We will be making this trip in a square back canoe. This isn't a portable canoe, it's solid fiberglass, very heavy, molded seats, square back.

My wife is disabled, & cannot help lift, load or move a boat. I have to move this beast myself.

1st photo isn't mine, it's a sample to show the size & weight before we begin.

My wife is sitting in front, we have a #fishing rod with us every time we go out on the ocean.

44°54'26.9"N 62°17'42.7"W
#WildIslands #Adventure #Ocean #Boating #Hiking

It's not without risk. We are two seniors, alone, in an isolated rural community. The likelihood we would see another boat is rare.
On the way out, we saw one guy go by. You have to know the area, there are rocks, ledges, places to run aground. A larger boat could not go where we go. That's part of the advantage we have. We only need 2 feet of water to pass over rocks or obstacles. Unmarked, of course.

#WildIslands #Adventure #Ocean #Boating #Hiking #Exploring

A better look at the island from Google Maps, If you are local, you can see this from the Number 7 highway at Harrigan Cove ( #Halifax )
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9155331,-62.2958808,787m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

It took us about 30 minutes to arrive. The boat doesn't travel very fast, with two people and an electric trolling motor.

It was hard and damaging to drag the boat onto the shore. I carry a few pieces of Plastic Pipe, to roll the boat up, because I have to do it alone.

#WildIslands #Adventure #Ocean #Boating #Hiking #Exploring

I sometimes worry, that someone might take our stuff, cut our boat free & leave us stranded.

I checked to see if there was any cellular signals out there, in case we got into trouble.

Leaving the boat here, seemed like the easiest place to get back off the shore, when the tide drops. We will be here all day, the boat will be high & dry; the rock ledges will be visible on low tide, we can't leave the same route on a different tide.

WE ARE NOT ALONE! #Deer

#WildIslands #Hiking #Exploring

All of #NovaScotia has amazing shorelines, some sandy, some with fascinating rock deposits.

As we move from the north end of the island, we cross an area called THE TURNIP PATCH, probably named for the turnip size boulders that have piled up in a big heap, on a narrow stretch between the end, and the main island portion.
Storms wash up debris, #FlotsamAndJetsam & driftwood
We discovered something else...
Heaps of Marine mammal bones!

#Rocks #Beach #Shoreline #WildIslands #Hiking #Exploring

On the seaward side, the waves on most days, come crashing ashore, but we'd find heaps of bones in between.
Seals are known to fight, and perhaps that's what caused deaths, or they come here to die?
I set a few bones on a rock to get a photo.
There's some pretty interesting stuff, on beaches, such as the blanket of irish moss and kelp at the water's edge.

Difficult walking here, my wife has a cane

#HarriganCove #Halifax #NovaScotia #Shoreline #Rocks #Beach #WildIslands #Hiking #Exploring

Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) is used as a thickening & gelling agent in foods and other products.

It is also used to clarify beverages such as beer.
https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/teach-me/pros-and-cons-of-sea-moss-irish-moss

When we were kids, we'd gather it to sell, it has health and nutritional benefits.

You'd break your neck if you stepped on this, it's extremely slippery.
Some interesting shapes and textures on #Driftwood;
I brought a big one home.

#Shoreline #IrishMoss #SeaMoss #Food #Health #Kelp #Beach #WildIslands #Exploring

If you follow my Island stories, you'll know that I clean beaches, and bring in debris for proper disposal.
You can see the Turnip patch wood and debris from Satellite

I really wanted this Navigational Buoy. They don't recapture them, they put up new ones, when storms tear them free. I knew where a RED and GREEN one were, on different beaches.
Port And Starboard gate-posts of a Sailor's Driveway, MINE!

#FlotsamAndJetsam #Shoreline #NavigationBuoy #Culvert #Beach #WildIslands #Exploring

We had barely made the main part of the island, before it got sunny (and warm) and I spotted that same boat we saw leaving the harbour, heading home. Easier to see the man now that it is sunny.

We haven't seen him, but that HUGE deer is nearby. I can tell by the fresh scat (deer poop)
He's probably watching us carefully and stepping behind a tree to hide from us, as we pass by. I looked really hard. Never saw him.

Walking is difficult now

#Shoreline #Beach #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

My wife could not get up a steep grade, so I stopped to take photos and let her stumble on ahead to catch up to her in a few minutes.

From my high point, I can see out to sea, other islands in the distance, and looking back to the left, you can see The Turnip Patch that we left earlier. It seems like forever, we're into about 3 hours now. It's a big island.

