Quebec and the Adirondacks

In the morning I am in the outhouse when I hear another truck coming over that rough road. I hear Allen hail him and soon that guy is showing him where he missed the turn. I finish and join them and the guy tells me exactly how to find the short route to St. Francis Gate. Cool! That will save a lot of driving and get me to the border quicker. I eat my cereal and have a cup of tea with Allen. THen head down to the lake for a swim. It’s pretty mossy so soon I am back and I pack up, bid Allen farewell and head out. THe guys directions are spot on and soon I am at the St. Francis gate.

The Gatekeeper tells that I can see the end of the Allagash River just down the road. I have yet to canoe the Allagash. It’s a famous paddling river in the parts. One day. So I drive over through the town of Allagash and just south of it to a boat launch on the river and go for a lovely swim in the Allagash River. I stand on the rocks and dry off then drive into the town of Fort Kent where there is a Laundromat and a border crossing. I drive through town and see a part and pull in to see the fort. It is cool 2 story blockhouse that you can still walk into and up to the second floor. It is maintained by the boy scouts. There is also a campsite by the river for canoers only. And it has water so I add some more to my supply. Then I go to the information booth and ask for a laundromat. Following their lead I find Dinah's Laundromat which is the cleanest most friendly laundromat I have ever been in. Dinah helps me choose a washer and makes sure I use the correct amount of soap and that I have enough quarters. She is Acadian with a strong french accent and is bilingual like most people this close to Quebec. She really loves her customers and her establishment and it shows.

I highly recommend it to anyone going through Fort Kent. Visit Dinah weather or not you need to wash clothes. After I put away my clothes I refill my propane tank and have lunch in the Park then cross the border. The customs agent questions me closely and then tells me they are going to do a quick search and to pull into the shed. I do and soon an American agent and a Canadian agent go through BEYOND and take a quick look at everything. They are very pleasant and polite and they insist on giving me directions to the place I am camping for the night and then send me on my way with a wave and bon voyage! I follow their directions and stop at a bank and with draw a couple of hundred Canadian dollars with my ATM card. THen I drive on to the Trans ( Trans canada Highway 2) and the next exit is campground for the night. Les Jardin de la Republique Provincial Park. Looks pretty but it’s right next to the trans.

Also it’s 5 pm on Friday and beautiful weather is forecasted. Sure enough I get one of the last campsites and it’s within a stones throw of the Trans and right next to the bathroom. But it has hot showers and a swimming pool. I get my suit and grab my bike and ride over to the pool. Except that it’s closed for 15 minutes. So I walk around and there is a little theater and there a kids with violins and there is going to be a free classical concert at 7 pm. Sounds like fun. The pool is open so I swim a bit and when I feel cooler I ride back to my van and realize that my 6 pm is 7 pm here. New Brunswick is in a different time zone. I don’t change the clock because I am going to Quebec tomorrow and it’s in Eastern time. I change and ride back and watch the young people play. It a bit warm in the theater but the kids play pretty well and everyone is clapping and having fun. The last piece is all the instructors doing a Beatles medley and it is really good. A fun evening. I ride back and make some mac and cheese and then take a long hot shower and wash my hair. Then I crash on clean sheets. It’s nice to be back in Canada.

In the morning I am up early and have a couple of cups of tea, and ride around. When the botanical gardens opens at 9 I pays my money and enjoy the birds and the butterfly garden looks a lot like my jungle at home! Then I walk the gardens and they are very pretty especially the lilly and iris gardens beside a stream and the alpine garden. That was a new one for me. I ride a trail for a couple of miles then return to my campsite just in time for the 11 am checkout time and drive back onto the Trans in the other direction. I drove this road last year after Newfoundland on my way to Rochester, NY to fly home to work the Folkfest. Soon I turn off onto Route 17 which takes into Quebec and out towards the Gaspe Peninsula. It’s a pretty drive with very few cars. I see a veggies stand and stop for zucchini, green and yellow beans and red pepper. I drive to Campbellton and see and big supermarket so I pull off and buy a bunch of supplies. THen I find Sugarloaf Campground and Park. It’s also a ski resort and you can take the ski lift up and ride a mountain bike down. Looks to hairy for me. There is a big tent and there is going to be an Acadian music concert which sounds fun. I get directions to the Restigouche Battle National Historic Site and head across the bridge into Quebec. I have trouble finding it and arrive with 12 minutes to look. I have an annual pass from last year in Newfoundland that covers the cost so I go in.

