Maybe if you spend too long in the woods with nothing but your thoughts, strange things start to occur?
You’re sitting in your chair – finally, you’ve found just the right camping chair, both sturdy and supportive and with a little pocket for your favourite woodsy beverage – and you start to nod off. A day/days of strenuous inactivity can cause pleasant drowsiness, so when you come to with a slight start, you ask, what was that?
Was it the porcupine returning to the scene of his earlier encounter with Mrs. PC and Scout? (A non-spiky encounter – good news on all sides!) Nope, doesn’t seem so.
On low alert
Maybe the crows have returned, believing they hadn’t done enough previously in their attempts to disturb the peace? Nope, no crows.
Must have been an industrious woodpecker, drilling for something tasty up in the higher reaches? Nope, nothing like that.
Berry good days
So, why am I suddenly on alert? Haven’t seen or heard a raccoon, the chattering squirrels aren’t about, but something has intruded, gotten into my empty head. Good thing Scout would warn us if an unwelcome whatever was approaching. No, scratch that. This is the same Scout that didn’t even blink last time a bear wandered through our backyard. A crow, deer or squirrel, then yeah, she’ll let us know. Scout’s many wonderful things, but being a reliable guard, no, not so much.
Rustling, the ok kind
There it is, I can hear it now, a distinct rustling in the undergrowth behind me. Did anyone else hear it? No?! I’ll settle down then, must be an overactive imagination. Take another sip of the rather wonderful bottle conditioned saison from the Bercée microbrasserie we visited earlier. Mmm, excellent. Grains de folie!
May cause odd musings
There! I knew I wasn’t losing it! Look what’s come out of the woods to greet us. No, not him, he’s not real. The second one.
“Are you calling me an unwelcome whatever? Not real?! Sure, have another sip, enjoy it, and maybe I’ll be along later to have a word?”“What ya drinkin’? Looks good! Don’t mind me, don’t be startled, I’m just out on patrol! Watch out for that beardy little fella – come to think of it, he looks a bit like you, doesn’t he?”
Huh? What’s going on? Maybe I’ll keep the other bottle for when we get home, lock the doors, and drink it inside? I love it up in the Saguenay – wonderful lakes and woods, and a great place to sit and let your thoughts drift – but maybe don’t drift too far? You might end up a touch Kenogamachiche here on Lac Kénogami…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Gotta go – see if I can track down that other strange little beardy fella – see ya next time!”
Yup, according to a note that popped up last week, I’ve written (and you have endured) 500 posts here on OldPlaidCamper. Nope, got that wrong, so last week. You’ve now endured 501 posts (assuming you’re still here for this one?)
“You lot are lucky – imagine having to listen to each draft…”
Looks like I’ve gotten away with writing more or less the same thing 500 times. Man goes for walk with dog, then has a beer. Sometimes rants at the unpleasant oddity of so many right wing politicians and populist xenophobes. Asks himself has the world gone quite mad? Has another beer, decides to go camping. And repeat…
Has the world gone quite mad? Dunno – let’s go camping!
Thank you for reading and commenting – I enjoy the little online corner we share through our blogs. Friendly people with some degree of coinciding interests and concerns, never dull, always respectful and good natured, and so much fun – that’s you, not me.
Good nature
I’ll see if I can keep going for another 500? Hmm, that’s a lot of new beers to try and places to camp, but lets’s give it a go.
Beer 501, beer 502…
We’re away this week, returning to the Saguenay area, our first visit since the black fly incident back in June. There’s been a great deal of rain the past day or two, so here’s hoping those pesky black flies are poor swimmers and those that can swim are not too hungry.
To the Saguenay
I’ll catch up on all matters WordPress when we return. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Yeah, the latter! We went down to the Chaudière-Appalaches region, an area just to the south and east of Quebec City to camp at a quiet spot on the Etchemin River. The days were warm and dry but not hot, something of a relief after a particularly stormy and humid spell.
Camp here? Ok!
