Category: coastal

Ron Robinson of the The Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association in Nova Scotia blasted me for my negative trip report on the best hike there:

best hike Nova Scotia – Cape Chignecto FAIL

While some of your concerns are legitimate and will be addressed by the Park Management Board I find it somewhat inexplicable that someone who uses the internet to critique and criticize would not check the park website prior to visiting to determine such basic information as hours of operation, driving time and distances and the fact that reservations are required.

You are probably not aware that Cape Chignecto is a provincial park in name only and is in fact community managed and operated without, until this year, any operational funding from the Province. A staff of less that 15 including summer students is responsible for maintaining over 50 kms of trails, 70 plus backcountry campsites, a cabin, bunkhouse and the recently opened Eatonville Day-Use area.

To casually post that it is poorly managed without any background information or without going in the morning after and talking to staff and leaving without paying the fees is mean spirited and insulting to the very dedicated and hard working staff and volunteer board members. Money for marketing is scarce and Cape Chignecto has to use that money sparingly so word of mouth is very important.

Your failing rating of the park on this posting is harmful to efforts to increase visitation and thus revenues which would help to address issues related to staffing, marketing, etc. Please visit again. I’m sure you’ll come away with a much better second impression once you meet the staff and learn more about the Park and its challenges,

He’s got some very good points.

My apologies.

If I had arrived 10min earlier to the trailhead I’d likely have done the complete circuit. And have had nothing negative to report.

I hope Nova Scotia gets it together some day promoting and managing that wonderful hike. It could be a great tourist attraction.

Trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles.

Cape Chignecto Coastal Trail is the best hike in Nova Scotia:

… approximately 51 kilometres (40 miles) long beginning and ending at the Red Rocks Trail Head. When you venture along the coastal trail at Cape Chignecto be prepared for one of Atlantic Canada’s most spectacular adventures. The views are breathtaking. It can be done from either direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise). A three to four day trip will allow time to stop and explore the beaches and viewpoints along the way. …

David Beattie of the Gillespie House Inn had recommended Chignecto. That was the first time I had heard of it.

At Mountain Equipment Co-op in Halifax (the major airport closest to this adventure), staff advised me to get Wilderness Trails and Day Hikes of Cape Chignecto by David Hamilton, the only dedicated guide.

While wolfing down a $5 steak dinner special, I skimmed the guidebook. That was the night before driving to the trailhead. Cape Chignecto sounded quite straight forward. No special concerns.

I wish I’d checked the website, as well: CapeChignecto.net

Picking up my rent-a-car at Noon I enjoyed a leisurely drive through rustic Nova Scotia. On the map the trailhead did not look far. I expected to check in at the Visitor’s Centre in the afternoon and get a good start before dark. … Unfortunately the drive on narrow scenic highways took far longer than I expected. I did not arrive at the trailhead until 5:02 PM.

It closed at 5PM.

I was still psyched, though. Happy to have made it. Raring to go.

Disappointingly there was no information posted outside the building on what after hours arrivers should do. Where to camp?

I could not deposit money for my Park Entry Fee and camping fees ($23/night) into a drop slot. There was none.

I drove back to the only open store in town. They had no additional information for me.

Still “early”, I decided to drive out to Elliot Field campground, hoping to find someone to notify that I was hiking. Or someone to accept my fees.

Nothing.

There were no people. No vehicles at Elliot Field. The only signs posted by the Provincial Park warned that my unregistered vehicle would be towed. That concern nagged.

The section from this campground to Seal Cove my guidebook called “The Crown Jewel” of the hike. I decided to leave my vehicle at Elliot Field campground and enjoy the 6km walk to Seal Cove.

It is gorgeous.

I chose a tent site overlooking the world’s highest tides in the Bay of Fundy below.

How’s this for creative food bag hanging?

I left a Summit Stone on behalf of artist DSD atop the highest point on Seal Beach.

In the morning I finally decided to hike back to the car. And drive away. Happily, my rental was still there at 8AM.

Irked at having FAILED on this hike, I didn’t bother to go complain at the Visitor Centre. Nor pay my Park fee.

There’s a reason that Cape Chignecto Trail is deserted in July, while the West Coast Trail is overbooked.

Cape Chignecto simply has not been promoted enough. Nor is it managed properly.

Fact is Cape Chignecto is the best hike in Nova Scotia. Perhaps all the Maritimes. Yet almost nobody knows about it.

You can have it to yourself if you go.

But don’t show up at the trailhead except during office hours.

See my photos from this too short hike on flickr.

Today I’m off to hike the Cape Chignecto Trail, in New Scotland (Nova Scotia), Canada. A 51km loop.

It’s oft listed one of the great coastal hikes of the world though it’s not all coastal.

First, I’ve got to get there from Halifax. …

My guidebook:

… The Cape Chignecto Trail is as scenic as the famous West Coast Trail in British Columbia and as challenging as the historic Chilkoot Pass hike in the Yukon. …

If that’s half true I’ll be very, very happy.

Trip report to come.

I recently learned that the M.V. Lady Rose, a heritage vessel, carrying hikers to and from Port Alberni, B.C. is history.

What a shame.

Many’s the West Coast Trail hiker that has enjoyed that rustic ferry Bamfield – Port Alberni.

The M.V. Lady Rose, originally christened “Lady Sylvia” at her 1937 launching, was built by A & J Inglis Limited of Pointhouse Shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland, and was designed by W.D. McLaren of Vancouver. …

Designed for the sheltered coastal waters of British Columbia, this stocky little vessel soon proved capable of much more, becoming the first diesel powered vessel to cross the Atlantic driven by a single propeller. …

The official Lady Rose Marine Services website does not mention that it’s gone.

Sister ship Frances Barkley continues carrying cargo, mail and up to 100 passengers on that route.