On Sunday morning, ten intrepid Beaver Tailers opted to forgo the opportunity (brought by the end of DST) to sleep an extra hour. Instead, we hopped into our chilly cars at 8 am Standard Time and made the 130 km drive to Parc du Mont-Tremblant. We assembled in the deserted parking lot of the Poste d’accueil du Diable, located next to the unmanned toll gate at the entrance of the park. It was sunny but -3 C, so we donned our gloves and hats, as well as one or two extra layers. Our plan was to cover 13 km and return by 3 pm. Surely five hours would be plenty of time…
Our hike leader on this day was Glenn K — he was the only one among us who had hiked the trail before (last year). We set out at 10:10 AM and walked 500 m along the road back towards the park boundary to the clearly-indicated trail head for the Sentier du Centenaire.
It is really a quiet time of year at the park, with few visitors and employees. The service centres were closed at both the poste d’accueil where we were parked, as well as at the one 10 km further up the road at Lac Monore. (We know this because one of us arrived early and overshot the meeting point.) However, the indoor washrooms at the poste d’accueil had a separate entrance and so they were accessible.
With no park employees to be found, did we get to access the trails for free? No such luck. A few meters from the start of the trail we encountered a “self serve” pay station with envelopes containing numbered receipts. The sign instructed us to place $6.50 per person, as well as one-half of a numbered receipt, in the envelopes and then deposit the envelopes in the metal box. We were directed to hang on to the other half of the receipt in case a park employee asked to see it. Like that was going to happen…
The trail began to ascend right away and kept ascending for the next 3 km. The slope was steep but was not otherwise too difficult. We could see evidence that the Friday wind storm had passed through the park — here and there trees had been toppled, sometimes right across our path. We took our time on the climb, stopping frequently to shed layers and regroup. (Our leader, Glenn, was diligent in keeping the group together.) Our efforts were soon rewarded. 
There were spectacular viewpoints along the way, as well as at the top.
After three km of climbing, we finally began going more downhill. We did have to watch our footing. There was no snow on the ground, but the below freezing temperatures, especially at this higher elevation, had left occasional coatings of ice on the rocks and tree roots. But we were all careful and there were no mishaps.
We stopped for lunch in one of the rare stands of birch trees. Unlike the sun-blocking conifers which made up most of the forest around us, the birches let in lots of sun since they had lost 
their leaves. The photo is of the group sitting on the ground there to have lunch.
At around 1:30 PM, we had a momentary pang of concern when we realized that we had been hiking for 3.5 hours and only covered 5.5 km — less than half of the 13 km total distance! The sun was going to set at 4:30 pm and we had visions of returning to the cars in the dark! But we knew there was no cause for concern. As mentioned above, the elevation of this hike was such that all the real effort — and most of the stopping — is done during the first 6 km. (See the elevation plot below.)
The remaining 7 km was much easier — it was an easy and gradual descent for 2.5 km and then completely flat for the last 4.5 km, including 3 km along the road. Sure enough, we covered that last 7 km in 1 hr 40 min. We were back at the cars at 3:30 PM, 5 hr 20 min after we started. As we changed from our hiking boots, a park pick-up truck pulled up and the first park employee we had seen all day asked if we had our receipts. We flashed them and, satisfied, he drove off without inspecting them closely.
It had been a splendid day in the great outdoors. Everyone agreed the hike had been a good 
effort, but it had been well worth it! Thanks go out to Glenn for being our hike leader.