Farewell to Y-Camp a.k.a. Camp Barrachois

Ever since I was a kid I made the trek from my aunt's house over to the Y-Camp in Ironville - a seemingly long walk in a kid's world. While my mom and aunt chatted, my dad would ask "Anyone over the camp" ?  I would always hope for a  'NO' response (you would never go over if camp was in progress) and off we would go. You would pass a few private cottages before spotting the camp in the distance, just past that Private Property sign.

I would find little treasures the campers may have left behind or peek into the neat yellow cabins that were originally built in Sydney (about 30 km away) and transported by rail, in the 1940's, up to Ironville. Now that I am older I realize that it was only a five minute walk, if that !

In 2013, the YMCA of Cape Breton - for various reasons, made a decision to sell the ten acre property (you can Google that) .  The YMCA is a terrific organization and I'm sure the decision was a tough one to make, as so many folks in Cape Breton have very fond memories of the camp. Although never attending the camp officially, my memories are just numerous childhood walks around the cabins, down to the shore and back to my relatives' place where we would play on the swing between the two big birch trees and watch the eagles on the mountain across the road.

In recent years, a family member built a cottage in the area and I was able to bring friends on that short hike over to the Y-Camp (sorry for trespassing). It is disheartening to see how the cabins have fallen to a state of total disrepair, how the grass is knee-high and how all signs of kids having a blast "away from home" have evaporated. The wharf is hauled up on the shore in pieces while the basketball and ball field areas looks more like a pasture.

On one visit, a buddy and I could hear an alarm sounding on one of the lower cabins but sadly, there was no one around to hear... or care for that matter. It was rather eerie! On subsequent visits, another friend and I would take our cameras and try to capture a slice of the past, a place where many kids who under normal circumstances could not partake in such an adventure, had a opportunity to eat, play, swim and camp out with other kids.

  

It is a beautiful piece of property and anyone who has ever seen it would probably think "If I had lots of money, I'd buy that!" I guess, now, someone will.

Labour Day Weekend at Keji National Park

On fairly short notice, we decided to call Kejimkujik National Park to see if there was any hope of getting a backcountry site for the upcoming Labour Day long weekend.  What better way to finish off the summer than a trip to Keji. The kind park attendant at the other end of the phone line informed me that the park was fully booked but that she had just received a cancellation, minutes before.  She offered it to me. Hmmmm.. Was it a really long haul...nope. It was for Site #1, the easiest backcountry site to reach in all the park, a simple 1 km trek from the parking lot to the site.

Beggars can't be choosers, so I said sure!  It would give us a spot to setup camp and then hike from there, perhaps in opposite directions each day. Good plan! The more I thought  about it, the more I realized that there are advantages to this - specifically the ability to bring not only a small cooler with real food but best of all BEER. This is almost impossible on a longer trek. Heck, an emergency stash in the back of the car was an option!

We arrived at the site about 11AM and proceeded to put up our tents and start to make ourselves at home. There were two large tent pads, a well stocked firewood shelter (multi-purpose...you'll see later on), outhouse, picnic table and a short path to the lake. An hour later our tasks were done, the sun was strong in the sky and we could take off for a hike. But there was cold beer ! To make a long story short, it turned out to be the laziest of afternoons spent at the campsite or down at the lake: reading books, watching the frogs, taking pictures, building a fire and snacking. Steaks on the open fire, baked potatoes, wine and homemade granola bars rounded out the evening dinner menu. No boring, dried space food on Site # 1. It was so RELAXING !

Our little slice of lakefront seemed to be home to three frogs: one small, one medium and the King Pin I called Kermit.  Whenever there was an excuse to go down the path to the lake I would look for Kermit and his friends. The water was super clean with abundant lily pads and lots of minnows skating around. I am sure the frogs has their own little slice of paradise there on Big Dam Lake.

