Hiking

To the great pleasure of hikers everywhere, the La Tuque region boasts numerous hiking trails maintained by the people at Kilomètre Zéro. When you're in La Tuque, you'll find that you don't need a car to go through the forest! You only have to walk to the suspended bridge; on the other side are some superb hiking trails disappearing into the woods, as far as the eye can see.

While walking along one particular stream, our group encounters cascading waterfalls and small natural bassins where we decide to take a break from our hike. It isn't long before we take off our boots and soak our somewhat achy feet in the cool water, listening religiously as it trickles past us, and curious birds burst into songs while the wind rushes through the trees. While travelling through the forest, our good old feet remain our most practical mode of transportation. And while we observe them being tickled by the river water, we cannot help but think of a well-known wanderer who might have walked along the very paths where we stood just a minute ago.

Félix Leclerc, a famous writer and composer, was born in this part of the province, in the shades of spruce trees and valleys, in this town of La Tuque, which, much like a spider weaving a giant web, has spawned hundreds of hiking trails in the surrounding forest so that lumbermen might do their job more easily. Nowadays, those trails have turned into so many roads travelled by hikers. It's easy to imagine Félix Leclerc walking through this forest, wearing down the soles of his shoes, the same way he sings about in his famous song Moi mes souliers (Me and my shoes):

«Au paradis, paraît-il, mes amis
C'est pas la place pour les souliers vernis
Dépêchez-vous de salir vos souliers
Si vous voulez être pardonnés»
(Paradise, apparently, is not the place for shined shoes.
Hurry up and get your shoes dirty if you want to be forgiven.)

Born in La Tuque in 1914, Félix Leclerc immortalized his native region in his autobiographical work Pieds nus dans l'aube (Barefoot at dawn). His childhood will be filled with all sorts of musical instruments, for which he will develop a great passion. Sixth in a family of eleven children, Félix Leclerc will grow up in a world inhabited by lumbermen and «drivers». His father, who owned an important lumber company and helped build this town, will initiate young Félix into the world of hiking. It's Félix's mother that will turn him on to music.

During the 1920s, as the region slowly becomes more successful thanks to the forest industry, Félix Leclerc will compose music, write songs and poetry. He'll never miss a chance to go out with the men to chop wood or venture through the neighbouring forest. In 1928, Félix leaves La Tuque to further his education in Ottawa, but he'll have to come home suddenly, during the great recession of 1932.

Pieds nus dans l'aube, which was first published in 1946 and has since had many more editions, has earned a place among classic Québec litterature and reveals this region to its readers the way no guidebook ever could. But if you don't want to get lost along the many trails, you'd do better with a detailed map! The Kilomètre Zéro hiking club, in Upper Saint-Maurice, can provide hikers with a superb map which will allow them to wander dreamily through the woods without ever losing their way.

Their map also has the advantage of educating readers about the different names which may be found in the region as well as their historical significance. For example, the trails maintained by the club are, for the most part, the same ones that were used by the «portageux». «Portageux»? According to the map's authors, «"portageux" where the men who continuously walked up and down the valley, from morning till night, bringing supplies and equipment for the lumber camps in the forest. One had to be brave and strong, because this work was extremely difficult and tiresome.»

So, do you have the soul of a «portageux» or a poet? Who knows, maybe you have a bit of both! Be it with a back-pack or a guitar on your shoulder, the trails of Upper Saint-Maurice, a region which counts among the most beautiful wild regions of Québec, await, so that you may get your walking shoes dirty.