It is with some dismay that I realise, that I should make a damn list when packing. It would be very nice to have my pillow today. To make matters a tiny bit worse, I was awoken around midnight, using the sleeping bag which was supposed to be my covers, as my pillow when it was 16c temperature wise inside the trailer and 9c outside, by a strange thud noise coming from my wonderful fridge. I did what most would do, checked to make sure it was still cold, and rolled over and went to sleep again. In the morning, I rose around 6:00am and had breakfast, when I went to get the milk out, i noticed a strange orange liquid pooling in the bottom of the fridge, and on the lid, there were droplets. Well! It seems my earlier praise about setting the thing to -5c was an exception, because the one can of fizzy peach tea that I bought out of three had frozen in the night, and exploded most of it's contents all over the inside of the damn fridge I guess since it was in direct contact with the side wall at two points, it got the brunt of the cooling. That, and since I have the fridge plugged into AC - and it has a brick that converts that to a constant 14.5 volts, the thing as no qualms about using all that energy to get the temp down. I'm doing 5c now. Lets not do that again eh? For now, out comes everything, out comes my blue shop towels (thankfully I keep a roll in my car at all times to deal with.. pretty much anything, they're freaking amazing) and soaked up, wiped down and restored the sanctity of the cooler and it's contents. Though maybe having the oranges smell slightly of peach is an improvement? I had my granola, with coffee, and some Ener-c (this is the far superior canadian version of 'emergen-c' and also go reproduce with yourselves, pfizer) And headed out on the road around 7:00am quietly, against park rules. It was a misty morning as the sun poked through the trees, and I was able to stop along the road and get a few pictures of the mist rising over the many little swampy areas as the sun cut through and inevitably burned it off. I was still a bit confused about the location of the grande chute trail, I knew it was around 30 minutes drive from the Campgrounds I was at, and to the north along highway 101, but this was somewhat unfamilliar territory. I was able to check the map with the very limited internet connection I got at the site, and the maps I'd downloaded before I left were somewhat useless. So falling back on the technology I was born with, I headed north, for about 20 minutes and then started looking for turns to the west that said something like 'chute' or 'kipiwa riviere' Along the way, I passed a small village which almost looked like It belonged in cape breton, small houses, even smaller than wartime ones with a very 'hardware store catalog' or 'Sears catalog' type design. On the water there were a few covererd boat houses, one which appeared to be for a float plane, as there was a wind sock on it's roof. No one was awake, everything was closed.. and so, I continued onward. A short while later, I saw a small sign pointing towards a dirt/gravel road to the left, and so I went down it. Speed limit was 15, it was freshly covered with gravel and though the subaru had no issues, I could imagine someone going down there with a tesla or chevy bolt and sliding off the road, causing a forest fire that would burn half the park to the ground. But you go you wonderful green technology warriors. I saw the supercharger in the park (empty) come on out here and start a fire and see how amazing your contribution to fighting climate change is. The drive to the chute was around 5 kilometers, where a nicely kept parking lot, with even a parking tent if you want to keep your car out of the sun. How nice! I guess that is where all the transfer payments from Alberta are going. In Ontario we have to leave our cars roasting in the sun like neandritols. When I stepped out, and used the small washroom, to empty the containers from last nigth, and also my own biological contaner, I could hear quite a roar, and not too far off. The trail was .5 km, apparently, so after checking my gear, off I went. The trail switched back several times, and decended, probably about 150 meters from the parking lot. It would be a bit of work coming back but that's ok, I need the workout. There was a small viewing platform along the way that overlooked the rapids leading up to the chute. The sun hadn't quite come around yet, so visibility was limited, but I could see the same golden-brown coloured water from yesterday and knew I would probably be in for something amazing. I continued my decent down the trail until finally I reached a very nice viewing platform, made with zinc coated steel. the railing was proper height, to keep you from leaning out over and falling 10 meters or so to your doom, and not, like those railings in hamilton which are actually called fences, and ar about 10 meters tall, and keep you from enjoying the view OR taking pictures. As luck, or planning, would have it - I arrived precicely at the right time for the sun to start shining on the top of the chute, and boy what a chute. Water thunders down a narrow ravine of metamorphic rock reminiscent of kekabeka falls, if not as wide, but at least close as tall. I could not capture it's full grandeur even with my widest lens. If only I could have approached it from the river below and the trail did not continue onward down to the river, so I would have to do my best. I prepared my blackest ND filter and slotted it in for a full 30 second exposure to get that motion effect everyone seems to like. I also got several freeze frame and close up shots before departing, roughly spending two hours at the location. My next stop was the inukshuk trail, since It was near by. It lead up a white clay trail, which I imagine must be exceptionally slippery in wet weather to the most well put together inukshuk I've ever seen. He was of course, liberally reinforced with concrete. I spent about an hour with my new friend, having a snack, listening to the loons call out and watching the peregrine falcons dart about over Lake Temiscaming - out of reach of even my largest lens, of course, though I did give it a try.. I'm sure one of those vaguely brown dots will look like a falcon to someone. There was no mistaking the 'scree' they let loose with as they flew around and then quickly dove after some prey or another, as is their general hunting tactic. This is where a young french beach ball shaped woman and her young french toothpick shaped boyfriend? Caught up to me. We exchanged minor pleasantries, as they read