July 4
End: Refuge Le Quartz
Miles: 28.1
Total: 4238.4
In the morning we got up and packed up our stuff. My new friends had claimed they would get up very early, but that had not happened. We went over to Nature Aventure, a local business where their friends worked.
There was a woman there, Genevieve, who knew of the IAT and gave me some advice on what was feasible to walk and which sections were easy or difficult. I set off and managed to find the trail after going the wrong way on the road out of Matapedia.
I was back in the woods. It felt good and I was happy to find that though climbing upwards was difficult, I could still handle it. The trail wandered around for awhile as I climbed up a little here, then descended again there. I noticed immediately that the trail was not as well made as the Appalachian Trail, and not as often traversed.
I came to Chutes a Pico, a pretty cool waterfall. I sat for a minute there, then moved on. I had big plans for the day. After wandering through brush and along old grassy woods and farm roads, I was not sure if I was on the trail any more. I checked the map, then found a way to walk the road into St. Andre, a nearby town where the trail claimed to go.
The town was minute, but I found the community building open, and got fresh water. Finding the trail again, I walked it on the road out of town, and checked out Refuge Turcotte, the first shelter in Quebec. I was impressed, though ultimately it was a little wooden cabin. Still, I was looking forward to sleeping in these nice refuges, an upgrade from the shelters on the Appalachian Trail.
I did an easy hike to Refuge Le Corbeau, a very nice place with a great view, but I continued on against Genevieve’s advice. I wanted to go farther, though that meant tackling a tough section. The hike north of there turned out to not be so bad. There were some hills to climb, but I found a lot of flat trail at the top of those climbs.
I counted down the kilometers using little signs placed along the trail with kilometers to Gaspe. They went by slowly, but I made good progress and reached a river soon enough. After getting my socks and shoes wet in a creek with a broken bridge, I walked fast along the river and finally made it to Refuge Le Quartz.
The cabin was fine and I cooked dinner there in the dim light, then went to bed. I was quite tired after not getting too much sleep the previous night, and Le Quartz was a great place to rest.