As planned, I started my day by going to the café. My debit card was declined again when I tried to use it to pay for my pastry and latte. So, I used my dwindling cash again feeling quite confused. I had seen on the news that there was an issue with Rogers and that a lot of things were disrupted as a consequence, but the café said that so far no one else had an issue with their card. Oh well, I figured that I didn’t need to buy anything again for over a week and that I’d deal with it then if needed. The first part of today’s route went over another covered bridge and then followed a paved road out of town with lac Matapedia on one side and farmland on the other.

There were quite a few houses along the lake and as I passed by one of them, I was stopped by a man who was loading his car and who explained that he and his wife had just bought this house as a cottage and that they live St-Hyacinthe. They’re familiar with the SIA as they’ve been hiking it in sections over the last few years and are doing the section that I just finished in August. Continuing on, the road eventually turned into a combination of road and cross country ski trails. It started to rain a bit and I tried out my hiking umbrella again but ended up holding it in one hand and both of my hiking poles in the other, which was ok on road but probably not practical for a trail. Finally, there was a section of real hiking trail up to the abri Trois Soeurs. I had lunch at a look-out just before the shelter and it seemed like the weather was clearing up as the sun was starting to come out.

The afternoon was mostly back to following dirt roads and I had a swarm of blackflies keeping me company. They were annoying since they would fly around my face and even into my eyes despite wearing glasses. I even swallowed one. At least they didn’t seem to be biting. The final few kms were down a road that was under construction and seemed to last forever. I finally got into the village of St-Vianney. The camp area was in a little park and had an abri and apparently a spot to pitch a tent on the ground, although it wasn’t overly obvious where one would do this. The abri keys were at the little grocery store next to the park, so I went over and of course bought myself an ice cream, as well as an apple. I learned that the debit card issue was widespread due to Rogers’ issues. I asked for the abri keys despite not having reserved it and was handed the keys without any questions asked. I was also given the keys to the shower room in the toilet block in the park. After settling into the abri, I went to check out the toilets and shower. I figured that I might as well shower even though I had one yesterday since it would be over a week until I would be able to again. The toilets were nice and clean and the shower room had one large wheelchair accessible shower and a toilet and sink. It was a really nice facility to be able to use and surprisingly free of charge. I had a little chat with a couple of women who were having a beer in the park and who told me that it should be a quiet night as there were no activities planned that night. Apparently, the hikers passing through the previous week got to attend a bonfire type get-together. I didn’t mind hearing that no party was planned as I was tired after the long day; although the road walking is relatively fast, it does feel more tiring on my feet that the softer trail.