Day 24
June 6, 2018
Mont Orford National Park to Sherbrooke
We make our breakfast inside the salle communale (big common space building) eating the last of our delicious meat pie along with some granola and other assorted foods. The tent dries nicely hanging over the heating vent. It is still raining lightly outside and it is about 50 degrees and windy (again). Tom cheerily thinks that the mountain is making its own weather and the rain will stop as soon as we are off the mountain. I am doubtful, but its a nice idea. (Tom ended up being correct) It is steep going out of the park with wet brakes on the bike. At least my packs seem kind of light since we are low on food.
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| Last night we camped in the shadow of Mont Orford. It comes into view as the day clears. |
The rain disappears completely as we get lower onto the plateau and it's a really beautiful ride through rural landscapes to Sherbrooke. We pass through many smaller towns in what is called the eastern townships region and see quite a few other cyclists out enjoying the day.
Every town seems to have an impressively old church. Many steeples are coated in a metal plating of some sort and really stand out against the blue sky. The river we are riding along is called Rivere Saint-Francois and it is heading to the Saint Lawrence river like we are. There are trout and perch in it and a few fisherman along the way.
We camp in a private campground that is on a tiny island called I'le Marie. Since it's early, we are able to ride the very short distance to Sherbrooke for dinner and have a look at some of their cool public art pieces. (see our other post about art)
Day 25
June 7, 2018
Sherbrooke to Richmond
Sherbrooke is a sizeable city so we think its a good time to find an outing store and get a few things we need:
--dish soap because ours all spilled in its ziploc bag
-socks because we only brought really short sport socks and we are freezing/worried about ticks
--sleeping bag liner for Julia since she is cold at night in her 40 degree bag
--towel for Tom because his is lousy and non-absorbant
--cool little rubber spatula for scraping out cooking pots
--more line so we can actually hang up the tarp and the clothesline at the same time!
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| The Magog River runs through Magog River Gorge and the center of Sherbrooke. We were intrigued by the apartment balcony over the rapids |
After our little shopping trip we head back to Route Verte for a ride along a mostly unpaved section of the trail.
As you can see by the profile above, the last mile of the day was a huge climb. The campground where we are to stay is up a hill of 14% grade. The blackflies love me, so we cook in the pavillion near the office where there are none. Tomorrow we get to ride down the crazy-steep hill we climbed to get here.
Day 26
June 8, 2018
Richmond to Plessisville
Crossing the Saint Francis River
Day 27
June 9, 2018
Plessisville to Levis
For two days we travel the long straight gravel section of the Route Verte. We can't find anywhere to camp affordably and settle for an Airbnb one night and a hotel the next. Since the G-7 is in town, we are lucky to even get a room. Most of the journalists are staying in Levis. Even the KOA near Levis is charging $67 for a tiny campsite with no electricity or services of any kind, so the hotel is a better option at this point. Anyway, there is a pretty nice bar near the hotel with local beers and huge TV's showing (concurrently) the Grande Prix and a French Canadian version of British Baking Show - an interesting combination which allows us to stay awake past 9pm.
Wood turtles were laying their eggs along the trail, this one in the middle of the trail
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| Ferns, ferns, everywhere |
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| Lunch stop at one of the many rest areas specifically for the bicyclists along the trail |
dad is always right about weather!
ReplyDeleteHe is. He is always emphasizing that.
ReplyDelete