The next morning, the skies were darkening as the Kilimanjaro Peaberry coffee was loaded into the press. I had brought an old blue tarp that had ropes tied at each corner so it was time to loft it over the picnic table. Since we only had three trees nearby to brace it to, it looked a little funny but what the heck. A glace at The Weather Network informed us that a sever thunderstorm warning was brewing - you guessed it - over Kejimkujik. The heavens opened and we made a dash for the wood shelter. My tent had never really been exposed to a monsoon before so this could get interesting! Thunder, lightning, the whole nine yards was going on while we sipped our beer.

The next day at the information centre, staff told us that lightning had caused transformer to blow and they had lost power. The heavy rain moved on but it never really did clear up as the forecast had said. That's was OK - our tents were dry and we had another great dinner of biscuits, potatoes and Big Piney stew (damn no wine!)

Since the weather wasn't terrific, no hiking was done this day either. Actually, we ended up not leaving the site for the two full days. Rather, it was some well-deserved downtime after a busy spring and summer. I recommend Site #1 to anyone looking to get away from it all without really having to, well, get away from it all!!

                             

Back Home - Random Thoughts

When you return home from a trip of this magnitude, you deal with all the post-travel tasks i.e. laundry, bills, email followups, etc. Then you have an opportunity to think a little bit about your adventure.

A few random thoughts:

• I will remember and think often of the people we met along the trail and at the base hotel. The folks we met from Norway, Detroit, Australia, Chicago, London and yes...even Amherst, Nova Scotia... they were unique or special in their own way. 
• The young people working at the hotel who taught us Swahili words, brought us beer and knocked on our door when dinner was ready. You rock! You made us feel "at home" and "welcomed".  I know you have it tough at home and you do this to help out your families. I hope your future is as bright as your SMILES that greeted us daily.
• The climb was probably the toughest thing I ever attempted and I freely admit, I near "crapped my pants" in anticipation but at the end of the day, it was a crazy, fantastic ride. Jump out of that comfort zone once in a while - it feels good.
• We took a two-week vacation but so many people are taking 6, 8, or 12-month treks to travel the world.  Maybe in a few years I will be able to do that...here's hoping!
• Yes,  I took a lot of pictures so if you are interested in a seeing a few more outside of the blog, I posted a set of photos on my FLICKR site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/blaisem/sets/72157633958513662/ 
• Check back soon to see if I up to anything else worth blogging about  :-)

Day 4 1/2 & Day 5 - Now How the Heck do I Get Down ?

Like Day 3 ran into Day 4; Day 4 runs into Day 5.  The summit was exhilirating and gave everyone a bit of "second wind".  But the reality was, we had to get ourselves back down, in the daylight, where we could clearly see what was so cleverly masked in the darkness of the climb. Hmmm, should be interesting......

We had a 1.5 kilometer trek along the rim from Uhuru Peak back to Gilman's Point; then 4 kilometres down the scree slope to Kibo Hut, where we were promised an hour's rest. Once the sun comes out, the frozen scree loosens up and becomes loose and gravelly, which is why they prefer we do this section while frozen. We make surprisingly good time on the descent, even able to almost " foot ski" in the sandy dirt. One hour later - we have made pretty good progress; although I don't know this person and don't even remember taking the picture (you get like that in thin air :)

What took us 7-1/2 hours going up took about 2-1/2 hours to backtrack. As promised, we are able to have tea and rest for an hour before continuing the 12 km hike down across the Saddle desert and back to Horombo Hut, where we had stayed on Night #2. Can you say tired -  we fell into bed!

That left 18 km for Day 5, another sunny day with a 7:30 AM start with a rested, recharged group. As I had mentioned earlier this route is labelled the "Coca-Cola"; so we received homemade french fries and cold Coke for lunch at Mandara Hut where we had stayed on Night #1. It was our first drink of pop all week and was a nice treat.

As we ate our lunch, we were treated to a show by the colobos monkeys which were playing around in the forest just below the dining hall.

They are black with a long white tail and white mane across their backside. Oddly enough, they have no thumbs. But they are just a whole lot of fun to watch.

