Day 31
I got up after a night of rain to a dry morning. I had some
breakfast before packing up my gear. I headed towards Halifax and called
to reserve a spot for Tidal Bore rafting the next day. Since I wasn't
in the most pictuuresque part of the province, I got on the highway and sped
my way north at 110km/hr (well, that's what the limit was anyway).
I soon arrived at Shubenacadie and turned off. I took the highway
out to the Minas Basin and noticed most of the attractions along the way.
I stopped for a bit at Anthony PP and wandered down to the coastline
and noticed the large expanse of mud ahead of me (low tide and all). I
headed back along the Schubenacadie River and stopped at a bridge to watch
the tidal bore come in. I sat and had a sandwich before taking a nap
(I was a bit early).
Some more people arrived to see the spectacle and I soon joined them
at the water's edge to watch a rather small wave make its way towards and
then past us. Not too dramatic but the water level did start to rise
quite quickly. I stayed for a bit to take some before and after pictures
and then headed to find a place to pitch my tent.
I first drove to Shubenacadie
itself to find that its name is longer than its main street and that most
everything was closed. I did manage to get some gas before heading
to the campground. I decided on the Wispering Winds Campground and
set myself up on site T6. I could have chosen any of the tenting sites
but this one seemed as good as any other. I ended up right beside a
trailer that had an attachment that looked much like a log home - complete
with satellite dish. And I thought I was roughing it!
I made some hotdogs and sorted some of my pictures before heading
to bed.
Day 32: The Tide is Coming, the Tide is Coming!
I awoke to the sound of rain and tried to wait it out but by 10 I
figured I should get going. I was soon on my way to the rafting lodge
for my exciting trip down and then up the Shubenacadie River - with the current
both ways!
It was still raining as I went in and found that there were only 4
rafters going today. After feeling relieved that my reservations would
be honoured, I retreated to the car to do a bit of planning. As
the time of our departure neared I went back into the lodge to meet my fellow
rafters and don my stylish rafting gear. We headed down to the dock
and met our guide and guide-in-training and headed off.
The first part of the trip is basically enjoying the shores of the
river and noting where the current watermarks are. We saw a few eagles
along the way and were relieved to learn that they seem quite accepting of
rafters making use of their river - no documented swooping attacks on record.
As the rain ended, we arrived at the mouth of the river and pulled
ourselves up onto the sand dune in the middle of the path of the anticipated
bore. After a brief wait, we could soon see a small wave approaching
in the distance and hopped back into the boat for its arrival. As it
neared, we could see that it was actually about 2 feet tall and carried a
good punch to it. We were on our way back up the river.
There are two aspects of the bore that make for fun rafting. The
first is the actual bore as it advances upstream. As is nears a narrow
channel it's forced into a taller wave and can be jumped. The second
is the action of the bore as it passes over the sandy bottom. As the
water moves upstream at a steady clip, it occasionally hits underwater sand
bars and its flow is interrupted. The resulting turbulence creates
some rather large standing waves that can reach 16 feet.
We chased the bore for a while and jumped the initial wave a few times
before letting it pass on ahead of us. We turned back to catch the
first set of standing waves. Not to bad but they barely got us wet.
As they died down, we headed upstream. The next set of standing
waves didn't materialize as expected - probably because of the rain in the
previous 24 hours. With our expectations still high, we headed farther
upstream for the really fun stuff. We were soon in the midst of nice
14 foot standing waves and enjoying an ongoing rollercoaster ride. The
waves occasionally crested and when we hit those we were drenched. The
other sensation was the stomach churning drops as we made our way from wave
to wave. Since these are standing waves and we were travelling in a
zodiac inflatable with a powerful motor, we could spin around and hit them
again and again. As the water lever rose these waves also started to
die down so we headed on. We had a bit of quiet water for a bit to
reflect on how much fun we were having and then we were back into the fray.
The next set of waves were closer together and a little smaller but
allowed us to hit them in rapid succession. By the time we hit the
last 4 or 5 waves our boat was mostly full of water and dug into each wave
causing us to pretty much float in the boat - or out of it if we didn't hold
on. We didn't lose anyone (much to our guide's disappointment) but
we were all completely soaked with muddy, salty water. We played with
a whirlpool and had another few smaller waves before heading back to the
dock after our 4 hour tour.
