Grand Jardins National Park

Thursday - Grand Jardins National Park

The rocky outcrop behind Olivia ... that was our destination!

The area of Charlevoix is known for its rivers and mountains. Isle aux Coudres, where we went yesterday, is very much the river - its an island surrounded by the St Laurence River. So today, we decided to explore the mountains. We headed inland, climbed elevation (more 18% gradients) and soon found the landscape changing to pine trees and forest land. 

The Canadian woods ... tall, green trees!

It was a very warm day so we decided a 2 hour walk would suffice. It a steep walk and we climbed 250 metres - but the walk actually only took 90 minutes. The barren, rocky hill behind Olivia in this photo is what we climbed! The up trip was much slower than the down trip! It was beautiful scenery - probably more typical of Canadian forests that most Canadian tourism sites promote. Very green; very tall birch and pine trees and very heavily forested. We are all in a little dilemma - we are keen to see a bear but we don’t want to see a bear … particular when we are walking! This was an area for bears so there was a little trepidation! We did manage to see other wildlife however - a porcupine, hiding in a bush with all its spikes upright, showing its fear; then a thin snake, about 40 cm long - its tongue was hissing madly.