Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Waiting and Hoping

Well I was out fishing last weekend...I know you're not surprised eh? My Dad and I ventured up to the headwaters of a nearby Creek and found an amazing scene of serenity. The water was cool and clear and when you think of a babbling brook this is what most of us think of. I work in watershed restoration and this is what we want all our streams to look like. There were waterfalls and chutes, boulders and bedrock, trees and shrubs, and most of all there was fish.

The fishing was great despite the fact that they were all a bit small. The best part about fishing an area like this is that you never know where that big catch might be lurking. Everytime you cast your line to a log you wait and hope. When the bait hits the bottom of a deep pool you wait and hope. As you reel through a back eddy you wait and hope. It is this anticipation that keeps you casting and plodding down the stream.

On this day we never caught what you would call a trophy, in fact we hardly caught anything of note. We sure found a new haven though and a stream that I will likely try again sometime just so I can see what it looks like. Just like when I cast my line into the stream I wait and hope, I now wait and hope to go back.

See you in the woods.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Rewards Worth Working For

So wow...yeah...ahhh...been reeeaal busy and haven't been able to keep up on my blog the way I was hoping. Maybe I should set more realistic goals eh? Truthfully though my life has become very rewarding lately, but to get the rewards I have had to work for it. Any reward worth having is worth working for right. Just look at the Stanley Cup for instance, those guys bust ass all season long just to hold the coveted grail. The hardest hiking trails often have the best rewards too.

I have added a couple of pics that I snapped while hiking a couple of my favorite hiking trails in the Atlantic Provinces and Maine. Mt. Katahdin, in Maine, is a hike everyone should do just so you can say you did it. You will find new strenght within yourself and a new inner peace while struggling up this east coast mountain, no matter what your capabilities are. Keyhole Brook on the Cape Chignecto Trail in Nova Scotia has a evangillical sense to it as you approach it from the north side meadow. You feel smaller somehow as you sit on the cliffside bank above the waterfall and watch the waves crash through the hole. The Kenomee Canyon, also in Nova Scotia is an enjoyable overnighter with many small streams and waterfalls to see.
The last pic is of the White Lakes Wilderness area in Nova Scotia which is rocky, wind stunted, terrain that offers many lookouts and bald hills to climb and play on. I got to thank my buddy Greg for taking this pic of me looking out over the Musquodoboit River and Bayers Lake.

All of these hiking areas are challenging but all of them have amazing scenery and even an auroa about them that will speak to anyone if they are willing to listen. Even when I go over my pics I can still hear them calling to me to come back and visit. Which I will.
More pics to come and hopefully not so slowly this time.