Fieldtrip 15A of the QMIII Project, to Montreal and Mont Treblant National Park, Quebec, Canada.

May 4, 2015. I drive up to Montreal in the late afternoon, after the Frontiers of Science Poster Session. A little snow is still on the ground in the Adirondacks, as streaks on the higher peaks and small mounds in sheltered spots along the highway. I arrive about 9PM and check into the Champlain Hotel, off of Route 15 in Brossard, Quebec.

May 5, 2014. In the morning, I take the Champlain Bridge across the St Laurence River to Montreal and attend the Joint Assembly that is being held at the Palais des Congres de Montreal (the Montreal Convention Center), parking in a basemeng garage on Rue Notre Dame. My colleagues Vadim Levin, Fiona Darbyshire, Ian Bastow and Andrew Hynes are all presenting talks on the geology and geophysics of the North American Craton.

Around noon, Vadim Levin and I take a break from the meeting and walk to Quai Jacque Carter, a park on the St. Laurence River. We stand gazing across the water, which is flowing swiftly, towards the mid-river islands. We can see the top of the geodesic dome of the Biosphere de Montreal and Alexander Calder’s great metalwork sculpture, Man, amongst the trees.

Back at the meeting, I presented a poster on the structure of the Appalachian Front.

We all had dinner in a Moroccan restaurant near the convention center. Afterward, though I hurried back to the garage, I narrowly missed having my car locked in it overnight. I did not anticipate its closure at 9:30PM, which seemed very early to a New Yorker like me. Fortunately, I tracked down a workman who very kindly opened the gate for me.

May 6, 2015. I attended the meeting until about 2:30 PM and then, at Andrew Hynes advice, drove north to look at the Grenville-aged rocks outcropping in the Laurentian Highlands. I took Highway 15, followed by Routes 329 and 125 to Parc National du Mont Treblant. I parked at a trailhead just north of the gate. I hiked westward on an unpaved woods road, following a little creek named Ruisseau de Mont de cascades. The woods of the Laurentian highlands are well behind those of southern New York, with patches of snow still on the ground, few leaves on the trees, and Trout Lilies just spouting. The creek was running over rock ledges in many cascades and small waterfalls. I examined the rocks as I walked along. I followed the creek uphill until the land flattened out and the creek widened into a a beaver pond and small wetland. I bushwhacked to the shore of the pond and looked for beavers and other wildlife, but spotted nothing. A small hiker’s hut, Le Geal Bleau (The Blue Jay) is built near the northern end of the wetland. I then took a steep trail up on top of Mont de Cascades, to a small rock ledge with a nice view that looked northwest. The rest of the summit has dense evergreen woods that blocked the view. I took a different trail down from the summit. This one led to the park entrance. From there, I walked the park access road to Lac Provost and stood on its shore, among beech trees and bushes, by a marshy area with a beaver dam. The sun was setting now and the foreground was in shadow, though the east side of the lake and the hills beyond were brightly lit by its reddish light. I then walked the short distance north along the park road to my car. About three hours of hiking.

May 7, 2015. I left Brossard at 6AM and drove straight back to New York, arriving in Tappan at 12:30PM.