Every season has a special beauty in the Laurentian Mountains, but nothing beats the vibrant colours of fall. Especially when seen from a mountain top. Add the bonus that all of the mosquitoes and horseflies are gone, and you have a win-win opportunity to enjoy the show that nature puts on before its winter hibernation.

My favourite view

While my friend Wendy has pulled me up almost every slope and summit in the region, my favourite by far is Montagne d’Argent near La Conception. The autumn colours as seen from that peak are worth the climb. There are nearly fifteen kilometres of hiking trails for all levels on d’Argent. But beware, no matter which trail you choose, they all go up….

My preferred trails are those that involve big rocks, a few ropes and some scrambling: the kind where you wonder what the heck you got yourself into.

Navigating the silver mountain

This season, the first loop of d’Argent started at the Sugar Bush trail. It’s a great way to warm up for what’s to come. Sugar Bush takes you into La Crête, where you will find that some serious scrambling is required. From there, it is the difficult La Savane portion, which brings you to the final trail before reaching Le Plateau. The summit. When you reach it, the leaf-peeping payload is huge.

The roundtrip loop is about 8.3 km. But as navigation is not my strong suit… let’s call it an even 9 km.

Capture the season

Fall hiking is more than exercise and pretty leaves though. It’s a full sensory experience. The deep earthy smell of the forest preparing for winter. Squirrels hustling to grab up a last batch of nuts. The overhead honking of Canada geese saying goodbye before the snow sets in.

It’s all here, just waiting for you to take the first step.

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