Cornwall and Lac Morency – Day 4

Last night when we checked the weather we found we had one more day of warm temperatures, and then rain and temperatures closer to seasonal norms for the rest of our stay. On our 2021 visit we had gotten to kilometre marker 92 on the P’Tit Train du Nord which is Mont-Tremblant Village. The trail ends at Mont-Laurier at kilometre marker 201. We wanted to explore more of the trail we hadn’t seen, but short late-October days, and the distance involved driving, as well as cycling, meant we were limited in what we could manage. We were considering driving north and getting a hotel on Saturday night so that we could do the north end of the trail, but yesterday, before we finished riding, Laurie texted to say that Cindy had forgotten her camera in the backseat of Laurie’s car. She invited us to stay over in Cornwall again on our way back home, to go to their community theatre group’s one act play, and pick up the camera. We enjoyed our visit so much that we decided to accept the invitation.

So today, on the last warm day we were going to have, we got up early and drove to La Conception-Station, 6 km north of Mont-Tremblant, where there was a parking lot for the P’Tit Train du Nord. The only other amenities were a porta potty, and wayfinding signage. Cindy had a goal of doing at least one Gran Fondo, a 100 km ride, this year, and hadn’t done so yet, so that was the goal for the day. Riding north to Nominingue and back would give us almost 100 km, and continuing south from La Conception-Station into Mont-Tremblant, where we left off last year and back 109km. We decided that we would decide on the few kilometres when we got back to the parking lot depending on how tired we felt and what time it was.

We drove out of the parking lot of the resort at 8 am.

We stopped at Les Moulins La Fayette, a bakery in Prévost, for coffee and baked goods to go. We also picked up a couple loaves of bread for our meals later in the week.

It was overcast as we drove north on Route 117.

In some places it is a limited access highway, and in others we encountered roundabouts.

We were the only car in the parking lot and often had the trail to ourselves for kilometres at a time.

The first 10 kilometres of the trail were surfaced with limestone screenings, but it’s still very smooth.

The next village was Labelle. There was a Station there that had a wonderful set of amenities.

There was artwork, creative benches, picnic tables, tables and chairs on the station patio, wayfinding signage, an old caboose, a playground, bathrooms, a water bottle filling station, bike repair stand, sheds that looked like they could be used for a market, restaurant and bar, and museum.

We would have liked to have stopped at the restaurant, but being only 10 km into a 100 km plus ride meant we needed to move on after taking some pictures. The restaurant sign said it closed at 3 PM so it was unlikely we would make it back before they closed.

From Labelle all the way to Mont-Laurier the trail is paved. Even though the section with limestone screenings is very good, it was even better to be on pavement.

At many of the crossings along the section of the trail we saw covered sitting areas that looks like a caboose.

We encountered no narrowing of the trail with gates at the crossings as one does in Ontario. And the roads were well marked for ensuring drivers knew that they were approaching a crossing, unlike in Ontario.

At Macaza we could see an old covered road bridge from the trail, but did not have the time to leave the trail to explore it. There are about 80 covered bridges left in Quebec from the 1200 that existed in the early 1900s.

As we arrived at the trail bridge a group of wild turkeys were walking across it. One by one they fluttered up onto the handrail as we watched.

Despite the fact that most of the autumn colours were finished the views were still beautiful.

Parts of the P’Tit Train du Nord are used for snowmobiling in the winter. This sign shows the snowmobile routes and distances.

Along this section of the trail were old outhouses with a hole dug in the ground as opposed to the porta potty‘s that we tend to encounter these days. Despite that, it was clean and odour free, which Cindy suggested might be because of the time of year.

At this latitude when the trails were covered in vegetation it was with the needles of larch trees which are deciduous evergreens. They drop all of their needles at once every fall.

The trail runs through the small community of Rivière-Rouge and was the only place where we encountered a crossing guard. There were a lot of young people using the trail as it was lunchtime and it seemed to be how they got around town.

There is a station in Rivière- Rouge, separate buildings with bathrooms, playground and splash pad, seating areas, and decorative walkways that look like train tracks. I’m not sure what is in the station as it was locked up, as were the bathrooms, with a sign posted on the door that they were closed for the winter to prevent vandalism.

