Labour Day at the Wil-Bo-Wil Cabin on Peskowesk Lake, Keji

As Labour Day was approaching, a call to Keji to check out site availability determined if we waited until Sunday, we could get the Wil-Bo-Wil cabin for a couple of nights. What a treat! The scoop on the cabin can be found here http://www.friendsofkeji.ns.ca/Wil_bo-Wil_Cabin.htm but basically the design is based on a hunting and fishing cabin originally built in Keji in the 1930's.

The reconstruction became a joint project with Parks Canada, Nova Scotia Community College and the Friends of Keji organizations collaborating on this neat venture. The cabin has all the basic amenities: wooden bunks, wood stove, outhouse, table and chairs and a few surprises left behind by folks who enjoyed their stay here.

Donning our backpacks at Eel Weir, we begin our hike into the backcountry around 9:30 AM. It is a sunny, warm day for the relatively easy 7km hike to the cabin. Arriving around lunch hour, we spent the day just unwinding and enjoying our quiet surroundings.

Later that night, around 10 PM, our UNO card game was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of two visitors who we looking for Site 28, which is about 20 minutes back up the trail.  It was pitch dark and we were concerned that the two girls were out hiking at that hour - but we showed them the map, they got their bearings  and away they went!

With the cabin located about 50 meters from Peskowesk Lake, it was only a short walk to fill the water bucket, filter the water and then cook or enjoy a hot beverage. Hot oatmeal with strawberries, coffee, bacon and eggs for brekkie certainly tasted good. It is amazing how far dried fruits, preserved meats and space food has come for us backpackers. Just because it is the outback doesn't mean you can't be creative in the kitchen.

We treated ourselves to a couple of extras: six-pack of beer, a wee nip of scotch and real coffee cream as the hike wasn't too long. The wood stove kept us super comfy and with a few candles and a couple of LED lights for playing cards - all was good!

Each evening the sunsets were spectacular with water so calm you could see the moon and stars looking back at you.

The following afternoon provided an opportunity to take a walk up the trail a bit and check out the Peskowesk Lake area and nearby portages. Sunny skies prevailed and we saw nobody!

There was even the mention in the cabin log book of a mouse who frequented the place but we did not even catch a glimpse of him.



Keji is large park but you do get the feeling that you have the entire space to yourself. That is a "good thing".  The Will-Bo-Wil is a great weekend destination!  You get some exercise, you still have to bring pretty much all your normal backpacking stuff (except a tent) and you get to enjoy the wilderness.  But, you are warm, well-fed and you get a sense of what it might have been like back in the 30's bunking down at the Wil-Bo-Wil.

Car Camping - (def.) no backpack, cold beer and a real pillow

              

I am a huge fan of strapping on a 40 lb. backpack and heading out along a quiet trail - possibly not seeing any other people for days.  Let me just say that car camping bears no resemblance to this. Screaming kids or campground neighbours continuously playing "washer toss" longer than the sun shines on an average summer day are possible, probable scenarios. I understand this because my parents took us camping when we were kids and people probably said the same things about me.

But, a bout of nice weather (preceded by a yucky spring/early summer) tempted me to load up the car, accept the potential risks and book some campsites a few hours on either side of Halifax this summer. Pictou,  Lunenburg and Shelburne counties were my chosen destinations.  I tend to stick to provincials parks as many, not all, private campgrounds can get a bit "dodgey" for my liking but The Ovens near Lunenburg is an exception. It is a beautiful, coastal locale with many amenities and kickass ocean sites.

Caribou & Munros'e Island - Pictou County
Located a stones throw from the PEI Ferry terminal, the provincial park at Caribou has allot to offer.  After a quick walk down the path extending directly from the campground, you can access the beach and shoreline for an easy 10K hike where you will most likely will catch a glimpse of the PEI ferry departing Caribou for Wood Islands, PEI. It is so close you have to wonder how such a large ship can navigate the narrow channel so close to the shore.

Camping aside, one must pursue some retail therapy while visiting the area.  Having already bookmarked Uncle Leo's craft brewery store earlier in the summer, it called for a necessary return visit to Lyons Brook for a few bottles of their Smoked Porter and IPA to be enjoyed at the camp.

Grohmann Knives in Pictou and the Pork Shop in New Glasgow are also a 'must' while visiting the County. Having spent a couple of years in Pictou County in the mid 80's after university (my first real job in I.T.) I still carry a torch for the place.



The quiet, sandy beach accessible from the campground along the warm waters of the Northumberland Strait invites you to dive in for an swim.

The Ovens - Riverport, NS (near Lunenburg)

The Ovens is a natural park offering both camping facilities as well as a 'family friendly' coastal trail where you can explore seaside caves and listen for the boom of the thundering waves inside the ovens. I was lucky enough to pitch my tent near the ocean adjacent to the funky vertical rock formations that forms the rocky shoreline. From my comfy camp chair with book in tow, I could watch the fog roll in the early evening and roll out out again each morning.

                           

The Islands - Shelburne, NS

Labour Day weekend is the last hurrah for many Nova Scotians. Knowing that summer vacations for students is ending and everyone will be back to a more seasonal schedule, it is an opportunity to get away one last time. Since the province was practically booked, it was as good a time as any to try someplace I had never been before. Why not Shelburne along the NS South Shore?

