The car started! The sun came out! Life just keeps getting better. So all the anxiety has melted away for a while at least and we awoke to a whole new day. Harper and I played with her bunny, Carol made coffee and we still had a couple of gooey breakfast treats. We were out of the room by nine and headed for the Funds Trail Parkway, a 35 kilometer drive along the Bay of Fundy. We had never heard of this trail before yesterday. Carol, who is ever diligent, found the brochure at the visitor center in Saint John and we decided it was a must see and that it would likely need a full day. We scrapped the plans we had made, traded them in on a whole new set of plans. This is the benefit of just making it up as you move along. So this morning we headed out of Saint John and toward the town of St. Martin. (We are struck by the number of towns named after saints…there must be some history involved here) We left Saint John on Highway 1, the TransCanada Highway, but soon headed south on a much more rural road, Route 111. This is a scenic route that wanders through the countryside. Just the kind of ‘blue highway’ we enjoy. I have always liked the term ‘blue highways’, in reference of the faded blue lines on old maps, not the major roads but the smaller ones that folks live along, off the freeways and away from the bustle of fast lane travel. This Route 111 fit that bill just perfectly.
At Coastal Tides with great coffee.
Carol also found us a great place for breakfast. Coastal Tides, at the corner of Main and Beach Street in St. Martin, was the perfect answer for good coffee, eggs, bacon and pancakes. Carol had a 'Works Omelet', it had everything. The place was really hopping this Sunday morning and I had never seen so many people hug each other... must be a regular thing to do on a Sunday.
The tide is out
Later the same day, the tide is coming back. . .
Another couple of miles down the road and we came the the harbor of St. Martin and it was low tide. All the boats in the harbor were sitting in the mud. I am guessing this is a familiar sight along the Bay of Funny with it 40 foot tides. Later in the day on our return trip, the tide was coming back in and all the boats were floating. I did a quick sketch and took some reference photos as I know there is a good painting in there somewhere. Carol and Harper hiked as I sketched.
At the Flower Pots
We were back on the road and in line at the entrance to the parkway. It was $10 each for us old folks, but it's Canadian money, so maybe about $7.50 with the exchange. The first stop along the trail was 'the flowerpots' a natural rock formation from erosion along the shore. We met a couple of ladies, both named Linda, and chatted away as we hiked the trail to view the flower pots. Nice folks from Toronto. The trail wandered down the steep bluff along the shore of the bay through tall pines, fir and cedar. Ferns grew along the side of the trail and the view from the overlook was amazing. And we all chatted on. One of the Lindas took our picture, and they all were interested in my sketching as I had sketched some quick notes while we chatted. An interesting moment along the trail.
Flower Pot on the shore.
The climb back up the trail was a bit steeper that we had realized but not too bad it had lots of exposed roots to get a good foothold in. The next stop was the 'Sea Captains Burial Ground'. The hike to the cemetery was mostly uphill but an easy walk of about a half mile or so. There are a couple of family cemeteries here, they were families of captains and ship builders. Right in this area over a span of 40 years in the 19th century, 38 ships were built and then the logging industry flourished because of the tall straight pine that grows here. Along the trail to the burial ground wild blackberries were growing, and they were almost ripe. I was able to find one deliciously ripe plump blackberry. It was very sweet and left me wanting more. Harper had a great time running free and sniffing everything and of course met several young kids who all wanted to pet and give Harper treats. I always carry treats in my pocket for the kids to give her.
Hiking to the burial ground.
The next stop was a hike down to a tremendous waterfall, The hike was interesting in that there was a set of "stairs" to negotiate. The stairs were part stairs and part rope ladder, very steep and long enough to let you know you had to work to view the falls.
A beautiful spot to visit, glad we hiked down here.
The reward was worth in. The falls did not disappoint. The hike back up the stairs/ladder rounded out my exercise plan for August...
Doesn’t look too bad here, but it was STEEP!
The day kept surprising us the sun was in and out but it was a very pleasant day weather wise - great day for hiking. We made or way to the Interpretive Center which is on the banks of the Salmon River, after stopping time and time again at every scenic overlook. Here we learned more about the history of the area and did some shopping. It seems like there is always shopping involved. So now we have t-shirts and sweatshirts to commemorate the day.
Doesn’t look too bad. . .
From the center we made our way to the suspension bridge about a half mile hike from the parking lot (where we had a cheese and cracker break and some liquid refreshments). The hike to the bridge was flat and easy and we chatted once again with a few folks and Harper sniffed a few other puppies. Carol does not like heights and has had a couple of bad moments with pedestrian suspension bridges in the past, but this bridge did not even slow her down, Harper was the one with issues, she had to be carried and was wary the whole way across. I'm glad I didn't have to carry Carol. . .
Carol forges ahead. . .
The beach there on the other side of the bridge was covered with cairns, the Little Rock piles people love to leave lying around. This has to be the most number of cairns I have ever seen gathered together, a regular cairn convention.
Carol and the cairns
We hiked and chatted, Harper made friends with some little kids who not only spoke French but spoke puppy as well. The mom, who was also French Canadian kept saying "douce, douce" - gentle, gentle. It turned out to be a fantastic day as we explored more of the trail.
Douce, Douce — gentle, gentle
Further on down the parkway we explored Long Beach. The muddy water of the bay made interesting brown crashing waves. The rocky shore was a beautiful place to explore, especially if you are a puppy.
Long Beach
Brown waves and colorful rocks
They say all good things come to an end, but as we drove out of the far end of the park we wanted more. It was now late on the afternoon and we had a long way to go to get back to Saint John, so we turned around and went back through the Parkway. This was not the original plan. The drive back through the trail was as beautiful, and every overlook was calling our name. It was a spectacular day. It was also getting on to the time of day where we needed to eat. This road will indeed take us back through St. Martin, and we had seen several interesting restaurants there.
Lobster Rolls and French Fries - a perfect treat.
We found a quaint little roadside seafood/ice cream stand with outside tables. So it was Lobster Rolls and French Fries for us today. I got in another sketch and we had stopped to take a shot of the fishing boats that were now floating. Soon we were rolling back toward Saint John in search of a gas station.
DAMN!!
I had not put gasoline in the car since entering Canada and tomorrow is a travel day so I wanted to fill up. It took 51.1 liters and cost $95.01 Canadian or about $70 US! That's over $5 a gallon....damn!
A gallery of images is below. Click any image to enlarge
