Tag: nova-scotia

What Is a Quillow? Your New Backpacking Essential

Hands up, who typically uses their backup clothes as a backpacking pillow? There is a TON of opinions on this in the backpacking sphere, so I thought I would add my voice to the mix.

On that note, I give you the quillow. My wife has been making them since she was small as it’s a very basic pattern that she leaned from her grandmother. The rudimentary design is as simple as it sounds, it’s a blanket that can fold into a pillow. Its stitched so that it’s a box blanket with a pocket on the end. And it folds and rolls in a very similar manner to a sleeping bag. You can make it out of any material that is suitable for a sewing machine. My quillow is made from partially recycled fiber Polar Fleece. I also treated the fabric with Grangers repel plus to add some water repellency to it.

Another plus, is that I don’t have to blow it up, or bring a mini pump to do so, thus eliminating an extra component to bring with.  

PROSCONS
Extremely soft, comfortable and warmTakes up space or requires a separate dry bag
Doubles as a robe/dressing gown 
Can be used as an extra blanket layer in sleeping bag 
Made with love and reminds me of home on longer trips 

All in all, it’s the perfect luxury to bring on short backpacking trips where you can make space for it, and great for car camping to save some space. A pillow on any trip beats smelly spare clothes and the hard ground any day!

My Solo Cape Chignecto Adventure: Booking Tips & Trail Insights

I did it!

I finally booked my 3-day Cape Chignecto backpacking journey. For anyone new to the blog I am currently in the midst of planning my first solo backpacking trip and I am doing the coastal loop trail of Cape Chignecto provincial park in Nova Scotia.

On April 1st, reservations for Parks NS opened up, but I had to wait until the 2nd for Chignecto reservations to open. The process could not have been simpler, very close to the system Parks Canada uses. It is recommended by the parks service that you make a profile BEFORE the system opens as it helps to streamline booking, and it definably made a difference to how quickly I was able to get in and find my sites.

The one thing that threw me for a bit of a loop was that the reservation opening time was listed In Eastern time zone, but the system clock was in Atlantic time zone. This made no sense to me, since the park is in the Atlantic time zone, we should express opening hours, reservation times etc. in Atlantic time. For example, I wouldn’t email someone in Manitoba and expect them to calculate a meeting time based on Atlantic time, I would make the adjustment myself, and I believe that Parks NS should expect the same from out of province visitors.

THE SPOTS

On my itinerary, I expect the 52km loop to take 3 days and two nights. In perfect weather, and not having been there before, I think most hikers could agree that is a reasonable pace with enough time to stop for some photos, which for me is part of the fun. Since I am going in the fall, and that is hurricane season here in the Maritimes, I decided to book another campsite, close to the visitor center for my last night, just in case of a storm blowing up or some other unforeseen issue. As I get closer to the date of travel, ill be able to judge the weather with more accuracy and can make the decision to keep it or not. With Parks NS, I am able to get a refund on the site as long as I cancel within three days of booking, so it seemed like a no brainer even with the abundance of caution.

EATONVILLE

My first stop will be Eatonville campground. I made the decision to take the rout counter clockwise so that I can get through the wooded, not very scenic and mostly uphill section of the loop on the first day and make the last days easier to keep a strong pace which buys more time for photos at the coast. This area is also a massive day-use area, so I should have no trouble refilling water and finding my spot for the night, as well as finding a sink to do dishes, which will not be an option in the later sections.

LITTLE BALD ROCK

My second stop is in Little Bald rock. If my plans hold, it will be my last night in the park. I choose this because after leaving Eatonville, ill be traveling south along the coast, and be stopping for photos and to enjoy the views. I would also like to take more time to look around as I’m going to pass a few paddle-in campgrounds, for perhaps a future canoe/ kayak trip that I could take my wife and dog on with. The terrain headed south is supposed to be a little flatter and mostly downhill, so keeping a good pace when I’m not busy enjoying the lookouts should be easier.

MILL BROOK

Last but not least, I’ve booked a last night in Mill Brook, this is my JICC spot (just in case of crisis). What if I sprain an ankle and can’t hike very far? What of the wind or rain blows up and I can’t finish the last day? I am not expecting anything to go wrong but also want to be prepared if, for whatever reason, I need to spend another night in the park. As I’ve said earlier, once we get a little closer to departure date, ill be able to judge that much better than I can on a sunny day in April.

Parks NS’s system made booking easy and quick, I was ten minutes total once I was let into the system and now I can start to get excited about my trip!

