Yesterday, October 20th, we packed up & drove to the Observatory Sector of the Sépaq (Société des établissements de plein air du Québec) Park at Mont Megantic, a dark sky preserve, for the purpose of observing the Orionids Meteor Shower at its peak (October 21-23) during the new moon with zero ambient light. I had rented the Sirius rustic shelter in advance, for two nights, the minimum allowable rental. It was to have been awesome.
The hike to the cabin was not exactly rainy, tho not exactly dry, which is to say, the sky was very cloudy and the air was damp. We got to the cabin, conveniently located next to a tiny stream, and did all the useful setting-up of cabin things. In the evening, after the sun set, it was dark. Very dark. There was no ambient light. There was, in fact, no light. The clouds were thick. The air was thick. The dark sky was definitely well-preserved. We built a fire in the tiny cabin and roasted ourselves.
Today we went out hiking from the cabin. It was beautiful! The trees were bare, the mosses were brilliant and everywhere. I took no photographs. Again, it was not exactly rainy, tho not exactly dry. We went east then south along the Piedmont trail, 1.3 km, to the lookout at Belvédère du Soleil, at 730 m elevation. From there we continued east 0.3 km to the trail junction, then north 0.7 km to the lookout at L’Ascension, 905 m, then 0.1 km more to the lookout at La Révélation at 94o m in elevation. We took a short rest 0.4 km later at the Pèlerins cabin, 970 m in elevation, then continued on another kilometer to the top of Mont St Joseph (1075 m), the lookout at Belvédère du Levant (1030 m), and the historic church and tourist region— to which there is actually a road!— where I took some photos to give you a general idea of fogginess, tho not beauty. The fog tumbled over the top of the mountain on loose wind.
After procuring the obligatory photos to prove that we actually left the cabin (tho in truth we could have driven here, and there is no photographic evidence of having done otherwise), we hiked 0.9 km on Le Promenade boréale to the viewpoint Pic des Crépuscule (1060 m), 0.6 km to the point at Victoria Sud (1035 m). Somewhere along the way of the back mossy trails, we gathered a following of grey jays. They are cute because they are roundish in appearance, with light and dark grey feathers, and they look at you curiously. They hopped along after us on the empty back trails of Mont Megantic, among the fog and the dark brown trunks and the mottled fallen leaves, the end-of-season ferns gone to spore, and the myriad of brilliant greens of mosses coating rocks and earth and trees. We lost the birds somewhere around the next intersection, 1.6 km later, or a bit thereafter.
After another 1.1 km we reached the junction at Col-des-Trois-Sommets (910 m), then headed back to our own cabin, 1.2 km south of there, for a total of a few km altogether. You can do the math; I put out the numbers for you. What? You’re not going to do that? You don’t care? Fine, it was about 9.2 km. I know you don’t care, but I’m keeping track of statistics here. Caring is not what it’s about.
In the evening, we built a fire, careful not to repeat the cooking experience from the previous night, where we all had to get naked and jump in the stream because the cabin was such a sauna. Unfortunately, after dinner, the cabin just kept heating up. Reluctantly, we slid the windows open for air. And in the darkness, darkened by thick clouds and lack of moon, darkened by the dark sky preserve, we ran outside naked to the stream to cool off.
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I took some photos of the kids playing with candles in the heat, as it is actually easier to take photos while sitting around in the dark than to take photos on a beautiful hike, despite the fact that I carried the camera specifically for the purpose of taking photos of the kids outside in the greenery of mosses. But no matter that. You’ll just have to believe me.
Despite careful planning, we saw no meteors.