Route 117 is the main highway here and is designated as the Trans Canada Highway. It would be similar to Highway 27 running to Barrie. Even at this road there were no gates for people using the trail, only a stop sign. There was a large gantry with warning lights on it, in addition to the paint on the road, for drivers.

At Lac Nominingue the trail went over a long Bailey Bridge. This is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge developed by the British for military use in the Second World War. It’s not unusual to see them along trails. There is at least one on the Caledon Trailway and one on the Chedoke Radial trail in Hamilton.

A few more kilometres and we arrived at Nominingue. The station house here was closed so I’m not sure what was inside. So were the bathrooms, but there was seating, picnic tables and sheds for local artisans.

Because I knew we would not want to linger I chose a restaurant close to the trail. Unfortunately I didn’t check the opening hours and it was closed on Wednesdays. There was an employee at the restaurant who came out and told us that we would be able to get food at the grocery store a few hundred metres further down the road.

The P’Tit Train du Nord Trail officially closes for walking and cycling on November 1. Between then and when it snows they do trail maintenance. Once it has snowed, sections are opened up for cross country skiing or snowmobiling. It seemed that a number of the amenities closed early.

After grabbing lunch at the grocery store we headed back south down the trail having cycled 49 km to that point.

I spotted this beautiful view at the north end of Rivière-Rouge which I had missed on the way north.

On the way north through Rivière-Rouge we thought there was a café at the station because there were so many people there. But on our way back we realized there was not, and that we would indeed be later than 3 PM getting back to Labelle. So we had a quick snack of food we had brought with us and then carried on.

The temperature was still beautiful and the sun strong, but clouds were beginning to gather.

As we rode into Labelle station there seemed to be a lot of activity and we were very excited to find that despite the fact that it was almost 4 PM the café was still open. I had a latte, Cindy had a Coke, and we shared a pumpkin sugar pie. It was sweet, but delicious. And just what we needed to give us the energy to get the last 10 km back to the parking lot.

As we cycled south of Labelle, now back on lime stone screenings, I could tell that Cindy was starting to get tired. I was, as well, but I had done five gran fondo’s before the trip to prepare.

I asked Cindy if she wanted to stop at the parking lot or continue to Mont-Tremblant. She said she definitely wanted her gran fondo so would ride just a little further than the parking lot and then go back to the car. I asked if she would mind if I rode on to Mont-Tremblant to see the last 5 km section that we hadn’t done yet. She agreed that she would be fine waiting for me. I suggested that if she drove the car to meet me she would have less time to wait and then I wouldn’t have to ride back benefitting us both. I looked at the elevation profile and told her there was one hill left that she would have to ride if she continued to Mont-Tremblant. She hoped to turn around before that and still get her gran fondo.

As it turned out we were at the top of that hill when she had the distance she needed to turn around and get her gran fondo. Given that she was already up the hill, and perhaps because the Coke and sugar pumpkin pie were kicking in she decided to continue on. We were both so grateful that she did when we were able to share this beautiful view of Lac du Sommet. The light and the reflections were just perfect.

The trail continued around Lac Mercier with beautiful views of the water and ski chalets.

And in what seemed like almost no time at all we reached Mont-Tremblant station. We were all smiles to be at the turnaround point.

This is us at the same point last year. It was a much colder and wetter day last year and we suffered from the cold so much that we vowed to take all our winter clothing this year, and didn’t end up needing it.

As we turned around and headed for La Conception-Station The sky darkened and it began to rain. The rain grew heavier as we loaded the bikes onto the car and jumped in as quickly as we could.

Since Cindy had driven in the morning I offered to drive home, but she replied that she had enough energy left to do so. Within a few minutes of beginning the drive the rain was coming down torrentially. I told her I was thankful she had decided to drive as I dislike driving in the rain, at night, on unfamiliar roads, in an unfamiliar car. She said she was having the same thought that it was best she had decided to do so.

The rain continued for so long that as we came in to Prévost there was so much standing water on the road that Cindy had to significantly slow her speed and water was spraying up high from the tires. We stopped at the Metro hoping to pick up a roast chicken for dinner, but all of the prepared food counters had closed for the evening. We picked up a few other groceries, running from and to the car to avoid getting too wet.

We unloaded as quickly as we could and then got into dry clothing. Dinner was homemade soup that Cindy brought from home, grilled cheese and bacon on the cheese bread we bought at the bakery in the morning, and a salad. It was delicious.