Cote Nord: A lighthouse and bikers

Continuing the story of last summer’s Quebec trip…

After my day of surprising explorations, the next day was a bit quiet. I kept driving up the coast, but there was only really one highlight of the day. It was still a great time, with interesting experiences, and the slower pace was nice.

After a slow morning at Pointe-aux-Outardes, I got some gas in Baie Comeau, and continued to drive up the coast. The hills were bigger for the next bit, and the road had some Cabot Trail vibes…except there were very few spots to stop and photograph it.

I stopped by the town of Godbout, which has a ferry terminal and a small beach. Otherwise it was a very quiet town, and not the most picturesque. The hills surrounding it were nice at least.

I was scanning ahead on google maps, and there was a spot where the main road went inland, but there was a road to the coast, a place called Pointe-des-Monts. As I drove it, the road wasn’t the most interesting, but it went by some cottages along the water. Then in the distance I saw a lighthouse. Google maps had a hotel icon on the lighthouse, so I hadn’t realized it was even there. Apparently at one time there was a bed and breakfast at the lighthouse, but now it’s a museum.

It’s a really nice looking lighthouse, with a great rocky coast. The museum was quite interesting. Apparently the main tower is almost 200 years old. Old enough that it originally had a oil lamp at the top, and in place of a fog horn, they fired cannons. These really old lighthouses are still standing because they are actually built of stone, with wooden siding. The house was added later, and the original keeper and family lived in the tower. This would have been a very remote lighthouse when it was first built, and aside from trading with the natives and sometimes getting supplied by ships, they were quite cut off from the rest of the world.

The inside of the tower was open, and I was allowed to go all the way to the top! Maybe I’m missing some key lighthouses, but this is only the second lighthouse I’ve been allowed to climb to the top. The weird thing was it was mostly unsupervised…which seemed crazy as at the top, there was a ladder to climb to a hatch and then I had to squeeze through a short little door to the outside. Back at the bottom I was chatting with the museum people, and I mentioned that most lighthouses don’t let you climb them. They smirked and said that in Quebec, they take care of their old lighthouses so they are safe enough to climb…unlike in the other provinces. lol

I continued driving up the coast, but didn’t find much more to explore. I was keeping my eye out for a nice spot to boondock for the night. The spots I passed were already occupied, so when I arrived in Port Cartier, I decided to just stay at the municipal campground.

When I arrived, the camp warden was on the phone and there were a few guys waiting outside the office. As I stood waiting, one of the guys looked at me, said something in French that I didn’t understand…except the word “Jeep”. I asked if he spoke English, and he did. It turns out they were driving the road on their adventure bikes, and he was interested in my camper Jeep. While we were waiting, I showed them my setup, and we swapped stories of the various places we’d been. When it came time to book my campsite, one of them offered to translate for me. I’m not sure if the warden spoke English, because with a translator there, he only spoke French…but it was nice to not have to worry about it.

(for those who aren’t aware, an adventure bike is a hybrid road-dirt motorcycle. basically, the motorbike version of a jeep. I often get trip info from adventure biker forums, as we share similar ideas of what constitutes the perfect road.)

Usually I don’t make a post for each induvial day of a trip. There just isn’t enough happening to make that possible, but this trip was just packed with interesting experiences and amazing sights. This was a slower day, but still quite interesting. And there is more coming!