We shakily made our way up to the lodge to try and clean ourselves
up before having a quick snack from the BBQ. After talking for a bit
we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. My way headed back
to the campsite to lay out my wet clothes and then off to Stewiacke to see
if I could find an internet connection. I was thwarted in my attempts
but managed to find a sundae at DQ and some groceries.
Back at the campsite, I did some more planning for Canada Day (since
things might get a bit busy to just show up somewhere without reservations),
listened to some music and headed to bed.
Day 33
I awoke to bright sun and a warm tent, an indication of the day to
come. I made my first breakfast of Cream of Wheat (a staple on Road
Trip 1998) and packed up my gear for the trip back to the coast.
I first headed to Lawrencetown to find a C@P site to check email.
I had a brochure with all the addresses but neither of those in town
were in operation. One of the staff at MacDonald House kindly called
around and found me one at Musquodoboit Harbour. I headed there and
caught up my Inbox and then headed across the road to the Railway Museum.
Part of the draw of the place is the converted Trailway (railbed covered
with gravel) that travels part of the line that was closed in 80s.
I headed off to Porters Lake to
find a place to sleep and decided on site 139 - right at the tip of an island.
I set up my tent and headed down to Lawrenctown beach - a favourite
amongst Nova Scotian surfers. There was a good supply of small waves
and a few surfers were doing their thing but the water was again quite chilly.
I did make it in a bit as I walked along the beach before heading back
to the car.
Back at campground, I took a nap and then had some pork chops and
soup for dinner. As I finished my soup at the water's edge, I heard
a noise at the campsite. Thinking little of it, I soon headed back
and started the dishes. Suddenly out of the bush a marten appeared
(small otter) along with its 3 pups. They quickly retreated and I soon
heard some noise out in the lake. I
headed over, camera in hand, and saw that mom had taken the gang out to the
water to get around me. One of the pups seemed to be having some difficulty
so mom brought it into the shore. The others kinda followed but mom
quickly rounded them up and they headed over to some nearby trees. I
waited a bit and they soon scrambled across the road back into the brush
from where they must have come - completely circling my site.
With that excitement behind me, I did some reading and then watched the sunset. Feeling a little restless and a bit hopeful, I headed to a nearby Shoppers and asked if I could try to connect to the internet. Surprisingly, I still wasn't able to so I thanked the staff and headed back to camp.
Day 34: Humidex, Shumidex
Since
I was headed to the end of the mainland for the weekend, I packed up my gear
and headed down the road. I decided to stop and get some exercise at
the trailway in Musquodoboit Harbour. I headed to the original trailhead
(a bit away from the museum), packed up some lunch and headed off on my bike.
The trail itself goes 15km up to the community of Gibraltar. A
couple of kilometres in, though, is a hiking trail up into the surrounding
hills. I decided to hit this trail first and see about the biking later.
I started around 11am and got going fairly well. Things soon
started to heat up and I soon found myself getting quite tired from the constant
ridge jumping. I soon started skipping the side "look-off" trails and
taking longer breaks in the midday sun. One
interesting spot was "The Cave" where
an assortment of fallen rocks had created a small overhang that appeared
as a cave. I finally found my way back to the trailway and drenched
myself in the nearby lake. Quite exhaused by the 6.5km trail, I decided
to skip the rest of the biking and head to the car. Once there, I found
that the temperature in nearby Halifax had risen to 38 degrees - plus the
humidex. I felt a bit better now that I knew I hadn't suddenly lost
all my stamina.
I travelled back to the museum to get some ice cream and hit the library
again to check email. On the road again, I hit Clam Harbour Beach but
the wind was a bit chilly (yes, that much contrast). After a bit of
a nap, I headed off in search of food. I found some fish and chips
at a local restaraunt and headed off to camp at Murphy's on the Ocean.
I set up on site 35 and wandered around a bit. The camp isn't
on the open ocean but on a cove so there weren't any dramatic waves. I
made some tea and did some planning and writing. I was on the wrong
side of a hill to see the sunset so I listened to the radio for a bit before
heading to bed.
Day 35: Hiking and then some
I got
up and had some breakfast before packing things up and heading along the
road to Canso. The travel guide indicated that Taylor Head has some
good coastal hiking trails so I stopped in and took a look at the offerings.
The 8km Headland trail looked good so I packed up some snacks and headed
off. I stopped for a bit at the end of the head and again at a nice
bench set overlooking the waves. One highlight was a pebble beach that was
being washed by fairly strong waves. The sound was quite unique as
you could hear the pebbles resettling after each wave. It only took
me a little over 2 hours but it was a nice change to the sweltering
trekking the day before.
