Camping Rimouski & Motel of Anse, Quebec, Canada
Counsel and sound judgment are mine (Wisdom); I have understanding and power. I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. ~ Proverbs 8:14, 17
“The Canyon of the Gates of Hell”. That’s the name of the place Blaine took me to today. It’s a privately owned park that had it’s beginnings as a Park in 1990. Ya know, I was gonna just tell you about the place, but I found the following on French Wikipedia (didn’t even know there was such a thing), and had the website translate to English. The result was interesting, so I’ll let you enjoy it as well. And I’ll translate the distances for you. 😊
It is initiated by the fall of Grand Falls, 20 meters high (that’s 65 ½ feet) and stretches for nearly 5 km (roughly 3 ¼ miles) between narrow and steep walls sometimes reaching 90 meters in height (that’s 295 feet). The site has been open to visitors since 1990. It is the highest suspended footbridge in Quebec, with a height of 63 meters (roughly 206 ½ feet).
The site is administered by the Tourist Corporation of the Domaine des Portes de L’Enfer. The Corporation was incorporated in July 1983 by local people. It opened in the 1990s. The construction of the highest suspended footbridge in Quebec began in 1996 on the site. It is 63 meters high (you already know this one). Over the past decade, millions of dollars have been invested in walking trails and new activities such as the Oniria Gates, an evening activity with the Fall of the Great Illuminated Gully, the Labyrinth of Hell, and two activities. geocaching. The visit is on foot in a network of footpaths ranging from 1 km (just over a ½ mile) to 14 km (roughly 8 ½ miles) . He holds the certification of pedestrian networks by the Quebec Federation of Walking. There is also a mountain bike trail stretching 8.5 km (we didn’t do the bike trail, so you’re on your own). The site is accessible from mid-May to mid-October.
We were enjoying this gorgeous park, until the mosquitoes found us. And us with no Deet. Actually, we’ve been in worse. At least these came and went as we walked along, and I managed to escape the day with only about a half dozen bites. The worst place we ever encountered mosquitoes was in Alaska in 2005 when we were traveling around in a rented Class-C. We had an overnight campsite that was in a lovely location with a stream in our front yard, but we couldn’t even go out the door! It was that bad! I try to remind myself of that place whenever I feel a little attitude coming on.
There was plenty of hiking here, and waterfalls, and a river, and a few other surprises as well!
It’s pretty long, and dusty and gravely, but any vehicle could drive on it.
They must not be used to dirt roads. : )
I came to the conclusion that it must not.
In English please . . . The Oniria Gates, the enchanted path.
The rest of the brochure says: Go in search of the Oniria Gates
and reach an enchanted universe in the margins of reality.
Well, who could resist that? : )
Blaine got to sit on the throne in the Palace of the Beaver King! It was pretty funny when he sat down and “king” music played – – daa-dada-daaaaaa! Hahaha!!
Why the beaver is holding an umbrella, I cannot say.
There was also a waterfall behind the throne, but Blaine’s covering it up.
There were other things in this “pixie land”, including ‘pixie’ voices you could hear but not see as you walked into certain areas, and fairy music, tiny giggling voices, things like that. It was fun. 😊 Even funnier was the fact that while we were walking around, I commented that this place reminded me of a haunted house/Halloween theme, and sure enough, when I was researching the place, that’s what they alluded this area was!
Don’t Pixies and Gnomes get along?
However, there was a trunk that appeared to have a male (something) locked inside.
He was yelling something in French. Could’ve been “Get out of my house!” So we did.
It’s a little worse for wear now. . . .
Shhhhh . . . And please don’t touch. Thank you. You’re on Candid Camera.
There was also a tribute area (“homage”. See, I’ll teach you some French yet!) to loggers. We couldn’t read any of the information, but we took a couple of pictures of things we liked.
This one’s just scary!
Even more impressive if you notice the guy standing in the bottom right corner!
We didn’t do the labyrinth. Probably a good thing, after reading Wikipedia! But we did go across the suspension bridge . . . .
I sure hope it’s safe!
I always marvel at how they build things like this!
Didn’t shake a bit, regardless of how Blaine tried. : )
I looked at this and said, “Alex is was here? Is he, or was he? Or are they unsure of the English?”
After Blaine had a good chuckle, he corrected me. : )
Our next adventure of the day took us into the underworld – 300 steps down to the river’s edge. We came out unscathed, though a bit winded.
We didn’t march though. . . . 300 marches? Get it? : )
The stairs are more impressive, but it’s still beautiful!
I imagine it’s really something after a rain, or spring thaw.
One more supposedly short walk that wasn’t, to find Chute Chad. There were more hills and more stairs, and more distance than their signs indicated. Ugh!
The trail continued, but we were done and turned around.
There’s a whole lot more than 300 steps in this Park!
And that’s it for today. And just so you know, we didn’t know the translation of the name of this place until several days later. 😊 Not that it would’ve mattered, we still would’ve gone.