Well, we did go xc skiing earlier this week, but I wouldn’t say we were brave…
Black diamond 55? Not that brave (not yet!)
A touch wobbly perhaps, given the course hadn’t been track set very recently, leading to a somewhat uncertain feel underfoot. Or is that under-ski?
Looks dangerous…
Other than the lack of reassuringly recent tracks to follow, we were very happy to be out on skis at last! Compared to our efforts at the start of last winter, we surprised ourselves and the (imaginary) watching hordes with our overall fitness and technique. Yup, we completed a couple of loops and didn’t fall over. A very low bar on very flat terrain, but one we cleared!
Flat, grey, chilly – but fun!
It was fun to be out and active on a chilly day where it could have been easy to take one look at the grey skies and think of something else to do… and anyway, doesn’t the beer taste better after? Maybe!
Maybe? Definitely!
We’re looking forward to getting out on skis a few more times, and, if the current medium term forecast is accurate, that shouldn’t be a problem from a snowfall perspective. Ne vous inquiétez pas, mes braves, nous reviendrons bientôt! Or something.
Ready to go again
Swift and brief this week, almost like an OldPlaidCamper on skis – thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Yeah, it’s definitely out there, it just took us a little while to find! Fortunately, with Scout and her reliable ability and enthusiasm to find most things, we tracked down the good stuff:
“Looking for winter? Follow me…”
After a mild period into the new year, temperatures have dropped, some snow has fallen – and there is a promise of more snow in the forecast – so winter might have arrived!
It might be getting wintry outside?
We checked on the snow conditions for xc skiing earlier in the week, aiming for a gentle start on the Plains of Abraham. We think it is almost good to go, likely Thursday (yesterday) or Friday (today – hooray!)
As we were right outside, we popped into the MNBAQ gallery to take another look at the Inuit exhibits on the top floor. Talk about finding winter! There are numerous wonderful creations on display, carved from basalt, serpentinite, bone, antlers and other materials. Each piece offers insight into a unique culture and community full of myths and stories situated in an amazing and challenging landscape. I particularly love the sculptures where animal/human identities are in transformation from one to another. So fluid, with such skill in their creation.
Bear shaman (by David Ruben Piqtoukun)
All the searching for winter can make a person hungry (and thirsty) so we simply had to have a late lunch at Le Billig, a Breton influenced crêperie located a steep and slippery walk down from the plains on Rue St. Jean. I wish I liked cider as much as I like beer or pancakes, because they offer an amazing range of Québécois ciders. Mrs. PC did her best, and I’m always happy with the Boréale IPA du Nord-Est!
Yum
And after that light(!) lunch, it was off to catch the fast bus home and get into the woods once more with Scout. If winter sticks around, we could get used to this!
Trolls live here – but we don’t feed ‘em!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful winter weekend!
I hope you have enjoyed the festive season if that’s your thing. Now let’s extend a warm welcome to 2025 – and dream of a good year?! Nothing wrong with hoping so…
We’ve (I’ve) eaten more mince pies than is recommended, but as they contain fruit, it can’t be that bad, can it? Almost healthy! We’ve tried to get out and about in the rain and slush, but the rain and slush, sigh. Yes, slush more than snow, so our start to xc skiing this winter has been delayed…(although, as I write this, the sleet appears to be turning to snow?)
A slight delay to winter!
Ok, instead of skiing or snowshoeing, we’ve been making plans for the spring while we wait. Not much of a plan in terms of detail – it’s mostly, if spring is early, or even if it isn’t, the moment there is a proper thaw (assuming we get a proper winter) shall we, and how soon shall we, hit the road? We shall! As soon as possible! Yes! And will we be tenting along the way? No! We will not!
What’s that? No?! Not tenting? What’s going on, OldPlaidCamper? Good question. You’ll have (not) noticed the lack of tent photographs since late July 2024 and there’s a good – and shiny – reason for that. I’ve been meaning to tell you about our 2024 festive gift to ourselves, one we unwrapped many, many months ago. Why couldn’t we wait?! Here is why:
That’s not a tent!
Yes, we now have a tiny teardrop trailer. A bed on wheels with a small kitchen tucked in the back. The trailer body footprint is smaller than our last tent, yet it sleeps two adults and one medium dog in great comfort. Oh, the comfort. I like tenting, but I love waking up without the cold hard ground seeping into a sleeping bag even more. Turns out we quite like a little extra padding in our early middle age. That’s the mattress, not us. Well, mostly the mattress.
For comfort eating
So looking ahead, and once roads and high passes are clear, our plan is to set off with no specific destination in mind – but heading west to start – and see where we might go and what we might find. I’m guessing, in no particular order of preference but determined by geography, open roads, quiet rivers, pristine lakes, mighty mountains, woods and forests, rolling prairies, and some coastline – rocky beaches and sandy stretches. My mince pie beach body is ready. Oh, Canada – watch out, here we come!
