Montréal | Accommodation: 1406 Rue Ste-Élisabeth, Montréal
The decision to add an extra day in Montréal yesterday was a good one. The food, rest, and culture were all things I had been in need of. Hot showers. NHL playoffs. Sinking into a deep sleep by 8:45 pm. Yesterday’s walk into Montréal was a big one, and the distance covered required subsequent rest. This morning I am awake early to do a bit of reading, then spend a good hour composed of showering, cleaning, grooming, brushing, organizing the pack, and descending downstairs to eat some breakfast. Some journalling is added to the notebook, as I consider all of the tasks that need be done today. I’ll be looking for coffee over my upcoming 9 km walk to Mountain Equipment Coop, as the café in the hostel is closed. I have a few things to do while in the city to prepare for the next stage of the walk to Quebec City and Trois-Rivières. By 7:00 I am outside charging into the morning. I basically follow Saint-Denis north as far as possible, to a point where Apple Maps steers me through a section of earthen trail through a green space wrapping around a number of old high-rise buildings and underneath a freeway overpass where skateboard ramps and rails have been designed and installed. Every concrete surface is covered with murals, graffiti, and tags. I find the MEC easily, and to my surprise I also find a BulkBarn. I relax on a sunny bench until the stores open at 10:00. I buy couscous, seasoning, trail mix, and some dry snacks for the road. I’ll buy more five-minute rice from a grocery store closer to the hostel. To MEC, where new SAXX underwear are acquired. I also find a 15 cm x 30 cm exterior pouch that will house my phone, credit cards, and coffee cards nicely. Up to this point, I’ve been having to stuff my phone uncomfortably into pant or fleece pockets, neither of which offer efficient access due the waist belt of the pack making these actions quite difficult each time. Because I am taking lots of photos for future creative projects, having a comfortably-accessible pocket to store the phone and all cards for making purchases cuts down on dropping or losing anything along the way. It also prevents having to take the pack off in order to dig into already very full pockets in search of credit cards. The exterior pouch is made by Fjällräven, and fits comfortably onto either the hip belt or the chest strap of the pack. I also buy a zippered pouch for toiletries. Up to now I have had these items in a ziplock bag which has slowly been falling apart. This nylon bag will fit everything comfortably and much more securely. Finding everything I need, I return to downtown via Rue Saint-Hubert, an interesting, low-key street that reminds me of Kensington Market in Toronto. Transfer to Rue Saint-Denis. From here, I find an interesting street closed off to traffic called Av Du Mont Royal, where I pause at 12:30 to enjoy a poutine plate from a restaurant called Dirty Pizza. I spend a pleasant 30 minutes on the patio in the sun. For the last leg of walking to the hostel, I take Boul St-Laurent, which features a number of good furniture and industrial design stores, with cool clothing shops and a handful of interesting pubs. By 2:00 the temperature has risen to 22 degrees. I am so happy to have booked at the last minute into this hostel, called the M Montréal Hostel, as last night and today would have been much rougher. As it is, I am already exhausted over having completed the chores of the day, and I am looking forward to getting over to the property of my first reservation in the city (I had originally planned on two nights in Montréal) to relax and organize. A private room sounds really, really good right now! I wait at the hostel until 4:00 before walking my pack over to the reserved room. It is no more than ten minutes down Rue Ste-Catherine E. I find the location easily, and make my way inside without incident. However, as I enter the unit, a man is inside, slightly confused at my presence. After we talk, I realize that he is the cleaner, called at the last minute due to the regular cleaner having come down with COVID-19. As he was contacted at the last minute, he is still finishing up cleaning the flat, requiring a half hour to finish the work. I simply rest in the hallway, grateful for the carpeting. When the room is ready, I enter, find the hockey game, and wash three loads of clothing in the washing machine. I promptly fall into some strategic snoozing on the comfortable couch to around 10:30 pm, at which point I brush up the teeth and fall into the most plush bed the world has ever seen, finding sleep quickly. Exhausted, but feeling good and happy!
Today’s distance walked: 25.31 km (city walking) | Total distance walked: 634.83 km
‘You’re driving down the road to ruin.” – graffiti written on an automobile overpass in Montréal
Pointe-des-Cascades to Montréal | Hotel: M Hostel, 1245 Rue Saint-André, Montreal
Last night the temperature hovered around 15 degrees. So while the rain fly was put on (I was expecting rain), the windows and rain fly vestibule stayed open all night for a great sleep. I am awake, up, and out walking by 6:15 through residential neighborhoods perched scenically along the water north of Pointe-des-Cascades. I walk 9 km to a McDonalds where I treat myself to a second breakfast of the morning. I don’t believe this is hiker hunger kicking in yet; I think I’m simply hungrier than usual. I back up photo files and organize daily folders. I’ve been thinking about all of the creative making I want to be doing following the completion of this walk. I will be writing articles to post on Medium; I will be making books with the writing and photos I’ve been making throughout this experience; and I want to learn about broadcast media and the software used so that a limited series podcast can be made from the voice memos I’ve been recording as a component of the audio. In order to be able to do all of this, I have been keeping very meticulous organization over all of the stuff I’ve been capturing to prevent having to look at one mountainous, unorganized mess of files upon completing the walk. So, daily file upkeep (I remind myself every day) is not time taken away from the trail but is rather a crucial use of time in order to foster better future outcomes of making. I download and install Apple iPhone updates. Catch up on Numbers expenses, and input recent daily distance totals. I write in the journal, and later fill up all the water bottles. Washroom, then out to continue walking toward the city by 9:19. I walk over 10 km to 12:00. This brings me to Fritz Park along the water shore. Earlier, I had crossed the bridge from St-Jean Baptiste into Terrasse-Vaudreuil. Here I stop to buy a few pints and another instant noodle package just in case hunger strikes on tomorrow’s walk into the city of Montréal. A road through a quiet birdsong-filled forest—Boul Perrot N—brings me to the second bridge, Pont Galipeault. Moving through Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, I am officially on Montréal Island. There is a boardwalk along the water, passing restaurants and bar patios in the process of opening for lunch. I then begin to walk Rue Ste-Anne, a road that will blend into a number of names over the course of its lazy hugging of the water’s shoreline. This is a very long way into Montréal, but as this route follows the western shoreline of the St. Lawrence River into the city, it will offer spectacular views of the surrounding landscapes, both natural and built. As I am following it, coming up to 12:00, I find a nice park with picnic tables upon which to cook lunch, enjoy a cold pint, journal down the day, and take some photos. What a lovely area this is—perfect for walking into the incredible city of Montréal! I decide to research hostels in the city. I find one with a good price for the night. I decide to reserve a bed in a dorm room and book it, not wanting to tent in the city. The walk through the town of Dorval and Grove Hill is beautiful: trees, canals, wide sidewalks with restaurant patios spilling out with patrons laughing and drinking wine. I enjoy the walk up to this point very much. It then turns toward the edge of the city, and I suddenly find myself walking through much less scenic spaces. Rue St. Jacques cuts directly through an industrial sector composed of massive concrete structures, many of which are condemned, closed down, awaiting demolition, and covered thick with graffiti. It is a landscape falling apart, fascinating in that odd way upon looking at something ugly that simply cannot be averted. Everything from here to Highways 15 and 20 is otherworldly. I transfer over to Rue Ste-Catherine Ouest as soon as possible. Here, better scenery, interesting architecture, and street culture greet me, and it is nice to walk through, only it seems to take forever to gain distance toward my hostel. This is desperation walking: wanting to stop to relax and rest but knowing ten kilometres separate me from my destination. I arrive at the hostel sometime around 7:15 pm. I check in, walk up to the dorm room on the second floor, settle in, and enjoy a long hot shower. Pint. I then head outside to track down some food. A very large, very tasty beef shawarma wrap is followed by a 14-piece sushi dinner plate a few doors down the street. Overall, I am feeling good—just a bit sore in the lower back and throughout the legs. My pack has been causing havoc with the skin where it rests on my hips and lower back, causing bruising and tearing. Ah, c’est la vie d’un flânneur! I return to the hostel in time to watch the Florida / Carolina NHL playoff game on my laptop in my bed. The beds in this hostel are built as bunks, and mine is accessed by a ladder. Each bed is surrounded on three sides by walls, the facing side of which includes curtain-style drapes that can be pulled closed to create privacy. I fall asleep quickly, as I am tired, well-fed, and feeling good for a few days of rest in the city!
