Montérégie : Mont Saint-Hilaire

Facile

Guillaume et moi sommes allés grimper de nouveau cette montagne. Le temps des couleurs de l'automne est terminé, mais les paysages étaient beaux dans la lumière tombante de la fin d'après-midi.

Parc du Mont-Mégantic : Mont Mégantic

Modéré

 


Nous avons fait cette randonnée à la pluie. Je ne peux pas dire que la vue du sommet était absolument incroyable, mais la forêt était d'un beau vert dans la brume. Nous avons mangé au sommet jusqu'à ce que la pluie nous chasse. Aller-Retour.

White Mountains : Mount Lafayette (Mount Lincoln and Mount Little Haystack loop)

8.9 miles / 14,3 km - difficult

Though it was slightly longer, I enjoyed this hike far more than Mount Washington. Laurence, two friends of hers (Karine and Audrey), Guillaume and I left at 8:30. We took the loop to the left first. The hike up was hard, but enjoyable. For a while, we followed a river and saw a number of waterfalls. We got to the top of Mount Little Haystack around 11. From there, we hiked the crest of the summit with views on either side of us half hidden by clouds. We ate on the top of Mount Lincoln and then continued along the crest to Mount Lafayette where we sat a few minutes to admire the still hidden view. On the way down their are many beautiful views of the three peaks (we were basically walking down a dipping crest back into the valley). The last hour of the hike is an easy downhill under the cover of the forest canopy.

Parc des Grands-Jardins : La Chûte

6,4 km - facile

Ceci fut notre dernière randonnée de la fin de semaine. On traverse une forêt boréale impressionnante. Les arbres espacés se tiennent debout dans des étendues de lichens et de mousse. La chûte à laquelle on arrive au bout du sentier est intéressante, on dirait plus une glissade qu'une chûte. L'eau de la chûte se jette dans la rivière Malbaie. Aller-Retour.

Parc des Grands-Jardins : La Boréal

1,9 km - très facile

 

J'adore cette randonnée. Pour la majorité de la randonnée, on se promène dans la taïga mais on arrive éventuellement dans un espace ouvert de forêt en regénération. Le parc a été victime d'un feu de forêt en 1991. On s'y promène quelques minutes avant de retourner dans la forêt boréale encore intact pour compléter la boucle.

Parc des Grands-Jardins : La Chouenne

4,4 km - Moderate

Dave wanted to go up a mountain so we (he, Guillaume and I) chose this easy trail as he is still recovering from his sprained ankle. The hike is pretty with a couple of views. The view from the top is very impressive. While we were up there, we ate some snacks as we watched rain clouds blow in from behind the surrounding mountains. The rain forced us off the top. Aller-Retour.

Parc du Mont Tremblant : La Roche

3,4 km - facile

 

This hike practically hiked itself. I did it with Guillaume, Guillaume Marchand, Marc-André and Ève. Along the way, we were able to use the new SEPAQ App to learn different things about the forest surrounding us. For such an easy hike, it has a very nice view over the lake. In the distance, you can even see the ski mountain. Aller-Retour.

White Mountains : Mount Washington

8.4 miles - Intense

This hike was absolutely insane! I thought I was going to collapse from the heat during the first two miles and then, when we turned to go to the Lion's Head, the climb got worst. Within a mile, we had escaped the tree line and for the next 2 hours we were climbing from rock to rock. The view on Tuckermans Ravine from the Lion's Head was quite taking, but the view of what was left to be done was rather desolate. When we finally got to the top, I had cried a couple of times and was definitely in need of my lunch. It was angering to me to see all these people who had just driven up, but I was thankful for the gatorade we were able to buy at the cafeteria. The view from the top is impressive, but as we'd been able to see the view for the last 2 hours, I was not nearly as excited as I would have been elsewhere. The hike back down took us almost another four hours. I was able to better appreciate the way down on the rocky alpine surface. It made me think of the Mont Jacques-Cartier, without Caribous. If anything, I can say that this hike is long and that one should not be fooled by the length, each mile takes an hour. Aller-Retour.

Adirondack Park : Mount Van Hoevenberg

4.4 miles - moderate

I did this hike with Guillaume, Mathieu and Mom after a hefty brunch at the Breakfast Club in Lake Placid. It is a back and forth trip. The first mile is a flat forest walk. It was very beautiful spring walk; many wild flowers were in bloom. We arrived in a very marshy area that was somewhat complicated to cross (the people in front of us gave up), but nothing compared to our ordeal on the Eastern side of Mount Colden. After the marsh, the path shot up the mountain for another mile, leading us to a magnificent view of the Eastern High Peaks. On the way up, we had to make frequent stops because Mom was breathless, but the way down went pretty fast. The climb itself was not very difficult and it was a great family hike.

Adirondack Park : Colden Lake and Avalanche Mountain Loop

15 miles - difficult

This hike is really two separate hikes which we were crazy enough to do in one day. We left at 9:15 and walked the first 2 miles to Marcy Dam with energy. The next two miles were also very easy. We followed a fast river to a bridge. After about a mile of forest walk, we arrived in Avalanche Pass. It looked like a big dump of broken trees. The cliffs on each side (Colden Mountain to the East and Avalanche Mountain to the west were very impressive. We arrived at Avalanche Lake a little before noon and decided to keep going to Colden Lake before having lunch. The hike along Avalanche Lake was difficult, but fun. We had to climb latters and rocks. Before arriving at Colden Lake, the path split in two and we had to decide whether or not we wanted to hike Algonquin Peak and loop back to the camp ground or not. We met another hiker and she told us it was very snowy so we kept on going to Colden Lake. We had lunch at one and with all the energy we decided that we could go the 9 or so more miles to loop around Colden Mountain instead of simply looping around Colden Lake and going back the same way we came. The walk around was not only longer than what we’d done so far, it was much more difficult. The first three miles were uphill, but the worst was still to come. With about six miles left, at 3:30, we arrived in a marshy area that was completely flooded. To make it across, we had to balance on floating logs that were not very well placed. For a few minutes we feared we would have to walk back the other way or wade through the marsh, but Guillaume was able to replace the logs so it was solid enough for us to get across. More surprises were on the way. The trail starting heading up and the higher we got, the snowier the trail got. We ended up having to go for a good 3 miles through snow, ice and rocks. When we finally arrived back where the path joined back our original root, I could not believe I still had more than four miles to walk. We did it, and we got back before dark at 6:45.

Adirondack Park : Mount Jo

2 to 3 miles - moderate

Guillaume and I hiked this short hike after supper. We left from our camp ground at the Adirondack Loj on Heart Lake. We went up the short trail which was very steep and watched the sun set from the top. The view is amazing for such a short hike. We could look south and west from the top. We went down with our front lights by the long trail. This trail is less steep and we considered that it would be safer for a night walk.