6/23/25
Sunshine forecast for today, but I got an alert for a Severe Thunderstorm watch for later this evening. That came out of no where - the weather forecast changes here frequently.
I hoped on the FJR and rode toward the national park. Let me say something about the riding here:
- In general, the major highways and primary 2-lane roads are well maintained and in good shape.
- But the secondary and munipal roads are terrible, laden with pot holes, heaves of all kinds, cracks, and in some cases, DEEP track depressions that if not alert for, make the motorcycle do some funny things.
- Everywhere, the speed limits are woefully low, ridiculously low, even. But it seems that everyone ignores the speed limit anyway - running 10-ish KMH over minimum. At 10 kph over, it's tolerable - barely.
- The use of speed tables and stop signs is quite effective as a speed control method. That can be frustrating for motorcyclists - kind of reminds me of urban bumper to bumper traffic, sort of.
- There are a LOT of motorcyclists here, of all kinds and types. Cage drivers seem to look out for us, and even yield to us when it suits them.
I don't think this is going to be a peg scraper kind of summer. Rather, more like a "sniff here, sniff there" type of riding.
Regardless, riding is riding, so I took the FJR to the National Park to do some hiking. I got in with my annual pass and stopped at KM 3 at the Eperon Trail Head. This one appealed to me because it is considered "moderate" by All Trails and the N/P Guide. I figured I'd ease my way into this, and not hurt myself on Hike #1.
The view from the trail head is not too shabby!
This is a loop trail that goes up one of the mountains in the Jacque Cartier River valley. It has a nice mix of variety for the terrain.
Unusual growth on some of these trees.
Surprisingly on this Monday, the trail is kind of crowded. Every few minutes I come upon other hikers. We exchange a greeting and continue on.
As I climb the mountain, everyone once in a while I come upon a little glimpse of the view. Kind of like a picture window, Mother Nature style.
And then it's back into the woods I go, still climbing.
We don't seen this kind of sign anywhere on the trails at home.
The farther I climb, the better the view gets.
The forest is a mixture of conifers and hard woods. The oldest trees here look to be 75-ish years - I guess this was clear cut similarly to the United States some time ago.
This is fun!
After about 45 minutes, i get to the top, and to the victor goes the spoils!
Another surprise for me today is the bugs. There are a LOT of bugs here, including mosquitos, which I wasn't expecting. The other bugs (flies, gnats, etc) land on me, but AFAICT, don't bite me. The mosquitos are biting a little, but they sting and don't leave a welp like at home. Next time, I will need to bring bug dope.
Every time I walk in the woods, it never ceases to amaze me at what a tree will go through to get what it needs.
As I start descending, I checked my phone app and I've only climbed about 800 feet. This trail was easier than I expected. I should be able to walk just about anything in this park.
Halfway down, I found this little pond with a nice cut tree stump. Lunch!
I'm a lucky man, ya'll. Blessed beyond my finest words. Days like today remind me to stay humble, and dismiss the bullshit in this world as the nuisance it really is.
I get back to the motorcycle, and it ended up being about 4 miles and 900 feet of climb - a good day walk. It's getting warm. So I broke protocol just a little. I folded my riding pants on my seat and sat on top of them. Then I put my jacket on, but left it unzipped. Put my boots on, helmet on, and gloves on, and I rode 10 kms or so on the 30 kph N/P road toward my next stop to cool off.
I found a secluded parking spot on the river, and continued my "cooling off" exercise.
Refreshed, I left the park (all geared up, of course), and rode a bit north on the highway. I climbed up over the next pass (at about 2500 feet) and as I was going, I was paying attention to the side roads, looking for gravel or dirt that is public. I did find several options to try on the dirt bike for future reference.
I got back to the ABB about 3 pm, and it was very warm - like 83 or so. Tammy and I decided to take a dip in the lake. I estimate the temp of the lake to be about 68-70. The first few seconds were chilly, but we drifted into the sunshine and it was very refreshing.
That cooled us off quite nicely. Last week, I bought a couple of HUGE ribeyes on sale at the grocery. This evening, I grilled one of those for Tammy and I. She likes her steak basically burnt, so I cooked the whole thing medium, and then cut off a piece and burnt it for Tammy. We had a good meal last night.
About 8:30, we are watching a movie when I get an alert for Severe Thunderstorm in our area. This can't be - the skies are clear. I check the radar and sure enough, a line of strong stuff is heading right for us. The wind was high and it rained hard for about 15 minutes. The power flicked on and off a few times, and then the internet stopped.
Oh well - grab a book and head to bed early. Tomorrow is another day.
Stay thirsty, my friends.....
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