Val in Real Life LLC

Tag: new brunswick

  • Overland Expo to TBEX: Fundy National Park

    Overland Expo to TBEX: Fundy National Park

    I awoke in a fog on Day 27 of the Overland Expo to TBEX expedition. After a horrible, mostly sleepless night of battling technicolor food poisoning, I wasn’t exactly refreshed to explore the majesty of Fundy National Park. We were now four weeks into our trip and all of the bumps and hiccups along the way had worn us out. We needed a couple of easy days to recuperate.

    The Point Wolfe covered bridge.

    I dragged my addled, weary self out of the tent to muddle my way through breakfast. After days of rain, I stepped out into entirely unexpected, beautiful clear skies. I felt like a kid at Disney World. The combination of relief and amazement renewed my vigor for exploration.

    So after a quick breakfast, I sat down to rough out the next few days. From what I’d seen so far, I knew I wanted more time in Fundy. It wouldn’t be a problem logistically to stay and I started to get very excited at the prospect of hiking throughout Fundy as well as being in one spot for a couple more nights.

    Seems mother nature had other ideas though. As a matter of course, I did a quick weather check. It was crushing. The current days weather was nothing but a blip. More heavy rain was due in the next morning and it was projected to last several days. It felt like a cruel joke and snuffed out any thoughts of sticking around Fundy. We’d have to make the best of the day we had.

    Epic natural beauty…

    Fundy National Park forms the heart of the UNESCO Fundy Biosphere Reserve. The Bay of Fundy area and the park are famous for the likes of dramatic tides (the biggest in the world), outrageously cool geology, and the iconic Point Wolfe covered bridge. It also boasts the stunning abutment of a marine coastal ecosystem with the Caledonia Highlands Plateau. Mind-blowing is an understatement.

    Our first stop was at a deck overlooking the Bay of Fundy. Originally I thought it would be a short stop to gaze at the bay and nab a geocache. But when we got there, the soupy cloud of fog over the bay started to drift up over the nearby mountains. The fog oozed over the peaks as it moved inland. I was paralyzed by the spectacle.

    A newcomer to the overlook walked up to the rail next to me to take a picture. I snapped out of my trance and raced back to the car to get my camera gear, all the fatigue of the previous miserable night lost to the soul-stirring amazement of witnessing of one of the most stunning scenes of nature I’ve ever seen. After the ordeals of this trip, this was my reminder about why I explore.

    In the face of this unexpected treat, we didn’t rush off to our next geocache or trail. We simply stayed and watched the dance of fog over the mountains for as long as it lasted.

    The fog of Fundy makes for a jaw-dropping spectacle.

    Point Wolfe

    Filled with excitement after the fog show, we moved on to geocache our way to Wolf Point. There are miles-and-miles of trails in Fundy but in spite of my renewed spirit, I was still very physically drained from the food poisoning and the Point Wolfe trail was short enough to be doable for me under the circumstances. So we set out to explore at long last.

    The trail led us through the forests down to the little bay at Pointe Wolfe. I was giddy with delight in seeing this boreal forest that reminded me of the upper elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains near Clingman’s Dome. It felt like home and I walked at ease in the familiarity of the landscape. Once at Point Wolfe, the boys played and I spent time shooting along the deserted coastline. We were utterly alone on the peaceful bay.

    Jaw-dropping geology is one of the best parts of Fundy National Park.
    Fundy’s drama is seemingly endless. Stunning rocks and remnants of piers make for a feast of textures.
    Streams cut through the boreal forest to empty into the Bay of Fundy.
    George on the trail to Pointe Wolf.
    At last, a warm, dry, lunch break in the sun.
    The only wildlife we spotted during our brief visit.

    Back at camp…

    But of course, we did have other things to attend to. It was time to head back to the car for lunch then, sadly, back to camp for laundry duty. I hadn’t tackled it for 8 days and there was no getting by any longer. We needed clean clothes and the dirty ones were beyond pungent.

    Back at the Chignecto North campground, we took the afternoon to hang around camp, do laundry, and let Fred and George play. In between stages of laundry, I made arrangements for an oil change and new windshield for Blubaru. That would take us to the Subaru dealer in Bangor, Maine the next day.

