Another beautiful cool morning greets us as we head off, up the hill to the Budget rental car office to claim our car for a full day of hiking in the La Vallée-du-Richelieu area, about an hour outside of Montreal.  Arriving a little before our 8am rental time, we patiently wait outside the closed office until an agent appears to tell us there are no cars.  Huh?  We’ve had this booked forever and even received a confirmation email yesterday.  What gives?  He explains there has been a recall – over 6,000 vehicles! (his exclamation, not ours) leaving him with no cars.  If we still wanted a car we would have to wait 6 hours to get one.  Nope.  The agent said he tried to call us, but the number wasn’t right.  Um, yeah, sure.  Our number is correct.  He also told us to just take an Uber or a Taxi, it would cost the same.  Buddy – we are driving almost an hour away to go hike a National Park, then another 40-minute drive to hike a Nature Reserve.  Don’t think an Uber or Taxi would cost the same, and would they even pick us up out there?  Not happening…..So…..anyhow…..we tell him to just cancel the reservation and go to Plan B. Which is essentially sitting outside the Budget office searching for Enterprise and renting a car there – only a 15-minute walk away.  It cost $40 more, but at least we have a car and can save the day.  Puts us on the road a mere 35 minutes later than planned.  Phew. 

After the traffic hell of the city, and the highways around Montreal (oh man, the traffic going into town was brutal!), driving out into the suburbs and hinterland is a pleasant change. Arriving at the Parc National Du Mont-Saint-Bruno, our pre-purchased ticket/QR code works beautifully and we are parked in a fairly empty lot and on our way quickly.  There are a host of trails from which to choose, anywhere from 1.5K to 8.8K loops.  Seeing as we are going to the Gault Reserve next, we decide to take the shorter 7k hike around Lac Seigneurial, the main lake in the park.

Striking off on our hike, we pass the arboretum area, with its paved path and descriptive signage, moving on further along the loop trail, all forested and once again, reminding us of home. The trees and setting is just so similar.  The odd thing about this walk though, is that there are houses all along the trail.  Big, expensive, lived in houses.  Sort of odd in a National park, but apparently, when the park was created in 1969 there were summer homes here, and the area around the wide gravel road where we hike was parceled out of the park and grandfathered for these homes.  At least that is what the map sort of looks like – and a somewhat convoluted explanation on the Park Administration building, called the Maison Murray.  Regardless, it is a nice, somewhat flat hike through pretty woods and lakeside areas.  Just nice to be out in the wilderness as opposed to the city streets.

Walking back to the parking lot, the crowds have arrived.  Wow!  TIE.  As always.  Tons of families, Mom/Baby yoga, groups of walkers and hikers. The parking lot is virtually full now.  Time to move on – although we figure we will probably find the same thing at Gault – and we do, to some extent.  Our tickets get us into the lot that is jam packed full a little before noon.  Although people are leaving, but more are still coming in – so we’ll see how it goes.  First thought – lunch.  Grabbing a picnic table in a nice shady area right off the parking lot, we dig into the MONSTROUS Dagwood sandwich (it was literally called that) we bought at the grocery store (a $6 USD investment) which was so good.  Oh…and Maple Stroopwafels….we are officially addicted.  They are so good….I mean bad….We’ll definitely need to get more before heading home!

Lunch complete, we strike off up into the mountainous park, trying, but failing to follow (as All Trails pointed out to us) the Boucle Mauve (Purple loop).  It was getting really steep, so we sort of shunted off on another trail (there are tons to choose from here) that got us down to Lac Hertel, and then up the other side of the mountain, once again following Boucle Mauve. 

It is so beautiful and peaceful out here – we absolutely loved it.  And while there were probably 100+ cars in that lot, we didn’t see a single soul after the first 30 minutes of hiking.  Amazing.  The forest was so quiet – in fact weirdly so – there no birds!  None. The weirdest thing we’ve ever experienced.  Beyond that, the hike was fantastic and we were very proud of making it to the summit of our 500 foot elevation gain! 

Closer to the parking lot, we once again saw more people, but this place is so big, with so many trails, you’d never know it was crowded.  Perfect day in the woods for us.  Making it even better, on the way back into town, we stopped at a roadside Blueberry and Cider farm store and bought fresh blueberries (oh so good – and I’m not the biggest blueberry fan!), 2 cans of cider for later and these amazing Mini maple and cream cones – sinfully good.

It is an easy drive back into the city, fortunately without traffic on our route.  While we get a little turned around with construction outside the Enterprise/bus station garage (CPS is not working well today), we eventually find our way into the lot, drop the car without incident and take the easy walk back to the apartment past the Notre Dame des Lourdes chapel. 

Later in the evening, we head up to MVP for dinner.  Our sweet Bartender/Waitress/Manager isn’t there, but the 2 girls who are there are wonderful.  Plopping down at the bar (the place, once again isn’t busy at all – weird), we have a great sports bar dinner of wings – some of the best we have had – and smoked meat Poutine.  Oh yeah.  The picture definitely does not do it justice.  That dish was incredibly well prepared and totally yummy.

Hanging out, chatting with the bartender – who in all seriousness called the US a dying country (we sort of have to agree) – we end our wonderful day on a delightful note, wandering back to the apartment to spend the rest of the evening on the couch watching Ballard.