Day 3 - Wednesday, April 26th, 2017 - Annapolis Royal to Bridgetown 25km

It was just starting to rain as we finished breakfast and got ready to leave. Kathy is joining us this morning and walking to Tupperville where she left her car yesterday.

Never mind the weather!

The motel was on the outskirts of town and we soon found the start of the trail but not before I made a short detour to take a photo of the place I'd lived in the summer of 1977. It's a beautiful old house. We lived on the top floor in the attic apartment and the rent was $127 per month. I vividly remember lugging a chubby 10 month old baby Daniel and stroller up and down three flights of stairs every day! The man who owned the house used to play with Benny Goodman in the forties. He was an odd duck with an elderly mother in the back room. I never saw her and the place always smelled like old cabbage.

The top three windows

Directly across from my old house - Annapolis Historic Gardens - it was a private house when I lived there

Just one more aside and we'll go back to the walk. I used to get on the Dayliner from Halifax in Annapolis and travel down to Smith's Cove to visit a friend. There was no station there but this was a different time and Daniel and I used to ride up front near the driver and he'd let us off at the crossing there. I still remember the thrill of crossing the old iron bridge at Clementsport in that train.

Train station- Annapolis Royal

We headed off down the path and we were soon out of town and walking beside the Annapolis River. It wasn't long before we came to the first challenge of the day - another bridge out.

Not as steep as the ravine yesterday but slippy with the rain

We scrambled down and up with no incidents and onward. Soon we were in lovely rolling farm country with apple trees just ready to leaf out.

Apple trees

Sisters

Just a sign

We marched on through the rain, it wasn't the most interesting path. Kathy was happy when we came across this friendly girl.

Kathy providing a snack

Annapolis River

We kept on along the path until we came across a man doing ditching work. He stopped to let us pass and for the next couple of kilometres we had to walk along the ugly mess the machine had made. I'm not sure what the point of it was but the path has been widened into a road. Very muddy and slippery underfoot. All the trees and bushes by the side of the path had been slashed and left there. Not pleasant walking.

Kathy's on a mission

The next obstacle was a bridge that had definitely seen better days. We hesitated about crossing it at first but figured out if we stayed to the edges we should be fine.

Needs a bit of work

It was a bit disconcerting to look down and see the river rushing beneath your feet. Finally the rain stopped and we walked on a little farther and then stopped to have lunch sitting on top of a pile of rocks. Kathy left us at Tupperville having completed about 18km. I think she was tired but pleased she'd made it with no problem.

The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

I think the two and a half days of walking with not much training ahead of time were starting to hit us. Our pace definitely slowed after lunch and we took a number of rests. There's no doubt we'd make it but it might be a bit painful.

Sometimes you just have to stop and it doesn't much matter where.

Jen's favourite resting position

Someone asked me what we talk about as we're walking and I made some offhand comment that didn't explain much of anything. The talking is in fits and spurts and there are periods where we don't talk at all- both are good. As to what we talk about....well I've realized that we are almost intellectuals as we talk about such a vast swath of things. Just today we talked at length about what level of pain we were  feeling -  that covers anatomy, medicine and pharmacology. We talked about what we saw as we walked so that takes care of botany, ornithology, meteorology, geology and archaeology too. We talked about where we were so that covers cartography and geography. We had a very interesting discussion about the plethora of ornamental stars we've seen attached to houses and what the real meaning of them could be so that covers social anthropology.

After all that talking we reached Bridgetown around 3pm and we were very happy to see the welcome sign of the the old train station, now the local pub and yes, it was open!

Day 3 - done!

It certainly was.

Later Jen called her friends Eric and Bruce who have kindly agreed to put us up for the night and Bruce picked us up. They have the most beautiful old brick house right on the river, filled with fabulous antiques and artwork. We were treated to hot baths, lovely food, wine and great conversation before we turned in for the night.

Day 2 - Tuesday, April 25th, 2017 Digby to Annapolis Royal 30km

I woke up at 7am and realized I was sporting a very bad sunburn on my neck. Jenipher had a big blister. We slathered on sunscreen and blister pads and we were almost as good as new.