    Fred and George are getting a bit big for playgrounds but after so many days of rain and driving, they embraced the chance to play in the sun.
    I’m not kidding… a full four days after the Franconia Notch incident, my boots were still soggy. There was no way to dry them out in the midst of constant rain.
    By the way, this is the view I get when I wake up in the morning. It’s one of the many perks of camping.
    One of the most notable differences of visiting a Canadian national park was the infrastructure supporting recycling and composting. Upon our arrival at camp, we were given special bags for collecting both. Well done, Canada, well done.
    Note to campers: Do not leave your site like this. Not cool.

    Chasing a sunset…

    Since it was our last night, it was obviously my only chance to try to shoot a sunset. So while in camp that afternoon, I planned for an early dinner so we could get back to Point Wolfe in time.

    By evening, the tide was out leaving the bay empty and the wave-worn rocks exposed. Fred and George, who were initially annoyed at having to go back to the same place, ran and frolicked in the bay where a few hours earlier they would have been swimming. Without enough clouds to create a backdrop, the sunset didn’t pan out, but it was no matter. We finally had a “normal” day of camping and it felt wonderful. So wonderful.

    Walking where they would have been swimming only a few hours earlier certainly got Fred & George’s attention.
    Point Wolfe at sunset and low tide.

    Border crossing #8…

    Motivated by the incoming rain the next morning, Fred and George were super helpers in getting camp packed up. The skies had gone overcast again and we knew we were in a race with the first raindrops. And we made if by the skin of our teeth, putting the last bits of gear in the car when the rain began. With that, we bid farewell to Fundy and retraced our path through New Brunswick and back towards Maine and our final border crossing of the trip. And yet again, we found ourselves driving through the pouring rain.

    When we got to the border station, the guard ran through the usual queries. When I answered his questions about how long we were in Canada and why, he paused and gave me a sympathetic look. He’d done the travel math of our time in Fundy plus camping plus weather and said “So, you had like one good day?” with pity in his voice. Yep, that about sums it up, dude. But it was a great day.

    And now for your moment of green…

    Magical places and moments are worth the struggle.
  • Overland Expo to TBEX: Slogging our way to Fundy

    Overland Expo to TBEX: Slogging our way to Fundy

    So when I left you in our Overland Expo to TBEX saga, we were suffering from a string of failures, bad weather, and our own stupidity. And that’s how we found ourselves moving on to Campobello — soaked, cacheless, and trying to salvage this detour that cost us so many miles and so much time. But first, our most memorable border crossing ever.

    Border Crossing #5…

    You see, when we got back in the car after the Quoddy Head disaster, we were completely soaked. Our rain gear did little to protect us from the torrents of Tropical Storm Andrea. The situation obviously didn’t improve with our frantic, wet, last-ditch, pre-border-crossing attempt for a geocache smiley at the Lubec sign. So when we arrived at the border station, the guard asked the usual questions and, as usual, asked me to roll down the back windows so he could see everyone in the car. He peered in, then gave me a quizzical look.

    Uncertain what could possibly have him so befuddled and a bit aggravated by the hassle given the conditions of the day, I turned around to look into the back seat myself. And there sat George… Stark. Freaking. Naked!… with only his laptop covering his little boy bits. I managed to stifle an “Are you (bleeping) kidding me?” from slipping out and I calmly inquired with George as to exactly why he was buck naked in the back seat of the car while we were trying to cross an international border. He replied that we was just wet and uncomfortable so he took matters into his own hands and stripped off his clothes. He’s a little problem-solver, that one. *facepalm*

    I slowly turned back to the guard and gave him a shrug and said “I got nothin’, man.” The guard found he had nothing further to say either and sent us on our way.

    Epic moment in parenting, no?

    Roosevelt Campobello International Park…

    Still trying to grasp all of the events of the day and the fact that it had all happened before noon, we slogged our way to our intended destination Roosevelt Campobello Interntaional Park. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and we sought warmth and dryness in the visitor center… with George finally dressed, of course.

    The park is located on Campobello Island where FDR summered as a child and later spent time with his family as an adult. It was formed as a memorial to him and as a symbol of cooperation between the U.S. and Canada. His “cottage” is preserved for tours and there are trails and flower gardens to explore. Not that we got to do any of that, mind you… but it looks like it would have been lovely had we not been in the middle of Tropical Storm Andrea.