A little further along, I came across the Liscome River trail and
decided to give it a go. The sign said it was nearly 10km but I was
at the halfway point in an hour so
that might be
a bit exaggerated. I took some time to look at the fish ladder and
the falls that they circumvent before heading back on the other side of the
river. The end of the trail isn't very well marked so I ended up strolling
past some of the cottages at the Liscombe River Lodge but I don't think anybody
cared.
With around 18km of hiking done for the day, I headed off to Sherbrooke
to camp. I found the Riverside Campground on the St Mary's River and
set up on site 1. I had noticed a chinese food place on the way in
so I headed there for a bit of change. I picked up a few groceries
before heading back to the site to do some laundry.
The sunset was a no-go so I listened to the radio and then headed
to bed.
Day 36: StanFest I
Although the night was a bit chilly, the sun still made my tent a
bit warm in the morning so I couldn't really sleep in. I didn't really
have time to, though, since I needed to be in Canso for the start of the
festival that night. I packed things up and headed off.
I took a back road near the coast
and soon found myself in Bickerton. They have a lighthouse museum and
I had a bit of time so I stopped for a bit. Aside from the lighthouses
(new one in operation and restored one as museum) they have quite a bit of
info on the history of beacon lights (from the Pharas Light in Alexandria
Harbour) and some of the milestones of lighthouses in Canada. A bit
heavy on reading but very informative. I took a tour around the site
on their trails and then headed off.
There's a ferry that acts as part of the highway across Country Harbour
that leaves each hour on the half-hour. I arrived at 12:40 so I sat and did
some reading on Cape Breton Island until the ferry arrived. There were
a few festival goers on the crossing so we made a bit of a convoy heading
for Canso. We were thrown off by a turn at the Tor Bay PP since the
highway continues with a left turn while the road goes straight through to
the park. Most of us missed the turn but I they all seemed to notice their
error fairly quickly.
As I
approached the town, traffic - especially RV traffic - picked up and progress
was a bit slower. I stopped at the festival office and picked up my
ticket and found where I would set up my tent. One of the staff had
offered a spot in her parent's backyard since the nearby campsites were full.
I gratefully accepted and soon had my tent set up at the LeBlanc's
place.
I waked over to the local pizza place since I had been having a craving
for a few days and started perusing the program for the 2001 Stan Rogers
Folk Festival. They have 3 main shows Fri, Sat and Sun nights at 7pm
plus a series of 1 hour concerts/workshops at 5 stages from 11am to 7pm on
Sat and Sun. I noted the ones that caught my attention and then started
reading the bios of the artists to see which ones I would enjoy most.
With most of my planning done and my stomach full, I stopped at my
car (parked on high school property beside the LeBlanc's) and then headed
down to the festival grounds. I traded in my ticket for a stylish yellow
wrist band and familiarized myself with the area. This is the fifth
year for the festival and they've taken over nearly all of the grounds of
the recreation centre. The main stage is on the soccer field along
with some of the smaller stages with other stages on baseball fields. I
thought of setting myself up on the field for the evening's concert but I
decided to grab a chair and sit for the evening. I headed back to the car
(about a 5 minute walk from the festival grounds) to pick up a chair and
a sweater since the night was starting to get a bit chilly.
I set myself up in the "high chair" area since there is an area reserved
for people sitting or using "low chairs". The system works quite well
and only a few people needed to be reminded of the restriction. The
show started soon after 7 and went through until 1:30am with my personal
favourite being the Jive Kings from PEI. A little tired from the long
show and a bit chilled, I headed back to the tent for a good night's sleep.
Day 37: StanFest II
Well, I got up, had a bit of breakfast
and headed back for more music. The shows started at 11am and I rotated
between stages for 8 hours until I went back to the car to get my chair for
the evening show. The day's highlights included more Jive Kings, Danu
from Ireland, and an Ontario-based artist named Oh Susanna whom many
of my Oshawa friends rave about. I also sat in on an intimate concert
with Cheryl Gaudet which was quite nice. A Northern Ontario connection
was an a cappella solo by Aengus Finnan about a miner from Cobalt.
With the previous evening as a clue, I packed a few extra layers for
the eveing performance. They were needed although the music did do
a lot to keep us warm. The highlights included the Waifs from Austrialia
and Jimmy Rankin doing some of the favourites that I actually knew. I
dragged myself back to the tent around 2am.
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