It turns out to be a great place. THere was a big Naval Battle and a big French ship was sunk and they dug the site 40 years ago and found lots of relics and big pieces of the ship which are housed in the site. It’s really spectacular to see large pieces of this ship propped up for viewing and surround by cases of different bits and pieces they found on the dig. As I am leaving they tell me there will be a lecture tomorrow at 2 pm about the underwater excavation of the site. Cool! I’ll be back for that. It’s hot out so I get directions to a good beach and drive back across the bridge and out to Dalhousie and there is a beach and I go for a swim in the bay. It feels great and there are other people swimming and boating. I finish my swimming and dry off in the setting sun then almost buy an ice cram but don’t and return to the Park. The concert has started so I put to beers and chips and salsa in my pack and go to the porch outside the park office where are some Adirondack chairs and listen to the concert for awhile. It’s contemporary Acadian rock band. They are good but I was hoping for traditional music. THey have a big crowd and are making lots of noise. I finish my beer and go to my campsite which is on a pretty steep angle. I myself park on as level a spot as I can find and make a salad for dinner and listen to the music.

When the music stops I am in bed reading but soon lots of drunk people come up to the campsite. Some are camped right next to me and they are loud. I am lying in the lower bunk which is much quieter but have to top up to cool off and because of the angle I am lying reversed from how I normally lie in that bunk. So the blood won;t all rush to my head! When they start setting off fireworks I pull the top down and shut the window on that side. It’s been a long day and I am able to fall a sleep eventually. I guess my neighbors do to for I sleep fairly well. I sleep in some and when I finally get up I find the showers and have a hot shower and some tea and cereal and one of my neighbors is up and looking very hungover! I find that another neighbor has checked out and left a huge bundle of campfire wood so I pack it in the van and head out. I go to the bottom of the hill and ride my bike on some trails and then head into town to find an internet signal. I find one and park there for a while and catch up with news from home and write some emails.

Then I go to a park by the river and have a salad for lunch and drive to the tourist info for a quebec map. THen back to Restigouche where the staff sets me up the movie in English and then sits a person beside me during the lecture to translate when I need help as the lecture is in French. There are slides with titles and I pick up a lot form reading the text and ask a few questions and enjoy the lecture. I walk through the exhibit again and then thank all the staff for taking such good care of me and head up the road to another site and a campground they recommended. Canadians are such gentle helpful people! I find the campsite but drive on to see the historic site. It’s closed today so I drive around some more and find a nice place beside a river and stopped there for the night. I make some wild mushroom veggie risotto and drink some Propeller Bitter. This is my favorite Nova Scotia Brewery. It’s good stuff. I read for awhile and then fall asleep early.

In the morning I am up very early for hot chocolate, cereal and a quick stream bath.
Feels good. Not too cold! I dry off and get dressed and drive to Miguasha Park where they have an archeological site that has produced amazing fossils from the Devonian era. Lots of really cool fish and plant fossils. SOme of the fossils are actually 3 dimensional. They weren’t squished flat and you can see the actual volume of the fish. Really cool stuff. After I finish in the museum I walk down to the beach where the fossils were found and look and find some interesting rocks. One of the rangers says that one might have fossilized fish scales and asked where AI found it. I tell her and she takes it off to the lab to be analyzed. That was fun!
I drive on west to Reserve Fauntique du Port Daniel and get a campsite for the night. It’s getting dark and might storm so I wrote in my log but it never storms so I take some of the fire wood and collect some kindling and after some work with the damp kindling get a nice fire going. I drink some beer with chips and salsa and enjoy my fire. WHen it burns down I ride off to the showers and then read until I fall asleep. I finish the last book of the Earthsea trilogy. What a good series! Then off to sleep.

After brekkie I take a hike down to the river and trail ends at a place where the water runs through some rocks and makes a few great pools so I strip off and walk in. Oh! That is cold water! It takes my breath away but I get all the way in and wash off the sweat from the hike. THen I set in the sun on the rocks and dry off. Nice. Nobody walks in on me this time which is good. Soon I am dressed again and walking back to camp. I pack up and head back down the mountain. The rangers tell me I can’t get through to the next park but I see a road that looks like it goes there but it;’s too rough for me. I really wish I had 4x4 so I can go to some of the places I see but can’t reach. Maybe FURTHER BEYOND will be a 4x4! I head west again and roll in to Perce which is where my friend Cecile’s grandmother was born on a subsistence farm before moving to the States. Her great Uncle Arthur LeFoley used to own quite a bit of Bonaventure Island before it was appropriated by the government and declared a park.

I spent today in Perce and am camped above town at a campsite called Gargantua!  It's pretty here.  Way up a steep mountain above town.  If it weren't totally fogged in the view would be great.  I biked and walked around town all day.  Tons of stores selling tourist junk.  My favorite was walking out to the big rock Rocher at low tide.  The rock formations are very beautiful.  Tomorrow morning I am going to take the 9 am ferry straight out to Bonaventure Island and hike across to the bird sanctuary.  All the afternoon boats take you on a tour around the islands and go to Bonaventure last. So I am waiting until tomorrow.  I had a lunch of cod cheeks and poutine. (fries gravy and cheese curds)  Very tasty!  Veggies for dinner to keep my heart beating! HA! I met two guys from Mass and Vermont who are touring Gaspe in the opposite direction from me. We are about the only people camped at Gargantua. We have a beer and conversation. Then they leave to have dinner in Gargantua Hotel Restaurant. I am tempted but have already sliced a huge pile of veggies for dinner so I decline but agree to join them for a campfire later. As I am making my dinner it begins to thunder and soon it is pouring down rain and I enjoy my veggies pasta and a beer and then a bit of popcorn and crawl into my warm dry bunk to read.

