Bic National Park - bike ride to a low tide water hike and a kayak

Isle aux Amours (Islands of Love)

Low tide is at 11 am and there is a hike around the island 'Isle aux Amours' that becomes accessible when the sand spit to the island appears at low tide. The hike is a 15 minute bike ride from our trailer along the green bike route through Bic National Park. 

Rock hopping around the island

It's fun rock hopping and checking out the tide pools. Our location on the St. Lawrence River has us still in 'Brackish" water meaning it is a mix of salt water from the Atlantic ocean and fresh water from the great lakes.Since the water is not 100% marine, the classic tide pool life like star fish are non-existent. Our next stop farther around the Gaspe Peninsula will likely have the little creatures we are missing here. 

Picture of a picture :)

We bike to the next bay called Anse aux Bouleaux as it is apparently good for seal viewing at low tide. The area is restricted as pups have recently been born and the moma seals leave their babies hidden in the rocks as they head out in search of food. We can see the odd seal  moving about way out in the water but too far for a photo so we take pictures of the seals from the information stand on shore. 

Seals of Anse aux Bouleaux bay

First kayak of the season

We bike home for lunch, tea and a quick rest before high tide at 4 pm when the Havre-du-Bic Sector is prime for kayaking. 

There is a series of islands we paddle through and it is absolutely beautiful. The St. Lawrence River is calm with no fetch so we end up heading out on a long circuit for around 2.5 hours. 

Huge rock walls

Wooden bird house with numbers to monitor population

One of the islands has wooden bird houses on it each with individual numbers. They house Black Guillemot birds, which are jet black birds with large striking red feet. They skitter about so fast it is hard to get a photo. Apparently park ecologists do regular inventory of the bird population and monitor the nesting success. 

Black Guillemot with bright red feet

Nice evening light

As we get back close to the boat launch it is almost 6:30 pm and the sun is getting low. 

Back to our site for a late dinner and a relaxing evening. We earned it :)

Site 56 in Tombolo Campground