Your Guide to Hiking Cape Chignecto: Maps & Accommodations

When we last left off, I had determined that I would need three days to hike the Coastal loop, but would budget four just in case. So now I’ve started to consider the route. First things first, I need a map.

https://parks.novascotia.ca/park/cape-chignecto

If you go on the Parks Nova Scotia website and click on Cape Chignecto, you will find a wealth of information such as, entrance fees, booking availability and camping fees. Also, you can download a map of the park. The map contains a trail map, detailed maps of the various campgrounds and a topographic map of the park and surrounding area, all for FREE. Since I plan on going myself, I will be printing the downloaded map and getting it laminated at Staples, that way I can bring it with and it can stay weather resistant.

I have AllTrails plus, so I can also print out supplementary maps with satellite photos of the terrain and weather. I’ll use those print outs to mark out my path since I’ll be leaving my travel plan with my wife and dog.

Currently, in order to maximize my time, I am leaning towards hiking the trail in a counter clockwise direction, meaning from the entrance I’ll be headed north towards Eatonville and that campground rather than west towards Mill Brook. This means that distance traveled on day one will be about 12-15km.

The reason for this is that the starting route is mostly wooded forest area, not much for dramatic ocean views or particularly great pictures.

I personally don’t thing that it matters which way I decide to take the trail, since it’s a short trip, my pack weight will remain relatively consistent since the only thing I’ll be losing is a few grams every day in dried food, so I’d like to be in the home stretch at the ocean where I can take photos and perhaps stop more to take in the view.

Another advantage to going this way is that there are more campgrounds on the west side of the park, if the weather turns nasty there will be more opportunity to find shelter and refill my water canteen.

For the next day I will have to make a decision at booking time, whether to go from Eatonville to Little Bald rock (LBR), or to push on Refugee cove (RC). LBL looks to be about 8-10km from Eatonville with RC being another 4km past that. At LBR there are only 4 campsites whereas RC has 11, so it will be a booking day decision to see which fills up faster or if I’d rather be in a less populated space for the night, which is usually my preference.

This also changes the last hiking day from either a 3ish km journey to almost 8km journey. Either of these are doable considering I’ll only have emergency food provisions and enough water for the day, so not much to slow me down with weight in the bag.

Of course, these are all relative distances based on an estimation looking at the park map, when I print it out ill be able to make more detailed predictions about distances and travel times, and I’ll be able to supplement those estimations with trail reviews and AllTrails data.

The last question that I want to think about today is where my wife and dog will sleep, I may have mentioned before that they DO NOT want to come with, Toto would but my wife wants him to keep her company. So, I’m looking at Pet Friendly accommodations near the park entrance in West Advocate.

Home – Fox Point Inn

Fox Point Inn looks like a perfect place to keep my family, its pet friendly and only about 20 min away from the entrance, it’s also under $200 a night. The rooms look comfy and they look like they come with all the modern amenities, if I wasn’t headed out backpacking this would be a great place for us all to stay as its near Cape Chignecto, Five Islands and Cape D’or, all with hiking trails to explore. Its 20 min to Parrsboro, so close enough if Britt needs to run out for anything.

Next time I’ll start to focus on the gear I’ll need for the few days and creating a pack list, as well as figuring out booking day. See you then!

Exploring Fundy National Park: A Visitor’s Guide

As the weather becomes cold, rainy and wet; yet not unpleasant; I find myself thinking back to the last time I was out and about in these sorts of conditions and it was when we went to New Brunswick and Fundy National Park.

FUNDY NATIONAL PARK

The park is situated right next to the fishing village of Alma NB, and about hours’ drive from Moncton. Driving from Annapolis Royal was about a 4-hour journey. For this trip, we stayed in Moncton and made day trips to many famous local attractions such as The Hopewell Rocks, the village of Shediac and of course Fundy National Park. We were there during Victoria Day long weekend for my wife’s birthday, so camping was ruled out to avoid the wet and cold nights.

Fundy is a fairly large park considering its location, and one of the few all-seasons parks in the Maritimes. The first thing I noticed was the sheer volume of hiking trails, and the amount of more challenging routes. We ended up hiking the Coppermine trail, mostly because I wanted to see the remnants of an old copper mine supposedly at the halfway point of the loop. There isn’t much to see in terms of an old mine but, the way back provided some excellent lookout points and coastal views. For me though, the best part of this trail was the upper wooded portion, at about km3.5 we crossed a small stream that was cut very deep into some rocks, but were surrounded by moss covered ground and dense forest and it got noticeably darker and colder and quiet. We had to take moment to sit and appreciate this little corner of trail, and I could really see in that moment how people 200 years ago could have come to a place like this believing in forest spirits or fairies or whatever else because it was otherworldly.

https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy

We also hiked the Point Wolfe Road trail and point Wolfe beach trail, both lovely around low tide. One of the main attractions is passing through the oldest covered bridge in New Brunswick, and near the bridge is an excellent vantage point of a river feeding into the Bay of Fundy that was created in part by the glaciers that formed the unique tidal basin.

