Mont Tremblant and Further Adventures in the Mountains of New England

Sunset over Lake Champlain as seen from The Battery in Burlington, VT

Late in the afternoon on August 7, after a ridiculously busy day consisting of taking "Nico" to have his sheered sideview window repaired, laundry, and packing, I picked up Dale at IBC and we headed north to Bennington, VT. We enjoyed a restful night in the Hampton Inn there and were up and out early on August 8 for a leisurely drive along scenic country roads through the Green Mountains of Vermont. Our ultimate destination was to be Burlington, but along the way we stopped in Arlington where we stumpled upon their annual entire town tag sale. Next stop found us at the Maple Museum of Vermont for a very interesting look at the history of "maple sugaring" and some tasty samples plus a purchase. We then drove through Middlebury to see Middlebury College, stopped for a wine tasting at Shelburne Farms Vineyard (and bought 3 bottles), visited Shelburne Farms where I actually milked a beautiful Brown Swiss cow, and topped the day with a visit to the Magic Hat Brewery for a tasting. After check-in at the Burlington Hampton Inn, we drove through the University of Vermont campus, wandered some about the Battery for sunset views and then enjoyed a tasty dinner at Leunig's Bistro on the College Street Mall while watching the lively street scene that prevails there during the summer.

Although we were on the lookout for moose all trip long, this painted version in Arlington, VT was as close as we came :-(



The view of Mt. Mansfield, Stowe, from Shelburne Farms. Wherever we went, we had to check-out mountains where we have skied, both from near and far.
I really milked the cow facing the camera before she was turned out to pasture. Unfortunately, Dale was so interested in the technique for milking that he forgot to take a photo of me in action.

The huge and beautiful barn at Shelburne Farms.

On Sunday morning we were up early and ready to continue our backroads trek to Mont Tremblant. We drove from Burlington over to Jay Peak (which we have heard lots about but never actually skied) and then on across the border into Quebec. We drove through Mansonville (in the shadow of Owls Head Mountain) to pick up delicious pate', local cheese and amazing bread at the Owl's Bread Boulangerie and then on to Magog. The last time we were in Magog it was -20 and I had just suffered my awful knee injury of the 2007 season. This time it was warm, sunny and beautiful. We enjoyed a lakeside picnic and then strolled past our hotel from the previous trip into the park and on into town. We spent about three hours enjoying beautiful summertime Magog until the clouds rolled in.

From Magog we hit Autoroute 10 through Montreal and then on up Autoroute 15 to Autoroute 117 and on into Mont Tremblant. We stopped at the huge new IGA Plus in St. Jovite for provisions then checked into our 1 bedroom Terrasse home at Club Intrawest. We had a delicious antipasto dinner and watched the DVD film "Mambo Italiano".

While the two previous days had been warm, the heat really began to come on on Monday following a cool and cloudy morning. We spent most of the day wandering about town, window shopping, having lunch at Le Diable Brew Pub and signing up for activities for the rest of the week. However, we took time to experience our first adventure, The Luge. This variation of the Alpine Slide had us traveling down the road that forms the base for the long beginner run from the top of the Flying Mile chairlift on steerable and luge like sleds. It was great fun although I could have gone faster had it not been for the Hasidic* mother in front of me who kept braking as she followed a rather erratic path down the mountain!

Monday night we paid our first visit to the brand new Mont Tremblant Casino where we began our string of winning nights!

Enjoying a picnic on the banks of Lake Memphremagog.


Dale gritting his teeth in preparation for a wild ride down on his Luge.

The nightly dinnertime view from our porch at #805.


Tuesday, August 11, was Dale's 61st birthday, and how did we spend it? Well, we headed north from Mt. Tremblant Village into the Parc National du Quebec. We had made reservations for the Via Ferrata departing at 2:15, but before that we had plenty of time for a long interpretive hike and a picnic lunch on the banks of Lac Chat. The park is absolutely beautiful and very well-organized, and it merits a multi-day visit of its own.

The totems of the park - history and culture on the left, sport and recreation in the center, and wildlife and nature on the right.

Dale enjoying..yes, Riomare Insalatissima on the bank of Lac Chat! IGA Plus sells two varieties plus regular Riomare tuna!

The rock face we were preparing to scale on the Via Ferrata
Dale still smiling after the first ascent.
Here he is working hard to catch up to Luca and Laura (our fellow climbers from Cesena, Italy) and me at the summit.

The view of Riviere Le Diable from the highest point of our climb up the rock face.

