Mont Tremblant of Quebec Province

     You might think Mont Tremblant, only 80 or so miles north of Montreal, is just a ski resort. But it's much more than ski trails on the slopes of the Laurentian Mountains. My sister and her hubby and me have been in Mont Tremblant for a week, mostly biking but some walking.

     Mont Tremblant has a race track for Formula One races, it has an Ironman 70.3 coming up on June 21, and it has rivers, streams, bays, and white-water. 

     It's a perfect weekend or summer escape. Folks come here to bike, paddle, fish, golf, zipline, and a number of other pursuits outdoors. And there's plenty of resorts, rental units, second homes and there's a hostel here too.

     And fortuitously, the The P'tit Train du Nord which is a 125-mile bicycle trail, winds through this town. This bike trail is astounding; the more I ride it, the more impressed I become. It's a rails to trail conversion and it connects many small towns including Mont Tremblant in the scenic province of Quebec. 

     The trail around the Mont Tremblant area (the town, the resort, and the ski area which are three separate localities) is maintained with mucho money, staff, and resources. It's amazing to me because in the United States, this rails to trail concept would get more "nay" votes than "yea" votes. In fact, my friend Chef Renauld of Montana says folks nixed the idea of the abandoned Old Milwaukee Roadbed being converted to a trail across the entire state of Montana. But here in Quebec, the Little Train of the North trail has apparently blessed local commerce with mucho tourism dollars. Notice the dotted center line? Mont Tremblant doesn't skimp on trail expenses.

          There's lush ferns everywhere . . . and six-inch dark green clover on each side of the paved trail. That's why we saw deer near the trail.

      My sister and I took the "P'tit train du Nord" to the grocery store in Mont Tremblant one day; a bit over seven miles one way. I just love this trail.
 

My sister reminds me of Miss Marple when she rides.  She rides a standard manual bicycle.

     But her sweet very-democratic husband rides an electric bicycle. I also ride an electric bicycle. So, today we three voted on whether or not to ride the Little Train of the North trail with a 4 percent grade or the extremely hilly spur trail to the resort of Mont Tremblant which is a bit more scenic. Surprise, surprise, the vote was two electrics against one manual for the hilly trail. But my sister's a good sport; she walked her bike up, and we patiently waited for her.

 The hilly trail rewarded us with white-water streams . . . .

 

And a crossing of the Riviere du Diablo . . .

This spur trail has several courtyards with picnic tables, bike stands, and garbage containers. On weekends, these courtyards are popular.

I'm wondering if these boulders were transported here from somewhere else? It's too picture-perfect! And being from the United States, I'm a bit skeptical.

If anyone gets lost on the bike trails, there's no excuse!

 But the most astounding experience was running into these guys trimming the tree limbs on each side of the trail!

     I stopped to ask him if he'd mind me taking his picture. We engaged in a conversation although my French is very poor and his English was equally poor. I told him it was great that folks maintained this beautiful trail, and he asked where I was from . . . Texas apparently is a word that doesn't roll off the French tongue too easily. He kept repeating "Texas" and asked if he was saying "Texas" correctly. It was funny, cause I could see he wanted to master that hard "X" pronunciation.

     I've enjoyed Mont Tremblant very much, despite this area being "resort-ish". It's still very much an outdoor enthusiast's nirvana, particularly for bicyclists. And to cap off the days of wonderful biking, my sister and I have had lots of fun preparing healthy dinners for her sweetheart and us. And fun clinking glasses to sisterhood too!

Little Train of the North

     Yesterday, my sister and her hubby and I crammed our gear, bikes and ourselves in their Toyota Sienna to start a 45 mile bike ride on the "P'tit train du Nord". This trail is one of those wonderful rails to trails projects all over the North American continent; abandoned railroad tracks (never more than a 4 percent grade, perfect for folks who hate hills) are converted to trails for bicyclists, walkers, joggers and others.

We began in the little town of Lac Saguay

This beautiful ground cover wildflower grew in profusion everywhere . . . .

     Every couple of miles or so was a picnic table, and a billboard explaining the ecosystem and wildlife in that area.

     And a respectable distance from each picnic table was a toilet with a clear fiberglass ridged roof to allow sunlight inside.

     We had the trail mostly to ourselves all day, except for these four recumbent bikers and two other bicyclists. All of us were over 55 years old.

Every eight miles or so we'd pass through the old railroad station which caters to tourists on the trail.

Plenty of ponds, lakes and wetlands on both sides of the trail.

And lush crops and a tree plantation . . .

Across the Rouge River on a long wooden bridge . . . .

The well maintained beautiful trail was too good to be true!

     And then disaster struck on this beautiful perfect trail in the middle of nowhere, my brother-in-law had a flat. My sister and I helped him fix it. And just as we were inflating the new tube, another biker (who also appeared to be over 50 years old) came by to ask if we needed help. He was the trail patrol! "For real?" I asked him incredulously. He showed me the back of his shirt to prove he was there to help people. I asked him if he was a volunteer, and he said "oui".

Back on the trail again . . .

Destination . . . Mont Tremblant.