Sunday May 27th - Septentine Path Loop - L'Ascension Quebec (120 miles NW of Montreal) - 6.5 miles, over 1400 feet elevation gain

After our lackluster urban hike the day before, I wanted to make sure our 2nd hike was a banger.  This hike started about 60 miles after the A-15 peters out some 55 miles NW of where we were staying in Laval.  It was interesting seeing a more northern (relatively) of Quebec.  The Autoroute ends very smoothly and dumps you onto QC-117 which parallels the A-15 almost all the way back to Montreal.  Basically, it looks like A-15 was the 'freeway' version of QC-117 which is surely a much older road.

I'm guessing that the tourist season starts later this far north than it does in the US.  We were driving and hiking on a very nice warm Sunday at the end of May and yet there was basically no sign of tourism activity. We did see some work crews painting the picnic tables and deck at an overlook etc but only maybe 3 small groups of other hikers.

This trail was an interesting sort of double balloon.  It started off intimidatingly hardcore with a rope assisted super steep ascent almost immediately form the trailhead.

There was a lot more climbing to do along the route but that was the steepest section.  There was a really beautiful overlook with sweeping views of the deeply wild area we were visiting.

The majority of the mileage was actually a big loop shape that had almost nothing to do with getting to and from the viewpoint.  The loop was pretty boring unfortunately and insects were a nearly constant torment despite what I thought was a liberal application of Off before the hike.

So, the adventure and exercise components were very strong for this hike but it wasn't an exceptionally great trail or experience. Some nice scenes here and there.