In the morning the weather is sparkling clear and the guys tell me about their fabulous dinner and how cool it was to watch the storm from the big windows in the restaurant. Sounds like a place to remember for next visit! I have tea with them and then drive back down the 20% grade into town. Soon I am in thick fog. But I get a ticket to ride the direct ferry to the island and then a tea and a croissant in a cafe. It was an okay croissant. Then I join two other tourists and 15 Parks workers on the ferry across to Bonaventure Island which used to be a fishing community but is now a park which has a huge colony of Northern Gannets on the east side and also seal colonies. As soon as I step on the island it starts to rain. I pay me Park fee and am told there are only two trails open. Too bad. I have a great conversation with one of the Parks workers who bought a sailboat last winter in Gulfport, FL (right next to St. Pete) and then sailed it to the British Virgin Islands and worked there for the winter crewing on a large trimaran. Then I head out into the rain for the other side of the island and the birds. I can hear and smell it when I get close. Like ant large colony of animals ( including humans) it smells pretty bad. There are thousands of birds here are calling fighting, eating and breeding raising young. There are so many that all the plants are gone in the colony.

It's also very loud. This reminds me of the gannet nesting colony on southeast Newfoundland. I walk on around the south tip of the island and I spend quite a while watch gray seals below me in the water. They are such great swimmers. So graceful. The rain has stopped and I am starting to see some other people. I walk down to a beach and there is a seal just off shore that has his head out of the water watching me. He seems to enjoy watch me as much as i am enjoying watching him! Soon I walk on through the old cemetery and past some of the old houses from the fishing days. Many of which are falling down. It makes me think about how short our time on the earth really is. So insignificant compare to the rocks, the trees and the sea. Soon I am back at the landing and I talk to the rangers about the seals and then take the boat back to Perce. I drive to bakery I saw on a back street and buy a really great croissant and a coconut nut raspberry thing for the road. I pick up an internet signal in the road and send a few quick emails until traffic is getting back-up then dive on to Gaspe and onto Fornillon National Park which is on the easternmost tip of Quebec. I get a campsite and relax. THen I go to see the evening show. Too bad it’s in French. THe guy giving it is wearing a homemade bird costume and people are laughing and enjoying it. I walk back to my camp. Make some pepperoni, mac and cheese and then have a shower. I am reading this book I bought for Greece but didn’t finish. It’s called A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It’s okay but not great. I do want to see how it ends. It’s about a young guy from Chicago whose parents die and he and his younger brother move to san Francisco where he and some friends start a magazine called Might and he takes care of his younger brother. Anyway soon I fall asleep.

I am up very early and after tea and oaties I pack up and drive out of my campsite and it’s a beautiful day so I get on my bike and ride to the very tip of Gaspe to the lighthouse at the top of a very steep hill. Boy did I have to work to get up that hill. It was a great ride. I look around the site and there is a sign proclaiming this point the northern terminus of the International Appalachian Trail. An was first hiked by a guy who started in Key West Florida and ended here. It took him almost a year to walk it. Now that’s a hike! Once I have caught my breath I walk down to the an observation platform over the sea and watch the seals and talk to a woman who is painting watercolors about painting. She has some nice paintings. Then I chat with a woman named Ly nn from Montreal who works for a large grocery chain and gets out here on business every summer and hikes in the Park. She tells me about some other good hikes and we part ways. She back to work and me to bike back to camp. I move BEYOND down to the beach and have bagels and mackerel, cheese and fruit for lunch. I eat the raspberry treat for dessert. Boy is it great! Then take a nap in the sun. that ride really wore me out. Then I hike up to the fire tower and the view is fabulous. It’s pretty clear and I can just see Newfoundland off in the distance. It’s clear in Perce and on Bonaventure Island. It must be full of tourists. The rangers were telling me they get as many as 1800 visitors a day in peak times like today!

I walk back down and all the locals stare while I take a dip in the ocean. I’m sweaty and the water is a bit warmer than I expected. As soon as I get to shore a seal shows up swimming around out where I was swimming. Pretty Cool! I drive to the North part of the park and get a campsite and Bon Ami. It’s near the road but there isn’t much traffic. II work on my travelog and gaze up at the cliff of the end of the Appalachian Mountains towering over my head. It’s quite spectacular. Then it’s rice and veggies for dinner. It’s going to be cold tonight. WHen i walk back from the shower there are a billion stars in the sky. So I stargaze for a while before crawling into a warm bunk. I don’t sleep well for some reason and wake a lot in the night. I thought I would sleep well after all that exercise today!

