Volunteer Dare

Volunteers are great people! If you volunteer for anything, thanks a bunch. Through my work recently we hosted a Shoreline Clean-up Day and were honored to have numerous people show up and volunteer their morning to clean up garbage along the local rivers. These folks braved cold water temperatures, whipping willow trees, disgusting smells, and my barbequed hot dogs, just to help make the local environment a bit cleaner. That is truly amazing and to those people I say thanks yet again.

I often volunteer, and I have to say I always get something out of it. I learn a lesson, I meet a new friend, I gain respect, I feel proud of my community and myself. If you don't believe me then you should try volunteering sometime and see what I mean. I am not kidding. I challenge you to get out there and volunteer 2hours a month (which is nothing by the way). Chose an activity that you do already and teach someone else about it, pick trash up along a road you always drive, cook a meal at a soup kitchen, heck even start a soup kitchen in your area...I double dare you.

My pic for this blog is self explanatory with fall in the air.

Into the next Season

Well fishing season I am sad to say is over here. I am very dissappointed with myself this year. You would think that as someone who has a job working on the river that I would be able to get out fishing all the time. Sadly that is not the case. I was only able to get out about six times this year for a good full day of fishing. How did my life get so hectic? I am sure we have all asked ourselves this question at one time or another. It can be a depressing realization sometimes when we see how focused we are on work and the ragged pace of making a living. The worst part of it all is, it is unavoidable if we want to truly live.

I am a father of an adventurous three year old boy and in order to provide for him and my family I have to live a hectic life style that does not allow me to do some of those things I once did as a teenager or early twenty-something. Do I miss those days? Not really. My life is hectic now because I know that in the future I will be able to slow down some and enjoy it. I take pride in my family and love them all dearly and thus I choose to live this way. I have made choices that will hopefully result in a wonderful life for my son and my family now and into the future. Every now and then I need to remind myself of that so that I don't have any regrets. If I forget, my wife will remind me...if she forgets, our son reminds us.

I hope you have something that directs you to a balanced life, no matter your age, marriage status, dreams, or job. Live with no regrets because tomorrow will bring a new season.

I bet you didn't think this is what this blog was gonna be about :)

The pic for this blog is the sea caves in St. Martin's, New Brunswick. This is a great place to spend a full day exploring the ocean floor one hour and watching the waves crash at your feet the next. Talk about a quick change in the seasons. It is a truly amazing locale, with friendly people, good eating, and lots to explore.

See you all in the woods or on the water.

Well the Atlantic International Balloon Fiesta is now come and gone and I have to say I feel for all those people who drove from hundreds of miles away to see the colorful bags of hot air take flight. The must have been sorely dissappointed when they realized that the balloons can only fly in good weather. Many of the balloonists themselves must have been frustrated as they too came from great distances to grace our area with their presence. It is really to bad that we can not guarantee good weather for the weekend, if we could the area would make much more money on the fesitve tradition.

Despite having the tail end of Hurricane Hanna belt us with over 100mm of rain on Saturday night and Sunday I think the Fiesta was still a success. Town was alive with people and shops were humming with the sound of cash registers and debit machines were empty due to the high volume of requested cash. Personally I had a blast Friday and I had to work. Friday morning we saw the balloons from our backyard and my son, in his bare feet and pj's, ran around in circles in the backyard exclaiming "I can see Mr. Peanuts hat daddy!" and asking "Can we watch the balloons tonight too?"

That evening we were priviliged to have some of the balloons take off right next to our house. My son was as high as the highest balloon and unfortunately my wife had to work. She booked Saturday and Sunday though so no worries??? We had a wonderful time Friday night, my son and I and some family that we visited later that night as the balloons flew over their house.

My wife was so dissappointed when the winds kept the balloons on the ground Saturday and Sunday. She wasted a weekend from work for nothing...but we did have fun Saturday as we spent the evening with friends and family who has all already agreed to get together and who needs balloons for a party? (Get it?)

