Rugged and Punishing (hiking and caching on the musquodoboit trails, reposted from april 2009)

Great hiking only 1/2 hr from Metro

April 28, 2009

Musquodoboit Landscape, April 27, 2009
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Yet another FANTASTICALLY GORGEOUS part of nova scotia. i spent the day yesterday (14 hrs) hiking around the musquodoboit trail system. it's a beaut. about as nice a set up as ive seen anywhere in north america or europe (the extent of my experience).

i was of course hunting down geocaches. the place is littered with them. but given how greedy i was for caches (was hoping to log 43), i decided i would have to run/walk the beast.

and a beast it is. the wilderness trails are actually not runnable, period. occasionally i could trot along for four or five steps and then it was back to clambering. these are the wildest, roughest, most rugged and punishing trails i have ever travelled.

dont get me wrong: compared to bushwhacking around here, the trails these guys have hacked into the granite here are like an expressway. but that aint saying much. it's a twisted bit of countryside out there.

as a backbone, the trails make use of a 14 km stretch of old railbed running along the east bank of the musquodoboit river. with its gravelled even surface, benches, picnic shelters, bike racks, outhouses, lake and river access, and stunning lookoff platforms, the "Rail Trail" is perfect for the whole family. Either for long summer Sunday afternoons, an evening stroll or bike ride, or a winter cross country ski excursion.

If you really want to get into it, if you really want to see just how wild and whacked out is the wilderness in Nova Scotia, then try one of the wilderness trails.

the topsoil is thin and the boulders big. the trail twists and turns around the bigger rocks but just goes straight over most of them. or squeezes between them. or in one spot, the trail actually leads you right under the rocks.

That yellow marker means "This way." The trails goes right through those rocks.
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Yes this is a trail. The yellow marker proves it.
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Whenever a tree falls, it seems the only open space for it to land is... the trail!.
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tree roots, fallen branches and in many spots, whole trees lie across the path. it's very easy, if you are not paying close attention to "lose" the trail, to find yourself standing on a mossy boulder surrounded by deadfall, with no idea how you got there or if you'll ever make it home again.

the trail designer must really love a path that goes up and down. often. steeply. and with no compassion. you will sweat. and curse. and maybe even cry.

for all that, the views are worth it. there are many well-placed look offs with views over the musquodboit river and the many lakes, out to harbour and the ocean.

there is a romantic, if somewhat tortured, beauty to the landscape here. white granite litters hillsides and ridges, trees line up in twisted formation along gulleys, and lakes fill the depressions, in the valleys and between hilltops, whereever you look, islands and boulders pepper the still, dark, tannin-heavy waters.

the real beauty of this place lies in the rock (at least for me, im a capricorn after all): sheer cliff faces, boulders and slabs of rock as large as houses erupt from bushy swamps and stands of gnarly spruce and pine. lichen and moss sprout and bloom like carpets on these, the only real flat surfaces of the nova scotia woodland.

there are maps and trail descriptions and lots more great info on the website of the Musquodoboit Trailways Association.

For the record, it took me 14 hours to cover 30kms and find 42 caches. I was totally humbled by the terrain. I can't wait to come back and take my time, take some photos, and take it all in.

dont underestimate this place. give yourself lots of time, take it real slow and be prepared. theres lots to talk about under being prepared:

1. you want to be in reasonably good shape. for the climbs (lots of them) and descents and for the constantly lifting your foot over a root, or climbing down off of rocks.

2. you'll want to bring lots of water. the water out here is not safe to drink and you're going to need lots. dont forget food to fuel you around this workout posing as a walking trail.

3. topo maps are usually available online, at the trail heads or at the trail interpretative centres in musquodoboit harbour. very helpful. compass and or GPS (and the knowledge to use them) essential.

4. plan on sturdy footwear, pants or gators, and warm clothes just in case.

5. bring a camera baby, or an easel and canvas. it is gorgeous.