is 4 AM. The sun is not up yet and the group awakens to Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right!”, rather appropriate for an early wake-up call! Under the full moon and the light of our headlamps, we finalize our packing. A piece of bread should provide enough energy to reach Pic de la Hutte, a one km climb at a chilly -35C. It is as cold as if there were no tomorrow! Some find the climb rather difficult; on the other hand, the cold air wakes up the sleepy heads. One hundred steps from last night’s refuge that our devoted guide has kept warm all night – for which we are grateful - ville de Saguenay comes up over the horizon, still asleep under its night lighting. The moon, beautiful as ever, provides a wonderfully simple spectacle. We reach the summit at daybreak, the sky pinkish under the sunrays flashing from behind the horizon. Wrapped in the soft light, we soon forget that it’s so cold. We take in the horizon, huge and beautiful; a minute of silence to absorb this magical moment. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Our next stop is Pic de la Hutte refuge for breakfast, where we observe the view protected from the cold behind the frosted windows.
The day continues as we tumble down the hillsides of Monts-Valin on the Pics trail. We go from one vista to the next, and the clement weather opens up the view ahead. The temperature slowly climbs and, down in the valley, we can feel the warmth on our faces!
Tonight, we were sad to see Michel and Simon leave our group. We had good times together. Before leaving, Simon expresses his gratitude to the participants for their involvement in this adventure. “Creators of our success” are the words he used. How true!
We trade cheesecake for good words. Then we have our final feedback. Each participant in turn, selects one word to describe the week. Warmth, adventure, team, off limits, involvement, luck, beauty, beyond, fun despite the challenges, discovery, gratitude, laughter, reality, and courage, are the words used to describe the experience we just lived through.