Adventurion

Video

Location

April is definitely off-season time for hiking. That is what we had been thinking. But this year made us hungry for outdoor activities and we took the opportunity to book a tent in Mauricie National Park to hike Lac-du-Pimbina in April 😀 The park is located 180 km from Montreal which is about 2 hours of driving.

oTENTik sector tent

We’ve never been to Mauricie national park. Well, we had one day hike many years ago, and to be honest, I don’t even well remember it 🧐 So, for sure, this is a good chance to take a closer look.

During our trip to Gaspesie 2020, we had a very similar tent but there are some important distinctions.

First of all, no kitchen utensils at that moment. Only a folder with files with the number of glasses, plates, spoons, etc, I guess, were here before. So, you need to bring all such kind of stuff with you. Yep, COVID-19 prevention rules. Don’t forget to call them before you go to make sure you have up-to-date info.

Secondary, the woodstove. In the summertime tent, we had an electric heater for the cold nights. When we arrived we were so pleased to see, that the park employee already started a fire inside the tent and lovely welcomed us. Be careful to not overheat your tent as we did 😉 Because around midnight we had to open the door to let fresh cold air come in. But the second night was better, we learned the lesson.

The oven is outside. Under the same tent where a barbeque grill is.

And also they have 2 small solar panels that are enough to have light inside the tent every evening.

Hike. Lac-du-Pimbina trail.

We’ve braced ourselves for a muddy trail. But the trail was pretty dry, with some snow, and random dirt spots that made us thinking about April differently 😉 By moving forward we got an understanding of another challenge we would face on the trail.

Ice! We had our microspikes put on from the beginning of the trail. Even so, some sections looked very dangerous to descent on. Therefore, few of them we bypassed holding the trees along the trail.

No need to mention how important is to have proper shoes while hiking. You never know what the trail will be looked like: icy, muddy, slippery. We witnessed a lot of people in stylish sneakers and moccasins. We don’t know what was their initial plan but at some point, where the trail was splitting they chose a shorter trail to get it over quickly.

Learning the forest

Every hike brings you very unique memories. Sure, the main thing we will remember this one for is ice. But so much we saw besides that.

This is the Red Band Fungus. Inedible but beautiful 😉

I think this is a beaver sign. We spotted a few such trees.

These prints I am not sure …. Wolf?🧐 But anyway, they made us hiking pretty fast in that area.

This one is just a place for your imagination 😀

The melody of spring

And ta-da-da-dam! The orchestra of spring bells singing of and welcoming Spring!

I’ve never seen such beautiful bells before. It is absolutely amazing what Nature can create.

And how marvelous it can look!

By the end of our adventure and stay in Mauricie national park, we can say that the April hike in Mauricie national park was beautiful and we had a strong desire to come back to this place in the summertime. They have a lot to offer, so stay tuned 😀