25 hikers and 2 dogs arrived at the parking lot at the Sanctuaire in Rigaud for our first official Sunday hike. 24 hikers and 1 dog set off. The one hiker and dog that did not start must have had an inkling of what kind of hike it would be!
Many remembered doing the hike before but, for a few new members, the rocky start of the hike was new to them. The hike was led by Christine Bouckley-Moore with military precision this year with the addition of her second in command who would act as the official sweep for the hike, Claude, and walki-talkies! The Beaver Tails have succumbed to the hi-tech trend you say – fear not – some of us still got lost! Well not lost exactly we just kept on the usual path instead of veering off onto a short cut due to the fact that we were too busy chatting or looking for mushrooms that we missed the ribbons indicating where the shortcut was.
It was a nice sunny day with terrific views from the cross (it was clear enough to see Montreal! Sorry we did not have adequate camera equipment to capture it).
So depending on which group you were in, you either did 8.3 or 9.4 km. The 9.4 group finished not only with more mileage but some edible mushrooms. We did leave some mushrooms behind mostly because we could not tell if they were edible or not. Perhaps some orienteering and mushroom identifying courses are required in the future!
Out thanks go to Christine and Claude not only for their guidance on this hike but for their work in making sure the trails are maintained.