I woke up very early and couldn’t get back to sleep what with crows cawing and someone nearby snoring. I finally gave up trying at about 5:30 and since my clothes didn’t seem any dryer, I hung them up on a line, at least it was sunny. I didn’t leave the campground until around 8:30 as I was waiting for my clothes to dry. As I walked out of the village, I noticed a minivan pulled over on the side of the highway and the driver seemed to be rummaging around in the trunk. When I came up to the car, the man said hello and started asking me about my hike. He was from Saskatchewan and was driving to a family reunion in Nova Scotia and was an avid hiker as well. He then offered me a mango, yes please! As well as a few other food items from his trunk. I couldn’t take everything he offered but ended up with some dried figs as well. After he drove away, it hit me that it wasn’t by chance that he was stopped when I walked by, but that he had stopped on purpose to offer me something when he’d seen me walking along the highway! I was overcome with gratitude, but wished I had thanked him even more than I did. It was my birthday and I couldn’t think of a better way to start it off. The trail continued along the highway and through Rivière Madeline for about 3 km before turning down a dirt road and eventually up to a viewpoint back out to Rivière Madeleine.

In the afternoon, I saw some interesting scat that I couldn’t identify that looked extremely fresh. I didn’t see the culprit though, whatever it was. It was back to the highway for the last 10 kms of the day. I listened to a podcast to help the time pass and in no time I made it to a viewpoint down onto Grande-Vallée, my home for the night. I stopped for a bit and texted back all my bday well-wishers and called Gill.

It was then on into the village where I tried to find some bug spray since mine was low, but wasn’t successful. It was on the motel for the night, I had treated myself to a real bed for the night, and was glad to find my last resupply box waiting for me. I called Mum and Dad, showered and washed out my clothes again, including my bra, not remembering that I needed one to wear out to dinner. Mum had sent me some money to pay for my dinner and the motel had a well-rated restaurant, so once I figured out that I could use my Buff as a tube bra, off I went. I had cod a la Gaspésienne, meaning it was very lightly coated in flour and egg and pan-fried, and a choux pastry ball thing for desert. The fish was fresh and good, but the choux pastry was very sweet and rich.

I also ordered a seafood pizza, since I heard it was delicious, but I was already stuffed, so I kept it for tomorrow’s breakfast.