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

Gaspé Road trip - destination Percé

We had an eye on the weather forecast all the way and adjusted our itinerary based on the weather. Rain and winds were forecasted for the following day in Percé so we pushed forward with our weather-dependent activities, top on the list was the boat cruise to Bonaventure Island.  As Carleton-sur-mer was only 2 hours from Percé, we made sure we arrived in good time for the boat departure. 

This was the view from the pier

  

Close-up of the arch from the boat

View from the boat

I read on a Tripadvisor post that one should sit on the right side of the boat to get the best view of the gannets on the island. As it turned out the boat went around the island in an anti-clockwise direction, possibly because of the strong winds.  So we were stuck on the right side of the boat and I had to scramble to get a seat on the left side in order to get shots of the gannets flying over the water. 

 

Bonaventure Island

 

 

Gannet flying over water

 

 

Gannets on the side of the island

 

Observation tower in the gannet colony - we did not get to this part of the trail 

 

 

 

 The boat let us off on the island at 3pm. We were told we have to be back at the pier before 5 pm as that would be the last boat back to the mainland.  It was an uphill 2 km climb to the top of the island to get to the gannet colony on the north side, not normally a long hike but the steep incline and the added pressure of watching the time made it a rather stressful climb. Of course when we got to the gannets, we forgot everything - it was such an amazing sight to see thousands of these birds in one area. There was so much activity going on it took a while for us to absorb it all - there were mating pairs, bullying gannets, gannets in different stages of development - it was fascinating!  It was very cold and windy at the top so the photography was not easy.  We also had to make sure we get back in time for the boat!

 

Gannet colony on the north side of the island

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young gannet still with down feathers

 

 

 Juvenile gannets

 

The boat ride back was even choppier than earlier in the afternoon so it was a relief to be back on solid ground and just in time for the golden hour on the rock.  We were lucky to have done the boat ride that afternoon as true to the forecast, the following day was cold, rainy and windy.  It was a good time for a break and we were glad we had booked three nights at Percé to allow for the weather. 

TIP: Definitely book your hotel ahead of time for Percé. Rooms with view of the rock in September were all booked even as early as July.  Dinner reservations for the highly-rated La Maison du Pêcheur are a must. We only got a 5:15 pm slot in spite of booking a week ahead.

Golden hour on the rock

We got up early the following morning to catch the sunrise. True to the saying "red sky in the morning, sailors warning", the wind and the rain arrived shortly after sunrise and all boat cruises were suspended.  

It went from this...

  to this in a couple of hours...

With nothing better to do, we climbed up a tower to get a panoramic view of the town during a lull in the rain.

Next post: Second sunrise and Forillon National Park

Gaspé Road trip - first stretch

After 20 months at home with the pandemic, we finally ventured out on a road trip in September, with the Gaspé peninsula as our destination. On the way to and from the Gaspé, we stopped at many interesting places.  Please come along with us to enjoy some of the scenery.

Nicolet caught my eye when I was looking for a place to stop near Trois Rivieres - it is near the south shore of Lac St. Pierre which has a significant bird sanctuary. Since September is migration season, I was hoping to see some migrants while we were there.  As it turned out, we arrived late in the afternoon and caught the golden hour on the cornfields but the light was too dim for us to see anything on the vast meadow near the birding hotspot Baie-du-Febvre.  Since we had to be on our way first thing in the morning, we skipped the bird sanctuary thinking we would be stopping here again on our way home.

Corn fields catching the golden light

Minimalist farm scenery in Nicolet

Blue hour on the river

We headed for Riviere-du-Loup the following day with a stop at the Parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudiere to see the spectacular falls. The bedrocks there are even more spectacular. We also stopped by a couple of the picturesque towns along the route - Michel de Belchasse with its many silver-clad rooftops and Kamourasaka, a legendary town. I stopped because of Anne Hébert's book (Kamourasaka) but the town has many other interesting aspects, including a chocolate shop and a romantic pier. I encountered two lifers here - the sanderling and the semipalmated sandpiper.  The sunset at Riviere-du-Loup that evening was beautiful and we were lucky to catch it before we arrived at the hotel.

Les Chutes de la Chaudiere

Spectacular bedrocks and the suspension bridge in the distance

  

Silver-clad steeple of the church at St. Michel de Belchasse - recurring theme throughout Quebec

 

The waterfront at St. Michel de Belchasse

 

Charming pier in Kamourasaka

Sanderling at Kamourasaka

 

 

 

 

 

Semipalmated sandpiper at Kamourasaka

Golden fields in Kamourasaka

Falls at Riviere-du-Loup

Riveire-du-Loup sunset

It was a long drive along Hwy 132 to our final stop before Percé - Carleton-sur-mer, again hoping to see some migrating birds in the bay. We saw several blue herons and some wigeons far away and not much else. But the awesome cloud formation at sunset gave us our photo fix for the day.

TIP: While everyone is supposed to be back in school in September, there are sitll many people on the road (retirees?). If you would like to eat in a better restaurant for dinner, it is wise to reserve ahead as they tend to be booked up. This happened to us in Carleton-sur-mer where the few seafood restaurants were all fully booked and some were closed.  For a while we thought it would be pizza for dinner until we found The Heron, a diner that served a decent fish dinner.

The "Old man and the Sea" and the lighthouse at Carleton-sur-mer

Awesome clouds at sunset (Carleton-sur-mer)

Next post: destination Percé