Refugia are nature’s Noah’s Ark and absolutely essential features that allow our planet to ecologically rebound following periods of glaciation.  Without refugia ecosystems would rebound much more slowly or not at all after glacial events.  Maine and indeed all of New England, which was entrapped in ice many miles thick for over 10,000 years, literally owes its entire present-day ecology to the plants and animals that survived the Pleistocene in and dutifully marched out of the nearest nunatak refugia; the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec.

Not surprisingly, the Gaspé has been on my bucket-list since my professor first filled my head with visions of ice ages, bio-refugia and nunataks.  So, with my naturalist friend Jacquie, a gifted-and-talented teacher from Belfast, and a loaded-up Prius (my vain attempt to allow the next Ice Age to occur as nature intended), we headed though Aroostook County to our wonderful and wild neighbor, Quebec. 

In seven short hours, the time it took us to drive 300 miles northeast from Rockport, Jacquie and I were stretching our legs on the wind and sea-swept shore of Chaleur Bay in the picturesque town of Carleton sur Mer, the first stop on our 4 day Gaspé excursion. 

The Rocks

The Gaspé is an 11,714-square-mile peninsula that is the geological termination of the Appalachian Mountain range and is divided into five natural areas — the Coast, Land's End, the Bay of Chaleur, the Matapédia Valley, and the Haute-Gaspésie.  Haute Gaspé is home to the stunning, Mont Albert (3,776 feet) and Mont Lyall (3,150 feet) and the Chic-Choc Mountain range, at the very heart of the Gaspé refugia.  Mont Lyall is noted for colorful agate geodes and there’s a commercial operation that will for a fee allow people to “dig” for these treasures (Mine d’Agates du Mont Lyall).  Also, in Gaspé is Miguasha National Park which is listed as a World Heritage Site because it contains among the most outstanding Devonian period fossils found on earth. 

The Fish and Birds

Highlights in the Land’s End region at the eastern tip of Gaspé include the remote Bonaventure Island and the arrestingly gorgeous Rocher-Percé (Percé Rock).  Percé Rock is the iconic and stunning limestone arch rising from the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  Bonaventure Island is one of the largest of only 18 northern gannet nesting sites in the world, hosting over 50,000 pairs of the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic.  Yet as seawater temperature rises in the Gaspé like everywhere else, the prey fish are now deeper in the water column and hence often out of reach for this plunge-diving seabird.  Biologists are now looking for suitable sites further north to attract gannets in a bid to establish new nesting colonies near to still viable feeding grounds.

The Gaspé boasts of large areas of unfragmented forests, intact coastlines, free-flowing salmon rivers, and the Barachois de Malbaie — the largest natural lagoon south of the St. Lawrence Seaway, with its long sand spit and expanses of brackish marshes that are home to numerous waterfowl, wading birds and shorebirds.

The Fun

The Gaspé contains six wildlife sanctuaries, 25 of Quebec’s highest peaks, and four national parks all concentrated into a compact package of land that if you wanted to you could drive around in a long weekend as Jacquie I did.  Gaspé is both a superb summer and winter getaway for Mainers.  In the summer, activities include kayaking, hiking, fishing, camping, birding, horseback riding and fossil hunting.  In the winter expect some of the best wilderness downhill and cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ice climbing, snow-shoeing and dog sledding.

The Music

Québec has a strong local folk music scene that is a hybrid between French/Breton sources and Irish/Scottish styles.  There are numerous music festivals but Jacquie and I missed the big one, Festival Musique du Bout du Monde, by just one week!  Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed listening to local Gaspé radio where every song seemed to have miraculously sprung from the very landscapes and scenery around us.  For a flavor of the music that awaits you on Gaspé, click on the video clip by La Bottine Souriante, an astonishingly lively local folk ensemble where dancers wearing sabots (wooden shoes) are the bands only percussion instrument.

The Food

Don’t forget, Gaspé is in Quebec, Quebec, is decidedly French, and the French invented food!  So be prepared for excruciatingly delicious bouillabaisse, fish soups, bison, venison and fresh, local vegetables, all prepared to mouth-watering and jaw dropping perfection.  Quebec is also home to probably the world’s most delicious junk food called "poutine" available at every roadside diner as well as the most pretentious French restaurant.  It consists of a scrumptious gravy-like sauce concocted from local cheddar cheese curd and generously poured over frites (French fries).  If there is junk food in heaven, poutine is it. 

The Dets

To plan your own Gaspé excursion visit, Gaspésie I love you.com or contact Richard Podolsky in Rockport.