There was an incident somewhat recently where a hiker fell off a cliff along Precipice Path and was airlifted out with serious head trauma. My best guess is that it was around this spot. It's a good example of how not take these "little" mountains for granted; they can be just as dangerous as some of the Whites.
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| Me being silly, imagine that. |
Date night! Or… date day/weekend?
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten out for more than a few hours of activities. Hawk & I did have theatre tickets for an evening show on Saturday, but nothing else solidly planned for our time together. However, on this go around, we managed to fill the weekend just about to the brim!
My first suggested addition to the schedule was troll hunting…
First of all, Hawk is crazy. He has this “romantic” habit of spending far too much money on me, frequently in the practical form of hiking gear and such. His latest gift (which shall count for early xmas) was a new bicycle! True, I did “need” one if I wanted to get back into biking, which would also allow us more opportunities for new shared activities, but I couldn’t justify the expense. This obviously didn’t phase Hawk. He picked out a nice, mid-range, all purpose trail bike that was relatively affordable (but still way more than I feel deserving of.) Thankfully, REI carried it, so we do at least get a guarantee if for any reason the bike doesn’t work out for me. So far though, it is proving to work out well!
Last weekend we did an official test ride on a local rail trail in Maine. It was a nice mix of pavement and smooth gravel, perfect for my first big ride. This weekend we took our bikes out to try them on low elevation hiking trail conditions, which is what I’m likely going to be spending more time on, compared to in-town riding. And it definitely made me grateful to have the versatile trail model rather than a pure street bike.
The original plan was to hike Mt. Israel, along with the adjoining trail for Beede Falls. For multiple reasons, we decided to change those plans.
On the drive over, glancing up at the suddenly hazy sky, I wasn't sure if we'd get much for a pretty sunset. But as I passed the viewpoint along Alton Mt. Rd. I was reminded that the sight of the lake and mountains would be worth the hike either way.
Canada has always been a bucket list trip for me. I've been across the border twice to QC for dog shows, but obviously there remains a lot more to see! This time I got to explore NS, which has always been near the top of my list.
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| 8:55 PM |
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| 9:07 PM |
The sun sets later in NS, and we had plenty of daylight left after driving from Halifax up to Cape Breton Island. After all that city time and traveling, I wanted to get out in some real nature while we could. The next day’s forecast was rain. So that evening I managed to talk Hawk into hitting a trail that was only a few minutes from the cottage we were staying at.
This was our first real day-long adventure on Cape Breton Island. Oh how I needed the nature therapy! We drove about an hour north from our lodging on the famous Cabot Trail, which is simply the main road that circles a large portion of the island, including the Highlands National Park. Unfortunately we did not have time to drive the entire loop as most people recommend. Besides already spending enough hours in the car and money on gas, there was hiking to do!
To finish off our last day in NS, we saved what could be described as both the best and the worst of our hikes during our trip.
The trouble with celebrating an anniversary on Memorial Day weekend is that, typically, no matter where you go, you’re fighting traffic and crowds and all the insanity that goes along with all that. But not this year. Instead, we spent it fighting heat and black flies and mosquitoes, hiking for miles through remote wilderness. Sounds like an anniversary that could become tradition. 😂