Hidden Treasures…

…just waiting to be discovered on an ocean floor walk.

Share-worthy: Kingdom of the Tide

I spent my morning in a choice spot along the Upper Bay of Fundy Minas Basin on the beach at Five Islands Provincial Park. After a stormy day and night the wind was easing up a little, enough that I could lean into it and not lose my footing. I tried to capture the force of the incoming tide but should have created a video instead.

What a coincidence when I came across the CBC documentary “Kingdom of the Tide” featuring great information about our region in the world. Here is the link:

https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/kingdom-of-the-tide

While the entire documentary is informative but you are especially interested in the Bay of Fundy, start watching at minute 28 through 25. From riding the tidal bore on the Shubenacadie River, gliding on rust coloured ocean floor mud, to observing mud shrimp, amazing time-lapse photography to illustrate tidal changes and the migration of the semi-palmated sandpipers this documentary provides a tiny glimpse into our rugged environment.

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend!

Rock Faces

No matter where we venture along the Upper Bay of Fundy Shore faces in the rocks are all around us.

Join us on one of our custom tours to look for ancient faces in the geology.

Soley Cove: Delight for Newbie and Repeat Hiker Alike

The sun accompanied these keen hikers for our special Wednesday afternoon outing today. Not many words are necessary to show how much the group enjoyed their time!

Coffee time with Fundy Jewel treats in the sun was the proverbial icing on the cake.

Soley Cove never disappoints. I am already blocking tour dates from June through September requesting this particular destination. Availability is limited due to fluctuating tide times!

The images speak for themselves. Get in touch if you or your group is interested in one of our Soley Cove custom excursions.

Cape Spencer: A Hike Through All Seasons

Sharing a lesser known hike destination as a birthday gift was on the agenda today. Through the seven hour outing we enjoyed cloudy conditions, light rain, bright sunshine, azure sky dotted with clouds and snow.

The tide was well on its way out exposing much of the large pebble beach. The rocks captured our attention as soon as we arrived. It took some coaxing to get my friends to follow me to the columnar basalt cliffs that make up Cape Spencer. We enjoyed our lunch and shared the mini cheesecakes I had packed complete with a birthday candle and matches.😊

And just because we could… we kept exploring past the Cape when we spotted a might sea stack in the distance!

From the sea stack we captured a clear view of Cape d’Or. The sky turned blue right as the tide turned which brought with it strong wind gusts that quickly chilled us to the bone. Turning back was our only option.

The hike back offered up great views of Cape Split and Spencer’s Island. Our backpacks were a little heavier with a few amazing rocks we selected to pack out.

We soon scrambled up the cliff access and headed toward the car. It wasn’t long before the sky clouded over and showered us with fluffy snowflakes. Time to put on our jackets and pick up the pace.

A day well spent exploring a special stretch of beach in the mighty Bay of a Fundy!

Halifax Public Gardens: In Search of Spring!

It was a great day for a stroll through the Halifax Public Gardens.

I didn’t have to look hard for signs of spring…

Important Announcement!

A big thank you to the talented team at Nova Social Media and the Tourism Digital Assistant Program for their support in creating my new website and business logo.

The new season is about to kick into action… visit https://parrsboroshoretours.ca and let me know what you think in the comments below! Please share on your social media feed to spread the great news.

McGahey Brook Trail Loop in Cape Chignecto Provincial Park

A last minute invitation to join friends on a hike today was a welcome diversion from spending time on the computer.

We set out from the Driftwood Beach parking lot in West Advocate exploring the ever-changing pebble beach.

We turned around near the organic Atlantic salmon plant and headed toward the Red Rocks at the entrance to Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. There was a perfect spot in the sun for us to enjoy some lunch.

We had touched on the idea to head to McGahey Brook, scale the steep stairs and climb the trail to Mill Creek hill. When we arrived at a fork in the trail pointing into an alternate direction none of us had ever explored we turned right and followed the McGahey Brook Loop Trail.

The smiles say it all: we made the perfect choice for our woodland part of the outing!

There were treasures around every bend!

Thanks to Isidora and Gaby for the three pictures I appear in.

Here is a map of our excursion. Note the elevation difference once we entered the park.

Wishing everyone a relaxing Saturday evening. I am making plans to offer this hike as a regular day hike or possibly an overnight hike. What do you think? Is there interest if I start branching out into multi-day excursions?

Parrsboro’s First Beach at Low Tide

The view from the top of First Beach
The view toward the Parrsboro Lighthouse
Looking back toward cottage row

There wasn’t much time to get a walk in today. We are so fortunate here in Parrsboro that the beach is very accessible. It was a great day for finding sea glass and enjoying the view from the edge of the water before the tide pushed us back to high ground.