the sign. Time to go. I went further down the trail, which was mostly a straight 200m descent down some very nice stone stairs someone had laboriously set into the hill to the lake, and some canoes that you could rent presumably. There was also a gravestone there, to remember the catholic school boys that died in June 1978 during a failed outdoors club type activity. I looked it up, in summary, some boys and their teachers got voyageur type canoes and wanted to do the whole lake.. they came from Ontario, the teachers were tired, and somewhat untrained in body and skill. The day they took to the lake the made it until just after lunch, where they'd stopped for a break and had some sandwiches. The wind on the lake changed, and due to one of the teachers not knowing how to run stern paddle very well, the canoe broadsided the wind, capsized, and all the kids and everything dumped into the lake. A lot of the kids didn't make it to shore, but some survived. If it hadn't been for a helicopter that flew over by chance, many more might have died. Just goes to show you, Nature will definitely try to kill you if you aren't prepared. The number one rule can never be forgotten - survival of the fittest. After spending some time down here, I was met with the same pair, and I wondered how the woman was going to come back out - I knew I was going to have some difficulty. But one more person showed up - a park ranger. He was checking our passes to make sure we were valid to be in the park. I was warned to keep it on my person at all times, and so I provided it easily. However, I heard him lecturing the other two as I prepared to leave - in french, of course, but I sort of made out that they had left it at their site, and he was giving them a warning citation. Anyhow, the climb back wasn't as bad as I thought. It was getting hotter though, so I was well and drenched with sweat. I stopped a few times to wipe my brow and to drink from the canteen I brought, and soldiered on. I was rewarded near the parking lot by a pair of not very shy woodpeckers who I was able to get some hopefully good shots of, though the sun was not flattering as we're almost at midday now (10:30ish). I left the area, there was one more trail there, but considering the other two headed that way as I was referring to the park map I decided to let it be, and returned to my camp site for lunch. I broke out the can of chilli on my brunton stove, not the other one I have - as that one tends to burn things to the bottom of the pot. the brunton has better flame control. I can't remember what the brand of the other one was, but it is basically a blow torch.. great for fast boiling water, but it isn't big on delicacy. I bought that one when I'd thought I lost my brunton, and it's only redeeming quality past quick boiling water is that it self ignites. I brought the brunton this time as well as that one and borrowed an electric arc lighter from my parents that they don't use it works well for this purpose, and I managed to get my chilli heated to a boil without one bit sticking to the bottom of the pot. It's 1:06PM now, and I need to get things cleaned up and decide what I'm going to do this afternoon. The trails at the visitors centre are probably on target. I'm especially interested in the one with the lookout - it is short, steep - but it may be safe enough for me to head up as the sun is setting for some star shots, or perhaps early tomorrow morning before departing. --- I Packed up what lenses and gear I thought I'd need and headed for the visitor's centre. There's a few trails down there, but the most important one, of course, is the 'steep but with amazing views' trail. I must admit, these french words that mean nothing to me are starting to make me feel like an alien in my own country, the odd looks on people's faces when I say hello, instead of 'ello or whatever else. It gives me this odd sense of apprehension, even though I'm ostensibly able to go pretty much wherever, as long as I abide by the trails. I did stop by the visitors centre and pick up a Sepaq Jack shirt - because, it will be my pillow, and also, it is a nice shirt. After stowing my loot in my backpack, I headed for the lookout trail. And they were not kidding, 75 degree to 50 degree grades pretty much for the first 200 meters or so before becoming level at the top of a rocky outcrop, tall, steep, and well the trail is mostly highway ish, the end part is a bit sketchy - including a warning sign with a little man falling to his doom. of course, this is precisely where the galactic centre rises, just perfect, straight shot down the length of the lake, at around 10pm. Of course, there's as always a tree right in the damn way, and also.. I value my life, so even though it could be a shot to end all shots... I'll just have to find another chance. MAYBE I should plan a shot properly, and go to the specific location at the specific time with all the proper safety concerns dealt with, instead of doing this ad-hoc thing I always seem to do. Regardless, the trail was rewarding. It will do neither star shots or even sunset shots for today, as things just don't line up for me on the second either. Some Day, mark my words, I'll plan a trip around a shot.. or when I retire (HAH!) I'll just spend and entire season staking out a spot until I get what I want. Maybe not in Quebec, unless I can get over this odd unwelcoming feeling. Anyhow, I was on that trail for just over two hours and am now ready to finish out my day at my campsite. All in all, not a bad day. If I had more time I might have done more of the trails, but I think I've gotten the best ones done at least. I will see how I feel in the morning, the drive up here is a bit brutal. I may do one more trail, or hang out down by the visitor's centre in hopes the sun rises nicely, but The directions are wrong for that.. I might get the reflected glow, if there are clouds, but as far as I've seen there's no quick and easy access to the far shore without a Canoe, which I wouldn't be able to even rent before 8am which is way too late. I'm going to do some editing this evening I think, and we'll see if I decide to take a star shot at the site there's lots of trees, which will blur oddly and what I saw through the skylight in my trailer last night was... not nearly as good as what it would be back at Round Lake. I did not check the light pollution map for here before coming, but perhaps it is pretty bad after all. I may of course just be talking myself out of waking up in the middle of the night on the eve of a long drive. I will consider that if there's to be another post.