Day 2: Hiking the trails of la Mauricie National Park

Our second day in La Mauricie started pretty much like the first one… by getting lost. The clerk at the resort had recommended that we visit the Falls of Shawinigan as they were close to the resort. The next morning, I suggested to Michel that we should visit the Falls before heading out to the Park.

Following the directions provided by the hotel clerk we made it to the park were the Fall are located but never saw them! We walked up and down various trails for 30 minutes without catching a glimpse of the Falls so gave up and drove on to La Mauricie National Park for the day’s hike.

Having studied the maps of the park the previous evening we had already identified the Mekinac trail as our objective for the day. Rated an intermediary level trail, the Mekinac is an 11 km hike to Lake Rosoy. The trail wasn’t as well-groomed as the Lac-Solitaire the previous day and in fact, some sections were downright dangerous. We encountered two steep staircases that had been

transformed into iced-covered slides. Fortunately, I had an excellent pair of crampons. We arrived safe and sound at the top of the mountain where we had an amazing view of the Mauricie River. Another well-deserved stop on the red chair where I munched on my daily dose of chocolate.

The hike down the hill was serenely quiet as we meandered through patches of tall red pines.

I count myself lucky to have visited this beautiful region. It just reinforced my decision to visit Canada’s National Parks.

I can’t wait to visit my next parks: La Rouge and Point Pellee in May.