Saint Jean in Coaticook -- day three

Another wonderfully-relaxed wake-up and breakfast this morning. The kind with a big pot of coffee, camp stove toast, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and dill...yeah, that's the way we roll when camping! Later, as the campground buzzes with activity, we slowly empty the tent, do the dishes, pack up the car, all while trying not to break a sweat - it is going to be a hot day. Luckily, our end goal is home, so thankfully nothing too strenuous in this heat, save a couple of easy hikes and then the drive back.

Speaking of drive, our drive through the countryside is a particularly beautiful one, running along the high side of the glacial gorge, overlooking the spread of farmlands in the valley below. We took the backroads into Barnston-West, the site of two short municipal hikes. The first, the Michèle-Dutrisac trail, runs along an old access road into the woods and down to the shore of Balls' Brook, offering some splendid views of the river running through the area. We climb around the rocks in the water, and watch as a couple of Blue Jays flit about in the trees around us. But the trail is short, so not 20 minutes later, we are back at the car again. 

Off to the other side of the village, because it is really that small that I don't think it qualifies as a "town", we stop at the Ones-Cloutier Trail. This trail runs along an old road that used to flood in the spring due to its proximity to the Niger River, and so when the roadway was moved to higher ground, the long narrow piece of land was gifted to the municipality and turned into a hiking and ski trail. It also runs through the middle of a farmer's field, slicing it cleanly in two, and prompting a barrage of chains and "Private Property" signs to be hung everywhere, keeping curious trail-users at bay. There are also official-looking letters from the provincial government, indicating that the off-limits river, while normally considered public land everywhere, is also private property due to a "grandfather clause"... Needless to say, with just a kilometer-long straightaway of grass to walk, and nowhere to explore, this trail is pretty boring. We move on.

Wanting to enjoying that last sweet ice cream treat, but being a little too far from the Laiterie to turn back, we opt for a reasonable substitute: we instead pull in to La Pinte dairy, where they produce the most delicious Jersey cow milk, and we enjoy creamy, rich milkshakes made with the same Coaticook ice cream! La Pinte created their own recipes this summer, so I order the blueberry-honey one with vanilla ice cream, while Mario of course goes for the Moka, made with brewed coffee and La Pinte's chocolate milk. We sit at one of the picnic tables outside and sip the luscious concoctions from Mason jars alongside our ham-and-cheese baguette sandwiches.

The rest of the story is not very interesting, I'm afraid - it involves much driving, though enjoyable enough, as we take all the back roads home instead of trying to navigate the traffic that will inevitably be clogging all the major highways after the long weekend. We stop once at Eastman to gas up and get coffee for the road, and again in Ste-Brigide-d'Iberville, at a familiar charcuterie shop for some cured sausages and snacks for later. One last stop in Brossard, for a gathering with family and a dip in the pool, and then we are home again. 

Until next time ;)

Saint-Jean In Coaticook -- day two

 Low-flying bluejays and the rhythmic drumming of wood peckers in the trees high above our tent wake us from our comfortable sleep, and into a world a tad bit warmer than yesterday. Turns out, I left the back window open, and so the cool air coming into the tent might explain why we started off a little chilly.

Breakfast consisted of locally-produced carrot cake goat's milk yogurt with granola, as our cooler is not super-effective at keeping food cold for more than 24 hours...must find a suitable replacement before we get a bought of food poisoning or something. Also, a big coffee was in order to start the day. A really big coffee.

While researching this weekend, so many weeks ago, Mario discovered the Aquaticook circuit, a grouping of water activities available around the Coaticook area. Small parking areas lead to basic drop-in points for canoes, kayaks and the like, all along the meandering river, allowing people like with our own vessel to access the waterway and cruise along, free of charge and without hassle. It is very much the opposite of the run-around we experienced when wanting to dip our paddles into the water at Lac Lyster!

