For the first few days of our road trip on the Pan-American Highway, we’re making a two-day stop at Gatineau Park, just outside Canada’s capital: Ottawa. Gatineau Park offers unspoiled nature less than 15 minutes from the city! And for us, when it comes to choosing between the city and nature, it’s clear where we stand!

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

From Montreal, we’ve often thought about visiting Gatineau Park, but our travels always seemed to lead us elsewhere. This time, no way we’re missing out. Located just outside Ottawa, on the Quebec side, it’s right on our route to Toronto, and also to… the garage in Gatineau where we have an appointment 😅. Like all the parks we’ve visited in Quebec (and, in three years, we’ve visited a loooot of them!), it covers a vast area. But here’s the surprise at the entrance: it’s completely free. Finally, a park where access to nature is free for everyone. Hats off to Gatineau!

Since we took our time this morning and our garage appointment is at 1 PM, we’re opting for a quick and easy trail.

🥾 Carbide Willson Ruins Trail – 4 km (2.5 miles)

Who said that winter is the most beautiful season in Quebec? Probably someone who’s never set foot in Gatineau Park in mid-May! 😜 A vibrant, majestic, dazzling green has joined the celebration. It’s the fresh, pure green of the new buds, just blossoming on the trees. Pure bliss for the eyes. We’re loving the green!

At the end of the trail, you’ll find the ruins of an old factory. The setting, with a waterfall and the weathered building, is absolutely stunning.

Before leaving the park, we have a picnic by the lake, where we’re immediately joined by some surprise guests: hundreds of bugs! We’re forced to eat while walking, because otherwise, it’s impossible to take a bite of our sandwich without swallowing a ton of extra protein.

After a quick stop at the Gatineau garage to install a GPS tracker in the car (a requirement from our insurance), we take advantage of this sunny day to head back to Gatineau Park. As often in Quebec’s parks, we’re having the best time driving along the well-maintained roads. Between cyclists, walkers, joggers, kayaks, and canoes, we realize that Gatineau Park is to Ottawa what Mount Royal is to Montreal. Except it’s much, much larger!

🥾 Lauriault and Chute Falls Trail – 3 km (2 miles)

The trail takes us through woods, streams, and waterfalls to the Mackenzie-King Estate, once home to Canada’s prime minister. After his death, he left the estate to the Canadian people as a thank-you for their trust. We stroll through perfectly maintained gardens and lawns that would impress even the most seasoned gardeners. We’d love to camp here tonight! The little house is charming, far from the grand manor we imagined.

Strictly no camping in the park, unless you’re willing to pay $37 for the park’s only campsite – with no services. Nope. So, we head to a quiet spot on the outskirts of a village, where we enjoy a peaceful evening.

Thursday, May 19

Today, the weather isn’t looking great. It’s cloudy, and rain is expected by late morning. However, that’s not enough to make us skip our hike for the day! As soon as we’re up, we head back to Gatineau Park and go for breakfast by the shores of Lake Philippe. The day is just beginning, everything is calm and quiet. It’s the perfect time of day to spot some wildlife, and we’re in luck! As we get near the lake, a beautiful deer calmly crosses our path. On the shore, many Canada geese, with their cute and fluffy little goslings, are busy foraging. We love these big wild geese, harbingers of sunny days ahead.

🥾 Wolves Trail – 8.5 km (5 miles) – 250 m elevation gain

No surprise, we barely set off when it starts to rain! Luckily, the trees provide us with some shelter. Between crossing rivers and streams, walking through the quiet woods, and enjoying views of the Outaouais Valley and the Ottawa River, we power through the 8 kilometers of the hike in a steady, light rain.

Far from being the most beautiful natural park in Quebec, Gatineau Park still won us over with its vibrant spring colors. We’re not done seeing the world in green just yet! Now, it’s time to hit the road again. We’re leaving Quebec behind for the neighboring province of Ontario, heading toward the Thousand Islands and Kingston.

L’article Canada, Quebec – A Vibrant Spring in Gatineau Park est apparu en premier sur Un pneu plus loin.

Welcome to our blog! This is the very first article in our series on our Pan-American road trip! The first article of many that will take us along the legendary Pan-American Highway: from the northernmost point of the Americas, on the Arctic Ocean, through Alaska, then across the iconic American West to Mexico. From there, we’ll cross all the countries of Central America, ship our Jeep to South America, and travel through the Andes Mountains, the Andean Altiplano, volcanoes, and the vast plains of Latin America. We’ll journey all the way down to Ushuaia, reaching the southernmost road-accessible point in the world… until we finally take a dip in the Antarctic Ocean!

