This is our second visit to Gaspesie National Park. Our first visit in 2023 was amazing and we knew we’d be back. Well, here we are! Last time we did 3 epic hikes in 3 different regions of the park – Mont Jacques Cartier, Xalibu, and Mont Albert – likely our favorite hike in a North American national park. This time we did one hike, not as spectacular as the others, yet it was still magical!
While in PEI, I was getting some strength and endurance back as I recovered from West Nile. So Doug and I slowly increase our activities – walking and biking – on the flat terraine to see how my body would respond. After our bike rides with friends Pat and Shevonne, all felt just regular (I’d say I felt normal, but everybody reading this already knows I’m not normal…). We agreed it was time to take a test on a hiking trail in the mountains.
Due to scheduling constraints (both ours and the park’s – a trail-running ultramarathon event was to be underway over the weekend), we could only arrange a day and a half to spend in the park, and we would be commuting from a campground outside the park. So the hike had to be a good one. A good choice appeared to be Mont Olivine. When we hiked Albert in 2023, Olivine was in our faces for about 2/3rds of the hike, kinda like a hiking buddy, so we knew that it would have some pretty awesome views looking back at Albert. And it had 2 trail options – an out-and-back to the summit that would be 8 km (5 mi) and an 11 km (7 mi) lollipop loop over the summit, down the other side, and around Devil’s Lake (Lac du Diable) – and we could decide at the summit depending on how we felt.
The day was absolutely perfect – 15C (60 F) all day. The sky was windex blue with a few Ben & Jerry’s clouds for fun and flavor (pun intended). The trail started with a relatively steep section heading through some super sized power lines and soon entered the forest for a kind, gentle climb. We reached a ridge that opened up before the summit with THREE million dollar views of Mont Albert. And that’s about how many photos we took when we stopped to gawk. It took a short steep rocky section to get up to the top with a celebration! We were hiking! In the mountains! And at the summit!
We were loving it and feeling good, so we opted for the longer, loop trail that took us over the mountain and around the lake. Our route included unexpected bonus points as it took us along the shore of Devil’s Lake and we repeated a short section of trail along Devil’s Creek (Ruisseau du Diable) that we’d done in 2023, bringing back fond memories. The trail out alternated rocky sections with double track, single track and a return through the power lines.
We celebrated again once back in the RV (after we took our boots off…) with apple and elderberry juice from Suzette and Louis along with leftover trail mix.
For anyone interested, more Mont Olivine pix… See also links above for our 2023 post and 2023 hiking photos.
