Date: June 28 2000
Trail Day: 28
Miles Today: 16.9
Location: Robinsonville
Section Mile: IAT 362
ECT Mile: 362
Called Vivek and Suriyan. Vivek to send me the next set of maps to Ft.
Fairfield and Suriyan to make reservations in Baxter Park. Got a late
start, probably around 10:30. I crossed the bridge to New Brunswick
and walked about 1 km when a van pulled up next to me and the driver
said I was on the wrong road and that I was still in Quebec. His name
is David and he is one of the trail maintainers of the section from
St. Andre de Restigouche to Matapedia. He gave me a lift back to the motel
I had stayed in and I continued on the current road. Matapedia has two
rivers - Matapedia and Restigouche and I crossed the wrong river. God
knows where I would have ended up had David not stopped to point me in
the right direction. His daughter is called India !
What are the odds of a trail maintenance worker stopping by when I was on the wrong road and what are the odds of seeing two enthusiastic hikers in the middle of a closed section in Parc de la Gaspesie where I was thoroughly lost and demoralized by snow ? I am starting to believe that the term 'conincidence' just not do it justice. There is something bigger at work here.
I continued towards Dawsonville where the trail is supposed to pick up
and saw absolutely no signs. Continued on to Squaw Cap to see if I can
find the trail. No sign here either. This section either does not exist
or they are horribly marked. Continued to hike towards Glenwood to pick up
the trail near the Kedgwick reserve. On the way I had stopped by the only
store I have seen today. Had sandwiches and soda. The gentleman running
the store offered his yard for me to camp in and I promptly accepted. We
talked a lot about Northern Canada, Florida, about his life, mine and cold
weather stuff. It was interesting.
Around 9:00 pm it started to get a little chilly and I put up my tent.
Tomorrow I should enter the Kedgwick reserve. The trails, from what
I have read from other journals are very steep and rugged. David
also told me that Nimblewill Nomad got lost in Kedgwick. That is not
a good sign. I will have to try and pay more attention to the maps
and my progress. Lets see how it goes. The gentleman whose yard I am
in now also saw Nimblewill Nomad and John. Looks like they will do
the Mt. St. Pierre - Matapedia section afterwards. Nimblewill Nomad
is 62. He had hiked from Key West to Cape de Gaspe in 1998 at the
age of 60 !
In a restaurant
Date: June 29 2000
Trail Day: 29
Miles Today: 16.8
Location: Jordine Brook
Section Mile: IAT 378.8
ECT Mile: 378.8
I had breakfast at the same store. I talked a little more with the
store owner. Took a photo with him. His name is Arthur Bacon. He has
lived here since he was 6. He and his wife have a daughter who is
married and they have two children. There had been a fire in a barn and
trailer yesterday. I had seen a police car, two fire engines and
several cars speed by as I was hiking along the road. Yesterday
evening one of the fire fighters had come to the store and related
what had happened. It seems two of the horses in the barns had been
trapped and died. Last night as I was about to fall asleep I
suddenly realised that I had talked to the man who owned the horses and dogs.
He had said he had sold the place and was moving 10 miles away.
So in the morning I asked Arthur if that was indeed the house. Turned
out it was. It was somehow bizarre. I mean what are the chances that
I would talk to the person and within the hour his trailer and barn
burns up. Spooky.
Anyway, I got hiking at about 7:30. It was cloudy. I did about 7 km
to Glenwood Provincial Park which they have actually shutdown. I
found the trail and continued. The trail is quite well marked with
white and blue stripe flags and some parts have metal tags with the SIA/IAT tag on it.
It started raining around noon, so I put on the backpack rain cover.
I just get wet during rains. Raincoat cuts off the air circulation
too much and you end up sweaty inside. Either way you get wet. I
saw a bear and a moose. The bear was the same size as the one I
saw in Park Forillion but this one bounded off immediately. I was able
to see the bear and the moose because of the rain. The noise of the
rain drops had drowned out the noise of my footsteps.
At one point I got to the place where they were cutting trees.
The posts and the flags were all gone. I continued in the general
direction and saw the large machine responsible for the carnage.
The operator was new and had no idea about any trail. He drove me
to another similar machine. The second guy knew where some parts of the trail
were. We drove around till we found it. They then dropped me off where
I had seen the first machine so I could hike the whole thing. People
think it odd when I ask them to drop me back at where I found them.
But once I explain that I have to walk the whole distance they understand.
I have even pieced together the necessary sentence in Francaise. Its
"Je dois marche la trail complet".
