| That day I saw a hiker on the road North of Squaw Cap Mountain. It was Ellen "Twisted Sister 2" Wilcox hiking south-bound. After introducing myself and who we were, She said she would like to spend the night at the campground and "swap stories". We picked her up on our way back and they spent the evening going over the maps. We dropped her off the next morning to continue her journey to be the first female from Canada to thru-hike the IAT. |
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 I moved the RV to Sugarloaf Provincial Park in Campbellton, NB. This is the largest city in the area and our last chance to do errands for a while. From here north, we will be in Quebec, where French is the language of choice. |
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| Since the girls haven't had a day off in a couple of weeks, they decided to have a "0 mile day". We also had to meet Beth Kelso, from Naples, FL, who was arriving by train in Matapedia. The train was schedule to arrive at 4:45 AM, but we said we would pick her up at 8:00. She left her luggage at the station and went to a restaurant a block away for breakfast. When we found her we went back to the station and discovered that it's only open when a train is due and the next one wasn't until 9:00 that evening. That's Beth looking at her luggage thru the window. |
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| We had an appointment to see David LeBlanc, the contact for the next area. He operates Nature Adventure, http://www.matapediaadventure.ca.tc, a service and rental company for hiking , canoeing, kayaking and "dog back packing". He reviewed the maps and pointed out where I could meet the hikers. |
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| David phoned the stationmaster and he said he would meet us in 30 minutes. We waited over an hour and he never showed up. We returned that evening at 8:45 and he said something in half French about his car that we couldn't understand. But she got her luggage finally and the camping area gained another tent. |
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The next day they hiked a short roadwalk to the bridge into Matapedia, Quebec.
You'll notice the sign at the bridge. The IAT (International Appalachian Trail) now is the SIA (Sentier Internationnal de Appalaches). |
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 | Beth had brought along a cold with her and wasn't feeling well enough to hike the next day. She rode along with me to scout-out the next town and then got some needed rest. |
Judy and Darcy hiked from Matapedia to  |
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| The trail in this area is mainly in the woods. The terrain is a lot different than the road walks of New Brunswick. With the steeper climbs, the river fords, and the "newness" of the trail the pace is slower. |
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| Beth was feeling better the next day and tried to look just like Darcy (or Dolly Parton ?). |
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 | We also had a regular visitor to camp who tried to jump on Darcy's head. We had to buy plastic bins for the food because he would chew thru the bags. He even chewed thru Darcy's clothes bag and tried to eat her underwear. |
| The section from Saint Andre north includes a 3 day full pack with 2 nights at shelters and numerous river crossings. When they reached Saint Margarite the lady at the store there invited them to her house for breakfast. They feasted on homemade breads, jam, fruits, cheese, eggs, bacon, and more. The whole family gathered to ask questions and to learn about their hike. |
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| The hike from Saint Margarite to Caupascal is on logging roads and thru the town and the campground where we are staying. They even stopped for lunch at the RV. |
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