Well I hope if you came to Town this weekend you enjoyed the Balloon Fiesta despite the limited supply of Balloons.

A bit of humble pie

I grew up being very competitive and was graced with a modest amount of athletic ability which allowed me to sometimes excel at some sports activities. I played hockey, baseball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and golf at some stage in my life. I also was a bit of a daredevil on my old BMX bike, much to my Mother's dismay and worry. I was often late coming home for supper after wandering to far up a nearby brook in search of trout, and from time to time I just wandered to far into the hills in the evening to make it back before dark like I was supposed to. All this youthful adventure has shaped me to become what I am today, which I like to think is a upstanding, outdoor oriented, environmentally conscious citizen.

After saying all this I have to point out that this youthful adventure (and sometimes misadventure) has had its drawbacks. I still feel young when I am out there doing my thing but lately my body has been telling me that I am getting older. My bumps and bruises no longer heal in a couple of days but rather now take a couple of weeks. When I wipeout on my mountain bike now it takes me a couple of minutes to get back on as opposed to a couple of seconds. Lately this reality has really been hitting home as I have struggled to recover from a wrist I broke this winter.

Recently I went on a mtn. bike trip where after a pretty solid collision with the rocky ground I had to eat some humble pie. I broke the de-railer on the bike and hobbled back to the trail head on foot. I don't know which hurt worse my pride or my arm. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a bit arrogant (the fact that I can state that here proves it) and therefore I had been confident about making this trip despite the fact I am relatively new to the sport. When I had to cut it very short, I was only about 3-4km into a 15km wilderness trail route, my pride took a kicking. But here is the funny thing. My body takes longer to heal now but my ego is just the opposite. Does that mean maybe, I am growing up?

My Mom would likely say "It's about time." But I don't know....I think I still have a few youthful adventures left in me before I settle into the endurance sports of triathalon and marathons. This may sound funny but seriously, alot of the things I've done in the past have been more rough and tumble than Tris and Maras and I think really training for the latter keep you in better shape maybe I'll make a lifestyle change. Oh to be older and wiser :)

Enjoy the new pics I've posted in honor of this weekends Balloon Fiesta in Sussex. I hope to see you in the woods.

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.

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.

A good tent is a good friend

There are camping or backpacking trips where your tent is like your best roommate on a bad week. When you are trapped for a full day in a tent due to bad weather you want to make sure you have a well designed tent, or great roommate. So what makes a great tent on a bad week? Like all good roommates, your tent knows when to give you space. A well designed tent has lots of headroom and a spacious vestibule for gear storage. This will make your bad day seem a bit brighter.

I had a roommate once who was great at weathering my occasional rainstorms. My tent should do the same. A bad day can get worse if; when you open your door the rain gets in on your sleeping bag; or when your temper heats the tent and you get enough condensation to soak your last pair of dry socks. My best tent breathes well. It regulates the interior temperature without a lot of effort on my part and this reduces the amount of moisture build up. Most importantly though, it just does not leak, even during the heaviest rains.

A seamless relationship between you and your roommate depends on how well you blend together. Again, a good tent needs well blended seams to be effective. Stitching is crucial in providing a durable, waterproof tent. Even better, would be no seams but then where would you put your poles? Strong stitching around your pole loops is important and light weight poles make that wet tent a bit more bearable when lugging it back to the trail head.

A good roommate knows when to cover for you just like a good tent has a tarp that provides that extra cover when you need it. I like a tent that has a full tarp with a large vestibule. The tarp should also have a large door for easy entry and exit this will also allow the tent to be aired out on warmer days. If you can tie your tarp out from the tent frame it will allow it to breathe better as well. I’m sure you have wished you could tie up a roommate once or twice on a bad day.

Now, I know your tent isn’t a roommate but rather a room. Trust me though, on a cold, rainy, day you will get more intimate with your tent than you wish. Like I said about boots, you need to know what your needs are when tenting. If you are a car camper, I would go with a larger, heavier tent. If you are a backpacker, then you need to strongly consider weight and may want to sacrifice space to minimize the weight you have to carry from campsite to campsite.

