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,

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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.

photo of the day

White Ferns - Paul Maybee

This is a photo of some tiny ferns I took on the South Shore of Nova Scotia.  I didn’t use any special lighting technique for this one; there just happened to be a ray of sunlight shining on this little patch of ferns.