We had to cross this swinging bridge twice, and for me, it was the scariest part of the adventure!

After the Via Ferrata, Le Diable Brew Pub was calling our name so...

Dale was smiling again with a Biere Framboise in hand. The Via Ferrata....what a way to celebrate a birthday!

The birthday boy preparing to dig in to his antipasto dinner on the porch on a gorgeous August evening.

Then where did we go later on?!

Wednesday we spent 5 hours hitting golf balls under the hot sun and under the tutelage of our young instructor, Chris, at the Tremblant Golf Academie on the grounds of Le Diable Golf Course and we both learned a tremendous amount. We had a tee time to play the course, but after 5 holes, we had to give up. We were exhausted and simply could not swing a club any longer.

Thursday we were up early to catch the schoolbus (what else?) heading to Nouveau Monde Whitewater Rafting near Harrington, Quebec to raft the Level 3-4 rapids on the Riviere Rouge. It took almost 1.5 hours to get there along a mostly country and very scenic route. We were among a group of about 64 rafters that day and were joined in our raft by three 20 something couples from Toronto and Montreal. Simone, our young guide, was not the best, and on the one Level 5 rapid on the excursion, our entire raft ended up in the water. It was actually quite scary, but except for some minor bumps, bruises and swallowed water, none of us were any the worse for wear and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately there are no photos to document that adventure for obvious reasons.

We spent that evening at home watching the movie "The Sixth Sense" and resting up after a few very busy days.

Preparing to head out on Trail F to Pic Johanssen, but pausing at the crossroads of a group of trails that we all skied back in 1998-99. In summer, the slopes are covered with the most beautiful wildflowers.

Friday was the day for our hike at the summit of Mont Tremblant. We had originally planned to hike up the mountain, but all of the trails were marked black diamond on the hiking trail map. We did not have proper hiking boots or sticks like all others heading up those trails so we opted to take the gondola up and hike the long summit trail to Pic Johanssen. After experiencing the difficulty of the blue Johanssen trail, we definitely made the right decision there! Our 8.5 K hike took us from 11 AM until 4 PM, and it was not exactly moderate!

Anyone remember this slope? The 88 degrees of Friday afternoon were a far cry from the -30 with frostbite warnings experienced when last I stood in this spot.

Dale taking a bit of a trailside breather before resuming the climb upward to 930 meters.

We enjoyed our picnic in this clearing at the peak.

The view from Pic Pangman's. I am tipping my Phillies P at the rock face in the distance because that is one we scaled on the Via Ferrata!

Our hike took us from this point over all three of the peaks that can be seen in this photo, and Dale is still managing a slight smile as we approach the end. I wore the "old" fellow out, but he rallied that night for a last casino visit after a wonderful

dinner on the terrace at Ristorante Coco Pazzo!

Saturday morning we bid a sad farewell to Mont Tremblant and headed south once more. We crossed into Vermont north of Burlington and drove eastward to Stowe over Mt. Mansfield. We stopped for picnic wine at this lovely winery and then enjoyed our picnic in the shadow of the Stowe gondola looking up at a slope we have skied many times and hope to be skiing again in a mere four months!

"Phew, it is so hot..but they say there will be plenty of snow by December 15. I think we better really THINK SNOW !"

Time to cut that picnic cheese.

Later in the afternoon we crossed over into New Hampshire, a new state for both of us to add to the list.

Overlooking beautiful Moore Reservoir near Littleton, NH.

We spent Saturday night at Hampton Inn in Concord, NH and had a delicious dinner of locally grown and procured foods at The Barley House right across the street from the golden domed New Hampshire statehouse. The statue out front is of native son Daniel Webster.

Sunday we started the day in New Hampshire, drove through Massachusetts and into Connecticut where we stopped at this winery for a picnic before heading through New York and into the Poconos of Pennsylvania then home. By taking that route, we missed all traffic and only paid one toll plus the scenery was wonderful throughout the journey!

Haight-Brown Winery

Our last bottle of Seyval Blanc (a favorite American white) before the final trek homeward.

We had a wonderful time on this trip to New England and Canada, and we heartily recommend Mont Tremblant to all of our Club Intrawest friends. It is an absolute summertime paradise with so much to do and see and experience for people of all ages. We loved Vermont and New Hampshire, too, and hope to revisit all three destinations again soon for more outdoor adventures!

(*The number of Hasidic families vacationing in Mont Tremblant was notable. They were everywhere..except in the bars, restaurants and ice cream shops. We could only imagine how hot they must have been in all of those modest clothes and wigs they have to wear. )