Paul drove us to Digby at 8:30 and on the way out of Sandy Cove we had our first wildlife sighting as a large coyote ran across the road, must have been late for work. The sun was shining and it was going to be a lovely day.

We joined the trail on the outskirts of Digby and the track swept around the water and stayed close to the Annapolis Basin for most of our walk.

Looking up the Annapolis Basin from Digby

The path is a bit ugly at the beginning passing piles of old building debris and some "Deliverance" type places. We passed a house with a couple of hounds dogs in pens and they barked loudly until we were out of sight.

Excellent use of flotsam...or is that jetsam?

Our first port of call was Smith's Cove, home of the Mountain Gap Inn where I lived briefly when Tony, my then husband, was the chef there. It's changed, doesn't look like an old-fashioned seaside resort as it used to. In fact, I'm not sure it's even a hotel anymore, it may be condos.

Road down to Mountain Gap Inn

View of the Gap - you can just see the St. John ferry leaving

 The trail continued on through the woods, we only met one person, an older man on a bike. He's one of the very few people we met all day. The trail leads over the road bridge at Joggins and at about 8km from the start we reached the old lighthouse at Bear River where the track ended as the bridge over the river has been removed. We crossed on the Bear River road bridge and then rejoined the trail by scrambling down the bank on the other side.

Trail beyond Smith's Cove

Lighthouse at Bear River

View from road bridge looking up Bear River

There was a rather grand house on the water close the bridge and we had to pass it along the trail. There were lots of no trespassing signs but we couldn't resist stopping take a photo of the house next door. As we were doing this I noticed a man was standing watching us from the posh house, he didn't speak and it was a bit disconcerting. I made sure he wasn't following us!

More Nova Scotia folk art

Deep Brook was the next little community we were aiming for and generally the path wasn't too far from the the road. Jenipher had the brilliant idea to have lunch at The Hollow Spot near Cornwallis. Talk turned to cheeseburgers and milkshakes and this spurred us on. The little takeout was only a minute or two off the path and we were soon happily stuffing ourselves at a picnic table in the shade - shoes and socks off!

Barracks at Cornwallis - Basic Training Camp

Cornwallis Train Station

The trail passed right through Cornwallis, once a basic training camp now used by various business operations. We walked through lovely woods and on to Clementsport and our first challenge of the day. We had to leave the trail and make our way around the mouth of the river by beach and then by road.

The trail end at Clementsport

We tried to rejoin the trail on the other side but it was so overgrown that we had to go back on to the road. We stopped at the post office and asked for directions and the woman there told us we could get back on it just up the road. So on we marched but when we got back on the path it quickly became impassable so we had to scramble back on to the road.

A bit farther on we passed a very ornate pair of gates leading up a beautifully landscaped drive, we couldn't see the house. Just beyond this I thought I saw an open trail down behind some houses. An old man working was outside so I asked him and yes, it was a trail and a landing strip for aircraft. What? Jen had looked at the map earlier and said there was an airport, I thought she was nuts, maybe I was wrong?! I was, there was a paved strip long enough to land a small plane, must be for the house across the street. The paved road ended and narrowed again into a wooded path, we were back on track or so we thought.

Much steeper than it looks

At the bottom of the ravine

Warning!

We carefully climbed down the embankment where the bridge had once been and up the other side. At the top it looked like we were in the middle of somebody's garden. The local residents seemed to be trying to deter people at all costs and were incorporating the track into their landscaping. I understand they probably don't want ATV's and snowmobiles speeding by but it's still a public right of way and so on we went.

We were both starting to get a bit tired now and Jenipher's blisters needed some attention. Warning disturbing graphic below of Jen's foot!

Time to operate

The walk was really very pretty but we were getting tired and not appreciating it as much as we would have normally. We passed by Upper Clements Park and the road just kept on going.

Roller Coaster

Looking back down the Annapolis Basin towards Digby

Walking with poles helps

Annapolis Royal in the distance

We finally saw Annapolis in the distance. The motel we stayed at is a little out of town and we could see it to our right and soon we were able to take a shortcut across a field.

We made it, Paul and Jenipher's sister, Kathy, were there to meet us. After a bit of a rest and a hot shower we headed into town to meet up with some Sandy Cove friends to celebrate Jenipher's birthday at Bistro East. Then back to the motel and bed. 

