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Previous trips -

12 days, 4 regions, 893miles, in Quebec.

Region 1, Back to Lac St-Jean.

September 18th, 2006

When we wake up...No more rain, but clouds as far as we can see. We rush to fold the tent down (even though it's soaked).

At least, we're happy to enjoy a quick breakast outside the tent.

After a good night sleep and with the help of natural light, it's easier to look at our maps and GPS with an optimistic eye, and take appropriate decisions as to which way we should go.

Our clothes are soaked and it's probably going to rain most of the day again today so, we have to find a place out of the rain for tonight and it will be essential to dry our clothes.

After thorough examination, we decide to forget about the maps all together (they're contradicting anyway) and to trust our GPS and our intuition only.

From what we see on the screen, if we make a small detour to the north, we should be able to go around the section of trail that's closed by branches.

We begin following a portion of trail that's about 2/3 the width of the quads, and that brings us to...a dead-end!

Not to obvious to back out of there with a trailer, on a little over 1/2 mile... Strategic change in operations: Starting now, and for as long as we'll be in those tight trails, France (she has no trailer) will go first. Marc, with the GPS will give her directions.

All right, let's try another trail...

Incerdible! The trail is so overgrown with vegetation that we can hardly move forward. France goes ahead for a little bit and, if it's OK for Marc to come, she turns her engine off. That's the signal for him. If Marc keeps hearing the engine, that means France is turning around to meet him because it's not going any further. This goes on for about 4 miles. Adventure, you say?

Imagine our surprise! We finally make it out of one of those skin tight trails and get to a trail intersection that says: Bécancour Boulevard!!!! (Not clear on picture, sorry). Heck of a boulevard!

This time I think we found the right one. About time! We went around the missing trail section and are back on the one that should bring us back to camp. All this while blindly trusting our Garmin Etrex Legend GPS. Wow!

Unfortunatly, the rain is also back in our way...The later it gets, the heavier it rains!

At about 11:00 o'clock, we see a couple of small abandoned camps. One of them looks more like a shed than a camp but the door is half-open...Bingo! We just found a spot to take a break and eat a little something.

Until now, our GPS did'nt disappoint us. It's almost unbelievable that such small roads and trails would be shown on it. Anyhow, we'll have to trust it as no maps show the road where we are.

After our quick lunch, we ride for about 1/2 mile, in the rain, of course, and come to...an unpassable bridge...A plan...A plan...We need a plan...With all this rain, the stream is swelling by the minute! We look around for a place where we could cross it. After a couple of minutes of searching, we give it a try and make it across safely.

Yeah ! The camp!

	...Being dry and warm, sometimes happiness can be simple...
Bof...	Good to the last drop...
	Right to the camps front door, the rain never let us down...

From this point on, it seems the trail is getting wider, until it's back to a small road again...I suppose that the fact that the bridge fell caused the roads on the other side the be abandoned...

In spite of the persisting downpour, spirits are high! France even meets a couple of new friends...Bill...

...and Wabo...

After what seemed like countless miles (in fact about 40), we finally reach a small trail section that we rode with our friends the day before we left.

3:30 p.m. We're back at the camp!! Wet to the bones but happy we made the roundtrip while discovering ways that very few people know of. (The redness on Frances cheeks were caused by the cold rain, not by the sun...)

A nice fire and a few coffee later, the small camp is heavily decorated with t-shirts, gloves, pants, and underwares hanging over the roaring stove.

Only two days later did it stop raining. Thank God we were indoors! We even wondered if the roads out of here would'nt be flooded...After about 36 hours close to the fire, our clothes are almost dry!