I would be remis if it didn’t mention that the park also has a nine-hole golf course in it. A precursory glance at the yardage card and one of the holes tells me that this probably isn’t the most challenging of courses, but a part of me wants to somehow bring my clubs for next visit just to say I played golf in a National Park.

HOPEWELL ROCKS

This is a Provincial Park, about 40 min drive east of Fundy National Park. A lot of tourist information that is out there, made me think that the rocks were IN Fundy Park, not so and it requires a separate visit fee since it’s a different park system. Although we did get lucky, we tried to come in with about 20 min left before closing time and were informed that they would not charge us this close to closing. None of the facilities like the shuttle down to the beach or washrooms would be open, but we came to see the rocks and walk on the ocean floor, so that didn’t matter to us.

Dogs are allowed into the park but not on the beach or basin floor, but they had no problem with me carrying our little dog while we were down there so that is what I decided to do.

Walking from the front gate down to the rocks is quite a long way, longer than we thought it would be and tough in rubber boots. If you go during park hours, there is a shuttle that operates to drive people down and up (no pets on the shuttle unfortunately).

For reference, the rock formations are about the size of a three- or four-story building, and the park is set up in a way to allow good viewpoints at low tide and high tide. At low tide you can don rubber boots and walk around the basin floor, some 20ft below the water line. At high tide you can see those same rocks as little islands with some trees and grass, kayak tours exist to paddle around this area. The unique part about your ticket and admission fee, is that it is valid for two consecutive days, so that you can see the area at its highest and lowest tide points, as both do not usually occur during “visiting hours”.    

https://www.nbparks.ca/en/parks/33/hopewell-rocks-provincial-park

SHEDIAC

Shediac is a small lobster village about an hour southeast of Moncton. With us travelling home to Annapolis, it ended up only being a slight detour. The village is small but picturesque and home to the world’s largest lobster statue. There is also a provincial park with a very nice beach reminiscent of PEI” s sandy beaches, but beaches in NB are not dog or pet friendly, as we had learned in other places but was reinforced when they saw our little dog Totopo. I made sure to bring the cooler on this trip in order to stock up on lobster and we found a great place called The Shediac Lobster Shop to fill our boots.

https://shediac.ca/en/

All in all, New Brunswick was excellent, friendly people and TONS of lobster, lots to see and do and definitely worth a trip back. Perhaps next time we will take the ferry from Digby to St. Johns and see what they have to offer. So long for now!!

Solo Backpacking Prep: Cape Chignecto Guide

Come prep with me to hike Cape Chignecto, a series

I think that as the fall starts to wind down, the temperatures drop and winter starts to set in, backpackers start to think about what trails to take on next year. I am no different, but I live in Nova Scotia, so while it gets cold, I won’t be dealing with snow until January so I still have some more outside time to enjoy. This winter will be different because ill be planning my first solo backpacking trip and I’ve chosen the Cape Chignecto Coastal Loop in West Advocate, NS.

I choose this hike from reading various blogs and articles after googling “beginner backpacking hikes in Nova Scotia”. And the main reason I settled on Cape Chignecto is because the consensus on trail reviews was that the trail is well marked, and is a loop, so the chances of getting lost are lower, obviously not zero, but there should be limited navigation work all things being equal. That said, I hate being unprepared, and since I’ve never been here before, I’ve made this the first of a series on how I’m personally preparing for this adventure.

The first thing that I did was figure out the total distance and the total time it might take. Finding the distance was easy as it’s listed on Alltrails and the cape Chignecto website (+/-52km if anyone is wondering). At this point, you might be thinking, all you do is divide the total distance by days you have available, and then you can manipulate those numbers until you have a reasonable pace. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work so well in the real world, to do this hike in say 3 days is 17.5km per day, but remember, you are also carrying three days’ worth of supplies, so 17km might be too much in one day.

What I did instead was to start to look for itineraries from other people, that would give me insight on campgrounds also. This is a provincial park and its illegal to camp without a permit and outside of designated zones. So, reading about other people’s trips is helping me to plan my days and route.

So, I’ve now determined that ill need 4 days to be safe, but am going to plan to hike it in three days. Taking time off work in the warm moths can get tricky for me in my profession, so that might be all the time I get.