The Etchemin is not a mighty river but it is mighty cool, both to sit alongside and to dip a foot or two into the water. Not so deep in dryish high summer, and navigable by canoe if you don’t mind a bump or two. We chatted to a family of four who successfully paddled stretches of the Etchemin without drama, and that was with two youngsters under ten and a dog. It’s got us thinking about giving it a paddle another time…
The Etchemin, man
We saw a couple head down to fish for an hour or two. I don’t know if they caught anything, but did they ever look happy just to be there! A sleepy river? No, not really, more of a tranquil space, one where plenty was happening.
I’m reading “A River Never Sleeps” by Roderick L. Haig-Brown, and thoroughly enjoying it. An account of his fishing life, I’ve only read the opening chapters so far, and what a dry wit he has. The section on mythic fish is tale telling at its best. I know almost nothing about fishing, having barely any experience, but Haig-Brown’s enthusiasm is catching. His descriptions of rivers he loved on Vancouver Island are wonderful. A new title to me, and highly recommended if it’s a new title to you!
Eagles soaring – but not in this photo
Each day we’d sit by the bubbling and chuckling river, the water sparkling in the bright sun. So much to see! We observed several large eagles climbing in circles, higher and higher to reach a certain height, then swoop down in long and graceful glides. Small birds chattered in the bushes and trees lining the river, with some seeming keen to make a start on the ripening berries. It was a delight to watch a heron across from us, moving with that slow and steady wing beat, an almost lazy, effortless flight upriver and away.
The wider region is a patchwork of wooded hills and pockets of cleared farmland, with many, many small streams and rivers. There’s the bustle and busyness of productive agriculture, and in such pretty surroundings the pace seems bearable. It’s easy to romanticize farming life on gentle summer afternoons if you’re not the one on the tractor or in barns and sheds, tending to crops and livestock…
A visit to Frampton Brasse is never a waste of time, and we couldn’t miss the opportunity to try what is produced so locally! Blue skies, a light breeze, long views, excellent beer and a camping spot down by the river afterwards – nope, it’s not time out, and definitely time well spent! How you spend your days is how you live your life and all that. I think we’re beginning to figure out this retirement lark.
Glasses half full
It was hard to drag ourselves away, but the approaching remnants of tropical storm Debby got us packing up and heading home before the worst of the deluge. The Etchemin will be running high as a result, and likely more navigable by canoe than ever? Hmm…
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Meandering? Us? Never! Well, maybe… Read on if you’ve the time and patience for something slow going nowhere in particular!
We’ve just got back from a short road and extended camping trip to Parc national d’Opemican. The park is about a ten hour drive from Quebec City. If you want to, you can make the trip from here to there in one long driving day, but we took two days, travelling more slowly, stopping often.
Stopping often, can’t think why
Our route passed through Montreal and Ottawa because that appeared to be the most direct. Did I mention travelling more slowly? The summer highway construction season all but assures you’re taking things slowly, so it was on with the tunes (yup, the Hip), down with the windows (and then back up because, city traffic fumes and humidity) and try to enjoy the construction enforced leisurely pace. I do like driving with windows rolled down if we’re moving at a (legal) pace that generates cool air. I know, my hair, but sometimes you’ve just got to go with it.
Picnic stop. Loads of time. Loads of cheese. Lots of cherries. Few bugs.
With Montreal and Ottawa in the rear view, things out of the (rolled down) windows get a good deal more interesting. The Ottawa Valley is wide and green and pleasantly agricultural before becoming increasingly wooded, rugged and wild as it swings northwest.
Approaching Opemican we’d ask are we in Ontario or are we in Quebec? Erm, yes? The river is the border between the two provinces, and we crisscrossed it a few times. I loved moving along(side) the river on those lazy hazy summer days. Later in the week I got to paddle on it. Marvellous. More on that in another post I suspect.
