Un Deux Trois Quatre Cinq Six Sept-Îles

Port-Cartier, QC to Sept-Îles, QC

July 20, 2014

By: Mark

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Port-Cartier, QC to Sept-Îles, QC

6:00am and I’m almost ready to go. Crazy.

A strange thing is happening to my morning routine. It keeps starting earlier and earlier. Today was another 5:00 awakening. No crows to blame this time. Just the sun. And I’m not going to complain about waking up to sunshine. Of course, the early mornings tend to make me go to bed earlier than I normally would – thus continuing the cycle. Either way, by 6:00 I had most of my gear packed up. I left the tent until last in an attempt to dry it out from the condensation that accumulated overnight. By 7:00 the bike was fully loaded and I was ready to roll. Since there was no WiFi at the campsite I decided I would make the 3km trip back into town to use the WiFi at Tim Hortons to update my blog. That went smoothly so the next stop was across the street to Subway. Once again I ordered two “Douze pouces” subs – I still haven’t figured out what “Do you want it toasted?” is in French so when we got to that part of the conversation my face went to its default blank stare – a look I’m getting pretty good at.

Parc de la Rivière aux Rochers

I had one more stop to make before leaving Port-Cartier behind. Like everywhere else in Quebec, there’s a nice waterfall in Port-Cartier and since it was directly on my way it seemed foolish to NOT stop. It was a pretty powerful flow of water yet there were a few people standing in the river fly-fishing for salmon. They didn’t catch anything in the short time I was watching. It was now 9:00 and time to hit the road for Sept-Îles. At the risk of repeating myself, this was another very easy day. I stopped every 20km again and the time really went by quickly. There were several other cyclists on the road this morning – most were on racing bikes, but one cyclist was fully loaded with a trailer in tow. About 40km from Sept-Îles I glanced at my mirror only to see another cyclist right behind me. He was obviously moving a LOT faster than I was. After we went through the usual, “Je ne parle pas Français” routine the conversation switched to English. We discussed cycling, and my trip and he suggested an alternate (more scenic) route through Sept-Îles that would take me directly along the waterfront instead of through town. We rode along the highway for about 7km before he resumed his normal pace and disappeared down the road within a few minutes.

Rivière Ste-Marguerite

Being from the area, I’m guessing he didn’t stop to take in the view at Rivière Ste-Marguerite. I thought it was pretty impressive. It was some sort of dam structure on one side of the bridge and a much more picturesque view on the other side of the bridge. There was no one around to ask if they have a regular schedule as to when water gets released so I just settled for taking a few pictures and moved on. Despite a bit of a headwind, I continued to make good time and by 12:10 I had reached Sept-Îles. The planned campground was still another 26km away but that certainly felt manageable given how early in the day it was. I did another WiFi stop (this time at McDonald’s) to confirm the location of the campground. After some added research it seemed there were a few options – all 26km away. I decided to go back to the Tourist Information Centre a couple kilometres back to see if they had any insights into camping in the area. They did.

TRÈS helpful!

Fortunately, the girl that I first met at the centre spoke English. She thought it was pretty bad but I assured her that was not the case. She confirmed that there were a couple of campgrounds out of town but she also pointed me in the direction of an auberge (ie. hostel) right in town. The price was less than most campgrounds so I decided to go there and worry about the extra 26km tomorrow. Before leaving the Tourist Information Centre I also got some tips on places to go during the rest of my ride through Quebec. All in all, stopping at the centre was a VERY good idea. After checking into the hostel, I went out for a ride on an unloaded bike. It makes getting around SO much easier. I don’t know why but I really had a craving for a frozen drink so that became my next objective. Fortunately since every gas station seems to sell such things these days it didn’t take long to find such a drink. Of course, they had several options but one had a picture of a Creamsicle on it. Could they really have turned a Creamsicle into a frozen drink? Could I pass up the chance to find out?? Clearly not. Now, I’m not going to say it was the greatest beverage I’ve ever had but it just might have been!

Yes, that’s a dining room in a lobster trap. I went in, but couldn’t figure out how to get out again.

With my craving more than quenched, I headed along the shore to a few areas that were recommended to me. One such place was a Casse-Croûte which included a “dining room” in a big lobster trap. How could I NOT eat there? So, now I’m back at the hostel. The dorm room I’m in is pretty small but it’ll do for one night. The rest of the place is REALLY nice. Big common area. Big kitchen. Big fire pit. WiFi. Certainly a heck of a lot more to offer than most campgrounds – although, I still like the privacy of my own tent. I’ll spend the next little while reviewing my options for the next few days. It’s hard to believe that I’m only ten days away from the ferry in Natashquan. Approximately 400km to go. It’s also a bit hard to believe that I’ve done a little more than 1,850km so far.