Magog

31 Aug

From Granby to Magog was our first harder ride with about 725m in elevation gain and about 65kms. The terrain became hillier and even a few small mountains in the vicinity that are skied on in the winter. The one we encountered was Mont Orford which is also a provincial (Quebec National…) park with biking/skiing trails and lakes. The trails were often gravel but very small stones so not an issue and the scenery more than made up for it. So far the weather is cooperating and we had a lovely day to ride. Quebec has definitely put some tax dollars to use creating this vast network of trails. The sales tax here is 10% on top of GST.

Our accommodation in Magog is a B&B in a historical old house full of charm in the centre of the town. The town is the most touristy we have seen outside of Montreal, offering lake activities, cycling, hiking, skiing in the winter, etc. It isn’t far to the US border so we see license plates from Vermont, Maine and even Florida. The town sits on Lac Memphrémagog (there’s also a Lac Magog) which is derived from an indigenous name and apparently has a lake monster named Memphré who curiously looks just like the Ogopogo.

During the 2 days here we rode around the Orford area again, took in the lake front, strolled the shopping street (no purchases though due to lack of space on the bike), sampled poutine, visited a historic home/museum and hiked in the marsh area. A lovely place to visit!