Friday Aug. 21

After breakfast I walked the Chutes trail down to see a small but lovely waterfall. By then the Nature Center was open so I toured that. They had some tanks of local sea critters which was interesting. I had never seen a toad crab before. Also to see a living snow crab was fun. Then I took another bike ride down the valley trail and I saw my first live porcupine! He was grazing by the road when I came around the corner, he hunch down and put up his quills. Then he headed into the brush and I lost sight of him. But he was really cool. I biked on and ended up making a big loop and there I was right back where I started! Then a local woman told me there was good swimming just below the bridge so i went in for a dip. It was very cold. Almost as cold as the water below the falls in Baxter! A walked back and the sun came out long enough to warm me off. Then I left the Park and started my drive along the top of the Gaspe Peninsula. I come around a corner and see a whole forest of huge windmills on the mountain ridge above me. I find the access road and drive up and park and sit surrounded by 20 huge windmill. It’s a very impressive sight.

Finally I drive on and I stop in the town of Grand Valle for groceries. It’s raining and there is an internet cafe so I buy 30 minutes worth of time for $5 and a beer for about the same and pay my bills and send some email. Then talk with a guy from France who is backpacking the other direction around the Gaspe. Then I drive little further until there are no cars and it’s very mountainous and I drive up a dirt road and find a place to pull off and I listen to jazz and eat some popcorn and finally I am caught up in my travelog! Yeah. I drink a beer and make veggie, pepperoni, olive pasta for dinner. It’s excellent. It’s really blowing hard and rocking van a bit and driving the rain. I have most of the windows zipped up to keep the rain out. After dinner I start the engine to make sure my battery is charged and realize i had the lights on the whole time. Wow that would have sucked to be caught up here with a dead battery! I am sure I have a good charge and the rain in really coming down. A few cars have come by but none of them have stopped so I should be okay here. The rain is really pouring down now. So I pull the top down to make sure it’s not blowing in. I start a new book of short stories by Ursula K. LeGuin. Thanks Cecile for the book. I am parked on a pretty steep angle and I keep waking up the night thinking the van is sliding down the hill! Not a great sleep and it’s still raining hard! FInally I doze off.

I am up at 7 and the rain has stopped. I get up and a car goes by but doesn’t stop. I check and the van didn’t slide down the hill in the night. I get the engine going and get her back on the road. I drive back down to the highway and head west. I stop for gas a breakfast in Vers MonSaint Pierre. Trios crepe avec bacon et the. It was very tasty and I read about the Parc National Du Gaspe. I realize that you have to take a shuttle to climb Mt. Cartier the second highest mt in Quebec but if I get on it I can just make it. I fly back to BEYOND and we fly down the dirt road to the Parc and I have just enough time to pack my gear and buy a bus ticket. Soon we are bouncing up the mountain in a school bus. Then we hike the two hours to the top. It’s an old jeep trail but very rocky. I get to the top where it’s a tundra and there is an observation tower. I hike on a little further and the guy ahead of me gets all excited and gives me his binoculars and there are three caribou grazing on the shoulder of the next mountain. Cool! I watch them for a bit and then head back up. THe clouds have come over and it’s pretty windy and cold. I set on a sheltered bench and eat my mini bagel and hummus. Then walk up the observation tower. While I am up there a spot three more caribou below on this mountain.

After watching them for a while I go down and the ranger is giving a talk but I don’t get much as it’s in French. So I head back down. I am glad I brought up my pile hoodie and my rain coat as the wind is quite chilly. When I am back below tree line I change back to my tee shirt and walk on down. At the bottom I talk with Yves and Ann from up the road. It was their first hike and they really enjoyed it. The bus comes and we ride back. THey are curious about BEYOND so I give them the tour. THen I get the ranger to book me a campsite and the other side of the Park and drive over to Mt. Albans Campground. I check out my campsite and then drive over to the Discovery Center and look at the exhibits.

There is a famous hotel with a fancy restaurant and I consider having dinner there but it will be a minimum of $45 and $15 more if i want to try a caribou steak. I decide it’s too much for this trip and head back to my campsite where I have chips and salsa and my last Propeller bitter. Buy does it taste good! I catch up journal and then cook some clam sauce and broccoli. Then a nice hot shower. It’s clear tonight with no bugs so I might light a campfire tonight. I have a lot of wood onboard still. I like my campsite. Pretty private considering the number of people here. It’s tucked down in a valley surrounded by mountains. I was on the International Appalachian Trail again today and will be tomorrow as well. This would be a beautiful section to hike some day. I was too tired to light the fire and it was quarter showers, but the water was hot and powerful. I felt great and soon was curled up in my bunk with my book.

I was up at 6:30 and after tea and cereal I started up Mt. Albans. It is overcast and a bit humid this morning, but i am psyched to hike the whole loop. off I go up through the trees and across the river. Soon the trail is getting steep but I am chugging right along. I pass a young couple having a fun conversation a francaise. THey are speaking too fast for me to pick out much. I blow past them and soon I have the trail to myself again. I stop at an open spot for some water and a young guy with a cast on his arm comes blowing by my. I am breathing hard and sweaty but he is really sweaty and blowing hard. He waves and heads on up. Soon I start again and there is a sign that I am 300 meters from the top. It’s a steep finish but soon the trees are only knee high and then they are gone and it’s tundra and I am on top. I look in the hut and there is that guy changing out of his wet gear. He has a huge cast on one arm and is struggling.

