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Location
Massif du Sud – here we go! We’ve been there once – it was the first stop in our 2 weeks road trip to Canadian Maritimes from Montreal one year ago. And then we hiked almost 10 km of a round trip to the summit of Chocolate Mountain.
Massif du Sud regional park is about 3,5 hours driving from Montreal to the east-north. And it would be pretty exhausting to go hiking on the same day. So this time we rented a Ready-to-Camp tent for 2 nights and planned a hike to another mountain – Mont Saint Magloire.
Ready-to-Camp tent
Here is our Ready-to-Camp tent
The tent looks cozy and comfy. Inside there are 2 beds. Each of them is good enough for two adults. You have to bring your sleeping bags or bedding if you want. The kitchen has everything you need: utensils, kettle, french press coffee maker, cut border, and even propane gas. The windows look directly to the woods.
Also, there is a wood stove that will make you warm and cozy in the winter. There is no electricity but they provide a portable light and you always can bring your own, just in case. Also, you have 10 L of potable water for every day of stay.
The distance between neighbors is enough to not see them. Trees around make good privacy. A lot of birds, searching for something in the leaves on the ground, and we initially confused them with chipmunks. One big camouflage color frog spent an evening with us and gone away by the next morning )))
The firewood was a bit wet (probably because of the humidity) but we quickly dried it on the frame.
On the first night, we got a few drops of rain but just opened our umbrellas and continued chilling around the campfire.
That time we discovered a new (for us) way to enjoy marshmallow: put it, already cooked, in between 2 cookies. Have you ever tried that? Just do it 😋
Hike to Mont Saint Magloire
For the next day, our plan was to hike Mont Saint Magloire. The round trip is 15 km, so we started in the morning. As we passed our “dry” forest and entered the other part, we faced humidity and mosquitoes with flies, so had to use our insect repellent. The trail is moderate but almost all time gradually goes up. There were boards with a description of birds and animals that live here. We scared a few Spruce grouses (Tétras du Canada in French) and they scared us too, so their nickname “fool’s hen” is completely fair )))
No open summit at the end of the trail but there is a small tower you can climb to and take a look over the trees. A few groups of hikers reached the final point approximately at the same time as we did. And we had to go upstairs in turns to maintain a social distance 🙃
After having a snack and 30-40 min rest – we started going back. It was early afternoon and the sun was at its highest point. With high humidity and annoying flies that wanted to get directly into your eyes, our descent was a bit tough.
On the way back, stepping over a mud, we noticed a fresh print of moose but were pretty tired to take any picture and were completely fine not to meet him )))
And what a blessing is to take off your shoes, socks, and stretch the legs in a comfortable chair! We like that feeling of tiredness and satisfaction when we are back. Dinner and wine at the end of such day taste much better than usual 😉