I finally got off-road with my 4Runner two weekends ago. I headed out with the awesome group from Club TORQ, a local Toyota club, to St-Michel-des-Saints where, after an excellent demonstration of how to use basic recovery equipment, we hit up some 80km up the chemin Manawan to finally reach the trailhead.
The trail was still covered in a few inches of melting, hard-packed snow and we were the first non-tracked vehicles to have taken the trail (with the exception of a tractor that had passed perhaps a week earlier). The crunch of the melting snow was beautiful.
In the places the snow had melted, the trail was soft and sandy. Although the surroundings were a bit brown, it’s still beautiful country. I’ll bet it’s nice in the summer if you don’t mind black flies and giant mosquitoes!
After a very long morning we finally found a quiet hilltop for lunch. While most of us broke out sandwiches and chips, a couple of guys that had been camping with their offroad trailer the night before fired up the bbq and made up some kebabs and bacon. I was lucky enough to score one last slice that no-one else wanted...
After lunch we headed back out and covered the last short section of the trail. We made a sketchy water crossing at a frozen lake, where most of the dirt surrounding the culvert had washed out, and after a tricky spot of ice just a bit further down, we made it out alive.
But we weren’t done just yet. We had about 10-15km of very rough sand roads to cover before getting back to the logging road, where we blasted the final 60km back to St-Michel-des-Saints for fuel, food, and a much needed break. The convoy home through the winding rural highways was a bit of a race, and after having split up with the rest of the crew I was treated to a gorgeous golden sunset on the highway towards home.
14.5 hours and 550km later, I rolled up in front of the house. I can assure you I slept well that night! It was a great adventure, and my fellow TORQ members (and our Jeep-driving friends from Overland Quebec) are some of the kindest, friendliest people you could hope to ride with. I’m already planning my next trip out with the club, and this time, I’ll have gotten rid of those damned running boards!