Second Last Day

Parc des Étangs-Antoine-Charlebois looked interesting when I did some research this morning at 6:30. This park contains a series of ponds that were excavated for their sand back when Hwy 30 was constructed in the 1960's. Now, some 60 years later it is a lovely park with paths between the series of long ponds. It would probably be a bird watcher's paradise in warmer months.

At the beginning of the hike, Dave mentioned that there might be a reflection theme to his photos today. I love this one. It looks a lot like a very large wasp's nest.

Red whatever-they-ares were doing their best to add colour to an otherwise dreary morning.

There is still a bit of colour, but it seems that yesterday's rain helped a lot of leaves to fall.

After eating our sandwich lunch in the truck - it was pretty cool outside - we circled around Mt. St. Hilaire, looking for little roads that took us closer to its base. We lucked out on this one: Reserve Naturelle du Piémont. On the way to the trail we passed some gorgeous homes including this one with a very yellow vineyard.

Dave and Ted ventured a short distance down the trail. It too was very yellow.

We are noticing a bit of a pattern this week. Just about the time to go home, the sun comes out.

The mountains south of Montreal are so interesting. We finally googled how they were formed and here is the A.I. overview:

Mont Saint-Hilaire was formed approximately 125 million years ago when magma pushed up from the Earth's mantle but cooled and solidified underground, rather than erupting as a volcano. This process, part of the formation of the Monteregian Hills, created a mass of hard igneous rock surrounded by softer sedimentary rock. Over millions of years, erosion from glaciers and other forces wore away the surrounding sedimentary rock, leaving the more resistant igneous rock of the mountain exposed.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. We are planning to take a quick trip to Marché Godefroy just south of Trois Rivieres. We'll fill the cooler with future memories to be enjoyed this fall at home.