Fieldwork Progress Report - June 2011

When the weather was poor in May, rain and fog, I was not too concerned. Stretches of unsettled weather are common in Nova Scotia. So I grimaced, joked, and complained, like everyone else, but I did not worry. Then June arrived, and for the first three weeks the rainy and cold weather continued. In fact, if anything it seemed worse. By June 18, when I had to leave the province and return to Ottawa for a week, I had gone past worry and some days was approaching panic.

So instead of the 15 routes that I planned to review, I managed fewer. The complete list of trails I hiked in June is:

1. Ghost Beach - new trail, Inverness County
2. Lewis Mountain, Inverness County
3. St. Peter's, Richmond County
4. Whycocomagh Provincial Park, Inverness County - contains a new, challenging section, the "Scout Trail"
5. Aspotogan Trail, Lunenburg County - might not use in the book
6. BelleIsle Marsh, Annapolis County - had not intended to use, but might instead of what I had planned
7. Chester Connector, Lunenburg County - may use instead of Aspotogan Trail
8. Delaps Cove, Annapolis County
9. Gaspereau River, Kings County
10. Nictaux Lake, Annapolis County - called it Nictaux Falls in the previous book, but that is the name of the community, and since you actually do not go to the falls I think it better to give a less-misleading name.
11. North Granite Ridge, HRM
12. Roxbury, Annapolis County
13. Sentier Piau, Digby County - may not use

I was also disappointed to discover that a number of existing trails are in very poor condition, usually in terms of infrastructure damage that has not been able to be repaired. Ghost Beach, Whycocomagh, Sentier Piau, Delaps Cove, and Roxbury have all suffered, and are in poorer shape now than they were in 2001 - and I was not even able to find the Acaciaville Trail near Digby. All in all, June was not a successful month for this project, either in terms of quantity or quality.

It was not all gloom and doom. Gaspereau River was a lovely walk, and the Nictaux Lake trail is in far better condition today than when I walked it a decade ago. The St. Peter's Trail is in great shape, and the Chester Connector is a new addition to the provincial network. So although some of the trails were a definite disappointment, others were a pleasure to visit.

Here's hoping July will have better weather!