Today’s distance walked: 58.68 km | Total distance walked: 634.83 km
Bainsville to Pointe-des-Cascades | Campsite: 45.32719° N, 73.98002° W
Today represents two weeks of walking! By mid-morning I will have walked to the province of Québec and beyond the border. The morning is pleasant and sunny—full of birdsong as I prepare for the day. As always, I am out walking by 6:00 am. It must have been sometime around 7:30 when I crossed the Québec / Ontario provincial border, walking toward another impossibly beautiful sunrise. The electric orange disk hovering in the lightest-of-light azure skies, empty of cloud. At 7:50 I come across a little building with a picnic table. Maps posted of the upcoming landscape are presented, detailing various routes for cycling. One extends all the way to the Pointes-des-Cascades, a route that closely follows the St. Lawrence River, and the route I have been planning to walk. It is longer in distance but should prove to be much more scenic than routes more inland of the river. I finish up my orange and ginger tea, continuing on by 8:10. Approaching 9:30, I enter Saint-Zotique, an intriguingly neat and well-kept little town. Walking north to a McDonalds located at the on-ramp to the 401, I pass lovely small houses, delightful little parks with families enjoying the sun, and shops occupying little buildings along the town’s business centre. Once seated, I charge batteries, transfer files, back up files to the hard drive, and refill all water bottles. I photographed the bike tour map this morning, and am glad that I did, as I notice a paved multi-use trail running for 10 km through forest and along a rail route bordering the backyards of houses lining the path. It is a very pleasant and relaxing walk, and I make numerous recordings of birdsong along the section. The path leads back to the water, and I find a nice picnic table with an angled sunshade. As the time is 12:00, I pause to cook a noodle and couscous lunch. Pint. Writing. I am loving the day! It is sunny, and mild, with a comforting breeze. Birds are singing everywhere, impressing me with their skill at hitting so many perfect notes. Pack up by 12:45 and continue walking eastward. 23.6 km have been walked, and I would like to continue through to Pointe-des-Cascades. I also want to mention a kind and friendly woman named Sandra working at a convenience store from whom I purchased some snacks for the day. In our conversation, she mentioned that she moved to the region three years ago to get away from the city (I presume Montréal as she later mentioned not having returned to the city in over two years). We both seem to be pulled toward quiet places, and she says that moving to where she is presently was the best decision she has made as she now loves her community. I find the trail that wraps through the forest around Saint-Zotique, and it is lovely to walk as large trees cover the trail in a leafy canopy, providing dappled shade. The trail carries me eastward and is a nice change from both highway and shoreline walking, offering much smaller views of upcoming landscapes. This is a wonderful aspect of this challenge thus far: the types of landscapes and environments throughout the walk have been diverse, constantly providing new and unexpected terrain to observe and through which to move. 6 km later, I break from the trail to enter the tiny town of Le Bas-des-Cedres for some post-walk pints, fruit, and as a treat an ice cream cone. From here, the final 6.2 km is a breeze, an enjoyable stroll down a well-maintained path bordered on each side with manicured cut grass. I find another stellar place to camp right along the trail upon a manicured area of grass bordered by a wall of trees and thick cedar hedges. On the map, I am in Le Rocher-Tendu, just west of Pointe-des-Cascades. As I was setting up the tent, two women cycled by asking where I am off to. I reply “Toronto to St. John’s”, and a chorus of cheers and thumbs-ups are given. One thing I have noticed all along these small towns linked by cycle trails and walking paths is an incredible community of people in love with the outdoors and all activities made accessible to the residents. There is a discernible excitement and connection between the people here and with nature. I have missed this over the past 20 years of living in concrete, asphalt, steel, and glass. I have forgotten the rhythms of nature, and how profoundly they once regulated my younger life. It is incredible to be surrounded by it once again, as I am again beginning to feel natural within it and all of its beauty and mystery. Today has been another good one, both in distance covered, in empathy shown, in the connections made, and in the conversations shared. By 6:46 pm I’ve written the day down in the journal. Tired, achy, but feeling the good kind of weariness that comes with a day in which good work has been made. Feeling strong, confident, and peaceful as the evening darkens into night. I read to 8:30, then suit up for the oncoming cold, reflecting on how I came to be here, in this spot, at this moment.
Today’s distance walked: 45.81 km | Total distance walked: 576.15 km
Reflection on Week 2
• Finding the store “Trailhead” in Kingston, replacing old and broken gear, and meeting incredibly cool people!
• Visiting Kingston after walking for a complete week was rejuvenating and exciting!
• Walking and camping through The Parkway was amazing—thanks to the advice from Brenda and Tim.
• Meeting incredibly cool bike-packers Susie and Mike, and hearing about their already incredible year!
• Consistent 40 km (and further) days walking.
• Two full weeks of incredible weather.
• Trail magic, good conversations, and very supportive people.
• Finding and carrying a perfect little Robin’s egg to a veterinary clinic perfectly placed along my route.
• Very good camping, very good sleeping—thanks to Scott for assuring me that I could camp on the park grounds he was cutting.
