July 02, 2010Outdoor Research Tested by Rock – Revel Jacket : On the rooftop of the Laurentians

My friend and I left Montreal at around 3 p.m. hoping to get perfect weather, ie tons of rain so we could put my Outdoor Research Revel Jacket through its paces. According to the forecast, everything was in place. The plan was to sleep at the Montagne d’Argent (Silver Mountain) and the next morning hike Le toit des Laurentides trail in the Mont Tremblant Park. As planned, we got to the mountain at supper time. Once we’d set up our tents and eaten a nice meal, I decided to check out the surrounding area. We discovered lots of possibilities: foot paths, climbing walls, not to mention various services at a reasonable price.

Upon our return, we made it a short evening in front of a fire with a beer at hand. The next morning, we got up really early for breakfast and packing up. Next stop : Le toit des Laurentides.

At 9 a.m., give or take a few minutes, we got to the trailhead. Luckily, our friend the rain was waiting for us.

At first, the path went along some nice falls that has a few spots to bathe; the terrain was rather varied, rooty and rocky with a decent incline. The climb up was quite nice with changing conditions: torrentiel rain, fine mist and even a bit of sunshine. These were perfect conditions to test my sweet jacket. It really protected me from the rain and I appreciated its breathability, especially the pit-zips. By opening it at waist-length on each side, I could put my hip bag underneath and thus keep it protected from the rain. The hood was very well ajusted and the storage pocket was easy to use. The ascent took two-and-a-half hours and when we got to the top, we had a welcoming committee of gray jays who came to eat in our hands.

We lunched with the jays and took a half-hour break to recuperate a bit.

The descent was quick and lasted an hour-and-a-half. We ran down the path and I treated myself to two memorable tumbles in the mud. Although the path was quite wet, I managed to keep my feet dry. I can’t say the same for my cotton pants. We ended the day on a nice little beach as we ate our dinner.

Happy trails!

Rock

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