Day 80: Around the...Province?
I took
my time getting up and had some Cream of Wheat before packing up and heading
off. I stopped in at a ridge hike but when I considered the heat and the
forest fire warnings, I decided to continue on. The next hike I passed
actually had a 'No Entry' sign because of the forest fire concerns. I soon
arrived at the Cape George Lighthouse and took a few minutes to look around.
Next stop was the Arisag Provincial Park where I could just make out the
Prince Edward Island coast, with my binoculars.
I decided to make for Truro to find a warm bed for the night. I
drove past New Glasgow and soon arrived in the town. I toured through
the place and then tried one of the cheap motels. They couldn't accomodate
my modem needs so I moved to the next place and got a room for a night. I
brought in my stuff for the night and settled in. After a bit of TV,
I headed out to pick up some Swiss Chalet for dinner. When I returned,
I found The Hunt for Red October had recently started. I ate in comfort
with great entertainment and then followed that with watching A Few Good
Men. With the local theatre not offering anything of interest, I set
up the computer and surfed and chatted for quite a few hours before heading
to bed in the wee hours of the morning.
Day 81
After a short night, I packed up my car and headed off. It had
rained overnight but had dried up nicely as I headed off. I had set
up an appointment to get my car looked at (regular maintenance, brake follow-up
and an intermittent Check Engine light) in New Minas so I headed off. I
arrived with a half hour to spare so I headed to McD's for
lunch. The
car repairs were fairly quick and painless (financially speaking) and I was
soon on my way around the Minas Basin. It was fairly overcast as I headed
to the Five Islands Provincial Park so I didn't get a good view of the scenery.
I set up on site 61 and took under advisement of the closure of the
trails due to fire concerns. I made up some spaghetti and meat sauce
and had my fill, leaving the rest for future meals. As I finished my
meal, the mist started to waft throught the campground. I took a few
pictures of the sun trying to break through but soon decided to head to bed
early to catch up on missed sleep.
Day 82
With a fairly quiet day on tap, I slept in a bit and had some cereal
for breakfast. I decided to give the trails a shot so I registered
for another day and then headed off. I didn't want to bring attention
to myself, so I caught up with one of the main trails as it passed behind
my site. It followed the cliff edge out towards a point called Red
Head due 
to its
red soil. I did come across a pair of hikers but aside from that, the
trails were empty. I took a converted logging road back to the campground
and soon arrived back at my site. I cooled down a bit and had some
lunch before continuing along the cliff edge in the other direction, towards
the day use area. I soon reached the beach and decided to wander out
on the mud flats since it was low tide. I circled back under the cliffs
to see what things looked like from sea level and took some time to watch
the life of creatures in the intertidal zone.
After returning to my site, I took a nap and then decided to head
off to Parrsboro for dinner and some more live theatre. I stopped in
at the Tourist Info Centre and picked up a map of the area. I stopped
in at the theatre, built around a retired steamship, but didn't need to buy
my ticket so I headed off for some dinner. I found the Glooscap Restaurant
and has a relaxed meal of chicken lasagne before returning to the theatre.
The troupe, The Ship's Company Theatre, were putting on a performance
of The Last Tasmanian, set in New Brunswick and involving the transfer of
a story from one generation to the next. It was well done and quite
a nice way to pass an evening.
After the performance, I headed back to the campground for some hot
chocolate. When I got out of the car, I was struck by the total darkness
- no lights overhead (or nearby) illuminating things. I pulled out
my flashlight and made some hot chocolate (and then drank it) before heading
to bed.
Day 83
I got up and made some pancakes for breakfast before cleaning
up all my dishes and packing everything up. I picked up some ice and
then headed off down the Fundy coast. I stopped in Parrsboro but their
CAP site was in use so I continued through town to Partridge Island. Its
now connected to the mainland after a storm in 1893 threw up a gravel isthumus.
They have a trail up to the top of the island to a lookout with some
interesting information about the tides and some of the battles fought
nearby.
I continued along to a hike to a waterfall. I realized soon
after leaving the car that the falls wouldn't be very dramatic since there
was just a trickle passing under my feet at the bridge. I returned
to the car and continued on to Fox Point. From here, I could get a
good view of Cape Split where I hiked way back in Week 1.
