network of trails in a conservation area now called ZEC des Martres. (There are 85 volunteer-managed ZECs or zones d'exploitation contrle in Quebec encompassing nearly 50,000 square kilometres; hunting and fishing are controlled, with user fees covering monitoring costs). Then Fortin and friends began a flurry of tree felling and bridge building, and by the winter of 1978 the entire 105-kilometre route was ready. Leduc recounts The Legend of Eudore Fortin as her hatchback winds up Highway 381 to my departure point. I left my sleeping bag, three sacks of food and a travelsize espresso maker at La Traverse's wood-house HQ in Saint-Urbain. The trail's six basic chalets and six spartan camps are reachable via backcountry roads, or snowmobile in winter. To stock a six-night hiking party, a support vehicle must drive 1,200 kilometres. And sometimes trekkers request ancillary provisions, such as a bottle of chilled champagne and two glasses, to be left at a mountaintop lookout. "I need new boots, size eight, but my budget is $200," a hiker told Fortin over her cellphone one morning. He found a pair in nearby Baie-Saint-Paul, ate the extra cost and met the grateful trekker at one of the trail's emergency access points. Leduc turns off the highway and slows to a stop. I ask if there's anything to worry about before setting off solo. Hunters? No. Deer season has finished. Les loups? No. They prey on the area's re-introduced caribou population. Les ours ? "No," Leduc responds. "It was a bad