100
MOUNTAINLIFEBLUEMOUNTAINS
SUMMER2016
Standing on the first tower, that suggestion—
andmy attempt to stay cool in front of the
kid—gives me the confidence to let the pulley
do its thing. A high-pitched whirr, a flash of
trees, some spinning and a little bit of nausea
later, the short first line is over. Line two, however,
is nearly a kilometre long and will take almost
a minute to traverse. I grit my teeth and step
down, and the trip is long enough that, after
my stomach returns to its regular position, I
actually enjoy it. Other thanmy beating heart,
the wind and that whirr, it’s peaceful: a little
bit of calm amid the adventure. By the time we
reach the 1.6-kilometre-long fourth line, which
starts with steep drop, I’m loving the sensation
of soaring down a mountain dozens of feet
above the trees.
From the summit, you get a 360-degree view
of this swath of the Laurentians. The ski runs
are in the southern tip of Parc national du
Mont-Tremblant. We’re booked for two nights in
the park the morning after we zip. It’s pouring
rain when we make the half-hour drive to the
Castor campground on Lac Monroe, but that’s
fine: we’re staying in a Huttopia, a canvas
tent on a wooden platform, complete with an
electric heater and fridge inside, and a propane
camp stove under an awning out front. “We’ve
noticed a lot of nature deficit in the city,” says
the park’s Jean-François Boily, “and these help
people who don’t have the gear to camp.” A
storm rolls through as I unfurl the sleeping
bags. Bliss.
The sun is back before dawn, and we’ve got a
date with the rivière du Diable. A short school-
bus shuttle brings us to Lac Chat, Daisy and
I settle into a canoe, navigate some gentle
rapids and spend the next three hours paddling
leisurely down the river, whose meanders brush
up against towering cliffs. We see mergansers,
hawks, deer, a mink and a muskrat. What we
don’t see are many people. “The park is so
big,” Boily had toldme, “that people spread
out, and you don’t feel the pressure.”
Craving some dry land exercise, we ascend
the La Roche trail the next day, an easy five-
kilometre out-and-back that gains 220metres to
a lookout high above Lac Monroe. From the top,
you can see the peak of Mont-Tremblant. From
this perch, though, the descent is slow.
When staying inMont-Tremblant’s pedestrian
village, book a suite at the Marriott Residence
Inn, where the heated outdoor pool and hot
tubs take the chill out of a rainy day. In Parc
national duMont-Tremblant, get oriented with
a canoe shuttle down the rivière du Diable, and
treat yourself to a Huttopia, a canvas tent on
a wooden platform. Resort:
Park:
Ottawa-based writer and editor Dan
Rubinstein is the author of
Born toWalk: The
Transformative Power of a PedestrianAct
(ECW
Press,
).
“Thepark issobig that people
spreadout, andyoudon’t feel
thepressure.”
Lakeside campingheaven inParc national duMont-Tremblant. SÉPAQ
