Hike through, ZEC Lavigne. Revisiting lake Bouchard.
And so it
came to pass that on the last tuesday of April 2013, our fearless adventurers
packed their bags and hiked back to Bouchard Lake. The journey was fraught with
danger, gun shells and snow melt. I
think I may be overselling it again, however, I haven’t written anything all
winter. You can’t blame me for trying to make it sound interesting!
The hike in
seemed easier, perhaps because it was not new anymore. The roads were actually
blocked to car traffic in order to make sure that the roads would not degrade
further. That meant that we had them all to ourselves for the entire way in,
except for a couple of dogs near the St-Zenon entrance. The first part of the
hike, about 4 kilometers long, was simple because the road was dryer there.
That was not the case on the rest of the hike.
From the
moment we travelled along Sauvage Lake, the roads were still covered in ice and
snow. On the few areas of road where the snow was melted (usually near steep
hills and cliffs) the roads were either quite muddy or close to collapse
because of oversaturation. We were also surprised
to find shotgun shells from last autumn’s hunt in a few places, right in the
middle of the road.
The closer
we got to Bouchard Lake, the muddier and wetter the way got. Cedric completely
soaked his boots, not having waterproofed them in far too long. I tested mine
to the limit, yet they managed to stay dry. We were glad to see that the
campsite itself was dry and in good shape, even though the path leading to the
campsite was not. We were able to setup our hammocks quickly and with little
fuss.
Finding
wood proved a bit difficult, but not unmanageable. We had a hot fire drying
Cedric’s boot and socks in no time. Supper was cooked on my trusty Emberlit
stove. Soon after, our bellies were full and the beer we had brought along
helped in getting us to bed quickly.
A few
things changed since our last visit. Cedric and I have both shunned tents for 3
season camping. We are both quite happy with hammocks for the present and near
future. Also, our pack weight has gone down significantly, to my poor back’s
great joy.
We’re going
back tomorrow. This time, we are bringing the druid back with us, and a new man joins the party. More news shortly.
