Taking Back Winter

Loch Alva

Feb 14-19, 2010

Paul Maybee

Graham Waugh

Winter: a great time to stay indoors.  Or so I thought.  For so many years, I have restricted my wilderness adventures to three seasons, but this year, I had a change of heart, or maybe I just changed my mind, and decided to go outside.

Day 1: Feb 14

So Graham Waugh and I planned a camping trip in the Loch Alva area which had intrigued both of us since our trip in to Turtle Mountain in May.  Looking out across the hills and lakes from Turtle Mountain, we wondered what other mysteries lay hidden in the green valleys and hills.

Robin Hood Lake

We quickly found a good rhythm walking with the sleds, and because of the well used snowmobile trail heading up the hill, Graham found it easier to go without snowshoes.

Mawhane Mountain Lunch

Winter travel is all about layers.  Once we got going on the trail, the layers come off, and as soon as we stopped for a bit of a lunch on Mawhane Mountain, they all go back on again.

Turtle Mountain

The wind has brushed all the snow from the top of Turtle Mountain.  It feels good to be back here, and I’m reminded of that wonderful trip with Graham and Ross in May.  It is especially exciting

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Taking Back Winter – Part II

Day 4: Feb 17

snow water

The next day was to be another day of exploration. We woke up in the bog, and found ourselves right next to the Miner’s Trail. Graham had noticed it last night and mentioned it to me, but I said that of course, it was just a stream, followed by, “but I’ve been wrong before.” Here, Graham is melting snow for our drinking water for the day.

Miner's Trail

Yup, that’s definitely the Miner’s Trail.

To earn our breakfast, we scurried up the Miner’s Trail a short distance and climbed a tree to get a nice view.

The Magnet of the Tobeatic

I am slowly working through a backlog of photos that I want to share.  This post, I feel, is my first attempt to actually bring us up to the present.  From September 27th – October 3rd, I was on a men’s canoe trip with nine other men in the most mystical of places, the Great Tobeatic Wilderness.  Quite by chance, we traced the identical route taken by myself and the Whynots in April of this year, but I could trace it a thousand times over and still find wonderous new things, and discover that sense of adventure all over again.

Day 1: Jim Charles Point

Jim Charles Point

We started our trip, interestingly enough, on Jim Charles Point.  The next morning, we drove around to Eel Weir instead of crossing Kejimkujik Lake because of high winds.

Day 2: Eel Weir

High Winds on Keji

It was noon before we set out from Eel weir,

The Magnet of the Tobeatic – Part II

Day 4 – Sisketch Lake

Day 4 began early on Sisketch Lake.  Brian and I had risen early and decided to take a morning paddle through the silent giants in the morning mist and watch the sunrise from the lake.  Words can’t describe this beauty, so here’s a collection of photos from the Sisketch Sunrise:

First, I’ll start with some photos from the nighttime.  These are about 20 second exposures with the moonlight hitting the rocks and trees.

Midnight Moonlight

Midnight Moonlight

The Magnet of the Tobeatic – Part III

Day 5 – Junction Lake

We start our day on Junction Lake and as we set out, Brian gives us an inspirational reading from the shore.

Thought of the Day

We visited the point where the current county lines (Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queens and Digby) converge. 

Magnet of the Tobeatic – Part IV

Day 6 – Mink Lake

My Solo Spot

Patapedia, Kedgwick and the Mighty Restigouche

Patapedia River

(Kedgwick and the Restigouche too!)

May 21-25, 2009

The Patapedia Crew

We started out in Fredericton with a crew of six.  We loaded up the trailer with our packs and canoes in the hot spring sun and headed North.  We drove for four  hours to a campsite in Kedgwick where we stopped for the night by the river.

Patapedia River Sunrise

In the morning we got up and headed literally around the corner to where our journey began: André Arpin’s place – Canoe Restigouche.  There we met our skilled guide, Roland.  We got back in the truck and drove on the back roads now for another hour and a half.  The road itself was in good shape, but the recent wind storm had knocked down many trees that bullied us to one side of the road or the other.

Road Less Traveled

Patapedia River Part II (The Kedgwick River)

Patapedia (Continued)

On to the Kedgwick River

Once we got back to Arpin’s we rendezvoused with Kathleen and Patrick who would be joining us for the Kedgwick portion of the trip.  We reloaded te trailer with four canoes and all of our gear and all seven of us piled into the Land Cruiser and once again, hit the dusty trails.

Reload

Roland's Fluffy Companions

Close Quarters

Our put in site on the Kedgwick River was at the Kedgwick Forks, where there was a spacious loading area.

Boundary Rock Expedition – Day 1

Boundary Rock Expedition 2009

April 11 – 15, 2009

Paul “Tetris” Maybee

Cody “Eddie” Whynot

Rob “Scout” Whynot

Ryan “Rhynot” Whynot

The now five-day trip in search of Boundary Rock starts in Liverpool at the Whynots’ residence -well… on the way to Liverpool that is.  We drove from Halifax to Liverpool in the afternoon of Friday, April 10th – Good Friday.  We got as far as Blockhouse when I realized that I had forgotten the dehydrated broth to my chicken stew.  This may seem like a small setback, but I had spent days on my broth, and it was pretty important for me to get it back.  One solution would have been stopping somewhere and picking up some chicken bouillon, except that it was Good Friday and everything was closed, not to mention it wouldn’t have tasted anything like the broth I had worked so hard on.

Packing

So I called my wife Mikey to see if she could get the broth to a bus station.  The website was useless and the office was closed, but still she managed to find a bus heading down and got the broth on board.  My hero!  The bus came in just after 8 and once again, all seemed to be going according to plan…

Parcel for me!

Broth

We finished up packing and played a few rounds of pool and went to bed.

Pool game

Bed

Goodnight Moon

An excerpt from my journal, April 10th, 2009

“The 8 day trip is now 5 days and goes down the Roseway instead of back up to Keji, but I’m feeling prepared and I think it should be a beautiful trip.  There will be some wild water, but we’re not taking any chances.  Here’s to Finding (or at least searching for) Boundary Rock”.

Day 1

Saturday, April 11th, 2009:  Liverpool, NS

Load up in the rain

We start day 1 in Liverpool, and in true Nova Scotia fashion, it is raining.  So we gear up and pack the truck.  The next thing we realize is that we’re short on paddles.  It seems at this point that we’ll never be on the water.  We go to every hardware store around looking for paddles and eventually find enough to head out.  We load up and hit the road.  FINALLY!  But we’re only 45 minutes behind schedule, which isn’t too bad, I guess.

The Intrepid Explorers

We couldn’t get to George’s Lake because of a gate, so we set out from Merrymekedge Beach.  Here’s the last photo of us before we set out across Keji Lake.

Boundary Rock Expedition – Day 2

Day 2

Sunday, April 12th, 2009: Peskawa Lake

Good Morning Peskawa

Windy Lakes

High Water

The Decision

An excerpt from my journal: April 12, 2009

“Today was a real turning point for the trip. I woke up at 6:30 and stoked the fire while outside, the wind howled through the bare trees. The news outside was not promising for this trip. There were white caps and a strong wind blasting us from the North West. We took our time with breakfast in the Warden’s cabin and savored the luxury of being warm, dry and safe from the storm outside.”