Boy, the machines do an awful lot of damage. It destroys everything -
the smaller trees, shrubs, weeds - everything. It looks as though a
gruesome murder has just taken place. I walked a little further down
the trail. It had some of the large, magnificent trees. I realized
with a pang of sadness that the machine would be getting them some
time next week. What hypocrasy - the western countries blame the "
third world" countries for destroying the rain forest while the rape
occurs everyday at home.
The rest of the hike went well. There are a lot of ridges in this
section and as a result I could only do a smaller straight line
distance than I had hoped for. After what seemed like an endless
number of ups and downs I came to the hill beside the Restigouche
river. It was a beautiful scene. I then made a long descent to
Jordine brook. Now there are two ways one can cut a trail on a hill.
Straight up - short and steep or with numerous switchbacks - gradual
descent but long. The trail down was an example of the second approach
carried to the extreme. I was almost dizzy with all the switchbacks.
But I had decided to camp beside the brook and was in good spirits.
So I just enjoyed it.
Most of my places to camp in the forest are quite bad. It will either
be sloped, cramped or have a big boulder or root sticking into my
back. This time I found a semi established camp site. Nice and flat.
There was also a nice fire ring with a lot of dead trees nearby.
I was about to get a fire going but then decided to sleep instead.
This is also prime bear country. So I have cooked and eaten away
from my tent. I am also supposed to hang my food away from a bears reach
but I am too tired and lazy to do so. Tomorrow I will let you know if I
still have my food.
Picture of the River Course
Date: June 30 2000
Trail Day: 30
Miles Today: 18.6
Location: Near England Island
Section Mile: IAT 397.4
ECT Mile: 397.4
First off, no bear visits. Tonight I complete my first full month on the
trail. I am enjoying it so far.
Last night I was thinking of walking along the river Restigouche. The
trail never touches the river. So today morning I tried to hike to the
river from the brook I had camped on. Within a few 100 feet however the
valley closed in and the vegetation became too thick. So I continued on the
trail. Got to a good view point. The river is very low, they say. I could
clearly see enough shore to walk on before the mountain began. Further down
the trail there was a dirt road which seemed to be headed towards the river.
I followed it for a while but then it started paralleling the river.
I then decided to bushwhack to the river. It looks like the mountain has a
very steep slope just as it gets to the river level. I had to lower
myself down those 50 ft or so. My ski pole fell off and I landed on
my butt several times but finally made it.
Walking the river was easier. I cant believe the trail never touches the
river. Some of the sections were much harder. These were where I was
walking on the outside of the curve of the river. Here the river cuts
into the rock and there is no walking area. In one such place I barely
had a foot hold, my body was parallel with the rock face at about 70
degree angle with both hands on the rock. I had a good 10 feet plunge
into the water if I slipped - Not life threatening but a definite
soak and swim. I made it and was so relieved that I decided to rest. It was
a very odd place. A highly sloped rock face with good depression for a
back pack and a person to sit in. Above was a tree that was growing at
an angle to get the sun. It had started raining and the tree acted like
an umbrella. I sat there and really enjoyed the strange location I was
in. Then I continued on.
The rain then picked up and it rained off and on almost all day. I
was fully wet. There was one rock section that I had to climb into
the trees to avoid. Since it was raining very heavily I decided to
rest. I thought - about a month ago I was working in Pratt and Whitney
now I am in the middle of nowhere sitting under some trees behind a river
soaking wet. I really like rain and was very happy. I was grinning a
good 10 minutes. 5 canoes with women passed by.
Due to the rain the rocks had become slippery. I skidded and lost my balance
several times. There is one flat red kind of rock that is the worst.
I saw numerous tadpoles in the little pools. Three officers (police,
forest kind) stopped their canoes to chat. One of them knew about me
starting from Cap de Gaspe. We talked trails, salmon and bear and
said our byes. I got towards Pine island. Somewhere in this area the
trail diverges from the river for about 20 km. I decided to get back
on the trail. There was a club. I talked to 2 ladies working there.
They gave me directions and some soup and bread. The soup was wonderful
as I was wet. People have an inborn tendency to help others and sympathize with those who are having a hard time. Its very difficult to believe this in this modern age, but its true. The two women were an example. They saw me soaked and worn out and naturally gave me food and encouragement. This can be a very refreshing experience and rebuilds one's faith in humanity.
I found the trail without any problems. Due to the cloud cover
however it darkened a little quickly and I couldn't find the flags
anymore. I have almost no water, but was forced to camp where I was.
Only snacks and uncooked Ramen noodles for dinner today. It is still
raining but I am out of wet clothes into my dry ones and in my sleeping
bag. It is very cozy.