Ottawa River
Earlier, we’d stopped in Arnprior, ON, to meet an old school friend, or rather, old school teaching friend and colleague from our time in Calgary. A wonderful teacher, it was P who gave me a copy of “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen as she thought I might like it. She was right, and it influenced much of what I taught. With the novel as a starting point, students explored so many aspects about what it means to be in Canada. New Canadian, settler, refugee or First Nation, I’m almost certain every single student enjoyed the novel and how we uncovered so many areas of the curriculum. Geography, language, math, natural sciences, artistic expression, personal responsibility, risk taking, decision making, finding solutions, and remembering to never, ever bother a moose. So much in one short novel! If I ever return to the classroom, it’ll be with a copy of Hatchet in my back pocket… I owe P so much! So I bought her a beer.
Lazy afternoon with a hazy beer – highly recommended NEIPA
P was in fine form. We’d always hoped to meet up at her family cottage near Bobcaygeon but never got to doing that and the cabin changed hands last summer. Fortuitously, we all happened to be passing through Arnprior the same weekend, and, just as fortuitously, the Cold Bear Brewing Company was open, served splendid beer, and was the most dog (and people) friendly brewery we’ve been to so far.
Arnprior, ON
We’ll get to Arnprior again one day, explore a bit more, as it seemed a pleasant little riverside town. We couldn’t stay long this time as it was on the next day to rendezvous with my brother and his partner at Opemican.
I’ll write more about the fabulous week we had in a future post, but I’ll finish by saying if you ever go camping and want a mosquito distractor, some bait that’ll keep the little blighters away from you, then go with my brother. He’s a mosquito magnet! Every mosquito in western Quebec wanted to meet him. And only him. I have to say he complained far less than I would have, so hats off for that – and then back on again quickly, just in case. (If you have bought shares in any bug deterrent products in the past month, it was my brother who made your fortune!) Poor guy tried everything, to no avail. He’s quite a builder and tinkerer, and he left muttering something about creating a personal mini laser system to shoot down mosquitoes. I wouldn’t put it past him, but he wouldn’t be happy about the military-industrial complex knocking on his door and asking for the blueprints as a matter of national security.
“What bugs? Be chill, man!” Scout, going with the contours and the flow at Opemican
More to follow! Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Buzzing
PS Now we’re home for a few days, I’ll be catching up on your posts and any comments over the weekend and into next week! (We were pretty much off grid for ten days – did anything happen while we were away? Scans headlines. Oh…)
Refusing to be put off by our recent black fly challenges (and armed with a new bug screen dome and lotion with possibly high radiation equivalent levels of DEET) we set off for a relatively mountainous region an hour or so northwest of Quebec City.
Bug proof
I was encouraged as the route changed from six lane highway to two lane black top (with narrow single lane bridges over small rivers and streams) to a range road that became a dirt track the last few kilometres. We were hoping for something a little remote – our booking advised no electricity or running water and very little cell coverage (all true) – and when we checked in at the office, the friendly welcome and laidback attitude boded well. Also, yes, the campground a few hundred metres away might not have any modern services, but, bonus, was that a fridge full of cold local beers? Well, I’m not saying, but Mrs. PC seemed particularly happy…
A selection of cold locals – the beer, not the people!
Our site was large, shaded and quiet. Spacious enough to accommodate our tent, the truck and the larger than expected dome tent bug screen. My first apartment was smaller. We put it up over the provided bench and picnic table with room to spare. Great for Scout to wander around “indoors but outside” and off leash.
The great indoors
The black fly count was far lower than our previous outing, and we’d have probably been ok without the screen, but it was pleasant to be able to rustle up and eat meals without any bugstractions.
We’re meeting up with friends/family next week, another camping trip, on the Quebec-Ontario border just north of Algonquin Park. I understand it can be a little buggy there, so we’ll be able to entertain in numbers under the dome. Or if not entertain (yeah, they’ve heard our stories before) then at least be comfortable.
A gem!
Anyway, back to the Vallée Bras-du-Nord – it is a gem! Mountainous and green, a pretty valley with great hiking and biking trails and lots of camping options. It would be fun to snowshoe or xc ski in winter, and it has the feel of being a fishing place? I’m not too sure of the fishing scene in Quebec. The rivers and streams are plentiful and appear clean to the untrained eye.