Lighting provided by Mother Nature

Mood lighting at Thomas Cove…

Thomas Cove Economy Loop Trail: Say-Good-bye-to-Winter Hike

What happens when you organize another guided hike in conjunction with Hike Nova Scotia and the Cliffs of Fundy Geopark? You get the best participants!

The trail was muddy and very wet in places but we managed just fine. Trekking poles came in handy and after the first 2/3s of the loop we stopped for the usual tea/coffee and Fundy Jewels break to refuel.

The outing went a little longer with countless stops to enjoy the views and natural wonders of the forest offered for all to appreciate.

The photo back in the parking lot sums it up:

We were still smiling! Thanks to everyone from near and far for supporting the Winter 2024 Hike series. See you all next year!

Last in the NS Hike Winter Series

Wednesday, March 13th I will lead the last of the hikes for the Winter series in the Cliffs of Fundy Geopark. Thomas Cove Economy Trail Loop is our destination. Anyone interested please email me <annahergert@me.com> to reserve a spot and help me prepare for the event.

We meet at the Cliffs of Fundy Welcome Centre parking lot in Economy at 1:15 pm and will make our way to the trail head from there. Plan on muddy trails when selecting footwear and bring trekking poles.

Wilderness First Aid, Part 3

Last night around this time (after our supper break) we reviewed all things hypothermia, followed by the hands on lesson of doing the “burrito” for someone affected by cold injuries. The lesson was a valuable review for me as this particular subject had been covered during my OCC Winter Field Leader course nearly 18 months ago.

And then it was time for our night camping in the woods.

Just when we had our fire nicely burning distressed voices called for help and we rushed to investigate, first aid kits in hand.

I have no pictures because the rescue effort took all our energy. The exercise lasted about 90 minutes and required complete focus. We had to care for three individuals involved in a boating accident. One person was immersed in water, another had broken ribs protruding from his chest while unconscious and the third person was hysterically running about, eventually going into diabetic shock. It was pitch black (thank goodness for headlamps!), treed wetlands with large granite boulders… It was amazing how well our group pulled together to deal with such a horrific situation. Our instructor was impressed and communicated this with us while debriefing around the fire.

There was little sleep to be had after this mighty adrenaline rush and with the drop in temperature my selection of camping spot it turned out that the cold air from Rocky Lake cooled us all down a little too much.

I called it a night shortly after 6 am and was busy breaking down my tent when another hysterical person was running around the forest calling us to action for a campfire incident with various burn injuries. What a way to start Time-Change Sunday after little sleep. Needless to say: everyone was wide awake now ready to pack up their camp and head to the base for breakfast. I was glad for my cup of coffee!

The day continued with classroom lectures and outdoor scenarios. I have lost count how many times we scaled this steep hill during the course, carrying our day pack and camping gear.

One major hands on lesson after lunch covered fractures and how to manage them in remote places. Creative problem solving skills were definite assets over the past three long days.

The outdoor learning sessions concluded with one last scenario, a 28 year old trail runner with their foot stuck between rocks presenting an open tibia fracture, on new heart meds, a dislocated shoulder progresses to unconsciousness due to a stroke. Talk about ending on a high note…

My team did a great job caring for me! Just look at that wound…

Well, this is the final report from the Wilderness First Aid weekend course. It turns out that the Advanced Module did not generate enough interest this month. I’ll be picking it up in April instead. I have to admit, I am not unhappy to be spending tonight in our toasty warm home and my cozy bed with rain pelting against the windows and strong winds. Good night!

Wilderness First Aid, Day 2

The sun welcomed us bright and early for an action packed day with multiple emergency scenarios…

…there was fake blood, lots of fake blood!

We just finished setting up our tents for the overnight camp-out with another emergency scenario sure to have us rush about and get our heart rate going in the dark.

Meanwhile, travelling back and forth to the Search & Rescue base makes up for the constant state of having to be alert. Here is the scenery we are practicing in. It deserves to be shared!

Weekend Away to Upgrade Skills

This is what I woke up to this morning. I was certainly glad I drove to Halifax last night. It was not an easy trip with the torrential rain navigating the highway and twisting, winding roads to the Halifax Search and Rescue Centre. My first night I opted to sleep in the car and my new down sleeping bag did a fine job keeping me toasty warm. Money well invested!

Our diverse group sprang into action after short introductions. But since this is the Advanced Wilderness First Aid course classroom time was kept to a minimum.

With one of Nova Scotia’s many Rocky Lakes as the backdrop we ventured out to practice some of our skills followed by a little more classroom time covering the CPR component of the in-depth course.

Keep checking back tomorrow for part two of my March weekend adventure.

Wednesday Afternoon Hike Series…

… free to all Parrsboro Shore citizens is a programme in its second year. I offer these from January through the end of March and this year these hikes have been exceptionally well attended. Yesterday we ventured to Fox Point Beach. Easy to get to and an easy hike.

There was no lack of interesting nature observations…

…followed by the usual tea and goodies break before heading back to our cars.