Manawan Reserve ride: part 2

See Part 1

The Dakar ended a couple of weeks ago: congratulations to the winners and to all participants!  Now there are no more excuses to delay my ride report heading to Manawan, and hopefully I will be able to complete it before the Montreal Moto Show… many new adv bikes this year!

But one word about the Rally: it is fascinating to see the sand dunes and fantastic landscapes of South America that we discover through the Dakar- definitely something to add to my bucket list.

On the down side however, none of the Canadian TV networks – even sports channels – made any coverage of the Dakar. In MHO, such an event should show up at least on evening news, right?!

Right…back to the main program…Manawan…Dorwin falls…yeah, those falls were an unexpected discovery worth seeing!  I spent too much time there taking shots and videos.  When I left and realized how long I had been there, I took the resolution to stop stopping every ten minutes for a bloody picture!

I stopped at least 10 more times after taking that resolution...  I saw this windmill along the road and I was curious to know what it was used for.  No luck, the area was deserted and there was a for sale sign.

As one distraction led to another, I saw an advertisement along the road for a free visit day at “La Terre des Bisons (The Buffalos Land)”…

It was not easy to ignore this sign but I succeeded!  However, I turned around 1 mile further.  Well, Buffalos are not part of Quebec wildlife – I don’t remember having seen a Buffalo crossing sign in my whole life! – that’s my excuse for this other shot!

So in Rawdon, Qc there is a buffalo farm called: “La terre des bisons” and it seems well established.  I passed pretty quickly and I did not dare to visit inside the installation, but back home, I took a look at their web site and found all the information I needed to know: http://www.terredesbisons.com/

I’ll probably go back with my kids – they are eager to see this – and buy some goods: since my visit I can’t stop thinking about buffalo steak on the charcoal…

 

From a motorcycle adventure perspective, the ride to get to the farm is not bad.  I took this shot on the Parkinson road.

9:20 am.  Waterdome at Lake Cloutier.  I continued riding north and I crossed this Waterdome on the “Riviere Blanche” road (White River road).

***
So this was a brief outlook of the “La Pocatière” area in Quebec near Rawdon city.  I just scratched the surface of it but it was very nice to discover with many interesting roads.  An area that has many hidden treasures and deserves more attention.

I got back on track for a moment and followed my GPS to reach the 131 north which leads to St-Michel-des-Saints - and the Manawan road - through St-Zenon village.

10:23 a.m.   This picture shows a trail that I saw from the 131 road in St-Zenon. 

I went to see where it led, and I met a resident who was taking a walk.

He told me that he just saw a couple of bears in the area.  I had mixed emotions about that  – it would be nice to take a picture of a bear, but at the same time they have unpredictable behaviour.  Apparently they are easily spooked – so am I.

 

Next part – the untamed Manawan road.

Ciao!
DSAQ