How do I know we’ll do all this? Because we are cheating a little bit! We are writing this introduction two and a half years after our departure 😉

So yes, over these next two and a half years, we will experience all of this… and so much more. And every one of these crazy adventures, from our road trip issues, unforgettable encounters, incredible experiences, the most intense emotions, and even our most brutal disappointments, everything, absolutely everything, we share it all here on our blog.

But let’s go back to the genesis of our expedition. When we were still brand-new adventurers, excited for the journey ahead, but completely unaware of the incredible adventure we were about to experience, an adventure that would change our lives. We hope you will enjoy reading it, and we hope these stories inspire you, amaze you, and perhaps one day, like us, encourage you to discover the incredible world we live in.

After two years and three months of preparation, it’s finally time to hit the road. It feels a bit surreal. To say we’ve been eagerly anticipating this day with excitement for the past two years would be an understatement. We’ve spent the last 24 months wondering how we were going to cook, shower, sleep, shop, find a place to spend the night, organize all our stuff, have hot water, heating, and electricity. In short, how to live on the road, in a car, while having as much comfort as possible.

Today is no longer the time for questions. It’s time to take the big leap and do what we’ve been preparing for all this time: travel. Today, we embark on our two-year expedition, our road trip along the Pan-American Highway, from North America to South America, from Alaska to Ushuaia.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

This past week has been quite intense. On Thursday, we left our respective jobs. We are now officially unemployed. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we emptied the apartment and loaded up the Jeep. Sunday afternoon, we handed over the keys. We are now officially homeless. Our new “apartment,” parked down the street, is packed to the brim. Everything is optimized, everything has its place, there’s nothing extra… but we’re leaving for two years.

On Sunday evening, after a few stops to take care of last-minute details, we finally hit the road. We leave Montreal Island with a touch of sadness but filled with excitement. However, we don’t go very far. We spend one last night in a cozy bed! Thank you, friends, for your hospitality 😁

Monday, May 16

The next day, we need some reassurance. Before starting our road trip in the Americas, we make a final stop at Christian’s, our preparer, to have the Jeep examined. It’s sagging, right? Definitely, yes. The rear suspension of the Jeep has dropped quite a bit since we loaded it. Christian lies under the Jeep, inspects the springs, checks the weight at the back of the Jeep, tests the suspension, and takes it for a drive. The verdict is in: no problem. We can hit the road safely, Jeepy is fine, and it’s not carrying more weight than it can handle. A big thank you again to Christian and the whole team at Passion 4×4 in Laval for taking the time to check our vehicle on short notice and reassure us about its capabilities… and especially for supporting us for over a year in preparing and outfitting our Jeep!

We can finally officially hit the road, heading towards Ushuaïa! Well, it’s a bit far, so we’ll start by heading to Grenville, just 1.5 hours from Montreal. We’re super excited to finally be on the road. Spring has truly settled in, and a fresh, vibrant green has taken over the landscape. It’s a real treat!

We spend the afternoon at Christina’s, the carpenter who made our furniture for the back of the Jeep. After testing it this winter, especially during a memorable camping weekend in -30°C, we’ve got a few improvements to make. All our stuff is scattered on the ground while she works on the drawers, and of course, it starts pouring rain.

Our first night in the tent is spent in the rain. It’s a real baptism of fire. The wind blows, it’s cold, and the rain comes down hard. On top of that, all our stuff is wet. We left one of our drawers at Christina’s, so all our belongings are piled up haphazardly in the Jeep. We can’t find anything! A soup, some pasta, and off to bed, nice and warm in the tent! We can definitely say this first evening of our road trip on the Pan-American Highway is throwing us right into the deep end!

We still have a few things to take care of before leaving Quebec for good: finalize our drawers, do some shopping, and stop by the garage to install the GPS trackers, which are required for insurance. After that, we’ll finally be able to officially start our road trip on the Pan-American Highway and head west, with a first stop at the beautiful Gatineau National Park.

L’article Canada, Quebec – D-Day of our Pan-American road trip: up to Ushuaia! est apparu en premier sur Un pneu plus loin.