Parc de la Gaspesie

At the tip of the peninsula of Gaspesie is a dot of highland; the Chic-Choc mountains. They are part of the Appalachs which, (even if it is not so visible around Rimouski) continues all the way to Newfoundland. And, what was new to me but quite logic if you look at the map and have some idea of plate tectonics, are part of the same formation as the mountains along the European coastline from Scotland to Norway. So, when the "club de plain air" organized a trip to Parc de la Gaspesie which covers a big part of the Chic-chocs I signed in. A school bus that we traveled with and the group which consisted of mainly french exchange students, made it really feel like a class trip... A class trip of a class of kids that I did not quite belong ;)

Anyway the trip was nice, we were guided by a real "nasjonalparknisse" - a cosy and nice parc guide who managed to herd all these students to a mountaintop and back down successfully. We had sun, we climbed above treeline and we saw some animals. None of the remaining few caribous, but a gray jay and a salamander. There is a small population of caribous which are trying to survive using the remaining patches of tundra on the mountaintops. They really get different treatment than reindeer... For example, some areas of the park are closed during autumn to give them peace during the rut. Quite impressive.





Gray jay (some sort of närhi), a very curious one.

Boreal fir-forest can have colors in the autumn... You just need enough larch!


But the logic of national parks here doesn't really make sense to me... Okei, it is cool to protect some areas. Okei, it is great to concentrate people along trails so they don't run around all over, disturb all wildlife and erode all paths. But why all the infrastructure? Why to make so overly organized? Can people not manage to walk along the path with a map? "This path is allowed for cross-country skiing, that path is allowed for snow-shoeing." "That slope is allowed for downhill skiing between these dates, that slope is opened half a month later." "This is cabin for day-use only, and you are not allowed to camp outside it, if you want to overnight, you have to go to another cabin."(That cabin had a stove, table and benches, but if you want to sleep on the floor it is not allowed.) And what really made me gasp was the information that you can ask for snow-scooter transport for your stash to some of the cabins, so that you can comfortably ski with only a day-pack. And at the national park center you can for example buy one week stay like this: "The "Evasion package" includes outdoor activities, fine gourmet dining and therapeutic care, including a health checkup." What does that have to do with protecting the nature? With not-disturbing-the-wildlife? That kind of overkill of organized infrastructure does not represent my idea of people enjoying nature - without disturbing the nature. Huhhuh. I hope there is still left wilderness in Canada which is not nationalparkalized.