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