It's a wrap

KP and I heading up into the mountains.

Well, it's that time of year again. The days are longer and brighter, and the snowbank at the end of our driveway is slowly disappearing. However, there was one final hurrah for winter  - last week's trip to the Parc de la Gaspésie. 

The itinerary this year was a little different than last. We started in the same place, Le Relais de Chic-Chocs, but then did a point-to-point ski through the park. Staying at Relais for a night allowed us to have a nice relaxed evening of getting our group gear organized after a long day of driving.

Pre-trip spaghetti feast.

Getting ready to hit the trail.

From Relais we skied into the park and ended the first day at Le Huard hut, perched on the side of a lake with beautiful views to the west.

We passed these cool sloughs where the snow had rolled up to form what looked like giant cinnamon rolls.

Sky at sunset.

Le Huard Hut

Hut life: good food, good reads, fun company.

From Le Huard we skied about 20km along a tote road to Lac Cascapedia and Le Pluvier hut. What a beautiful day and a beautiful destination! 

Lunch on the trail heading towards Lac Cascapedia.

Stream crossing.

Lac Cascapedia under blue skies.

Our third day included a long climb out of the Lac Cascapedia valley and then an even longer descent down to La Boussoule. The snow was super crusty and fast, so we had plenty of opportunity to practice our descending skills!

Leaving Cascapedia and heading up...

and then coming down...

Once at La Boussoule we hopped in the cars and headed down the valley to the Mont Albert region. This is the big mountain that sits more or less in the center of the park. A lot of folks come here to do alpine descents, so we went from seeing backcountry gear to seeing some big, wide powder boards and skiers dressed like Skittles.

Mont Albert as seen from right near our hut.

View while skiing up to Mont Albert. We waited a loooong time in order to see some descents, but the alpine skiers weren't very helpful. They were taking their time.

I was happy as a clam to make some turns on the way back down. 

And after a "hard" few days in the mountains, what better way to wrap up than a 4-course French meal at the Gite du Mont Albert? Yes, I know, we really had it tough.

I'm super excited about the dessert menu.

Happy crew!

We had a great trip with a great group. It was fun for me to see and experience a different part of the park this year. Now I'm really wanting to return in the summer. Or maybe go up and do the 40-km cross-park route in one day? We'll see!

And last but not least, did you see my final ski locations tally for this season? I hit up 23 different ski areas, a new personal record.