20 June 2021 Beauharnois

 Five members of the MBC met at the Lachine ferry dock for a fixture ride to Beauharnois returning to Montreal via the Soulange Canal and the West Island.  Along the way to Lachine A.T. took some pictures of the construction progress of the Bande Verte.

Bike lane approaching Decarie Expressway

Eastern access road to Falaise

Drainage Ditch in eastern section

Future Bande Verte

Bike Lane on the Pullman Bridge

 

  We got on to the boat, the bikes were safely stored, and the boat departed. The members quickly fell into their traditional roles.

Dorothy chatted with  a friend she bumped into...

 G.T. informed us that this freighter is hauling cement.

 A.T. took a picture of a Great Egret and added it to his ebird list.

 

 

Soon we had arrived at Ile St Bernard and we mentally prepared ourselves for the upcoming ride.

Along the way to Beauharnois we saw signs of earlier club members who had been by this area.

 

We made note of local landmarks.

 

 Upon reaching Beauharnois A.T. was asked to give a tour of the childhood home of his wife Queen Victoria.  He went to a house on a corner on top of a hill.  The present owner is a birder, and lover of bearded Gnomes, but alas after checking with the Queen, he found it was on the wrong street.

We pushed on, past traditional industries of the area, paper, chemicals and power dams.  Stopping for a short while to see the Herring Gulls.

Then on to the tunnel under the Seaway, A.T. thought to himself,  he is one year older than this tunnel.

Next stop was the relatively unknown war memorial to Canadians who died in the Vietnam War.

And the Fossil rock park....

We passed under what I hope is the last bridge in Quebec to be built without a bicycle path.

Pushing on, we discovered that the path to the 2nd ferry was closed.

Fortunately there is an alternate route

The alternate route is quite nice, we arrived at the 2nd ferry, started to have lunch, but the wait was very short.

Crossing on the 2nd ferry to Les Cedres,  A.T. then posed by the cedar canoe.

Then on to the Soulange Canal path, (which offers a view of approach to the last bridge with no bike path from above), the Anchor Park at Pointe des Cascades, and finally Dorion.  At Dorion Louis decided to take the EXO train back while the others continued over the bridge to Ile Perot.  (A.T. considered riding back with Louis but then thought of the implications of that to his Eddington Number (currently 52))

 

 

 Taking note of the sights available near Ste Anne.

After a cafe rest stop in Pointe Claire, the group gradually broke up as people headed to their respective homes.