A seal follows us like a puppy dog, as we walk near it on the shoreline .

#Shoreline #Beach #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking #Seal

There were people living here once. I've been in contact with relatives of early settlers, asking me if I saw graves of their Great GrandFather on the island. Most likely, grown over and hidden.

We did discover a modern day camp. We gave it a wide berth. We don't want to be suspects in break-ins or vandalism. Most isolated camps have plenty of trail cams capturing wildlife and intruders.

We're just explorers.

I want that green buoy too!
#Field #cabin #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking #buoy

First settlers were the BAPTISTE families, hence the name of the island. On the mainland, they also owned land, far back from the shore. We also went there, to check for signs of graves, of the relatives who contacted me and asked. We're good that way, I'll do the legwork to help them find their genealogical roots. I do my own genealogy.

Explaining why this field exists, there were likely grazing animals once. Cows or sheep.

#History #Foundation #Settlers #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

It's mid-afternoon, and we're just reaching the woods. This island fools you. You think you can walk it in a short while but it's an all day adventure.

We've reached a summit, and the view is excellent, trees so dense you need to turn back several times to find an alternative route.

#Forest #Trees #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

I don't know about you, but these views take my breath away. You can go see Peggys Cove if you like, this is what I like to see. No tourists, nobody knows it but us.
(and 100 fishermen LOL)

Did you ever walk a shoreline so rugged? It's hard for an able body hiker, I had to pull my wife over some of these rocks, there was no way for her to reach or balance her cane.

The next page ( #thread ) will show more of the walking surface we navigated

#Forest #Trees #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

If you haven't already discovered?
I promote #NovaScotia wherever I go. You'll never see it all, you might as well just move here? Most of Ontario Canada has already done so, it seems. There's a dozen people I personally met, that did, in these small rural villages along the #EasternShore of #Halifax

Anyone living on the shoreline, probably has a boat of some type, livelihood in these parts comes from the sea. It's not farmland.

#Rock #RockFormations #Beach
#WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

PACK A LUNCH ALWAYS!

We stopped here for a bite to eat. Whenever we're going boating, the timeframe is unpredictable. Carry water, food, and a small emergency shelter kit. It's easy to get stranded alone.
#NovaScotia When Are You Coming To Visit? #WAYCTV ◄ follow that hashtag. It's for baiting #tourists .

Our seal took off when we were inland, now we have sea birds to watch as we eat lunch.
Then, back into woods.

#NovaScotia #EasternShore #Halifax #Beach #WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

Tried to run, Tried to hide...😎​
BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE ♪
Oh look, another small cove with a bit of a beach. The tide has dropped considerably. It's going to be hard to get the boat back in the water when we find it again.

Wouldn't you love to be here?
All by yourself, only seabirds and surf, no people, no pressure, at your own pace, EXPLORE! #WAYCTV ?

And then the rocks reappeared...
I'm getting tired & my wife is exhausted
#NovaScotia #Beach
#WildIslands #Exploring #Hiking

We have to clear a path, trees and obstacles ,and that green buoy I want. It's frustrating that I have to leave them here, there's no way to get them home. I've been trying to get two for 5 years. I know where 2 green ones washed up, but someone (or the sea) took my red one.

Back on the opposite side of the Field there was a big piece of driftwood. I wanted it. I had to bring back a smaller one instead 😢​
My wife testing the water temp.
She wants to swim.

#Beach #WildIslands #Exploring

The forest is too dense to shortcut the rough shoreline. We tried a few times to penetrate that tangled mess.

I'm still cleaning beaches and collecting trophies, I've set down my jacket, backpack and a small buoy that I could carry.

Neverending Beaches. A dozen small coves, one rocky, one sandy, one rocky, one sandy.
All day, we really underestimated this hike. #Exhausted

BTW, we've been back again since this, buoys were gone 😿​
#Beach #WildIslands #Exploring

LOOK AT THIS? #LOOK
On one island, there could be a dozen visitors, you'd never see each other, and never have to share a beach. The Turnip Patch is ahead. We've almost returned. ALMOST. Another hour? Maybe.

I'm sure we left the boat over there somewhere? I don't want to try to get home in the dark, we don't even have any lights.

It appears to be much further yet

I can see the mainland. The bridge is at Harrigan Cove

Not even close to the boat yet

#Exhausted #WildIslands #Exploring