I saw a sign for another covered bridge and we followed that road to the village of St Jean d'Arc. The village had an old water-powered sawmill so we looked at that and then went on to the bridge.

As we drove around the lake we saw bright red fields, and eventually concluded that these were fields of blueberries, probably harvested by now but still glowing with fall colours.

	Mistassini River (3.36)

We stopped for lunch at a city park in Dobeau overlooking the extensive and noisy rapids of the Mistassini River, just one of the great rivers that flow into Lac St Jean.

We left the lake and headed north up the valley of the Ashuapmushuan, another massive river. We stopped for tea at one of its rapids, but mostly the river was out of our sight. The road goes through the Ashuapmushuan wildlife reserve, and passes dozens of lakes and rivers on the way to Chibougamau, the next town, over 100 miles away.

We took off on a side road, looking for a free campsite, but found ourselves in a resort area on Lac Chigobiche with cabins and campsites. It was still in operation with real live wardens, so we paid our fee and set up on a ridge with the lake on both sides of us. It was a scenic spot, but at 40 degrees with a strong wind, we couldn't sit outside and enjoy it. It was the first time on this trip that I'd really felt cold.

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