    We did take some time to mentally escape the events of our morning and soak up some history in the visitor center. This is the kind of scenario where Fred finds his learning groove and he thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the U.S. equivalent of royalty. Even George, who isn’t a history buff, was a bit taken in by the Roosevelt story. Or maybe he was just so happy to be out of the car and dry…

    In my state of mind at the time, I didn’t take a single picture to share with you but it was a very cool place and I do hope I get a chance to explore it under better circumstances.

    Border Crossings #6 & #7…

    What would have made our lives a little easier at this point in the trip would have been a ferry ride across the bay instead of having to head back to Maine. It would have shaved considerable time and miles off of our journey to Fundy National Park. Alas, the ferry wasn’t running so we had to go the long way… and log two more border crossings.

    For border crossing #6 back into the U.S, I was ever-so-thankful not to have to face the same border guard that witnessed our insanity on the way in to Campobello. We smoothly returned back to the states and headed north towards Calais, Maine, our point of entry to New Brunswick and Fundy National Park.

    We attempted to soak up local flavor at a pub in Calais. Our lunch left a lot to be desired but we were hungry and bad food was the least of our concerns at the time. Cutting our losses, we scarfed our lunches and set on our way to refuel and make our third border crossing in less than three hours.

    Blubaru’s booboo. By the time we got to camp it had stretched this far and continued to grow…

    And on to Fundy…

    With nothing left to be done but drive through the rain and get ourselves to Fundy National Park, we pressed along the New Brunswick coast. I was feeling the pressure of time. I desperately wanted to make camp before dark. The rain was bad enough but thought of pitching the tent in the dark in an unfamiliar campground motivated me to keep moving.

    The drive went quickly though as I marveled at the road cuts along the highway. I could tell I was really going to like New Brunswick. Even with a stop to resupply before arriving in the park, we made good time. You might find this hard to believe given our day, but we even managed an easy geocache smiley of the lampskirt variety in the store parking lot. It was a much-needed morale boost to have a little success that day.

    And that momentum continued. As we approached the park, we stopped for another geocache smiley in a graveyard. Some folks think we’re odd but we enjoy graveyard geocaches for the peek into local history they provide. The rain was a slow drizzle at that point and we reveled in our success. We felt like we were exploring again, not just surviving the trip.

    When we finally entered the park, we were ecstatic. We were still a good ways from the campground, but it was such a relief to be within the park borders. The roads were sloppy and the rain had picked up again but I knew we’d get to camp in enough time to set up and get a warm dinner cooked up before dark. I finally relaxed and enjoyed the drive. We didn’t see another vehicle on the road for miles. But the one we did see? Well, that one was a tractor trailer barreling at us from the other direction.

    He was moving fast and not even remotely staying in his lane on the narrow road. I slowed and eased Blubaru towards the soft shoulder to make more room for the truck. He didn’t slow, which I though was borderline nuts given the road and weather conditions. He blew past us giving Blubaru quite a jolt and passing within inches of us. As a lovely parting gift of our close encounter, we were left with a rock to the windshield and Blubaru sporting a healthy crack that grew with each mile. So much for feeling like things were going our way.

    A joyful Fred at camp in Fundy National Park.

    Home Sweet Home at Chignecto North…

    At some point in a series of misadventures, you either just become unflappable or you find your sense-of-humor. Sometimes both. After the last few days of this trip (Exhibit A & Exhibit B), I could only look upon the cracked windshield with mild curiosity. I watched it grow as we approached camp and the beginnings of dusk set in. By the time we reached camp at Chignecto North campground in Fundy NP, I’d found my sense-of-humor about the entire situation — the rain, the iPhone, the geocaching, the detours, the naked border crossing, the cracked windshield… all of it.

    Fortunately, there was another lull in the rain and we set to getting camp established in quick fashion. Pitching the new tent was still a bit slow and awkward since it was only our second go with it but once it was up, the boys were in gear and did their bit for getting us set up while I got dinner going. Camp life hummed along efficiently and we busted out dinner and clean up so we could collapse after a blistering few days of hard travel.

    We rested easily, knowing we had our home established for the next three nights…

    And now for your moment of green…

    What a relief to have finally arrived in the stunning Fundy National Park in New Brunswick.