Québec City to St-Michel-de-Bellechase | Campsite: 46.87768° N, 70.90807° W
Sleep last night was legendary. 4:00 I wake into the day and prepare for the upcoming walk. The pack is organized with all clean gear and clothing. The food purchased yesterday is portioned out into daily meals for the upcoming ten days of walking, planning, mapping, and forecasting of weather. By 7:42, I have everything I need to be prepared for the upcoming section of 189 km to the city of Rivière-du-Loup. By 9:45 the pack is organized, a final hot soak is enjoyed, and I am locking the door, walking my way through beautiful and historic Old Quebec City. I board the ferry which, in ten minutes, takes me to the south side of the St. Lawrence River. Quebec City is majestic, and the views of the city from the water as the ferry pulls out are incredible. Many photos are taken throughout the day, with every view worthy of being captured. At the ferry docks, all passengers exit, and I begin my first segment of walking eastward along the south side of the river. The terrain is just so damn pretty. The sun is bright in a light blue late spring / early summer sky, and everything around me is uncompromisingly alive. I walk 10 km on a wonderful multi-use trail and a fairly devastating uphill detour to Boul Guillaume-Couture (Highway 132) where I invest in a cold Labatt Bleu Dry and inhale the remains of a bag of potato chips purchased yesterday. By 12:30, I am walking east down Highway 132 when the trail ends. This road will carry me 166 km to the city of Rivière-du-Loup, which is what I am considering the starting point for the fourth leg of the walk. Leg 1 was Toronto to Kingston; leg 2 was Kingston to Montréal; leg 3 is Montréal to Rivière-du-Loup; and leg 4 will be Rivière-du-Loup to Fredericton. Once I clear the suburbs, the landscape opens up. Massive views of the St. Lawrence River and mountains of the Laurentides beyond are on full display for most of the day, visible in stunning magnitude. The road itself climbs 500 metres, descending into valleys of green before ascending again. The road is quite lovely, twisting and turning, rising and descending before settling into a four-kilometre straight stretch into the town of Beaumont where at 2:30 I stop for fruit, a pint, and some rest in the shade. So far I’ve walked 21 km. With the town of St-Michel-de-Bellechase just 10 km away, I decided to walk to it. By 5:30, I am walking into town. At the post office, I ask a man if there is a dépanneur in town, and he says yes and that it is only minutes away. Upon arriving and purchasing two celestially-immaculate frigid pints, I see him in line with a baguette and bottle of red wine. C’est le Québec ici. Securing sustenance for the evening, I make my way toward the shore, which seems to be the culture here, as the public park along the shoreline is wonderfully full of people: families picnicking on the grass; couples running toward picnic tables in order to secure a comfortable site to enjoy take-out dinner or a bottle of wine; groups of children released from school intent on making use of the immaculately-cut green expanse of grass with river and mountain ranges as a backdrop to a pick-up soccer match. I met Marcel in this park on the shore of the river as I was decompressing from the day’s walk while eating a dinner of rice and couscous cooked with my stove. I approached him as he was lying on a section of shaded grass to ask if he thought it would be alright if I camped for the night on the grounds of the park. He felt it would be more helpful to ask the owner of a nearby pub that stood adjacent to the public park for confirmation. We talk for 20 minutes, as he was very knowledgeable about the town and the area. He was also familiar with the upcoming stretch of roadway that I would soon be walking. I thank him and walk to the pub, first speaking with the hostess, and then to the head chef. He explains that the restaurant does not own any land surrounding the building and that therefore—just as my previous conversation with Marcel uncovered—there was a chance that I might be told to leave if I attempted a night of camping in a public park that was so busy with local residents. He mentioned that the restaurant closed at 8:00 pm. I figured that by the time the patrons finished and the staff completed their duties for the day that I could have the tent up by 9:00 if I felt the park empty enough of people. The park does empty out fully by 8:00. As I am waiting, a man who offered me his backyard to camp in for the night back at the dépanneur cycles up to the table I am working at, accessing the internet from the pub. Pierre asks how my walk has been, and we strike up a conversation that lasts close to 20 minutes, his wild grey hair dancing in the wind from the Saint Lawrence. He tells me about what I can expect to see eastward as I walk toward Rivière-du-Loup. We also talk about his own travels throughout Canada and the USA. As he is retired and his family is located in both California and British Columbia, he and his wife will often take road trips to the west coast and stay weeks or months visiting family. He has a wonderful softness in his manner of speaking. We talk about the state of politics, and our love for nature, switching often from French to English and back again. I was intrigued with the man over the course of our conversation here in the park, which nicely continued from the general store a few blocks back. We shake hands as he rides off toward his home at the closing of this incredible day. I have the tent up by 9:00 directly behind the restaurant with incredible views of the river, and I begin to settle into the evening by 9:15.