Our launch point is hidden under an old covered bridge, where we paddle our way upstream? Downstream? We're not sure - the current is so slight that just the blowing of the wind is enough to change our direction, and that of the leaves on the water. In fact, if we stop paddling, our kayak stands completely still!

We take the slow-moving water as a good thing, working on our steering which is still not great. For some reason, we still manage to veer off to one side when attempting to paddle straight, almost turning in circles. Halfway through the trip, Mario discovers the wonders of steering with the rudder, and from that point on, we are really cruising! (Seriously though, if anyone has any tips on paddling a tandem kayak in a straight line sans rudder, I am all ears)

Coaticook river winds its way between farm fields all the way to Waterville, another launching point as well as the end of this leg of the river - there's a dam to prevent further exploration. We beach our kayak in the shade and eat potato salad right out of the pot with 2 spoons. We also take the opportunity to release a bee we saved not once, but twice, from certain drowning, and likely an even more gruesome death by bird. This is only the second insect we saved today, this first being a rather large beetle that thought windshield surfing would be cool, until the car hit 70 km/h. Antennae whipping in the wind, the little bugger held on tight until we found a safe place to pull over and deposit him in the grass.

Back to the river, the return paddle was just as smooth, even though we were apparently paddling upstream, and punctuated with small discoveries along the way: a floating bird's nest fallen from a tree, small pipers gliding right above the surface of the river, the deliciousness of rhubarb cake eaten under the shade of a giant willow tree. Tired and toasted from the sun, we pulled the kayak from the river and packed everything back up in the car, another 10 km trip under our belts. 

All this exercise meant only one thing - we deserved ice cream. In the heavy heat of the afternoon, we joined so many other hot, tired visitors on the picnic tables outside the Laiterie Coaticook, and savoured our cold, sweet and well-deserved treat. This time around, it was a raspberry-passion fruit sorbet for Mario, and "crème Mangue-O" for me, possibly a limited edition seasonal flavour.

We rush back to the campground to shower and change, then head up Mont Seguin. Yes, there is the sunset, and 5 à 7 snacks at the summit, but today is Saturday, so there is also the smooth sounds of URU Karaoke to keep us company while we marvel at the views.

The rest of the evening was super-chill. We roasted our dinner right on the campfire - marinated pork, mixed vegetables and new potatoes, all deliciously infused with the smokiness of campfire cooking. We devoured all 3 packets with the new Microbrasserie Coaticook Blanche beer. With our s'mores, we poured a glass of the rich and creamy dark Abysse beer, with it' notes of chocolate and caramel pairing perfectly with dessert. And as we retired to the tent for the night, much earlier than any night at home, the sky above lit up over the lake with festive Saint-Jean fireworks, but with the trees so tall, we saw nothing, and yet heard everything, including the cheers from the gathered crowds of campers. And with that, we drifted off into another comfortable sleep.

Saint-Jean In Coaticook -- day one

Got a nice surprise a few weeks back that the restaurant would be closed for the entire Saint-Jean-Baptiste weekend. No sooner did I hear the news, but I was online, booking the very past site at Lac Lyster camping. Never pass up an opportunity to get out in nature, and eat delicious ice cream.

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With the delayed start this morning, we forgot stuff. It was inevitable. We tried our best to organize everything near the door, get important items into bags - but with the late night on Thursday, the upset schedule with not being allowed to drive down to Coaticook in the middle of the night, and then wanting to get on the road as early as possible to not waste anymore time on Friday, things got lost in the shuffle, and the waking haze that shrouds the mind in the morning. Funny, though, it was different stuff from last time, or the time before that. It's like a full bookshelf in my mind: each book being an item important and necessary to enjoyable camping. As I add things to the shelf, like extra socks, or an ax, other things get knocked off the opposite end, and I forgot how important they are to the trip. Until I am missing them. 

You'd think this packing thing would be second nature by now, with the list of things being like a tattoo on my brain, I've gone over it so much after all these years of travel.

