Gillespie Settlement

Ended up at another campsite that wasn't opened but the lovely lady said I could pitch up, happily topped up my water, and suggested there were toilets in the public park I could use - I'll happily take the option of a body wash from a sink rather than sleep in stinky kit.

Then a smooth 71miles up the TCT* along an abandoned railtrack that would have been stunning in its day coasting the mighty St John. It's a shame Canada's rail network seems in such bad shape - Portillo wouldn't be happy.

My gears decided today would be the day they'd start auto-changing. Joy. 2 hours of attempts to reindex them hasn't really helped and I've been cursing not perfecting the skill beforehand - how hard can it be when there's only 3 screws to fiddle with!? Meh. I'll have to cope till Quebec since I didn't fancy the hour's backtrack to the nearest bike shop.

Arrived at Mulherin Campsite and yet again.....closed. I really should have researched the open seasons properly. Caught the owners on their doorstep just going out and Cheryl said that she'd just replied to the email I'd sent yesterday asking if they were open 🙄.

Buuuut...I hereby take that eye rolling emoji back and out of the cosmos because they've let me stay in their monster storage shed! Woohoo! Thanks Ron & Cheryl!

After a quick freshen up in the lake (none of the campsites keep the water on out of season to protect the pipes from frost), I've rustled up some jambalaya, and although the serving suggestions didn't include my only source of protein, the bag of nuts went in. Yummy.

*Trans Canada TrailRead more