A tent also needs maintenance in order to keep you happy and live a long life, again a lot like a good roommate. It is important to dry your tent out and clean off the floor and tent walls after every trip. This will prevent build up of damaging fungus on the tent materials so that the tent can more readily withstand the next stretch of bad weather. It would be terrible if a pole snapped in a wind storm and ripped your tarp and let the rain in on your sleeping bag.

Rainy Day Blues??

As much as people often gripe about the rain, deep down we all have a deep appreciation of it. Most people now don't live in a metal roofed house, at least not here. Metal roofs are making a come back though and everyone will tell you they love the sound of rain on a tin roof. Me, I love the rain on my tent. It is a calming sound that often lulls me to sleep while I read the latest trail guide or bird id book. I don't even mind having to wander out of my tent to pee in the rain. I love the feel of cool drops on a dry thin t-shirt. The cold drops seem to touch my inner body and sooth the aches I developed through my long hike, and it seems to happen in slow motion. The smell of the rain on the ferns permeates everything around me and makes its way into my stuffy tent even. This scent of renewal even overpowers the smell of my sweaty socks which I have hanging in my gear loft and makes my tent more bearable. I battle to break camp and carry on my way as I just want to sit in this scene of serenity and literally soak it all in.

I finally pack up and start my day off in the constant drip of the woods. Each step takes on the rythym of the rain and before long I am singing in my head..."I'm singing in the rain, oh I'm singing in the rain..." On a day where most people are griping about the weather I am out here living it up and enjoying it. Rainy days like this prove to me that backpacking, and outdoor adventure takes a special mind set, and am I ever glad I'm crazy.

My picture this week was taken after a rainy day along the Fundy Footpath. When the sky cleared just before sundown it revealed a double rainbow extending straight up off the Bay. It was a surreal moment when the earth seemed right and all those worries of work, economics, and environmental struggle just faded away.

A tribute to spring blooms

I have been a bit slack on posting my pics of the week, so lucky you, I am gonna post two this week. If I am not careful I will soon be out of good pics to post or I'll accidently post a pic a second time. Or at least I'll pretend it was an accident :) You'd never know. Ha ha.

These pics are to celebrate the arrival of all the spring flowers. I took a stroll along a nearby creek here and found these last summer. In a little while we should be seeing these again. Since I am not a botanist I am not sure what the proper names of these wonderful plants are. I do know however, that they are a great addition to the landscape around the rivers as they added some vibrant eye catching color. Maybe some one can identify them for me. Enjoy the pics and hope to see you in the woods or on the water.

Well I seem to be in a bit of a mood to rant this morning so this could get a bit winded. I am not even sure exactly what it is I am upset about. I just have this feeling of uneasiness in my gut. This feeling usually appears after I have a discussion about self-sufficiency, gas rates, mining, and big industry. Why is it that big industry continues to win the political battles in the war on envrionmental degradation? Why does our government continue to roll over to big industry just for the sake of a dollar or two when in reality they could be making tens of dollars if they were to take a firmer stance?

We have moved to a global economy and this has meant a greater environmental impact and a greater gap between middle and upper class society. Is this healthy for anyone? Really someone tell me? Why do we have to buy a 2x4 from another country when we have hundreds of mills that make them in our own? Why is it cheaper for us to buy that 2x4 from somewhere else? Can someone explain this market to me? What impact is this having on the environment? A company cuts a log 2km from my door, ships it to a mill 200km away, the mill packages it and sends it to a HomeDepot 2000km away. I go to a building supply store 5 km up the road and buy 2x4s that were cut down 5000km away. WTF???? I just don't get it.

People really need to start educating themselves on environmental, social, and econoimic issues and letting their appropriate government officials know their opinions. We have to start putting the environmental and social aspects, before the economic ones.

Well that is my rant...I need a trip to the wilderness where I can just ignore all the issues. Then again that is not a good solution either. Ignorance is not bliss, but sometimes it is a nice vacation.