Date: July 1 2000
Trail Day: 31
Miles Today: 0
Location: Unknown location on River Restigouche
Section Mile: IAT 397.4
ECT Mile: 397.4
I spent most of today lost. Things started out OK then the trail formed a
T with both sections equally well maintained. The map I had gotten showed
the words "New location" faintly in the general area. I took one of the
forks using guesswork. It led to a dirt road with absolutely no signs.
I continued on this till it petered out about 4 km or so away. No signs
anywhere here. Then at the very end there were flags that led to another
T. Another guess with compass and I continued. After several hours I saw
the river again. I continued then suddenly realized that the river was
to my left and not right as it should have been. So I had picked the wrong direction
some where. I continued in that direction hoping to find a road.
After a long time the trail got lost in a big land slide. I bushwhacked
to the river and started walking in some direction. I am now thoroughly lost and am hoping to
find a road tomorrow and head out.
It appears as though the designers have gone out of their way to make it
"tough". It is constantly going sharply up or down. Should it gain
popularity almost the entire trail except for the section that runs on the
ridge will have to be relocated.
Date: July 2 2000
Trail Day: 32
Miles Today: 21.8
Location: Kedgwick
Section Mile: IAT 419.2
ECT Mile: 419.2
Today morning I realized that I had camped very near the place where
I had started walking along the river. I found the road I had come down
on and started to head out of the forest. After a dead end on one
of the forks, I was able to get to a well used dirt road which led me
out. I got to Route 17 and started hiking towards Kedgwick.
It rained off and on and I got wet each time. I decided to hike all the
way to Kedgwick today and take a day off tomorrow. On the way a car stopped
and who should it be but Dick Anderson, the president of the IAT. He
was accompanied by Will Richards. I took their photograph and they
took mine. We talked quite a bit.
Continued to Kedgwick and found a very nice bed and breakfast. Today was
a long day.
Forest Massacare.
Date: July 3 2000
Trail Day: 33
Miles Today: 0
Location: Kedgwick
Section Mile: IAT 419.2
ECT Mile: 419.2
A day of rest. Laundry, shopping etc. Then took a nap and watched TV. A lot of
shops and offices are closed due to Canada day. I am having poor luck with
libraries and internet access.
Date: July 4 2000
Trail Day: 34
Miles Today: 23
Location: On Rte 180
Section Mile: IAT 442.2
ECT Mile: 442.2
Today morning Maurice Simon came to the bed and breakfast I was staying
at. He is the one responsible for designing and maintaining the
Kedgwick section of the trail. He is a very enthusiastic young man and
knows the trail very well. We talked for a while about how and where I
got lost, about the problem IAT is having with the paper companies etc.
It appears as though there are now 2 sections that have been clear cut.
The one I ran into was new. There is another one further down the line
which I never got to.
I stopped by the library on the hike out to check my e-mail and the web
page. Some of the names are getting transcribed wrong. Its my hand
writing. Most of the times I am lying down in my tent and writing
propped up on my elbow - not a very comfortable position. I tried to make
an entry in the "From the trail" section but the browser almost froze.
Then changed my mind. They have a really slow computer here.
Today and tomorrow will be a roadwalk to Mt. Carlton Park. There I will
hike for a day and then begin another 3 day road walk to Plaster
Rock from where the trail leads to the US border. At Fort Fairfield I pick
up the set of maps for the Maine section that Vivek has sent and continue.
The road walk was relatively uneventful. Dogs are a nuisance. Too many
of them. The smaller ones are not leashed and can be a headache. The
owners only make half hearted efforts to call them back.
A few hours into Rte. 180, the houses came to a stop. I was lucky
I got some water at the last house on the route. The man also gave me
a Pepsi. After that there were no streams or houses for a long time.
I was wondering if it was going to be another no-cooking day due to
lack of water. But towards the end the road ran past a little lake
where I filled up.
Something interesting - On my train journey to Gaspe I had gotten off
at Matapedia station to stretch my legs. There I saw someone with a
long white beard. I half jokingly told myself - "There goes Nimblewill
Nomad". Then I gave it some thought and figured Nomad would be on the trail
near Gaspe and not here. But during my conversation with Dick 2 days ago,
he said that Nomad had seen me at the station. Nomad had jumped ahead due
to snow at the Gaspesie section. What a coincidence. For those who dont know,
Nimblewill Nomad is the second person to do the Eastern Continental Trail
(Key West to Cap de Gaspe). He did it in 1998 at the age of 60. He is now
doing it southbound. I have heard conflicting reports as to where he is
headed. Some say Key West, others say Georgia. Anyway, I will know for
sure as time passes. I also hope to meet him on the trail somewhere.
