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A river flows between the historic site of ghost town Val-Jalbert and the campground. Her name is the Ouiatchouan river. For a long time, her waters marked out the limits of the Roberval’s outdoor Club playground… until now. Val-Jalbert has finaly accepted to open his land to snowshoeing for the great pleasure of all. After a first pilot project in 2016, the deal made between the ghost town and the club as been effective since 2017 et will be renewed every year. Martin, Lise and Christine greet us warmly, all smiles, ready to lead us for a hike. They are excited to show us the most of the 30 kilometers of trails they created over the past years. The walk starts along the Ouiatchouan river, on the side of the campground, and heads up to a belvedere where we can see a splendid view above the river. It also follows a section the Ouiatchouan trail, a 18 km long route that links to Saint-François-de-Sales. Wearing is snowshoes, Martin leads the group. Few minutes later, his silhouette his already disappearing among the snowy trees. « We call him “the Rocky Moutain Goat” », says Lise laughing. Martin knows the area quite well. He has been a volunteer for 18 years, taking care of the trails and routes of the ghost village during the winter. « We give as much time as we can. », he says. We soon leave the forest and the river to get higher, on the belvedere. As we walk through the pine trees, I suddenly feel so small. « It’s the last ascension. », guarantees Christine. Not that the hike is really difficult, but it zigzags, goes up and down, just enough to solicit your cardio. To quote a french saying « Le jeu en vaut la chandelle » (it’s worthwhile). The point of view allows us to see from afar the island of Île-aux Couleuvres floating in the great lake Saint-Jean.Once our breath is back to normal, Christine leads the group towards the ghost town historic site. Created in 1901 by Damase Jalbert and his pulp company Ouiatchouan to accomodate his workers and their family, Val-Jalbert is what we call a company town. The village was deserted in 1927 when the workers were left with no more jobs by the closure of the mill. The houses, the general store, everything was abandoned as it was. It’s only in 1947 that the government of Québec decided to expropriate the site for unpaid taxes. And we have to wait even more years, in 2009, for a major investment of 19,7 millions $CA devoted to revitalize the place. Our first stop is the famous waterfall of the village, entirely frozen by the cold weather. The group decides to change direction, heading to the large avenues covered with a thick layer of snow. There, alone in the middle of the Tremblay avenue, we gaze at those old houses dating back to the 1920’s. Beautiful. Some of them are falling apart, some others, strengthen, are standing tall. The most remarquable building is the general store, completely renovated. We end our visit by the Chemin des Écoliers leading to the building that used to be the church and the school of the village. The historic village of Val-Jalbert may be one of the most visited attraction of the region in the summer, but opening his site to snowshoeing is a decision that definitly pleases the locals… and the off-season travellers. Get in touch with the Roberval’s outdoor club through Facebook to get more info. You are now forewarned : this ghost town is haunted ! *This text was translated from french*