So, you may remember I said this trip would be solo, but I wouldn’t want to dis-include my wife or dog since they enjoy the outdoors but aren’t interested in a trip like this necessarily. With that in in, I’ve been trying to find dog friendly hotels or inns in West Advocate for my wife and dog to stay in while I do this hike. That way, they can also be near in case something goes wrong, but also to greet me when I get back because the best part of my day is seeing them. The two of them can have a little mini holiday while I thru hike a shortish trail, win win.

The next thing to do was figure out my daily distances and where to stop. Given my somewhat constrained timings, my first day would have to be fairly short. While I’m in planning mode, all my checklists tend to run simultaneously through my mind. So even just the thought of having a short day one brings a little relief to mind since I know that my pack will be the fullest at this point with food, fuel and gear, and that I’ll already be tired and cramped from driving to the trail, since its about a three-hour drive, not to mention ill be getting a late start since ill have to check my wife and dog into their accommodation.

I’ve elected to take the trail clockwise, and that means the coastal side first. But also, my first campground could be either 7.5km or 13.5km from the start, for me and my fitness level, I’m open to either of these options right now. Ostensibly I’m leaning to having the 13.5km option on the first day. There are a couple reasons for this, one, it will shorten day two so I won’t have to get up at dawn and pack up and start going again, and two, I’ll have more tie for taking pictures since ill be going through the scenic coastal portion of the trail. I personally hate feeling like I don’t have tine to look around at trees and birds and whatever else is out there, because that the whole point of being in nature.

Well, that’s as far as I’ve gotten for now, lots more to come with day planning and campsite planning and gear, I’ve only just gotten started so keep getting ready with me!

About me

“Not all who wander are lost”

J.R.R Tolkein
3–5 minutes

My name is Bryce and I’m 36 years old, and I like to go adventuring alone, or with my wife and dog. I was born and raised in Mississauga ON and moved to Nova Scotia about 4 years ago. I think I have a unique perspective because I was raised in the city but spent my summers camping, hiking and fishing in a little community called Port Loring ON. I wanted to start this blog to inspire more people to get out into nature, and to show how easy it can be to get outside and have a nice time. My wife is more “outsidey” than outdoorsy, so that forces me to tailor our plans to different skill levels which I think will be helpful as this blog goes forward. I’m hoping to write insightful reviews of campgrounds, trails and hikes, and gear that I use. Our dog is a little Dachshund, Jack Russel Chihuahua, and he loves being outside more than anything, but he has a limited battery so I think ill be able to write many insightful things about dogs in general but specifically small dogs.

I live in western Nova Scotia, so I’ll be writing a lot about the area and a lot about day trips to go on. Ill be sharing my experience of the day plus what I brought with me and with the rest of my little family. I’d like to focus on the Maritimes and Canada mainly, but, so many Canadians live within shouting distance of the US border that I wouldn’t want to ignore places like Maine, Vermont, or New Hampshire. My wife and I also used to live in the UK, so in the future we would love to go back to Scotland and Wales and Ireland for some adventuring to compare to North America, especially from a logistical standpoint.

As I go forward I’ll be trying to take on more strenuous, possibly multi day solo adventures, especially around Nova Scotia. I was just in Newfoundland for a week and maybe ill start with that one.

I would describe my outdoor skills as moderate, my hiking level as moderate plus. I used to play rugby growing up so I have a strong competitive spirit, and that why I love apps like All trails, because it saves the “stats” from the day so I can go back to the same places and try and go faster to improve my overall fitness level. I also like the idea of competing against nature, making the big climbs etc. My long-term goal is to hike the ATC in one consecutive run, of course that feels like a HUGE cliché, but I think without goals its hard to find the motivation to get out to do anything.

My wife and I are both avid readers, she even has two literature degrees. So, books and reading are a huge part of our life and also fun to do at camp or anywhere outside, so ill probably include reading list or book recommendations as part of the blog. As far as music goes, we are all team Nature Sounds, so no music on the trials, no boombox at camp, BUT I might include road trip playlists since we have to drive pretty much everywhere.

Water is such a huge part of the experience on the east coast, so ill be writing about beaches, swimming, paddling and surfing. My wife is getting into Stand Up Paddleboarding, so ill be documenting her journey, and I recently got into kayaking and plan to take some sea kayak classes to start to take on more technical waterways, so that will be an entertaining read also!

Finally, I wouldn’t be able to talk about doing any of this without talking about food. My entire adult life has been spent cooking professionally in restaurant kitchens, so food has been a huge part of my life, but backpacking meals are seemingly universally terrible, so I’ll try to include a menu of what I brought and maybe recipes if people want. What we eat is super important, especially since I have to coax my wife into some of my crazier ideas, the meal at the end of it is a huge reward, so it better be good, and I strive to bring restaurant quality meals out to camp.

That’s all for now, see you on the trail!

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