The long and winding NE US and Canadian Maritimes adventure

[una_dogger]

Hey Guys!

We just got back from our backpacking trip (Nova Scotia, Maine, and New
Hampshire) and I have to say the Whites kicked my butt and bruised my feet, really
super rocky trail and rough going the whole way round. Yesterday we did 18
miles on our final day and when we reached the summit of Lafayette on the AT it
was hailing and raining and fourty degrees. We hiked a total of 45 miles
around the Pemigewassett Wilderness and went over the following peaks (not that I'm
a peak bagger, but hey! This was a great lineup!):
Zealand 4260 ft
Guyot 4580
South Twin 4902
Galehead 4024
Garfield 4500
Lafayette 5260
Lincoln 5089
Little Haystack 4780
Mt Liberty 4459
Mt Flume 4328
Across the infamous Franconia Ridge we got glimpes of views but for the
majority of our four day White Mntn Traverse it was cold and rainy and cloudy.
Crazy weather in the Whites! The sunny blue sky ceiling was always visible just
above the veil of mist and clouds through the mountains. I cursed New Hampshire
ALOT! I was really spiting the trail until we arrived at Galehead hut where I
had some apple crisp and that just made everything so much better! I REALLY
wanted to rent a bunk but no dogs allowed...sigh. That's OK, tents are FREE and
the huts charge a steep 80 bucks a night! Now I know why the AMC can run such
a lucrative hut system up there, REALLY hard to bag a tentsite anywhere, not
much water (except the kind that falls from the sky). We stayed one night at
the Garfield tentsite and there were 44 people crammed into four tent platforms
and one lean too. We shared a great time there, though. The dogs had a blast
with all the friendly hikers and pretty much everyone let them lick their
dinner pots clean. The other two nights we bootlegged (200 ft from trail and
water, of course) but it was very hard to find a decent spot.
Nova Scotia was the best part of the trip and we spent three and a half days
backing the fifty miles around Cape Chignecto on a recently developed
wilderness trail. I have to say that this park is AMAZING and the hiking was WORLD
CLASS. Some of the nicest trail I have even been on, a superbly managed
wilderness area with pristine campsites and a great trail system. It was like walking
fifty miles on a cushioned trailway! We saw only three people the whole while.
The old growth forests up there are amazing! We felt as though we were
visitors in an enchanted forest. Lichen, ferns, and moss growing right up to the
edges of the narrow soft footpath, there is such little human impact there that
its hard to believe that the interior has been totally clear cut. I must have
thought fifty times a day, "I wonder if this is what the Pacific Northwest is
like?". The land was given to Nova Scotia by the Scott Paper company about ten
years ago and the local fishing village of a handful of people manage the
park, GREAT PLACE! Should be on every hikers to do list. The best part was the
ravines that led down to secret coves on the Bay of Fundy and the amazing rock
formations that can be seen when the fifty foot tide goes out. We had to plan
our traverses of coves with a tide table to be sure we weren't trapped by the
tide which rises five feet per hour!
On our drive back to New Hampshire we stopped in Maine to daypack the
infamous Mahousic Notch. Very cool jungle gym of boulders in a steep canyon that is a
mile long but totally isolated by the Mahousic Range and accessible by side
trails that are located on a crazy unmarked network of logging roads. Not so
much fun for the dogs after about half way and that put a real damper on things
for us all. They got really tired of rockhopping and stressed because they
weren't sure which way to go. Then the steep mile and a half up the Mahousic Arm
shoulder of Old Speck Mntn was a steep 45 degree angle of polished rock slab.
It was fun and cool but after the notch the slab seemed unrelenting. That
was a long 12 mile day and we made it back to the car about ten pm, after having
a late start and due to some crazy back logging roads that we kind of got
lost on while trying to locate the trailhead. On our drive we did see a
beautiful bull moose and got some great pictures of him! Very cool.
All in all we had a good time and it was fun taking a serendipitous path
across the NE and the Canadian Maritimes. But, alas, the food in the Canadian
Maritimes SUCKS! That is, unless you are into a hearty diet of transfats and deep
fried fish and chips. Yuck. I was so happy to eat my camping food...which
says it all. OH! And we saw the Monument de LeFebvre in New Brunswick where my
Acadian ancestors maintained a stronghold against the Brits back in the day of
the Deportation. So that was really neat. I learned that my last name was
changed to La Fave because as Acadians were pushed into interior Quebec they did
alot of trading with the Colonists, who, apparently had some spelling issues and
hence the spelling of my last name took on its current "sound it out" form.
I'll send pics once they are all downloaded!
Sabrina
and Terra Firma the Traildoggy

[una_dogger]

I hope that no one minds visiting this link for a repeat of this blog complete with photos! Hope ya like it!
http://p073.ezboard.com/ffamilydogfr...cID=1636.topic
Thanks,
Sabrina

[MichaelJ]

Oh, well, is that all?



Heh-heh! Sounds fantastic! The pics on the either blog are great. I'm not surprised the dogs didn't go for Mahoosuc Notch - I had my own issues there rock-hopping and boulder-cave scooting with a full pack.

Wouldja mind throwing the regular trip report format header on the front of the post?