the way. We did meet some, and spent some time talking to Slacker and TAB (Take A Break). Apparently today was the best weather day that they have had on the trail so far.

Yes, my thoughts exactly!

The whole crew! In this photo: @johnsifferman @reneetougas @celine @brienne @mypictograph and friends.

At the summit of Mount Pemigewasset.

The younger members of our crew today included some seasoned teenage trail veterans and some younger budding enthusiasts eager to show us their stuff by leading us at a good pace.

This week we are staying in New Hampshire. We arrived late last night, had a good sleep-in, then met up with a good friend for a short afternoon hike. It is SO good to be back in these New England woods, just a stones throw from the Appalachian Trail - it feels like home.