Watch out, here we come!
Do you have any particular plans for the great outdoors, near or far, for the coming year? Would love to hear about them!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Enjoy the season, and happy holidays to you should you choose to celebrate. Or, simply enjoy the weekend and week ahead if that’s more your thing, no extra festivities required…
Already?! Goodness, the year seems to be racing by…
Thanksgiving this coming Monday, and amongst all the wider madness in the world we’re aware we’ve so much to be thankful for.
Already?!
As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a happy coincidence for us that thanksgiving weekend more or less marks the anniversary of when we moved to Canada, a decision we’ve never once regretted.
Each passing year we love our home more and more. So if you choose to celebrate the coming holiday, happy thanksgiving. If you don’t, here are a few more fall related images from recent weeks!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Rivers and lakes have been a large part of our summer as we’ve explored the big outdoors in this little corner of eastern Canada. We’ve even got on the water – only on for me, never in – a couple of times, most recently on Lake Cascapédia in the haut Gaspésie. Such fun!
Summer beneath the mountains
Up and over the mountains, the lake is reached via a very rough washboard road. It’s worth the effort if your vehicle can take it, with spectacular views when ascending and descending. In the space of a short and bumpy drive, we experienced late summer in the valley, autumn up top, and something in between on the lake.
An autumnal trip, up and over
Dropping into the bowl of the lake, it was very overcast and a good few degrees cooler than earlier. In fact, it almost rained!
A cool grey bowl, but less cold and forbidding than it appears
The paddling was great, with no wind outward bound, and only occasional gusts to paddle into on our return. It was fun to head into the slightly bared teeth of the wInd and put in a little extra effort to cut through some small swells and chop. Enough to feel it was almost a workout!
Almost warm
Moose are a feature of the park, but we didn’t catch a single glimpse all week. Maybe another time… We’d seen eagles climbing and making high turns most afternoons, but didn’t spot any near the lake. We did see one of our favourite bird sights – a few loons near the canoe, busily bobbing and diving, and they didn’t appear bothered by our loony zigzagging presence.
What zigzagging?!
We beached on gravel shores a couple of times to stretch legs and eat snacks. Off the water, the day was a touch warmer, pleasant enough to sit for a short while and then stage our attempt at a Tom Thomson:
Not even close to a Thomson, but we were happy to try!
Back at base, our evenings in the Gaspésie were spent under an almost full moon. From our camping spot in the trees we could see the bright moon on the river just below us. It was so intense we didn’t need flashlights. This image of the moon on the water was the best I could get:
Did the quicksilver moon on water influence our choice of beer the following day? I’m (beer)easily led, so maybe…
A white river, majestic mountains, a quiet lake, loons on the water, two happy paddlers and a good beer back at camp to end the day? That sounds ok, so let’s do it again soon!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We hadn’t realized how much we’d been missing the mountains until we found ourselves back in a high region once again.
Towards the lake
The upper reaches of the Parc National de la Gaspésie were absolutely wonderful, and a particular highlight was the lac aux américaines, a small glacial lake and easy destination found at the end of a short trail.
lac aux américaines
The trail is easy, but be warned, the washboard roads are not kind on vehicles, and I wouldn’t have wanted to use a regular low slung car to get up there. Some did, but goodness, the toll on the paintwork and undercarriage…
The road got far more challenging as it climbed!
Anyway, if you find yourself up there, take the short hike and you’ll be rewarded with the prettiest of mountain scenes. We were fortunate to be there on a quiet and sunny day, not too hot and just right to sit and eat your lunch whilst taking in the lake.
Bend in the river
There isn’t a hike around the lake, but there are several longer (day plus) trails crisscrossing the park with routes above the lake. They’d offer some view if you’re willing to take them on!
Long view towards the lake (from much further back!)
We weren’t in full mountain hike mode, and were quite content to tackle shorter and moderate half day at most rambles. We saw long views, pretty river bends, tumbling waterfalls and rushing waters, and all on sunny days where the early fall light gave everything a slightly golden feel.
Tumbling
The only day where the weather threatened was on our half day lake paddle. It got very dark, a touch breezy, and there were actual raindrops. Raindrops, maybe as many as twenty or thirty. Hardly a deluge, I think we dodged one there.
More about this next week
Anyway, this was supposed to be about the mountains. Mountains! More on the paddling next week! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Steps away from our campsite! Perfect sights and sounds…
We drove along the southern shore of the St. Lawrence river last week, heading steadily eastwards and catching the occasional glimpse of the river to our left as the road climbed and fell. It was all very pleasant but nothing we hadn’t seen before in Quebec – small to medium farms, and small to medium villages and towns, with plenty of wooded areas in between.
Going coastal
East of Rimouski however, and it all changed, taking on a decidedly coastal feel. The road hugged the shore far more tightly, and the rises and falls when the route did deviate slightly from the shore were more pronounced, tracing rocky headlands overlooking the water.