Leafy
We hiked a couple of trails, and our favourite was to the Delaney Falls. My camera was dying, but I managed a few shots. Honestly, if you ever find yourself out that way, the one hour each way hike from Shannahan Information Centre to the falls is a winner. It is leafy and relatively flat along the river valley bottom with a short rise to the falls on well constructed forest trails. Roots, rocks and puddles make it one to watch where you step, but nothing too strenuous, and a perfect length for a warm day. Take bug spray and water and all will be well!
Delaney Falls
Our evenings were warm, one or two sharp rain showers aside, and the best sight in the later evenings was the lightning bugs. Loved seeing those. Only a few, and flashing on and off through the darkening trees. For me, they made camping seem like, well, camping!
Friendly and local
We’re hoping to return in the fall, most likely for a daylong outing to check out the leaf colour and enjoy a vigorous hike on a fresh fall day.
Always friendly, always ready for a hike – any season!
Not too sure about how connected we’ll be internet-wise for the next week or two. I’ll aim to post a short something at the end of the week as usual, and then catch up on my reading after we return home.
A return to these falls in fall? Maybe…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“You’ll love it up there, but, you know, black fly season?”
Black fly country? Maybe…
Can’t say we weren’t warned, but goodness, black fly season is a challenge! I’ve camped in bear country, wolf country and spider and snake territory. I’ve been under canvas in the high desert, the low desert, in rain forests and the mountains. It’s been too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry. I’ve even tent camped in a field in England. None of that, whatever challenges they might hold, came close to black flies in the north woods. Banana slugs and ants? I love you guys. And I’ll never complain about mosquitoes again… (I will, of course I will, but they’re a breeze compared to black flies!)
Hotter and more humid by the day – what could happen next?
We rolled up and pitched our tent in slightly overcast and light-ish wind conditions after a day of rain showers. By the following morning the skies had cleared and if you wouldn’t call it hot, the next day or two were pleasantly warm. One or two black flies, one or two mosquitoes but no big deal. Those flies were waiting for the sudden heat and humidity of day four! A lovely morning, with mid teens temperatures and blue skies. These gave way to a bit more cloud cover, increased humidity, a temperature climb and then the onslaught – onslaught I say – of black flies. Onslaught!
Blue skies, green trees, and no problems!
They were everywhere! Oh how I miss the lightweight drone and whine of a mosquito or two. (Like the regular lightweight drone and whine of a contented PlaidCamper before the onslaught. Onslaught I say!) Music compared to the heavy chainsaw buzzing, dive bombing and all out in your face antics of the black flies. They were relentless! I didn’t get a single bite (Mrs PC picked up a few when one got in her hair above the back of her neck – ouch!) so the several gallons of bug spray worked to some extent, but still they zoomed in and away, over and over. And in such numbers – you simply couldn’t ignore them!
After almost two decades camping in various Canadian locations, you’d think we’d have encountered this before, but nope. We will be aiming to avoid another black fly adventure, that’s for sure. Yes, we were warned, and, after the first three days, were still ignorantly wondering what the big deal was. Well, now we know!
“Just leave me alone, man – I don’t want to talk about it!”
I’ll explore a bit more in another post about other aspects of the trip, but, driving home, having been seen off by the black flies, this is what we were talking about the most, so I’d thought I’d share! Definitely a lesson learned and isn’t doing something the hard way a more certain way of remembering the lesson?! There are certainly far worse things than being in the woods in black fly season, but for those few hours before we sounded the retreat, I’d have taken some convincing…
Windows up, seat belts fastened, and go go go!
Mrs PC’s black fly bites are healing, so no external scars, but we’re still reeling from the intensity of the experience. The adventures of an almost outdoorsman? Yup, still an almost outdoorsman, and still learning through mistakes. Usually I like making new to me discoveries, but this wasn’t one of those times! We’re off again next week, a slightly shorter trip, closer to home and not too northerly. Black fly season, the worst of it, is almost done now – isn’t it?!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We almost missed these, what with being busy and the very hot weather. (Next year we’ll ensure we’re busy visiting the lilacs, properly busy, and not running administrative errands in lilac season!) We did catch them, slightly past their best, but aromatic and pretty enough, or so we thought. Aren’t we all a touch wilted yet aromatic once the heat arrives? No?! Just me then…
Wilted? No!