I offer and hand but he is almost done. He is from Quebec (City) and works in a bike shop. This is his last summer weekend before starting college. We decide to hike together and off we go across the grassy top of the mt. We are walking on a boardwalk and I spot a caribou off to the left. We stop and watch it for a while. This is the first he has seen in five years of visiting the Park. I feel luckily to have seen 6 in two days! They are part of a very unique herd. THe Quebec herd does not migrate like the rest. They stay in this mountain valley and just move up to the summits in the summer. They must have been cut off long ago by the glaciers and stopped migrating. THey are now genetically different from the herds of the north. But they are down to about 180 members in three herds. THey are just about at the point where they are interbreeding too closely and that will eventually weaken and kill them off.

I asked but they are not introducing new members from outside herds in to strengthen the blood line. Too bad. At the end of the grassy the mountain drops into a steep valley with a stream crashing down the rocks. It’s very beautiful. I am glad I did the hike in this direction. We start down the rocky trail and I do pretty well and keeping up with 21 year old legs. We are having a great conversation in Franglais. Luckily his french is better than my English! We have together for about 7 km until I decide to go for a swim in the river below Chute Diablo( Devil Falls) and he can’t swim with his cast so we bid each other bon voyage. I head up the rocks on the side of the stream to get out of site of the bridge. THen I strip down and ease in. Oh is it cold! But it feels great to scrub off some of the sweat from the climb. I get my head under and then out on the rocks to eat my peanut butter mini bagel and plum. Then into my clothes and I finish the hike. Once I pass the bridge the path turns level and wide. No more hills, rocks or mud! I stroll along side the river and then through a beautiful grove of cedar trees. Another 2 km and I am back at the parking lot. I get my boots of and walk to the discovery center and use the loo. I decide not to have a beer but jump in the van and head North out of the Park.

Soon I am in St. Ann de Monts and there is a cool park by the water with lots of sculpture made from carved and assembled driftwood. Neat stuff. I walk around and look at them all. Id rive around until find a internet and do my email then I stop at a supermarket for beer chips and salsa! Ricards Red this time. It’s what I had in the internet cafe and is pretty good. I head on west along the coast and when I reach Metane I spot a bunch of Rv’s parked beside a wharf behind a mall and drive down to investigate. Sure enough it’s a place where people just stop for the night. I pull along the shore and open the doors and watch the sun setting with a cold beer and some chips. The people in the next RV are pointing and I realize there is a marmot on the rocks right next to me. How cool! He is very used to people and gets right down on the ground nest to me and grazes the weeds by my tires! He is fat and happy.

He moves on down the rocks and I watch him with my binoculars for a while. Lots of other RV pull in and also there is a 45 foot wooden ketch at the dock. She is really lovely and the couple that own her walk past me to go out o n the wharf, then walk towards town. Probably to have dinner. Then an old VW bus pulls in and parks. Two guys get out and I grab another beer and go have a conversation. They are two brothers from Trois Pistoles, Quebec. They have been fishing and are getting set to fish some more after they finish eating. THey are headed east and I recommend the Point Gaspe walk. The temperature is really dropping fast. I am wearing pile but an still getting cold. So I bid them good fishing and go back to make dinner. Broccoli and rice. It’s very tasty and warms up the van. Soon I am in my bunk with the windows closed but the top up and I have my blanket and sleeping bag over me and am snug as a bug in a rug! Goodnight!

I am up at 5:45 at first light and I need the bathroom so I head across the mall parking lot towards a McDonalds sign. But soon I change course when I see a Tim’s. Soon I am sitting down with a medium hot chocolate and a sesame seeds bagel with butter. Yum. When it’s done I walk back and quietly put down the top and drive off. I drive to Rimouski, Quebec and stop at a mall to look for a new camera. I didn’t find a camera, an outdoor shop was having sale and i got some clothes and a nice set of small binoculars all on sale. Then I drove downtown and asked around and finally I found a camera shop and they had a Canon D-10 compact waterproof, freeze proof camera. So i bought it. I drove to a parking place and ate a mini bagel with sardines and cheese and read the basic on my camera.

There was a bike path so I went for a nice ride as it was an absolutely beautiful day. The bike path was really nice and went around the shore and through a nice park where I watch some guys playing beach volleyball for a while. then I rode back and packed up and drove on to Le Bic Provincial Park and got a campsite at the top of the hill and spent a couple of hours playing with my new binoculars and camera! The camera has a ton of different controls. It’s very versatile and takes good pictures. I took a trail walk and experimented with the camera then picked up some kindling and started a fire in my camp and spent a nice couple of hours sitting by the fire eating chips and salsa and drinking beer. Just as my fire was dying out my neighbors rolled up and were struggling with their fire. I went over and helped them get it going and had a nice conversation with a couple from France. They were both chemists and have a one year old daughter back in Britany. Again it was getting really cold so we put the fire out and I crawled into bed. It feels really good to have a camera again! I really missed taking pictures. This one is waterproof to 30 feet! That should open up some good possibilities for me! Good night.


