July 22
End: Poste John Camp
Miles: 27.9
Total: 4497.4
It had been a late night, and I was in no rush to get up in the morning. Of course, I couldn’t exactly sleep in since I was in the middle of the city park, so I did pack up my stuff eventually and hung out by the restroom, where I found an outlet to charge my phone.
I decided to try and get a full day of hiking in. I was looking at an incredibly long stretch of supposedly difficult trail with no good options for food, so it would be nice to get started on it as soon as possible, and while I still had fruit left over from my previous night’s purchases.
Grapes and green bananas aren’t very good options for hiking food, but I carried them anyway, planning to eat them that day. My morning walk took me out of Amqui and along back roads, then into a nasty trail in the woods.
The trail was muddy, thick with mosquitoes and all sorts of bugs, overgrown and marshy, and not well marked in some places. I was determined to fight on and make my food count, so I trudged through it all. I wasted some time trying to find the trail, but didn’t stop to rest very often.
Finally I made it out to Saint Vianney, another little town in the countryside. I moved right through it, trying to get into the Matane Reserve. From there I walked the road some more, then did a little stretch in the woods before popping out on the main highway through the area. I made my way down to the entrance to the reserve, and walked along the river. I never saw Camp Tamagodi, though I knew it was there somewhere.
Growing tired, I rested along the river and got more water before continuing on. Soon enough I made it to an area where people were fishing, and asked where Poste John was. Some reserve employees told me it was quite close, so I continued on. Pretty soon I was there, and I picked out a picnic table in the middle of the campsite, hoping to befriend one of the RV campers.
That never happened, but I had dinner and charged my phone some more at an outlet. I slept underneath (somewhat) a little tree, hoping to avoid any overnight dew. I had eaten my bananas and grapes but still had five full days worth of food. In good shape, I looked forward to tackling the reserve the next day.
