WEDNESDAY 06 July
Today was the beginning of our third week on the road, which is about half of the time we will spend caravanning with Paul and Nancy and a bit less than a quarter of our total planned trip. It was a repositioning day, leaving Camping Ancre Jaune in Saint-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec and driving to Chalets Camping Nature Ocean in Perce, Quebec. We have three nights booked here, our last in the province of Quebec for this trip.
There was a possibility of rain overnight into this morning, so I did most of the exterior departure preparation last night. The rain did not materialize in the morning, so it did not take long to finish the departure process in relative comfort. It was strongly overcast, however, and remained so for the entire trip.
Our route was mostly QC-132 along the northwest coast of the Gaspe peninsula, with occasional turns inland to go around bays or headlands that plunged into the sea. At one point we were even in the clouds! Most of the bays had towns along them, and were fed by rivers flowing down from the mountains. It was the most dramatic scenery of the trip so far. It was a challenging but fun drive.
We saw a lot of this on the drive today. 14% grade with sharp turns and low speed limits at the bottom.
Challenging? Yes, our most challenging drive yet, and the truck performed well. The road was very good, the best stretch of QC-132 so far, but was rarely straight and had lots of ups and downs. There was quite a bit of road maintenance taking place as well, and it seemed that every small town had a major bridge repair underway, reducing traffic to one lane controlled by stoplights at either end, perhaps a dozen places in all. There was even one repair that was long enough to require an escort vehicle. But it all went smoothly, and we were able to travel 90 KmPH much of the time, slowing down to 80, 70, or even lower (55, 45, 35) for some curves, which always seemed to be at the top or bottom of steep grade. It was nice to have to slow down to 50 KmPH (~32 MPH) going through the towns as I was able to see them a bit better.
The sign is for a 17% grade downhill into Perce, QC.
Speaking of grades, this stretch of road had them. 7% to 10% grades were common, and we saw at least one 12% and one 14%. And these were just the ones going down. Uphill grades are not marked and there were an equal number of them. The winner, however, was the final descent into Perce, at 17%. While steep, most of these grades were not very long. The F-150 powertrain (3.5L V6 twin-turbo ecoBoost with 10-speed, multi-mode transmission) handled all of the climbs and most of the descents with relative ease. The F-150 has a hill descent assist feature to keep the speed to 20 MPH or less at 2,000 RPM, and I used this feature on the 14% and 17% grades. The travel trailer has also held up well, other than the few minor things I have previously mentioned.
And here it is. The first viiew of Perce, QC. End of “the rock” at left. Bonaventure Island at the top.
Just as we reached the northwest corner of Forillon National Park, we took QC-197 along the west edge of the park rather than staying on QC-132 which follows the coast all the way around the park and into Gaspe, QC. QC-197 is the designated “transit” (truck) route to Gaspe, so using it was the wise decision. We also took QC-198 south from Gaspe to bypass the stretch of QC-132 around the small peninsula there that is a marked “tourist” route, and not advised for larger vehicles. These two bypasses saved a few miles and additional steep grades in an otherwise longer than usual driving day.
Rain was forecast for much of our travel, including our destination, and we caught up to it before we reached Gaspe. It was there waiting for us when we reached Perce, but it was always light.
Perce is an attractive little tourist town, the main draw being “the Rock” and Bonaventure Island, both part of the Parc national de Bonaventure, another Quebec provincial park. The Rock was first visible has we got closer to Perce, and it is large. It is possible to walk out to it during low tide. Bonaventure Island is a major nesting and resting place for migratory and local birds.
As we drove through Perce to our campground on the south side of town, it was busy with tourists walking about in the rain with rain gear and umbrellas. Chalets Camping Nature Ocean turned out to be an interesting and lovely campground, set up for both RVs and tents, as well as offering lots of rental cabins (chalets). It looked and felt more like a really nice state park than a private/commercial campground, with large, well-spaced, sites separated by hedgerows of varied plants.
Our campsite at Chalets Nature Ocean. Paul and Nancy’s rig behind to the left.
Our site (W3W=disapperars.imperious.carpeted) was at the very back of the campground, which sloped up away from the road and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It looked dubious at first, but turned out to only be slightly out of level and was easily compensated for with our equipment. We were parked with the trailer on a north-south orientation, facing north, and high enough up to have a clear view of Bonaventure Island. We set up in a light/occasional drizzle; the first time on this trip that we have had to make camp in any sort of inclement weather. But it wasn’t bad and we got it done. And it’s not like we had a choice. When you RV (or camp in general) you simply do what you have to do.
Both rigs on a nicer day, weatherwise.
I had noticed recently that the cover for the propane tanks was not sitting level. When I checked, I found that it was loose. My first thought (which always seems to go to the worst possible outcome) was that the threaded rod that secures the tanks and the cover was coming loose. Yikes! I did not take the time to investigate and correct whatever was wrong at the time due to the weather, and left it for the next day.
We could see all of Bonaventure Island from our campsite
The biggest problem we had was that the lids on several of our bulk food containers popped off and some of the contents bounced out. This is the second time this had happened, and we have no idea why. The container lids have a good, strong seal. A serious change in altitude would cause an increase in the internal air pressure, but the mountains here are not that extreme. In fact, the mountains in the Gaspe peninsula are the northern extent of the Appalachian Mountain chain. Perhaps the bouncing of the rough roads had caused the ingredients to bang against the inside of the lids and push them open. But that seemed unlikely, especially with things such as sugar and quinoa.
The view of the campground to east of our site. We are at the back of the park, at the highest point.
For dinner Nancy made vegan chili with jackfruit and lots of other ingredients. It was great, one of the best we have ever had (and Linda makes a very good vegan chili too.) By the time we finished dinner it was 7:45 PM. It had stopped raining and there was still plenty of daylight, so we drove into Perce to look around and perhaps get some ice cream (P&N) or sorbet (us). We selected a Creamerie and Resto we had noticed on the drive in. The restaurant was open, but the ice cream counter had stopped serving. They told Paul it was “too cold” for ice cream. We stopped at a shop that sold t-shirts and other things, looked around, and chatted with the owner. We made a mental note to return on Friday. Back in camp, and lacking firewood, we retired for the evening.
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