Gaspé Road trip - Forillon National Park

 After a stormy day we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a spectacular golden hour immediately afterwards. 

 

 

The morning golden hour

 

 

We drove up to the top of the headland to take in a different aspect of the rock. 

It was a good start to the day - we had planned to explore Forillon National Park, an hour's drive from Percé.  One thing to note, and it was not immediately obvious on maps, is that one could not drive to the tip of the peninsula which is called "Le Bout du monde" (Land's End)  - it can only be reached on foot via a 4km trail.  We opted for the easy way to see the park and drove instead to Cap Bon Ami. It was a scenic hike from the parking lot down to the beach and was just right for our energy level.

View of Cap Bon Ami

Interesting rock formations on the cliffs and on the beach

 

Crouching tiger

The lighthouse at Cap des Rosiers

Sanderling

 Ruffed Grouse

There seemed to be lots of migrating birds along the coast.  A whole flock of Common eiders was gathered off the shore and we saw sanderlings and semi-palmated plovers on the beach near Cap des Rosiers. I'm sure if we had looked harder we would have seen more.  Somewhere along the road, we also saw a Ruffed Grouse, another lifer for me.  

We had checked the tide tables and found that low tide coincided with the golden hour on Percé Rock, making it a unique opportunity to get to the rock for photos. We were glad we made it back in time for the hike to the rock during low tide - it was an awesome sight to see that golden nugget up close.  The hike was quite treacherous and I wished I had brought along my walking stick.  The rocks were wet and even worse was the kelp on them which made them very slippery.  I almost slipped but was fortunately able to regain my balance. 

As you can see below, we got quite close to the rock and could have gone right to the foot if we had chosen to.  But there was a time constraint since low tide lasts only about an hour and we had already spent a part of that hour taking photos from the shore. The thought of being stranded on the other side was enough of a deterrent. 

The view from the beach 

 

Getting closer

 

There were some really awesome rocks on the cliffs facing the Rock and you can see them here extending right into the water.  Don't forget to turn around and look up the cliff face!

 

 

This is actually the tamer part of the trail

Catching the last rays

Sunset on the rock and moon rise over Bonaventure Island

 

Next post:   The drive back to Riviere-du-Loup