Backpacking
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All About Black Bears
I Had Questions About Bears At least one. Last night while lying in bed, I asked my husband a question. “Listen”,I said “l know what to do when meeting a black bear, but what if I need to use bear spray and the wind is blowing towards me? ” I had no desire to be blinded by capsicum spray nor be a snack. I wasn’t really looking for an answer. Nor did I get one.But I decided today to look it up, just to satisfy my curiosity . I had idly wondered if one should somehow,someway wriggle themselves around so the wind was in a more favorable position – blowing…
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Winter Hiking Tips That Everyone Needs to Know
Being outside in winter is lovely, Maybe not for everyone but for me. Winter trails are beautiful and it can be a mood lifting experience to get out of the house. But it’s important to be prepared. Follow these winter hiking tips for a safe and enjoyable winter outing : Research the trail you are planning to hike. Alltrails has an extensive listing of trails and often reviews from recent hikers telling what trail conditions are like. Check it out at https://www.alltrails.com/ Along with hiker reviews, check things such as the length of the hike, elevation and trail conditions . Know and stay within your limits. Winter is no…
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Hiking the Pot Lake Loop Trail
Pot lake Loop is the shortest of 4 loops withing the Bluff Wilderness trail section. I love how Halifax Trails describes it as “taking 3-4+ hours-3 for exercise and 4 + at a photographer’s pace. Definitely a photographers pace for me. I do take lots of pictures …and lots of breaks! I have written about my travels and trials along the Bluff Wilderness trails a while ago. My son tried to talk me out of overnighting the first two loops of the trail because it was so rugged. The Bluff has 30 km of rugged trails. I went anyway. This time we decided on a day trip around the Pot …
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Packing Your Backpack
My first time backpacking was with a knowledgeable friend within the Bluff Wilderness System. I knew less than nothing. Her partner decided to unceremoniously dump my backpack out and proceeded to repack it for me. There is a system-who knew? Now, I’m going to tell you how I learned to fill my pack for the best weight distribution, ease of grabbing contents and less pressure on my back and shoulders. First grab a large garbage to line the inside of your backpack. Then: (1) My lightweight but warm sleeping bag squishes up really small in it’s compression sack-that goes in the bottom. Why? It cushions my lower back. If there…
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I Quit Cape Chignecto
Cape Chignecto was a goal, a dream, a Bucket List item. I wanted to see the Three Sisters from up high; to take a selfie with the sign on the cabin saying Carey’s Brook. In the end, I did neither of those things. What happened? January is the month that encourages you to plan,and to make and work steadily towards goals. I feel it was not for nothing that I stumbled across the phrase “ Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone.” I took that literally. I announced my decision to hike Cape Chignecto to all the world via Facebook. I inquired if anyone may be interested in…
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Clothing for a 4 Day Backpacking Trip
well, friends it’s been a while. I left you with a promise of returning last post and I just… disappeared for a while. Writing about what to bring and what to do to prepare of backpacking just made it so real for an instant. Scared me. Why? I can do this. It’s up to me how much it will hurt to do it ,but I can do this. I believe I promised a list of clothing and personal items I will be bringing. This is my own list and not scrounged ( but not plagiarized! ) from a website. This is for a 4 day 3 night backing trip to…
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Safety Gear for Backpacking Cape Chignecto
This week we are going to go over the safety gear to take on a backpacking trip (Cape Chignecto, I’m looking at you) Safety, safety, safety. If you are planning on the shortcut across the beach and/or accessing the beach anywhere along the trail-you will need awareness of the tide times. It’s best to do on the ebb tide-which means the tide has been full and it’s dropping- optimally no earlier than about 2 hours after is started going out.The Bay of Fundy takes no prisoners.. Please do not try to cross the beach to the trail head any later than 3 hours before high tide Bring a copy of the…
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Outfitting My Camp Kitchen
6Four short months form today, I hope we will be chilling in our bunkhouse after completing the arduous journey from Red Rocks. I’m not nervous yet, but I will be. And that’s ok. I’m going to be as prepared as I know to be and leave the rest to the Man upstairs. I’m not really afraid of wildlife. (Unless I come face to face with one) I’m not afraid of peeing in the woods-done it a thousand times. (I’m a country gal after all) I know I will need to be careful where I put my feet…since falling down seems to be a contact sport with me. Or of getting…
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My Planned Gear List for Cape Chignecto
Almost as important as starting to get in shape for a backpacking trip, is planning gear list. Backpacking is not cheap but I am trying to do it as economically as I can, at the same time getting quality. Here the humongous suggested gear list for Cape Chignecto straight from the mouth of Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Because of the looonnngg list I’m going to break it up into several posts. FYI, Because of Covid, MEC is not offering their gear rental option this year, but hope to in 2023. Too bad because that’s a way to try on backpacking with too much of an investment-in case you hate it guts.…
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What is Your Why -Cape Chignecto Hike
I did it! I booked nights at 3 bunkhouses along the Cape Chignecto Loop. Not as easy as it might seem-sort of like a puzzle to get consecutive available nights booked. Get two booked and the third is not available for the night you want..go back and start all over again. Some may ask why I would want to do such a crazy thing at my age. Certainly my husband does…often. What is my reason? My why?? I guess I want to prove I can do it – that ‘women’ of a certain age’ can do hard things -providing we aren’t foolish about it and are totally prepared and physically…
