Trail Running in Perce

Set off on what was supposed to be a 10-12k run this morning, but I was in for a bit of a surprise. We are staying on the beautiful coast of the Gaspe Quebec in a little town called Perce. The rocky cliffs around here are spectacular, and there are mountains all around. Many of the roads have signs indicating 17% grade, and I had to traverse down one of these on the way back from my adventure this morning.

I had no idea what to expect and just went off trying to find what I hoped would be rather gentle trails. Instead I found lots of crushed rock roads followed by gnarly single-track trails that were so steep I was forced to walk up. My heart rate indicated that I was working hard, but my pace was slow slow slow.

It was a blast, and I do not regret for one second cutting my run short and leaving it at 7km. The satellite photo is pretty bad, but I ran up and around a small mountain, and then back down a very steep road into town. The views from the top of the valley in behind were spectacular. I must go up to the top of the higher mountain for what promises to be amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean.