Our longest day on the P'tit Train du Nord — 50 miles and change. But it promised to end at a beautiful lake, Lac-Saguay, where our lodging, Motel Ours Bleu, proudly proclaims every room has a view! Plus, we were hoping to get a swim in as well. Jerry expressed a desire the entire way across Switzerland last year to take a dip in a Swiss lake but never did, and he was talking the same talk now. I guess we will see.
Unfortunately, the weather did not look promising for a swim. It was sprinkling ever so slightly when we rose and had clearly rained much more earlier in the wee hours of the morning. So it was overcast and cool as we made our way to breakfast at the nearby Crêperie Catherine. We were lucky to have a place so close by and right on the trail, saving a bike ride back into town. It was a delicious way to start the morning. And it wasn't all sweets! Mine was a breakfast crepe with poached eggs atop a crepe stuffed with cheese and Black Forest ham . . . real calories for the road!
We lingered there a bit longer than planned but finally pushed off close to 10:00 AM. So much for an early start! But a start it was, and even at the conservative estimate of 10 miles for every hour, we would still arrive at the lake by 3:00. And assuming the weather improves . . . maybe that swim will happen after all. But it was a cool start, and at times I debated donning a long-sleeved jersey, but the pedaling warmed us up, and that thought was put aside. At this point, I'm not sure I will use any of the three long-sleeved articles I brought! So far they remain excess baggage.
Yesterday, the riding was easy, as the trail was paved with asphalt. Our next notable destination was the Village of Mont-Tremblant, as opposed to the town of Mont-Tremblant, where we had stayed the night before. But while that may have been the "notable" destination, we were immediately struck (again) by the natural beauty surrounding us.
The start of today's ride. A little overcast and cool.
The bridge over the Rivière du Diable, where I met a very frustrated fisherman who was complaining quite loudly in English about the low water levels. I could only observe that rain was on the way (and hopefully not today). That's his bike in the picture with Jerry pedaling away (maybe as fast as possible) in the distance.
When I reached the village, I should have climbed the small hill up into the centre-ville just to take a picture or two, but decided to keep biking along the lake instead. They had their chance to host me last night and passed lol, so they will have to wait till my next trip. My guess is that it is full of restaurants and high-end shopping that caters to the winter-ski crowd and the summer getaway crowd. One day I will find out.
After the village, the trail is no longer paved and returns to a cinder surface . . . mostly, sometimes dirt. Well, with 50 miles to go, I was hoping it would stay fast, but the bike would carry me either way. Although I dreaded the thought of cleaning it a second time, like I had last night. It was amazing how much dust one collects.
Some of the waterfront properties have stairs that descend to the trail and then down to the waterfront immediately across the trail. It makes for a beautiful picture.
Looking upstream, you can just make out a red covered bridge. I was hoping we'd have an opportunity to visit it, but none appeared (although I'm sure there's a way).
Another feature of the trail is the presence of these shelters, which we would see periodically. At first I thought they were for overnight stays, but then I saw signs that said no open fires. There was always an outhouse nearby, but Jerry thinks they are just there for rest (there is always a bench inside) and to seek shelter during inclement weather.
All this time I felt like we had been climbing, and if you look at the profile, you'll see that we have been! Gradually, but climbing nonetheless. But we finally got to a point where I thought it was leveling off for a bit, L'Annonciation, which is in Rivière-Rouge.
Well, it was level for a short distance, but it started climbing again not much further down the trail! But it's an easy climb if you're in shape, and the scenery continued to be impressive.
Beautiful death? We saw a lot of this type of ecosystem where dead trees are standing in or are surrounding the water.
And Lac Nominingue. At this crossing I had a nice conversation with an older gentleman riding a massive fat tire bike. He described in great detail how he rides it across this (frozen) lake in the winter.
Shortly after that last picture, I was in Lac-Saguay and ready to make my own pictures. The sun had been struggling to come out and finally stayed out as we neared the motel, Motel Ours Bleu (Motel Blue Bear). And it was warm enough to swim.