I am up at first light and I drive down to the water and I hear a strange grunting noise and realize that there are harbor seals lazing on the rocks out in the middle of the little bay. I count about a dozen of them. The tide is going out and they seem to be complaining as their water is disappearing. I watch for a while then ride my bike all around their bike trails. I see a couple of deer including one with a fawn still in spots. I ride all the way out to the point and take some pics with my new camera. I stop and look at the historic buildings and then I get on the road south. I drive to Trios Pistoles to catch the ferry across the St. Lawrence River but it doesn’t run again until 4:30 pm. I try for an internet signal but can’t find on so I drive on south to Rieveire du Loup where the ferry should go at 2 pm. It’s 11 am but cars are already lining up so I get in line and break out the chips and my book. About 20 minutes later I notice the Rv in front of me is moving. I drop the chips and fly into the drivers seat and crank up the engine as the guy waves me onto the ferry.

Wow they are loading early! I’ll bet we leave at noon. I go up and sit in the cafe and treat myself to a cheeseburger platter. It lands in front of my right at noon, just as the boat starts moving. Cool. The cheeseburger is passable, and filling. I walk around and take pics then read my book and soon we are on the other side. I get off the ferry and drive North up to Lac St. Jean. I pick up internet in Chicoutini and take pictures of the Pyramide du Ha Ha. It sit in the town Parc. Must have been commissioned by The Joker! All of a sudden the mountains are gone and the land is flat and covered with crops. Big farms here. I turn south back into the mountains and then up a dirt road to lac du La Belle Reviere. It ‘s remote campsite and I really use my franglais to procure a campsite. The wind is really blowing up. It’s very chilly and getting dark so I go and find the showers. I take a nice hot shower and then write my journal and make broccoli rice for dinner. It tastes excellent. I listen to Tom Waits and write in my log until the power is gone and then crash. The temp has dropped to below 50 F so I close the windows and roll up in my blankets and am a sleep almost immediately. This is as far North as I am going. Tomorrow I head south. It’s been a good run but I am ready to point my nose towards home. To quote a NGDB songs. “Put out the fire call in the dogs and head it on back to Bowlegs. “ Always liked that song.

At daybreak I get dressed and hightail it to the bathroom. It’s cold this morning and just barely light so I get back in my warm blankets for a while. I get up at 7:30 and have tea and cereal with dried blueberries then hit the road. To my chagrin the small road west i want to take is impassable so i go back North then west to Rt 155. I stop for gas and then as a farm stand. The wind is blowing really hard and has just blown over all their berries. The whole floor is a carpet of blue and raspberries! It’s a sad sight. They are scrambling to get them back in boxes. I buy fresh corn beans tomatoes and some blueberries. Then I start south. It’s a very scenic highway winding through mountains and along a rappidy river. Soon I am in town of LaToque. I stop for groceries and another block of ice. I have some blueberries and plums for lunch. Then I drive on south and snack on sunflower seeds and sesame sticks as I go. Soon I am the outskirts of Montreal.

I drive in and on to Sherbrook St. which runs the length if the City east to west. It’s 3:30 so I pull off into a Parc by the Botanical gardens but they want a lot to park so I drive on downtown. I south closer to the water and in the older section of the City I see and public market with parking behind it. It’s 4 pm and the radio is talking about how horrible traffic is. I get out and walk through the market and down the street. It’s an old kind of rundown neighborhood. Lots of young people, artists and immigrants. I find an old bookstore and browse then talk to the owner for awhile. He has interesting collection of French Expressionist and Surrealist plays. Including and very old copy of UBU ROI by Alfred Jarry. A very revolutionary play in it’s time. Then owner is a big Jack Kerouac fan and knows St. Pete because of Jack. We talk for a while and he gives me directions to a couple of good restaurants He has never owned a car. He has owned the bookshop for 30 years. His wife is an advocat (lawyer) and the walk or use public transport.

They rent a car occasionally so go to the U.S. for Kerouac festivals!
. He doesn’t know how secure my parking space is but says all side streets are free so I move. I find a nice looking quiet spot on a side street. My bike is folded inside the covered with dirty clothes. That ought to stop any thief! I walk around and find the restaurant and then walk further around the area. Montreal is pretty warm tonight. No coat needed and the sky is clear. Everyone is out in the Parks playing. I take pics and walk and listen and smell. So different to be in a City after the Gaspesie! I want to come back here and get a hotel and ride my bike all over! My feet are getting tired so I land in a sidewalk pub for a beer. I sit in the only empty table and there are some people next to me and one guy is wearing shirt saying Rappongi Ravers. Looks like it was a japanese sports team shirt he found in a thrift shop. He is talking to a smartly dressed woman wearing a black dress with a belt that say Love Juicy. What a great couple. They are the only people talking in mostly English. My french has gotten much better over the last few weeks but I still cant’s follow a rapid conversation. So it’s fun to listen to them. I was trying to get a stealth pic of them but my flash went off.

