Jacob
Norris photo
Unity's dangerous proximity to Quebec was one of the biggest things compelling me to attend here. This year alone, I’ve ventured there four times: once when I was driving from Michigan; then over fall break; then in January, and now this last weekend. Each trip has given new adventures—beluga whales; northern lights; sleeping in a van in subzero weather; playing mandola to serenade a belligerently drunk man to sleep/make my escape. Sometimes I go by myself, sometimes I’ve managed to convince my Unity partners in crime to go with me. This last time, Gunnar and I decided to take our new Outing Club officer roles seriously and we organized a trip to Quebec—and, even better, the school funded it. The trip filled up immediately, and we spent the weeks leading up to the adventure getting excited for poutine and winter fun in the Laurentides 
Parc National des Jacques Cartier, Katie Schick photo
On Friday afternoon—the day of departure—11 of Unity’s finest (plus our staff chaperone) filled our van with exuberance, anticipation, and instruments we’d plundered (with permission of said chaperone, of course) from the SAC. Our start was a bit shaky—backing the trailer in the parking lot turned into a 60+ point turn. Our hopes of a dramatic exit may have been demolished, but our journey quickly became a wealth of stories, adventures, and new experiences... 
Van Band; Jacob Norris photo
Music:
I love many things about Unity; one of them is the
abundance of musical talent. (If you don’t believe me, let tomorrow night’s
talent show knock your socks off! 8:00 at the SAC be there or be square!)
Before our departure, we realized the necessity of a Van Band; immediately
upon this epiphany, we dashed into the Student Center to borrow a guitar and banjo. Over the weekend,
our Van Band cropped up many times. The most memorable edition was Saturday
night. We’d paused at the hostel to let our poutine digest before driving out
aurora chasing; naturally, an impromptu jam session was in the makings. The
guys, rushing upstairs, intercepted me, rushing downstairs. We all did the
sensible thing: sat down, jammed out, and marveled over the fantastic
stairwell acoustics.
Stairwell
Band, Jacob Norris photo
Hostel:
For
a mere $17/night, we were able to rent a room in Quebec City. We probably
spent at least that much in gas trying to find the damn place; in Unity, we
don’t really have the phenomena of one-way streets, skyscrapers, and abundant
pedestrians, so this was our first real cultural adjustment. We asked at
least four people for directions and had the chance to lust over Mountain Equipment
Co-op’s window displays from all angles as we circled the
block clockwise, then counter clockwise, then somehow approached it from
kitty-corner. The hostel was nice, though—notable features: the shower was
big enough for Summer, Katie, & I; breakfast was clutch.
Quebec
City; Connor McNulty photo
Poutine:
We are an exceptionally
food-motivated group, and I think we talked more about poutine than anything
else. Poutine should probably constitute its own food pyramid—it is a
balanced meal of carbs, proteins, and fats. The best poutine we encountered
came from Mo’s, an establishment clearly founded on genius, since not only do
they have pulled pork and barbecue sauce poutine—they also have beer taps AT
THE TABLES. Dangerous place, I’m telling you. Anyway, we ate so much poutine
that we’re brainstorming writing “Poutine”, a parody of the song
“Codeine”. We’ll let you know how it goes.
Jacob
Norris photo
Friday’s
sunset:
The beauty of the drive
seems proportional to the distance from Skowhegan: the further away, the
prettier your surroundings. Mountains, frozen lakes, ice-jammed rivers,
general wild. The sunset Friday was breathtaking, so we pulled
over next to a snowbank on 201 N to appreciate the shit out of the scene
above Moosehead Lake. Appreciating the shit out of a sunset, when done right,
involves van-standing and snowbank-floundering. The latter was a nice way to
make the sauna-like interior of the van seem almost welcoming for like 30
seconds.
Connor
McNulty photo
The
Border:
The border crossing north of
Jackman is nothing extravagant. It’s basically a shack that separates many
miles of conifer, snow, and moose from many more kilometers of
conifer, snow, and moose. This time, Gunnar decided our best strategy would
be to blast the Canadian National Anthem as we rolled up to the little booth.
The border guy was unimpressed with our taste.
“Turn the radio down”
Once we had successfully
navigated the border, we blasted the Canadian National Anthem no less than
three more times.
Parc
National de Jacques Cartier, Katie Shick photo
|
Parc
National de Jacques Cartier:
Conveniently located a
mere half-hour from the inner workings of Quebec City, Parc National de Jacques Cartier is a
beautiful expanse of public land in the Laurentides. The park has something for
any outdoors enthusiast—skiing; snowshoeing; hiking; fishing; canoeing;
camping… and, it has bathrooms. Really nice bathrooms that deserve their own
special mention. Apparently, poutine wreaks havoc on the intestines, and
as we drove down the river valley on the (bumpy, winding) entrance road, I
think we all had the same thoughts.
“They’ve got really nice
bathrooms in the visitor center.”
“They’re not going to be
nice after I’ve been in there.”
Both statements
were accurate. The bathrooms were lovely: sunny, pleasant-smelling, warm, and
filled with the sounds of Common Loons and American Woodcocks. All in all, it
was probably the most cathartic dump I’ve ever experienced.
Connor McNulty photo
Several pounds lighter,
we picked our poison—some took snowboards, others strapped on snowshoes; I
joined the cross-country ski gang. We asked the park ranger for an
“interesting” trail, and she happily complied. Maybe, “interesting” means
something else entirely in French because this trail was “interesting” in the
fact that it nearly killed us all. It was the end of the month; maybe the park
had some fatality quotas to fill…
Katie Schick photo
Although
the trail was extremely challenging, it took us through the most beautiful
places I’ve ever cross-country skied. We traveled through mixed forest next to
the river, then up a small mountain alongside the edge of a cliff. That’s when
it really got “interesting”—gravity kept tempting our skis over the cliff face,
the hills were so steep we had to sidestep up, and the snow was waist-deep. It
was challenging, beautiful, and I was so sore that later, I woke up in pain.
Although we pursued
different winter sports, I think we all had challenging, beautiful, and
physically taxing experiences at Jacques Cartier. Several people told me that
day was some of the best skiing they’d ever done—this is music to any trip
leader’s ears!
Aurora:
Later
on Saturday, after another hefty Poutine dose to combat the cold, we drove back
to the park because we’d caught wind that the Aurora would be active that
night. Many times I’ve tried to see the Aurora, many times I’ve failed.
However, tonight was the night—looking north from the visitor center gave us a
splendid backdrop of mountains and unspoiled night sky; eventually, as the moon
set, the Lights became more and more active. We watched them dance above the
mountains until the cold became unbearable, then went back to our hostel. This
definitely was one of my trip highlights.
All in all, the
trip was full of fun and learning opportunities. We’re already plotting some
more epic trips for this semester’s roster, and Gunnar, Caroline, Emily and I
are hoping to make Unity’s Outing Club the best that it can be. Contact
any of us if you’re interested in joining; we’ll welcome you with open
arms!
This gorgeous picture compliments of Connor McNulty.
