THURSDAY 07 July
There were several reasons we booked an RV park in the Perce area: 1) It was a good distance from Saint-Anne-des-Monts, 2) our research had not turned up good options near Gaspe, and 3) It wasn’t too far from Forillon National Park (FNP).
The park was our focus for today. We had to drive back north through Gaspe and then east into the park. This should have taken about and hour but was closer to 90 minutes due to a detour around a bridge closure. The sky was clear, the sun was warm, and the winds were mild. A perfect day to visit a park and go hiking.
FNP is a true national park run by Parks Canada. It occupies the easternmost tip of the Gaspe peninsula and, like all national parks, exists to protect a unique landscape, habitat, or cultural/historic site. It also provides recreational opportunities when and where appropriate. Even though most of the park is inaccessible, even to backpackers, FNP ticked all of those boxes.
The marsh by the west entrance and visitor center at Forillon National Park (Parks Canada).
Our first hike was out a narrow spit of land with the Bay of Gaspe (and a beach) on one side, and a marsh on the other. We walked along the beach for a while and then found the trail and the marsh observation shelter. FNP is heavily forested with a large and diverse flora. Black Spruce thrive here, a tree normally only found much farther north in Canada or in Russia.
The Gulf of St. Lawrence from eastern end of Forillon National Park (at or near the eastern most point of the Gaspe peninsula).
We then drove over the mountains (on QC-132) to the main visitor center on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We hike a boardwalk trail, complete with informational signage. Three of us then hiked out to the Irish Memorial (1.2 Km round trip), erected in remember of the lives lost when the ship “Carricks” sank of this very spot in the 1840s, loaded with people from County Sligo, Ireland trying to escape the potato famine and establish and new and better live in North America.
The “Irish Memorial”. Erected to remember those who perished when the sailing vessel “Carricks” sank just off the coast at this point, in sight of land after sailing from Ireland in the 1840s.
Though limited, we were satisfied with our time in the park and the time it took to get here was worthwhile. On the drive back to camp we also noted that there appeared to have been more options to camp in the Gaspe area, including in FNP itself (although not with Paul and Nancy’s big rig) as well as many rental chalets. We all agreed that we could have spent more time in this area, and would like to return someday.
We stopped in Gaspe for fuel and to do some minor grocery shopping at an IGA. A minor disappointment was that we had not allowed time to just drive around a bit and see the city, which looked charming.
It was a long day for us, having left camp at 9:30 AM and returned at 5:45 PM. We had already agreed on leftovers for dinner, so minimal preparation was needed for the evening meal. I took the time before we ate to investigate the loose propane tank cover. Fortunately, the threaded rod was not loose at the base. The special nut on top that was slightly loose, but could not loosen any further due to a locking mechanism. I removed the lock, repositioned the tanks slightly, tightened everything back down, and locked it.
There was already a chill in the air, but we decided we needed to have a campfire because, well, camping. Paul drove to the campground office (it’s a long walk from our sites) and bought a bundle of firewood. He built a nice fire—one of the best so far—and we enjoyed it until it dwindled and the cold became dominant once again. We retired to our respective rigs and I think we were all early to bed as we had plans to head out earlier than usual to take a boat trip to the Rock and Bonaventure Island.
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