moresueandstevestravels: MOUNT TREMBLANT AND THE LAURENTIAN MOUNTAINS

Getting there:

Jackie, Jim and family are all keen skiers, and have had a condo in Mont Tremblant for a number of years. They offered us the chance to stay there en route to Quebec City. We spent a wonderfully comfortable and relaxing 2 days there.

We drove from Ottawa, via the small, pretty town of Montebello.

The Laurentians

Looming on the north side of the St Lawrence from the Ottawa River to the Saguenay River, the Laurentians are one of the world's oldest ranges.. Five hundred million years of erosion have moulded a landscape of undulating hills and valleys, and a vast sweep of coniferous forest dotted with hundreds of tranquil lakes and rivers.

Mont Tremblant:

130 km north of Montreal, Mont Tremblant is the oldest and most renowned area in the Laurentians. It is crowned by its highest peak, Mont-Tremblant ( 960 km.), so-called because the indigenous population believed it was the home of spirits that could move the mountain.
Mont-Tremblant comprises the ski resort itself plus the merged town of St-Jovite, and the pedestrian-only Mont-Tremblant Village.

We had clearly come between seasons: too early for skiing yet a little too late for the hiking / biking season. There were a fair number of visitors, and everything was open, but it was still a bit hard to imagine the place thronged with people, the bars and restaurants full to the brim, as it woud be in a few weeks.
Taking Jackie's advice, we walked along the P'tit Train du Nord ( a disused railway line, now cycle track),