Matane to Longue-Rive, QC
Traditional territory of the Innus
107 km
Rain on and off, 15 ºC
Today was arguably the flattest day on the trip so far. Back beside the Chic-Choc Mountains northwest of Gaspé was pretty flat, with high cliffs rising behind the ocean-level highway, but it soon gave way to the rolling hills as we moved farther west. Then, relatively unexpectedly those hills melted into the flat terrain of the south shore of the St. Lawrence.
It was almost tempting to stay.
But we took the ferry from Rimouski to Forestville and now we’re back in the relatively wilderness of the less-inhabited and certainly less-flat north shore.
In Rimouski, the ferry dock was in the middle of urban sprawl. In Forestville, the ferry was a kilometre or so west of the town itself. So when we got there, there was nothing but fog and trees.
“Forestville,” I said to Asad. “Maybe it’s just…a forest.”
Along the south shore were other cyclists, rolling their way through the rain just like we were. Always great to cross paths with other riders. We stopped for a hot chocolate in the rain at a Tim Hortons along the highway and Asad bought it for me while I was filling my bottle and that was probably the highlight of the day.