Damn! Then the guy was telling a story and waving his hands around when his ring flew off and hit my foot. I gave it to him and complemented them on their outfits. They left soon and I walked to the French restaurant. Le Petit Extra on Ontario Street just a few blocks south of the Pont Jacques Cartier. It looks nice so I go in and the menu looks great. They have entrees and a fixed Price menu. I ask about the fixe pree and he says ha can adjust it if I can’t eat the whole thing. So I agree and order fish soup, lamb shish kebobs with a tomato cumin sauce and a glass of the house red. The soup is really good. Served with some toasts and parmesan and sauce that comes with bouillabaisse. It’s amazing. The lamb dish is terrific. Served with a cake of rice topped with yellow squash zucchini and parmesan. Wow it’s cooked just right. and the tomato coulis is great. I am too full for dessert so i cash out and walk back to BEYOND. It’s dark and I am tired. The street is quiet so I crawl in the back and am able to fold down the bed with the bicycle and I read to see if anyone notices me. No sign of any so I pull the shades and crash.

Friday
I am up 6:30 and I drive to the corner diner to use the restroom and have breakfast. The,oef,crepe,fruite,pomme frites. THe syrup came in a teapot like the tea. I refilled my tea cup from the syrup pot by mistake. GRR! I thought the tea looked thick! Then I moved my bike back to the rack and hit the road. Back on Sherbrook St and head west. Through the rest of the city. My map indicated Sherbrook St. running over a bridge and out of the city as Rt. 138 which is the road I want. Well it doesn’t. I had to fiddle around but I finally found it about 8:45 and fought my way out. Soon I was back in famland and rooling smoothly south. I crossed the border at Malone, NY with no problems. No hard questions or search! I rolled on into Malone and checked my phone for messages and read my email. I had a nice talk with my father. He might be joining me in GA. It would be geat to finish my trip with him. I go to Mineke but they can’t give me an oil change unitl tomorrow, and the Pizza Hut doesn’t have the buffet, so head south into the Adirondack Park.

I stop at the Interpretive Center and ask about campsite availability. She doesn’t know but guve me a huge brochure. I try callling one and can’t really hear them so I drive on down to Fish Pond. Supposed to be beautiful. I get a site and it’s okay right on the water. But all the campsites are one the water! All 300+ sites. Wow! I haven’t seen this many people in a long time. I decide to drive into Lake Saranac and the on into Lake Placid. Looking for a cool jakcet I saw in Rimouski but didn’t want to buy in Canada. Can’t find it in either town. So I head back and eat sunflower seeds as I drive. Then make some of the brocclli and corn for dinner. I have chips salsa and beer while I am cooking. I decide to bike to the showers and end up biking a long way. It seems like I am half way around the Lake. Good thing I brought an extra head light! I take my shpwer and the water is good and hot. I jump back on the bike and decide to ride the rest of the way around the lake home. Well it takes me about 40 minutes! There was a lot more lake this way. I end up riding along the main road and then through the woods but finally I make back home! What a trek; my fingers were pretty numb by the time I finished. I relax for a while and write in m log and then into bed. I read some of The Shipping News and the off to sleep.

In the morning I up right as the sun is coloring the sky. I hit the head and take some pictures, then go back to bed for a while. It’s quite chilly this morning. Maybe 48 degrees. It feels to to crawl back in my warm covers. I wkae up at 9 and eat some creal and blueberries then head south with a cup of hot chocolate. I come around the corner of Raquette Lake and there is a swimming area with people in the water and a parking space. Cool. I grab it and walk over to the beach. It’s warm on the sand so I get my chair and book and sit in the sun. I still have on a pile jacket and hat but the sun is warm. Soon I get my courage up and change into my suit and into the water. It’s really much warmer than I expected. Certainly warmer than the water I have been swimming in lately. It’s a tiny swimming area so I can’t really swim so I float for while then swim a bit and wrap up in my towel and sit in the sun. When I am wrmer and dryer I go change and grab he chips and eat them while I read. Glorious. There is a seaplne that gives rides and it’s fun watching him take off and land about every half hour. Then I drive to Blue Mountain Lake and spend the afternoon in the Adirondack Museum. It’s as cool as I remember, with a great section on wooden boats. When the staff finally push me out the door I head south still on Rt. 30 and find a campsite on Leaky Lake. It’s up above the lake but off by myself. I am just settling in with a beer when the rain starts. It gets going and rains steadily through a dinner of yellow beans corn and pepperoni mac n cheese. By the time I get into bed it’s raining pretty hard and continues all night. But I amsnug and warm with U K LeGuin’s Twelve Winds. Good Night.