Getting a maritime vibe
Small farms were still a feature, very pretty in wide valleys away from the coast. Houses – sometimes standing alone, and sometimes in a huddle – looked very east coast, with shingled roofs and often brightly painted wooden exteriors.
Coastal
The river becomes so wide at this point that it is often difficult to make out the north shore. Definitely coastal in feel and we shore liked it. Time wasn’t on our side for making multiple stops as we wanted to arrive and set up camp in the mountains before it was too dark.
Rocks
We did pull into one easily accessed roadside halt that was right on the shore. Rocky, seaweed-y and with small birds and large gulls at the waterside, it was great to breathe in maritime air and enjoy a brief break at the beach!
But onwards we had to go! More to follow about our Haut Gaspésie adventures. Spoiler alert: what a park the Parc National de la Gaspésie is. A real mountain treasure, and far more alpine than I’d thought it was going to be. Here’s a sneak peek of some peaks:
Onwards and upwards!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Not in the water. Always my preference, especially after that time paddle boarding when I was distracted by a heron up a tree…
Our week at Opemican, camping close to the Ottawa River, was a hot and sticky series of days, the sort that make being on the water enticing, but wearing a life jacket and working at paddling not part of the deal. Since the weather wasn’t going to get any cooler or less muggy that week, we chose a sunny afternoon, carried lots of water and off we went.
Lake Témiscaming
The section of the Ottawa River we were on is also a lake, Lake Témiscaming, and it is huge, at least 100km long. I’ll be honest and say I reckon we paddled about, ooh, 70, or more like 60, or no, maybe 50, no, actually about six or seven kms! Pretty good, and clearly it’s sensible to save some for another trip…
Due to the heat, Mrs. PC wisely chose to skip this adventure, opting for shade and cold drinks under the trees by our tent. Scout wasn’t bothered either, so it was me, my brother and his partner.
Looking good, totally stable
Young PlaidCamper much prefers a kayak, particularly the little whitewater numbers, over a canoe, and the least worst fit for him was a plastic bath toy that looked ready to sink at a moment’s notice. That left me and his partner K, in a proper canoe, very much on and not in the water. Again, this seems sensible.
Sensible
Goodness it was warm, and goodness, I didn’t mind one jot, because I hadn’t paddled a canoe in years, and it was so good. K and I managed to sort out a pretty good paddling rhythm and away we went. We stayed close to shore for minimal winds and easy progress. And also so my brother, when his mighty kayak swamped, would be able to swim/stagger to safety. Fortunately, this didn’t happen, but boy was he low in the water…
Close to shore
I mentioned in an earlier post how Young PlaidCamper is a bug magnet, and even out on the water this was true. As we paddled along serenely in the canoe, thoughts drifting past at the same pace as the lakeside, the only untoward interruptions came from behind, a combination of cursing and splashing as my brother tried to wash off/drown the flies without tipping himself. Brotherly love meant that I only smiled when he wasn’t looking. He is a funny guy, with a great sense of humour, and the bugs really got at him, yet he was still wisecracking his way through. A tip of the hat – not his kayak – for being such a sport. Those watching along the shore might have been amused and bemused in equal measure.
“What’s he saying? Can we print that?”
We managed a couple of hours before calling it an afternoon, stopping while ahead and reasonably dry. At the rental location, we’d been told there was a waterfall on the Ontario side of the lake, and getting there only involved one section of hard paddling. Well, when we got to the narrow point for crossing the lake, we looked and thought, nope, no way can we make it there and back in the time remaining. Maybe in the canoe, but no way on the sit on top kayak. Another time, when we’ve a bit more muscle memory we can rely on and once I’ve persuaded brother he’d much prefer a canoe…
This is happy?! Yup, as ever, smiling on the inside…
Anyway, we had a wonderful afternoon, and I can’t wait for next time – with Mrs. PC on board, we’ll be paddling a different lake on a cooler September afternoon a few hours east of home. I don’t think my brother is joining us for that one…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We’ve enjoyed mostly warm and sunny days the past week, just right for finding quiet corners to sit with a cold drink and/or a picnic. There has been quite a bit of rain when it hasn’t been warm and sunny, and this seems to have been very good for various gardens.
Joan of Arc garden, Plains of Abraham
I’ve included a few photographs from either the Île d’Orleans or the Plains of Abraham, and, the lavender aside, I’ve no idea what most of the plants are and I’m too lazy to look ‘em up…
Too soon, but it was good!
I found the item above lurking in a cooler, an overlooked beer from our recent trip. I was going to save it for a more appropriate fall day and then I didn’t. A pretty decent offering, but not a summer beer!
Summer offerings
I’ll get to sharing a bit more about our recent trip to the Parc national d’Opemican once I’ve sorted out photos and thoughts.
Heady
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 