A baker’s dozen of Beaver Tail hikers were at Mont St Bruno on Nov 26 for what turned out to be a beautiful day of hiking. A few cms of snow fell overnight, covering the ground and clinging to the trees. 
It was below freezing so the snow was not going anywhere. But the sun had come out and we had many spectacular views of the sun coming through the snow-covered trees and reflecting on the lakes.
It was a perfect setting for Mont St Bruno’s open house day. In addition to there being free admission to the park, there were vendors set up outside displaying a variety of gear for winter activities, such as skis, clothing and fat bikes.
We set out at 10:15 am on a clockwise route around the park. We followed ski trail 1 to the point behind the alpine ski centre at Lac Seigneurial where it meets ski trail 3. Along the way, we paused for the first of two sightings of small groups of dear. We then took trail 3 north to the hut near Lac des Bouleaux. We took trail 1 around Lac des Bouleaux, and then continued on trail 1 south past the smaller Lac à la Tortue.
We then took trail 7 west to get back to Lac Seigneurial. We walked on the service road that goes along the shore of the lake, passing some of the fine-looking homes that were built before the park was created in 1985 and were allowed to stay. We stopped in at the cozy “Salon du thé Le Vieux-Moulin”, situated in an old stone building. Two of our group opted to stay behind for tea while the rest of us continued back to the Centre de découverte, whence we started.
We covered 9.5 km in 2 hr 20 min. It was a great day in a snowy setting and a good opportunity to acclimatize ourselves for the impending winter!