We awoke to light rain, which doused our plans of getting up early and going for a hike at the nearby Shewenegan picnic area. Our setup for cooking outside in the rain takes quite a bit of effort (stringing up a tarp between trees, etc.), so if possible we prefer to just wait out the rain. By 8 am the rain had abated, so we brewed some coffee in the AeroPress and ate granola with yogurt and wild blueberries.

After packing up the still-wet tent, we drove down the road to the picnic area, and set of with our cameras on a walk around the Les Cascades track. Normally this track runs beside a roaring river which pours down a steep section of exposed rock, but today there was barely a trickle. The park ranger we talked to yesterday had mentioned that some beavers had built a big dam far upstream on this river at some point during the spring, which had almost entirely staunched the flow. Parks Canada have a policy of not interfering with natural events, so for the foreseeable future there are no more Cascades!

Our final destination tonight is Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier, but we have a few stops planned along the way, the first of which is a provincial park in Portneuf. The main attraction here is a short walk through the remains of a 100 year old wooden penstock, which used to water from the nearby dam to a power generation plant on the side of the ravine. It was amazing to think how far engineering has come since this was built, and that back in 1920 it was perfectly reasonable to build a pipe out of planks of wood wrapped in thousands of steel straps. The part that we walked on was almost entirely disassembled, with just the bottom part of the pipe remaining to form a walking track, but there were a few sections of full pipe that were fenced off.

Our next stop was Quebec City! We drove through the outer suburbs, which had a pretty standard European city feel, until we reached the innermost and oldest part, the walled city. Suddenly, it was if we’d been teleported back to a thousand year old city in France! Tiny cobblestone roads, three or four story buildings all packed in tightly together, and little cafes spilling tables and chairs out onto the footpaths. We were lucky enough to find a parking space here, right outside the tourist information centre. We picked up a map and some recommendations of things to see from a person at the counter, and then headed out to make the most of our 2-hour parking limit.

Some things we saw and did:

  • Fairmont Le Château Frontenac - one of the grand castles built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1800's
  • The Citadelle of Quebec - set atop Cap Diamont, this is an active military installation and the oldest military building in Canada
  • Walked Dufferin Terrace and the Governors Promenade - a huge boardwalk along the cliff top, leading to a staircase of over 300 stairs and a path that follows the outside of the fortifications, offering an amazing view over the St Laurence river
  • Strolled on top of the city walls - this was pretty amazing, as they don't have any railings on the edge!
  • Wandered through some markets in tiny alley-ways
  • Had some local craftbrew beers and poutine at Le Projet

We were still an hour away from our campsite and it was beginning to get dark, so we got back on the road after a quick stop at a supermarket. After a long winding drive up into the park, we arrived at the registration centre in almost pitch darkness. The doors to the centre were locked, but we could see some people inside, and we walked in after a couple of other people that didn’t look like park employees walked out. There was a lady at the desk but she said that they were now closed, although we asked for some directions to our campsite and she helpfully gave us a map. I don’t think I was listening properly when she told us how to get to the campground from where we were parked, so I led us off down a road in completely the wrong direction until Katie managed to convince me that she had in fact been listening, knew where to go, and that I was totally lost. We found our spot a little after 8 pm, and quickly set up the tent by the light of our headlamps. It’s cold here!