We reach the trailhead at Kilimanjaro National Park by 3PM and complete the necessary sign out procedures and load into the minibus for the return ride to the Springlands Hotel. All I can can say is it is a good job the windows were open on that bus as it had 16 guys who hadn't showered in 5 days!

We have one hour to check-in, get our valuables from lockup and storage, grab a shower and and then meet in the gardens for closing ceremonies. Here you present the tip to the trek staff and we receive our official climb certificates from the National Park.

Day 4 - Summit "The Roof of Africa

Hiking Time: 14 hrs
Total Distance: 27km
Starting Altitude: 4700m
Final Altitude: 3720m (via 5895m)
Habitat: Stone Scree and ice capped summit

Day 4 actually is a continuation of Day 3 with a few hours rest before beginning the ascent at midnight. It is strange to hike at this hour with a headlamp and four layers of clothing on. Less than 100 meters up I feel queasy and earn the "first to puke" game. I realize that I am just too warm for the conditions and once I loosen a layer or two I'm good to go. We travel at this crazy hour as the fine ground is frozen and is easier to traverse. The climb is pretty much an 1100 meter straight up and it is probably just as well we can't see too much or we would be out of there is a flash :)

At 6 AM we reach Gilman's Point, covering a distance of only 4 km since midnight, just as the sun is coming up. We made it! We are pretty exhausted and energy levels are not exactly overwhelming but there are two more milestones - Stella's Point (half hour) and then onto Uhuru Peak (another hour) - a further 210 meters in elevation. The air is so thin that the steps you take between breaths is less and less but you trudge along. 

 The landscape reminds you of pictures of the moon you see on TV. The mountain has a huge central crater and we are actually walking around  the crater edge. There is a bizarre squarish glacier of on the other side with Mt Merrill eerily floating next to it. 

We finally see the famous green sign ahead but is it another one of those mirage moments we experienced the past week.  How far away is it really?  Are we finally here? Finally, high fives all around as our goal is achieved.

Day 3 - Life Above the Clouds

Total Distance: 15km
Starting Altitude: 3720m
Final Altitude: 4703m 
Habitat: Alpine Desert

After a foggy evening at Horombo Huts, I was stunned by the view that greeted me at 6AM. We were now above the cloud line, like peering out an airplane window - but better :) The sun was just coming up and you realize how lucky you are to be able to stand there and experience this. A quick look back at camp and we "rise again". 

Today's itinerary will see another change in terrain to  Alpine desert.  There will be less plant life; more rocks and dirt. The gain in altitude brings on a minor but dull, steady headache which is not unexpected. We are taking altitude sickness prevention pills so that helps. Our chief guide, Silvano, makes sure that we are always safe! 

We finish up mid-afternoon at Kibo Hut  and take a short rest.  The day is far from over though,  as we will be awaken at 11:00 PM for a snack and then will begin the hardest part of the trek - the hike straight up to the Summit.

Day 2 - Moorland

Hiking Time: 6 hrs
Total Distance: 15km
Starting Altitude: 2700m
Final Altitude: 3720m
Habitat: Moorland

Each day usually starts with a wake up call at 6am, breakfast at 6:15 and ready to go by 7:30. Only a few minutes pass before the shady trees of the rainforest are replaced by lower growing vegetation of the habitat they call moorland. Sunblock is necessary today. We catch a good view of the mountain which still seems to be so far away. You have to appreciate the incredible job performed by the porters who sometimes carry one backpack on their back and another on the head/shoulders. They are modern day superheroes !

You begin to feel the small effects of the change in altitude on your body - nothing major, you just get the feeling that something is 'a bit different'. The trail is rocky in many areas so the walking poles are useful to maintain good balance today. The fog begins to roll in in the early afternoon but it does cool things down a bit. We see various types of bushes and plants including the giant groundsel - looks like a cross between a cactus and a palm tree.

           
For the first time we have a shower of rain but it was no biggie as we were almost at our sleeping quarters for the night Horombo Huts.  We were now at 3720 meters.