In the morning I found out that there had been tornadoes in Matane, about 200km away and I felt extremely grateful that the storms had been so light where I was. I walked the first few kms into the town of Mt-St-Pierre, which is spread along a bay. I had finally made it to the coast of the Gulf. I went to the grocery store to get some gas for my stove. I wasn’t completely out, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find more since the trail notes don’t mention any other shop that sells it after this one. As I was heading back through the village, I noticed a giftshop/ice cream shop and since it was open, I went to have a look even though it was just 9 am. Their specialty were ice cream bars on sticks, sort of like Magnums. I got a dark chocolate raspberry one, which was nice even if the raspberry flavor was subtle.

Leaving the village, the trail headed up an incredibly steep dirt road and then eventually onto an even steeper hiking trail that went to the summit of the headland.

It was humid and I was sweating buckets, so when I got to the top, I stopped to drink some electrolytes and admire the view.

The summit is another launch site for people who enjoy jumping off mountains, but no one was up there but me.

After a short bit along the summit of the headland, it was steeply downhill into Maxime-Mt-Saint-Louis in the next bay. It was just about noon when I arrived, so I went to the cantine and ordered another lobster guedille, after being assured that it had a lot of lobster meat, with fries. It was much better than my first one and even cheaper! After eating, I went to Atkins et frères, a seafood smoke house, and bought some maple smoked salmon for dinner. My last stop was the grocery store to pick up supplies for the next few days. The pickings were slim, but I eventually figured it out. I ended up getting a Knorr pasta side to go with my smoked salmon and an apple to eat right away.

Just out of town, the trail turns up a dirt road that parallels the coastal highway. There were some ripe raspberries along the side, which were delicious despite being dusty. The road joined up with the highway in Anse Pleureuse, which doesn’t have any services. From there, the trail went inland and up a steep dirt road. On the way up, an 85-year old man in a pick-up truck stopped to chat. He told me his whole life story, including his recent cancer diagnosis. I found it a bit uncanny that he guessed my age right on the nose although it would only be correct for one more day. The trail turned into a real path again once the climb was finished, which came to a view point over Anse Pleureuse below. It was very windy there and my hat even blew off, so I didn’t stay long. There were also some cool pine trees that seemed to be twisted and to have crazy roots and branches all over the place.

The trail eventually headed down again towards the coast to the abri, which has a view of the coast and a picnic table a short walk away with an even better view of the coast. There were a few houses nearby and the 132 wasn’t far (could hear it at the picnic table). I made my pasta and salmon dinner and enjoyed it at the table, watching the sun set over the Gulf. I even saw some gannets plunging as I ate. It was a magical spot and I went to bed feeling very much at peace.