During the day on Sat, I sent out three tweets to update the Sun morning Rigaud weather forecast. It kept getting worse. In my last tweet on Sat evening, I shared the forecast of “80% prob of 1-3mm”, but I also said we would still try to hike. Perhaps I should have also included the old adage, “80% of success is showing up.” After all, since the hike was close to the West Island, it was not such a big gamble to show up and see what the weather would end up being.
Those of us who *did* show up were well-rewarded. It was a perfectly pleasant morning to hike the trails of Mont Rigaud. Despite the wet forecast, in the end there was no rain. And by no rain, I mean there was not a single drop during the entire hike.
No doubt because of the expectation of rain, it was a small group of seven who met in the parking lot of the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame in Rigaud. There were five club members, including Christine B-M, our local trail expert and volunteer leader of this hike. The other Beaver Tailers were Jan & Cathy, Bob and me. Hikers 6 & 7 were hiking friends of Christine. Claude was along for the second year in a row to help Christine by bringing up the rear (of what is usually a larger group) and making sure any stragglers stayed on course. And white-bearded Alfred just happened to arrive to hike on his own and he accepted our invitation to join us.
It was cloudy and 14 C as we set out at 10 am. The trails were slightly damp from a bit of rain over night, but the trails were not slippery and there was not a single bit of mud. We followed the standard route up the hill and around the backside of the mountain. The trails and turns on this part of Mont Rigaud are all unmarked, so having a guide like Christine is the best way to ensure we do not get lost. We paused at the usual spots: the “potato fields” of rounded stones, the burned chalet, the beaver dam, and the lookout at the cross. We then went further west to the top of the ski hill before making our way back to parking lot. We hiked 9.25 km in 2h 45 m, so back at 12:45 pm.
It was a splendid start to the BTNSC hiking season. It just goes to show you, even if the weather looks doubtful, it’s often worth it to show up!