In the morning it’s still raining and very gray. I get up and have my cereal and make a cup of tea then drive over to the showers. No quarters needed but the water is icy cold. Not very nice on a cold rainy day! I am wash my hair because I am visting my friend Carol tomorrow and I want to be presentable! Quick scrub, faster rinse and I am out shivering! Back into my clothes and over to the recycking center to process my trash. I have been very pleased to see that most campgrounds have centers for recycling. It’s a good thing! I drive south to Amerstam in teh fog and rain. It’s beautiful to see the misty on the mountains, but even nicer to be in a car with the heater on! In Amerstdam, NY I see a Jiffy Lube and pull in. They can get to her about 10 minutes. Great! So about 20 minutes later I am on the road again. Just down the road I see a laudromat and pull in. Let’s get a bunch of chores done today! My clothes are in and I see a Pizza Hut across the street but no buffet on Sautrday. When my laudry is folded and stowed I drove on and there is a movie theater. I pull in but the Jlia Child movie I want to see downs’t start for hours. Too bad. I contue south on Route 30 through the Schoharie Valley. Rolling hills and farms. Lots of old houses. It’s very pretty out here.

Old stone churches and graveyards. I see some familar place that bring back nice memories. I see a church bar-b-que supper and pull over. As usual I am right at the end. THey are out of sides so I buy half a chicken. It’s tasty! I am the only one eating and the lady gives me two ribs to try. I eat one and it’s flavorful but a bit tough. I save it and some of the chicken for dinner. I thank the foolks and head south. Soon I turn off 30 and work my way over to Rt. 28 East and head into the Catskill Mts towards Kingston. I stop in Phonec ia, NY and head for the Wooded Valley campground. It’ss takes me a but of driving around but finally I make up to the end of the right road and it’s verty pretty. I get a site right on the Creek. Cool! They assure me the showers are hot. Quarters required but hot! I have some beer and veggies for dinner and then walk off to look for the showers. THey are nice and clean and the water is hot! What a pleasure after a cold rainy day! I get back to BEYOND and type in my log until the rain starts again. THen I cewal into bed and read and story by Ursula before nodding off. Snug and warm istening to the rain and the creek.

Sunday Aug 30

I sleep in a bit today. Then I haave cereal and the last of the Quebec blueberries. I make tea for the road and drive back down the mountain to Rt. 28 and the 30 miles to Carol’s house. The further I descend the more the sun comes out until I roll up carol’s strret under a clear blue sky. It’s great to see Carol and the crocs I left at her house are right where i left them! Hello old friends. We chat and I help with a photoshop project and eat some stale popcaorn she made last night. It’s really good. She cooked it in olive oil onion and garlic and the poured butter with a hint of maple syrup over it! Wow it’s good even the next day. The we jump in here convertible, drop the top and drive up into the village of Rosedale. Carol drives me past a house she is considering buying. It needs work but is in a good location. Not too remote and the neighbors look nice. The catskills are a very expensive. Lot’s of people from NYC have summer places there. Plus all the eealthy artists, musicians and hippes that want to be near Woodstock live all around.

We stop in Rosedale at the bakery and get some foccacia and lemon poppysead bread for lunch. We go across the street to a Cheesehop and thrift store. I find a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude for $3 and buy it. A great book and I will need one more for the trip home. G. G. Marquez is one of my favorite authors. The we drive up to the very famous Mohunk Mountain Resort where she works as a florist. I have heard about this place for years but never seen it. It’s pretty pricey and has been open since the late 1800’s. It was built as a place for people to go and commune with nature. I must say that I had my reservations about it but it is an amazing place. They have really worked hard to keep it as pristine as possible. It’s right up on a mountain with a high mountain spring fed lake and it building is really amazing. There are hundreds of rooms that all have working fireplaces all in one old stone building! It is an amazing example of dream architecture from the late 1880’s. It was a perfect late summer day and we walk , hiked, swam, picniced and had a really great time. I took a ton of pics that I will get on my website eventually. If I were ever to go to a resort this is one would be very high on my list. It’s a very beautiful place.

We are getting hungry so we drave down to the Rosedale Tavern for dinner. The waitress is raving about the corn seafood chowder. I don’t really get good chodwer in the south especially corn chowder. ANd I really never see seafood corn chowder. SO I oder a bowl and we both order a porkchop an an apple maple glaze. The chowder is excellent. It’s the real McCoy. I savor it to the last drop. THe porkchop comes and is immense with mash potatoes and yellow swuah and zuchini. It is also very tasty and I eat the whole thing along with a locally brewed beer. Glad we hiked and swam today. It was a real treat to spend the day with Carol at Mohunk and to have such great food! We rool out to the car and stop at the movie rental place for The Science of Sleep and Burn After Reading. We start with Science which I really enjoy and Carol ahs never seen. It’s artsy and quirky but she is tired and dozes off. I enjoy it but we are too tired to watch Burn. Too bad as I have never seen it. We both collapse into bed. What a great day! I can’t wait see my Mohunk Pics! Good night.