If you don’t know it or haven’t visited, Le Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge is a little, or not so little, additional oasis of green a short walk from the Plains of Abraham. I think the two are connected if you take the riverside route, and I’ll give that a go sometime when it is less hot! The route up is steep, so to date we’ve stayed on the upper ground and walk between the two parks. Also, this time out, our picnic might have been weighing us down – or I’m just lazy in the warmer weather, too lazy to scale any heights?
Above the river
I’m no botanist, but I do know there are many types of lilacs, and I enjoyed seeing the different shades between the ones grown in the park. On approach, from quite some distance, you can smell the lilacs long before you see them. I like the aroma, a touch heady but not too cloying. Not like the aftershaves I used in my younger clean shaven and pre-grizzled days. Those “fragrances”! Not so much cloying as eye-wateringly dangerous. Useful for clearing a room, and to this day I’m always surprised Mrs. PC wasn’t too put off…
Fragrant
We’re off on our next camping adventure, a week or more up in the Saguenay area. Recommended to us by friends as a pretty region to visit, so long as you’re not dressed as a moose in hunting season. I’ve checked the calendar and my outfits and I think we’ll be ok. It’s a land of lakes and trees and absolutely no biting insects. (If I’m wrong about the biting insects, I think I’ve a few dregs of those dodgy old aftershaves that’ll keep ‘em at bay…)
Pretty
Not remote remote, but I’m not too sure if we’ll have much internet connectivity, which is mostly fine. I’ll catch up on your blogs and comments at essential coffee stops or when we get home!
Lilacs in the park!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I often wake up early. It isn’t out of a sense of virtue or a need to get to work or to make a fast start on the day. Goodness, no! I’m a light sleeper, and tend to stir once the birds start on their morning songs.
Our new tent has pretty good blackout, but not sound out. That’s fine by me because 6AM camping is one of my absolute favourite times. I like coffee and I like camping. Is there a better cup than the first of the day brewed on the Trangia – slightly blearily so somewhat carefully – when it feels like the rest of the world is still asleep?
No hurry
The other day it was me and the birds and three deer. The deer stopped to have a staring contest. I won. They blinked first, before moving on almost silently through the trees once they decided I was no threat. Just me and my cup of far too strong (no such thing) dark roast.
“Just you? Wait a minute…”
All was calm and birdsong quiet if you know what I mean. Not entirely quiet, but in a good way. The forest floor was mostly still. In the tree tops, the rustling of leaves stirring on a gentle breeze. Those leaves! Green on bright green, and brighter still as the sun climbed higher, lighting up the day.
Leafy
The mosquitoes and biting types didn’t seem too interested. A combination of my eau de bug spray by Muskol – lemony notes and a hint of, hmm, gasoline? – as well as the woodsmoke and charcoal aroma from last night’s campfire seemed to do the trick.
Bug deterrent
It’s safe to say not all is well in the world. Some understatement, that. However, temporarily disconnected and unplugged, it is safe to say that all was well, under canvas and over caffeinated, in the small corner of the world we found ourselves in.
Disconnected? Perhaps not!
Woodsmoke and coffee – not too sure it’s always the answer, and not too sure what the question even is, but it’ll do on an early summer morning camping in the woods.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We’re away for the next little while, taking some time to test out our new tent and rediscovering the delights of woodland camping.
We’ve been getting into shape, a rigorous fitness plan, and one I’d recommend. It’s achieved mostly by eating all the cheeses on picnics, and then taking slow hikes around the Plains of Abraham.
Not so plain
Here we are below, exiting the frame bottom left. Imagine the shutter speeds necessary to capture us moving so fast…
Must dash
I’ll catch up on your blogs and any comments from the past week next week, when we’re home and with reliable internet. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 