Next up was a lighthouse at Spencers Island. I was able to wander
up to the light and get a good view of the island. I stopped for a
gourmet hamburger (hey, must of been since it was $5) and then headed on
to Advocate Harbour. Here is the entry point for the Cape Chignecto
Provincial Park. It was a little late in the day for hiking, so I got
some info on the trails and headed off to find a place to sleep. I
found a campground nearby and registered for two nights. I tried to
check email at the nearby C@P site but, although there were many hours posted,
it was locked up tight. I picked up some ice cream and milk and made
some Kraft Dinner for, well, dinner.
I tried to get to sleep early but a woodland creature wandering the
campsite kept me up for a while until I managed to nod off.
Day 84: A Nice Stroll in the Park
Even though I was still having
time zone problems with my alarms, I still managed to get up and on the road
by 10am. I arrived at the Park and decided to see how far I could get.
I set my sights on Refugee Cove, 12km out, and headed off. The
hike follows the 500ft cliffs along the shore of the Bay of Fundy but also
has a nasty habit of dropping down almost to the shore and then back up again.
One nasty descent followed a converted ATV trail straight down - very
boring and tiring to descend. As I approached my destination, I decided
not to descend to the Cove itself and stopped for lunch overlooking the area.
Instead of doing the full 12km, I headed back at the 11.5 mark, giving
me 23km for the day. I met quite a few backcountry campers on my way
back and offered whatever assistance I could on their respective journeys.
My feet were complaining as I returned to my car (especially along
that nasty climb) but they did their job and got me back.
I returned to the campsite to refresh myself and then headed over
to the C@P site and checked email. I didn't really feel like doing anything
else so I took a nap. There were few restaurants in sight, so I forced
myself to make up a bit of pasta and soon found myself heading to bed.
Day 85
Another morning, another move. I had some cereal and packed
up my gear for another day on the road. I continued around the peninsula
towards New Brunswick. I had planned on stopping in Amherst for the
night, after picking up some info on New Brunswick, but once I had said info,
I found a cheaper place in nearby Sackville. It ended up being a little
more expensive than advertised, but I stayed anyway to avoid the rain. I
unpacked my stuff and then went off to pick up a late lunch at McD's.
After returning, I did a bit of net surfing to find some trail info.
I wasn't too successful so I headed across for a light dinner before
logging on again for an evening of email, online banking and chatting. I
soon pried myself away from the keyboard to catch a few winks.
Day 86
With my late evening of surfing,
my body had little desire to get up and decided to sleep in until noon. I
didn't see a checkout time posted anywhere but I decided not to stick around
anymore than I needed to and quickly made myself scarce. I headed up
to Moncton and then down towards Fundy National Park.
Along the way I stopped at the Hopewell Rocks - one of the landmarks
of the Bay of Fundy. I had a bit of a wait for the tide to head out
so I toured the interpretive centre and then made some lunch. I was
still a bit stiff from the Cape Chignecto hike but managed the few kilometers
down to the famous flowerpot rocks. I wandered the shore for a bit
and took lots of pictures before heading back up to the car.
Next stop
was Cape Enrage. As I approached, however, I entered a thick bank of
fog which severely limited the sights which I could see from the Cape. I
did take a few pictures of the lighthouse as it faded into the fog and then
headed on.
I soon found myself in the town
of Alma, on the border of the National Park. I stopped for some milk
and headed to the Visitor's Centre to collect some info on the park and pick
up a trail map. Being a busy summer weekend, there were limited spaces
available but I found a nice site at the Chignecto South campground, #125.
There seemed to be a good number of trails to keep me busy so I set
myself up for a few nights and started planning the punishment I would be
inflicting on my recovering legs. I made up some rotini and meat sauce
and then headed off to find a sunset. I drove to one of the beaches
and hiked down to the shore but the sun was still behind a ridge. On
the way back to the campground, I stopped in to see about the local CAP site
hours. Back at my site, I watched the stars for a bit and then headed
to bed, reading a bit of Walden to help be doze off.
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