Thus began our trip to Coaticook - arrival, camp set-up, pack our hiking gear, and a trip to the store, hoping and praying they weren't closed for the holiday. And thankfully not. Our forgotten items to pack next time:

• fitted sheet for the mattress (left wet in the washing machine, too)
• bug spray
• water jug
• toilet paper
• and as mentioned earlier, a whole load of wet laundry that never made it to the dryer.

Also to note for next time? Never buy the cheapest ham at the grocery store. If you are like me and don't like hot dogs, then you will be sorely disappointed. It tastes the same - just in slices.  I discovered the error of my frugality when making up sandwiched for the afternoon's hike. At least the cheese was good!

Kayak still attached firmly to the roof of the car, because we're not moving it until absolutely necessary, we bounce along the dusty back roads, between forest and farm fields, up and down the curving hills of the area, all the way to within steps of the New Hampshire border. Mont Hereford is our goal for the day, offering many great and well-maintained trails for hiking, and fantastic views of the surrounding area. 

First order of business - we collect a loose trail marker for our collection (don't worry, it was from a fallen tree, no one will get lost), then pause for the views at the Donat waterfall for pictures and a popcorn break. Turns out, Bad Monkey Cheddar Popcorn has become our go-to camping snack since we discovered it last year, and now the big bag comes with us everywhere. We also make a point of stopping frequently this hike - with the heat, it's not such a bad thing to take several snack breaks rather than a long lunch, and the clouds of (so far) uninterested mosquitos are never far away and may strike at any moment, so as much as we stop, we also keep moving!

The hike is a very good one. Its longest trail, up to the peak of Mont Hereford, is 7 km one way, leading all the way to Saint-Herménégilde, but offers many off-shoots and loops to change things up, so there no reason why you can't just turn around at any time and head back down the trail. Given our late start, and the fact that this is the first big hike of the year, we opted not to complete the entire 14 km trek. We were maybe missing out on the 360-degree views at the top, but still getting some really beautiful ones at several different lookouts, including the Banc des Amoureux and les Trois Dames, along the Cirque loop of the Tillotson trail. In the end, we managed to complete an 11 km loop back down to the parking, so not bad for a 4-hour walk in the woods! 

Normally, we would finish up a day of strenuous activity with a reward, and what better reward in Coaticook than their delicious namesake ice cream? Glad that not everything is closed for the holiday, we happily sit down at one of the tables outside with our sweet treats, cookies and cream for me, crème framboise for Mario, and check another 2 flavours off the list of ones we have tried. We're getting very close to the goal of tasting all the flavours, but some of the ones left are less appealing...blue bubblegum comes to mind.

We bounce our way up and down the hills, between the farm roads, back to Lac Lyster and our cozy campsite in the woods, so we can make up the bed and set up the rest of camp. But it's too early for dinner still, and we notice people following a trail just behind our site, heading up the hill behind us, so we follow suit. And we discover the trail leads to the tp of Mont Seguin, but the climb is steep and only about 10 minutes, so it becomes the perfect place for us to enjoy our 5 à 7, our pre-dinner drinks, while watch the colours on the Pinnacle and Lac Lyster below change with the setting of the sun. We sip on a Mango Berlinerweisse beer from Microbrasserie Coaticook along with spicy-salty cheese twists and more cheddar popcorn.

Back at camp, I prepare for dinner: I tiny-chop vegetables. We found some of the locally-farmed rainbow trout at the grocery store, so I will pan fry them to make Trout amandine with lemon and capers. I will toss the sauteed veggies with a package of precooked rice and bring everything together to make a very delicious meal, which, as night falls, we will taste more than we will see! Mario and I dig into our meal sitting by the fire, sipping La Grande Maree, a Gose-style beer also from the Coaticook brewery, but beyond dinner, we don't last long. Dishes, pack-up, and we both crash into bed, sleepy, tired out, but content with the day's adventure, given we thought today's late departure would scrap it. 

I read to the sounds of the forest around us until the book falls on my face.