Today’s distance walked: 33.84 km | Total distance walked: 985.84 km
“Je peux voir l’éternité” – street art painted on concrete freeway overpass columns in Quebec City
Domaine-Notre-Dame to Québec City | Accommodation: 750 Rue Saint-Joseph E, Québec City
The time is 8:43 am. I am currently sitting at a picnic table at an IGA grocery store just inside the limits of Quebec City. I am enjoying newly-purchased fruit, cooking a pot of ramen, while enjoying a pint of “Boréale Pure Malt Pur Lager.” I have walked 19.11 km, advancing into the city primarily along Highway 358. The walk was beautiful, with colourful sunrise, incredible views of the city 20 km in the distance, relatively little traffic around the city, and beautiful temperature from 9–17 degrees under full sun and blue sky. I made really good use of the morning, beginning the walking day at 5:00. With just 3.7 km distance left to walk to MEC, I feel confident that I will arrive by 10:00, as I will leave here by 9:15. As I am eating a woman approaches me, asking what I am cooking, seeing the mini stove and pot heating on the picnic table. She is impressed at what I am making, and smiles warmly while exclaiming “Parfait!” She wishes me well, her warm smile never leaving her face. People in this province are happy! The feeling of being surrounded by such joy has been positively affecting my overall mood, as I am gaining ever more confidence and interest in approaching others and am more effortlessly engaging in conversation. From here the walk to MEC takes about 45 minutes. The store is well organized, and I find everything I need quickly as it has just opened and very few customers are within. I find bug repellent, and after-bite. I buy two more zipped cube sacks which will help me organize many of the small items that have been bouncing around while inside the pack. New shoes are also purchased. I met Guy in the footwear area of the store. I explain the walk and the types of terrain I am moving through. We talk for about five minutes, and as we agree on a shoe, he brings out the last pair they have in my size. I try them on, walk around, and don’t take them off until I arrive at my rented loft for the night, hours later. He made excellent recommendations on footwear, and I left with a pair of very comfortable Brooks CTS runners. We talked about hiking, which he enjoys, and the city with its close access to nature in the Laurentide Mountains. I leave by 10:45, arriving downtown by 1:00. I cook another ramen cup in a park, then get some sightseeing made. I walk Rue Ste-Joseph East which is quite interesting; climb a 700-metre staircase and hill to see Av Carter where I also buy groceries. I return to downtown via Rue St-Jean, walking back to the area known as Notre-Dame-des-Anges which is just two minutes walk from my rented loft. I am a half hour early for check-in. I find a shaded bench and put the day into the journal. I do some mapping of the area for food, and at 3:00 I enter my home for the evening. To be clear, living for entire weeks on the trail—without hyperbole—is probably the most personally meaningful set of experiences I’ve ever had. With that, the occasional time planned every week or so indoors for cleaning, organizing, recuperation, a full meal, a plush bed, and time to reacquaint myself with world events does feel magical. I think the trail magnifies the magic in the conveniences of life. When these conveniences are removed for extended periods of time, they become much more meaningful and special when reintroduced into life. Immediately upon checking in, I fill the tub in order to soak the clothing as I step out to a grocery store one block east for supplies and pick up food for dinner from a restaurant. Returning to the loft in order to rest, map, plan, clean, and dry out gear, I use the evening effectively to prepare for the upcoming stretch between Quebec City and Rivière-du-Loup. The tent is put together with all windows open to dry it out in the main area of the loft, at which point I settle into the evening.
Today’s distance walked: 38.31 km | Total distance walked: 952.00 km
Paré–Domaine-Notre-Dame | Campsite: 46.77109° N, 71.54316° W
The morning begins at 4:00, early enough to be comfortably walking by 5:15. I slept very well last night, and as a result, I feel good this morning venturing out onto the roadway. I walk through the still-sleeping village of Deschambault, and walk the 9 km to the town of Portneuf where a gas station attendant schooled in the traditional arts of monosyllabic communication answers my question for coffee with the slightest of shoulder gestures aimed to the right and a “Là” given for good measure in case I have follow-up questions. From here, I walk along the shore to the small village of Cap-Santé where a wonderfully ebullient bubbly woman directs me toward the town church—the Crypte de l’Église Ste-Famille—for a scenic spot in which to enjoy my 9:30 breakfast/lunch. I have walked 20.28 km. Soon, just before the town of Donnacona, I will turn inland, making my way toward the town of Pont-Rouge. Here I will locate the internet in order to post to the blog, plan the upcoming day, transfer files to the laptop / external hard drive, and organize files from today and previous days in which I had no access to the internet. The day is shaping into another beautiful one. The present temperature is 15 degrees with a fresh breeze that is quite comfortable. By 10:15 I am returning to the road, walking fully to Pont-Rouge. The walk is uneventful, and it is quick. I arrive around 1:00, after viewing an interesting river called Le Grand Remous which shows signs of wearing away the surrounding rock by entire metres in depth. Comfortable walking trails provide scenic views of rapids and rocky waterways. I continue to a restaurant for wifi where I organize, write, and back up files to 4:30 while the battery bank charges. I map out the upcoming road, through rural private properties that cover the landscape. Finding a suitable campsite might be difficult. I leave by 4:30 to get in the final desired ten kilometres of the day. The road I venture out from the restaurant onto (RTE de la Pinière) is busy, loud, and full of growling traffic. Thankfully, I turn onto a small single-lane road called Rang Petit-Capsa that I will walk through to the end of the day. It is quiet with far less traffic. By 7:00 I walk 12.75 km, the sun just beginning to sink below the tops of trees. I find a suitable location to camp in an area that is clear without signs of private property or fencing. The tent is up quickly as the water heats for cooking dinner. By 7:30 I will have eaten and journaled the day down. By 8:30 I am burrowing into a significant sleep under the liner and down quilt. A 47.75 km day is exactly the kind of distance I was hoping for! A few hours of organizing all the creative files has me feeling confident again about the making portion of this challenge.
Today’s distance walked: 47.75 km | Total distance walked: 913.69 km
