Ascent of Mont du Lac Ben on 2010-06-07| Date: | Monday, June 7, 2010 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Mont du Lac Ben | | Location: | Canada-Québec | | Elevation: | 1083 m / 3556 ft |
Ascent Trip ReportThis was my trip's last real goal. It's a high summit with a definite bushwhack towards it. I had no clue what I was going to encounter. Following my experience the day before, it didn't bode well, but I'd be fixed soon.
I woke up to the sound of machinery at around 5:20am. Logging starts in the wee hours. I dozed off until 6:00am when I activated. I was packed and ready to go at 7:05am. I didn't want to confront the workers since I had no clue what my rights were around here, so I bushwhacked my way around them. I rejoined the road and a few hundred meters later, I was where the trail that was marked on my map was supposed to start. It wasn't there. There was an indefinite trench in the woods, but it was far from being a trail. I gave up on it and left my pack behind. Some real work was going to begin. At first, it wasn't too hard. The forest was quite ancient and there wasn't much undergrowth. I had hope. It didn't last long though. Sometimes, I could catch a glimpe of an old jeep trail, but I kept losing it so densely it was filled with regrowth. It was a long and hard trudge uphill in soaking conditions as the earlier day's rainfall was now falling on me again thanks to the flora. Add to this the fact that this damn peat moss was covering everything again. It was one of the most disagreeable conditions I ever had to face. The going got steeper too when I neared the summit. There were a few rock faces I had to climb over, of course, covered in peat moss.
I finally made it up to the summit but there was only limited views. I could see I was above the surroundings, but the clearing was limited. Going down was even harder than going up as I couldn't see where I was putting my feet. It was hard on the ankles, but I didn't get injured here. When I got back to the place where the trail was supposed to end, I actually saw the trench. It turns out that it was there all along. I just kept losing it going up, but it was easy to follow going down. It still was a hard bushwhack but it was easier than the surrounding forest. At this point I was thoroughly soaked, and my boots were making that squishy noise while bubbles foamed out. At least it wasn't raining, it was actually sunny!
When I made it back down, I removed the three layers I had, top and bottom and wringed them a little bit drier. I did the same with my socks and put them back on. My boots provided a small quantity of water when I turned them upside down but they were still soaked. Then I put everything back in place and started walking south on highway 161 towards l'Étape.
View Réserve faunique (jun. 2010) in a larger map
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| Summary Total Data | | Elevation Gain: | 229 m / 754 ft | | Elevation Loss: | 283 m / 931 ft | | Distance: | 13.8 km / 8.6 mi | | Grade/Class: | 2 | | Quality: | 4 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Road Hike, Unmaintained Trail, Bushwhack | | Weather: | Cool, Breezy, Partly Cloudy | | Ascent Statistics | | Elevation Gain: | 229 m / 754 ft | | Distance: | 2.6 km / 1.6 mi | | Route: | highway 161 and bushwhack | | Trailhead: | Lac Beauséjour tent camp 854 m / 2802 ft | | Time Up: | 1 Hours 30 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Elevation Loss: | 283 m / 931 ft | | Distance: | 11.2 km / 7 mi | | Route: | bushwhack, trails, and gravel road | | Trailhead: | Highway 175 power line crossover 800 m / 2625 ft | | Time Down: | 3 Hours 30 Minutes | Ascent Part of Trip: Lac Beauséjour (June 2010) (2 nights total away from roads)
Complete Trip Sequence:
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