Our campground’s location was great as we were only a 5 minute drive to the South Entrance to the Forillon National Park. The weather was gorgeous, high of 68 and sunny. Our main goal today was the Le Graves Hike to the Land’s End, the easternmost point of the Gaspe Peninsula. “Gaspe” is from the M’igmaq Tribe’s “gaspeg” meaning “end of the land”. The 8km round trip has 250 feet of elevation gain but it seemed to be more as it went up and then it went down, repeatedly. We got to the Land’s End in 1 ½ hours, the last quarter mile up a steep hill that one could call “heartbreaker hill” if not for the view that awaits at the top. The view was outstanding. We took another 375 meter trail that went from the top of the mountain down to a platform almost to the water level. The wind was brisk and cold when we were on the platform as evidenced by the drips at the end of my nose. Seals played in the water while birds dived bombed the fish. Just as we started the trail back, someone pointed out a porcupine in the brush about a foot away from me that I had not even noticed. A crowd quickly gathered around the critter who seem not bothered in the least as he kept chewing on the flora. An hour and a half and we were back at the car, fairly well taxed out. Back to the coach for lunch and some much needed rest. Our second wind recovered, our next hike was the La Chute Trail, 1 km but lots of up and down. A 17 meter waterfall was more impressive than we expected and the trail through forest was shaded and cool. Next was a trip to the village of Cap-des-Rosiers to view its lighthouse, the tallest in Canada at 134 feet tall, built in 1858. We opted out of paying to go into the lighthouse as there was no way we were going to walk up all those stairs. Our last stop of the day was Le Castor (the Beaver). A 20 minute walk to view several beaver dams and our luck, we spotted 5 beavers at work, or at least munching away on some sticks. Very neat. Total steps today 17,000. Felt like more. Maybe hitting the big 6-0 last month is taking its toll.
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