It was a cloudy but warmer-than-seasonal morning (about 10 C) as we gathered at Prevost at 10 am, in the parking lot next to the old train station on the P’tit Train du Nord (PTdN) trail. Prevost has always been one of our more popular hikes and this time around was no exception. We were 19 hikers plus two dogs (Lulu and Fanny). There was rain in the forecast for the early afternoon and after a brief discussion it was decided that we would take a route that was a bit shorter than normal, in order to get back before the rain clouds rolled in.
We have been to Prevost many times over the years, but it is not such an easy a place to hike. There is a good network of trails that are well-marked with blue dots or orange paint splotches. But the trails are otherwise not well labeled and it is not easy to find a map of them. When we go, we rely on a Prevost community-produced map that dates back to about 2000. They stopped producing the map because some of the trails go over private land and they did not want to be seen as advocating hiking on other people’s property, even if the trails are still there and plenty of people use them. But another complication is that some new trails have been created since our map was published.
We started the route as we always do, by heading north on the PTdN trail for 200 m, and then taking a right turn into the woods. Our first objective is climbing to the summit of Mount Shaw, which has to be one of the smallest mountains around. We took a wrong turn on one of those new trails that are not on our map and had to back track. But we found our way and soon reached the summit. It has a nice lookout facing Prevost and the highway, so it makes for a nice achievement early in the hike. We then went down the other side of Mount Shaw, towards Lac Paradis. We looped around the lake on a trail that has been improved of late. In fact, by the 
edge of the lake, where the trail traverses a stream, we used a new wooden bridge for which the handrails were still under construction. At the lake, Fanny, our Burmese & St. Bernard mix, went in for a swim along with a lab belonging to another passing hiker. Lulu watched enviously from the shore from the end of her leash.
We then made our way towards the power lines and up the hill towards the top of the 
escarpment. We made our way to the first of the two lookouts and then continued to the second lookout along another trail that did not appear on the map. At this point, rain started to fall, but a quick check of the Environment Canada radar on the ol’ smartphone confirmed that it was just a passing shower. After a brief stop for lunch at the lookout, we continued north and down the hill to the old Wizard trail and then west on that one until we reached the old Johannsen trail. We followed that flat trail back to the PTdN trail and then back to the parking lot.
We hiked 8.5 km and were on the trails for 2h 44min, getting back just before 1 pm. A bit shorter than usual, but everyone was satisfied with the outing. Thanks go out to Steve B for helping me lead the hike.
Our timing turned out to be just right. As we got back on the highway for the drive home, we soon had to turn on our windshield wipers for a steady rainfall.