Day 1 - Monday April 24th, 2017 Sandy Cove to Digby - 30km

I met Jen in Middleton on Sunday afternoon and she'd arranged for me to leave my car at the local Foodland until Thursday. Back at Hillcote Farm and Jenipher made a lovely supper of scallops topped with leek puree. We didn't stay up late as we wanted to get an early start.

Ready for the road

We were out of the door by about 8:15 - it was cold and cloudy. Through the village and onto the road at the top of the hill. We walk many kilometres along the road but it's not too bad.

We made it out of the village

There was lots to see - at least for me. Jenipher walks this road all the time. The sun came out and stayed all day.

Buoy, oh buoy

Our first stop was Lake Midway for a quick pit stop at the outhouse. Next stop, Centreville - and the the gas station. We ran into Justin driving a big red truck with horns on the front. I asked where he'd got them and he said they were oxen horns that belonged to his dad and that he'd never known what to do with them until he watched an old episode of Dukes of Hazard and saw a set of horns on the sheriff's car! I don't know if he was really called Justin but that's what the tattoo on the side of his neck said. He was very friendly.

Bad shot but you can see one of the horns at least!

Next stop was an abandoned church in Waterford. Years ago, when my son Daniel was about 11 we'd taken a road trip down the Neck to go whale watching with our friend Simon. I'm pretty sure we stopped here. The place is slowly crumbling into the woods. It's sad to see, but not unusual. We saw a number of lovely old houses in various states of decay and abandonment along the road. It's such a sad waste but it's the same all across rural Nova Scotia.

I have a photo of Daniel and I sitting in the top window

We had lunch sitting between two old boats on the shore by the road, trying to get out of the wind. Shoes and socks off...nice to air the feet out. Beef jerky, cheese and chocolate. Yum.

We continued on along the shore and spotted a great blue heron fishing in the shallows. On up the hill and before long we were finally able to turn off the highway at Marsh Road.

This was a wonderful stretch of the walk across the dikes at the head of St. Mary's Bay. The tide was out and we could see half a dozen ATV's scooting back and forth along the sand. Jen told me they were probably digging for worms, big nasty worms that they sell for bait in the U.S. You can just see them in the background of the photo below.

On the Marsh Road dike

Back on the highway we crossed the road to avoid a barking dog. The cars were zipping by at speed. It wasn't not long before Paul came along to pick us up. What a sweet sight!

It was a much quicker trip back to Sandy Cove for an ice cold beer, a hot shower and a delicious lobster dinner. I could hardly keep my eyes open and we were in bed by 9:30am. So day one was done and we walked approximately 30km. Jenipher was working on a nice sized blister and I had a disgusting heat rash around my ankles but other than that and total exhaustion all was well.

Off to Sandy Cove - Sunday April 23rd

I got up very early this morning, it was still dark. I looked out of the window and then did a double take as even in the dark I could see this.

Really.

Oh well, the weather person says it will melt and be sunny by this afternoon. We took Jim for a walk along the river road near our house and the wind was bitterly cold off the Northumberland Strait. On the upside the birds were singing and the daffodils and daylilies are poking defiantly out of the snow.

My backpack is ready. I've got my boots on so off we go!

Last Training Walk - Thursday

Jim and I set out this afternoon for one more walk before my trip - just a short one today, about 12km. He is a great walking companion and despite having very short legs, he keeps on trucking. We walked from our house down the Forbes Mill Road, a very quiet dirt road  Apart from a herd of deer and a couple of eagles soaring overhead we didn't see a soul.

Physically, it was harder than the two longer walks I've done in the last couple of weeks. I just couldn't seem to get going and I kept thinking that maybe I'd call David to come and get me. But, that stubborn streak in me was having none of that and we kept going. I did stop to rearrange my sock and sat on a tree stump near the river. Of course, Jim followed me and immediately stepped into a clump of burdock, his poor paws were covered with them. Sometime later we were able to continue the walk!

The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful and the farther we went the better I felt. Sometimes you just have to walk through the discomfort. Still not sure I'm ready for this but I'm going to do it anyway.