Other than a chance to unwind, read some books and drink some beer, there is not a whole heck of allot to do in Shelburne.  A drive along Sandy Point Rd leads to the still operational lighthouse, a welcome sight for fishermen and other sea folk. It is unique in that at low tide it is possible to walk out along the sandpit to it where it sits in the middle of Shelburne Harbour, rather than on an island or jut of land.

Back at the campsite, some noisy campground neighbours shared some of the best seafood chowder I have ever had as a peace offering for the noise from the night before!

Expecting heavy rains overnight carrying on into the morning, we decided to pack up most gear the night before and grab some breakfast on the road. Found an awesome cafe in Broad Cove called the Best Coast Coffee Gallery serving eggs, bacon,  homemade (still warm) biscuits with bottomless coffee.  Between my wallet and the car, we scrounged up enough cash to pay the lady as there was no debit or credit. Note to self, always throw a twenty in your wallet for egg emergencies. 

Summer Vacation 2014

Every once in a while, I like to rent a cottage in an “unfamiliar to me” place and hunker down for a week to explore the property, the surrounding area and all the ‘sights and sounds’ in between. There was the log cabin in Roberta, Cape Breton with no TV and the most exquisite sunsets over the Bras d’Or Lakes one could imagine. On the flip side, the flies literally chased me indoors on most days.Then there was the little house in Neil’s Harbour that was perfect ! Situated on the ocean just off the Cabot Trail, one was serenaded to sleep with the crashing of the waves and the rhythmic sounds of navigational buoys just off shore.  

This year I randomly chose a chalet for rent on Nova Scotia’s north shore in Tatamagouche, along the Sunrise Trail. Draw a straight line across the Northumberland Strait from Charlottetown, PEI and that’s Brule Shore - where I parked my butt for a week. A country road changes to a dirt road (a good sign) just past the awesome bakery (another good sign) and then you continue to the very last cottage on the lane. It doesn’t get any better than that !

Perched on the banks of the Northumberland, diving into the warm water was easy but even better was enjoying nature’s daily natural wonder - the changing of the tides. For the first part of the week, low tide was around supper time which allowed one to walk far out into the empty bay with only some sand and eel grass to tickle your feet. Later in the week, an unstable weather pattern along with a full moon seemed to throw off the gravitational show a bit.




Being a fan of the Tour de France, I had to endure a week of cycling withdrawal ! Even though the cottage was equipped with satellite dish service (from Bell) they don’t broadcast Sportsnet (from Rogers) as part of their standard package due to “corporate politics” so I had to rely on replays from the web - but that was OK. Otherwise it was total relaxation -  a time to read, run and explore the north shore.

Main St. Tatamagouche has a new craft brewery with Hippy-Dippy Pale Ale, Bonnyman House Tea Room/Cafe/Used Bookstore with awesome coffee, a cool second-hand store where I scored a Coleman stove for $15.00 as well as the usual banks, grocery store and NSLC outlet.

The village is also known for it’s train car Restaurant and Inn which I found a bit amusing.

Side trips to Pictou County for a new Grohmann knife and a stop at Uncle Leo’s craft brewery in Lyon’s Brook made for a fun day trip. I biked the Butter Trail and enjoyed the delicacies of the Pork Shop in nearby Denmark.




It is a quiet, non-commercial spot with nice folks, beautiful scenery and great hospitality.  I hope to make it back there again.

Gettin' Outa' Dodge

It's been awhile since I did a post but should the truth be known, I'm sure you are not particularly interested in the fact that during the cold, icy wintery days of December and January I cleaned my condo and threw out garbage bags full of items that had lost any useful purpose. I couldn't go for a run outside because the sidewalks were atrocious and you'd freeze your "*~@$!" wazoo off anyway. EXIT!

The last weekend in February was a perfect time to grab a few bags of groceries, fill the car with gas, make a pit stop at the NSLC and 'hit the road' for Cape Breton. Two years ago I bought a cool pair of snowshoes and I am sad to say they had never met the snowy, cold ground of our winter wonderland. ROAD TRIP!

To say that Cape Breton had more snow that Halifax was an understatement. Ankle-height (Hali) vs. knee-height (CB) snow was no exaggeration. With a warm cottage along the Bras d'Or Lake surrounded by 5-foot snow drifts resembling an Elvis Pompadour welcoming us along with clear skies ~ I feel the stress of T4s, tax upgrades and other work-related year-end processes sliding away. Do you have any concept of the work that goes into the production of a T4 slip ??? OK I won't bore you - how long 'til I retire again? GET OUTSIDE!

OK. Here's the thing! I have not seen the Bras d'Or Lake as spectacular as it was this past weekend in February, in many a year. I hope a few pictures below will portray the beauty of Mother Nature in a way that an otherwise endless, crappy winter has us 'near stir crazy'. The fact that six months from now will find many of us jumping into the Bras d'Or for a refreshing swim, I will be thinking of the day that we strapped on our snowshoes and trekked 150 meters off shore across the lake, in a place that more resembled Alaska than Ironville. AMAZING!

(*** Note: you can expand pictures by double-clicking)