Take a Hike with Paul Gaudet
Column 19Slippery slope turns into pure, giggly fun
Our stroll to the markets in Moncton and Dieppe a couple of weeks ago was most enjoyable and I hope I enticed at least a few people to patronizde our local producers of goods.
But this week with the sunny, albeit cool days it was time to go exploring along a coastline.
You never know what the ravages of winter have left behind, or perhaps uncovered along the shoreline.
A goog place for one of these spring excursions is Dennis beach along Route 915 about three-quarters of the way from Moncton to Fundy National Park.
To see everything there is to see there -- and to avoid drowning -- you must consider the tide and make sure it is out or preferably, on its way out.
There were none of us this day as we parked our vehicles at the end of the Dennis Beach road including Mark and Clare Lewis, a couple who recently immigrated to our area from England.
Mark is originally from South Africa and Clare is British. They have been here about a yaear and are both paramedics, each working in a different rural area of our region.
It is Often illuminating to see an old familiar spot through the eyes of people who are seeing it for the first time, so welcome to Clare, Mark and Calley, the couple's Samoyed.
We crossed Rte. 915 to go down to the beach.
There are two way to do this: one down a path to a small ravine, or the more direct route down a scary-looking and steep, gravelly slope. The less prudent among us decide to try the slippery slope which was pure giggly fun as it turned out; not dangerous at all as we dug our heels into the fine loose grave and bounded down to the beach.
Once on the beach we headed towards the red cliffs and sandstone formations of Red Rocks.
The temperature was brisk and the wind not insignificant, but the sun was shining and we warmed up nicely.
The tide was going out and the Bay of Chignecto waters were three different colours as the water close to shore changed from reddish brown, then sharply to an olive green and finally in to blue-gray as the water deepened.
We passed a rather intriguing staircase made of tires going up the steep bank to a place called ASHAK on the By.
'ASHAK' is pronouned 'a shack' but these are two nice cottages, available for ren...nice spot.
Approaching the red cliffs, we noticed all kinds of sensual shapes which turned out to also be smooth and sensous to the touch.
The cliffs are not super-high in this area. (The hishest ones about 30 metres or 100 feet.) But they sure are, if you will tolerate me getting a little Shirley McLainish on you, powerful.
Next we came to the remnants of a rather large old wharf and shipbuilding area in a small cove just before Red Rocks flattens out into the surprising, semi-circular Waterside Beach.
As most of you know, the coastline in this area -- indeed right up to Moncton -- was once the home of a number of shipbuilding enterprises in the 1800's and early 1900's.
Waterside beach is one of the nicest beaches in the Bay of Fundy system, but I want to tell you that (from past experience) the water is chilly for wading and downright cold for swimming.
We hiked on to the far end of the beach where we ran into a body of water called Newfoundland Creek which empties into the bay. There we stopped to have lunch.
After lunch there was a very brief discussion about crossing the creek and heading further on along the beach to Cape Enrage.
The decision was made not to continue because there was a fair bit of time-consuming 'bouldering' that would have to be done to get there and some people had to get back early.
I have gone on to Cape Enrage in the past so I will continue on with the narrative and tell you what it is all about.
It is worth it to approach the Cape from this direction (a whole new perspective and all that).
It is really easy to cross what essentially becomes an outflow over a sandbar; what amounts to walking in water up to your ankles, calves at most.
The hard sandy footing is great all the way to where the land juts out to a point characterized by a huge, V-shaped notch.
In order to get to the notch you must clamber over a series of large asymmetrical rocks for about 350 metresw or yards, if you prefer.
A great photo opportunity awaits you as you approach the notch, especially if there is someone with you to provide perspective by poking their head up from the other side.
When you have gone through the notch you are presented with the looming cliffs upon which the lighthouse sits at Cape Enrage.
before you do some more seaside bouldering into the driftwood-laden cove and beach, some may want to climb up (not easy) on to the grassy, sparsely treed island that makes up the seaward side of the notch.
It is a great spot to just lie down and soak up the sun and the sounds of the surf.
I cannot emphasize enough the need to be totally cognizant of the tides, because it is particularly easy to get stranded in this area. you must have your wits about you.
After looking for the perfect piece of driftwood you can go on up the hill (on the road) to the lighthouse and see what for many is one of the greatest vistas in all of Canada.
You can look for other lighthuses down and across the bay.
You can easily see the lighthouse at Grindstone Island to your far left.
Less clearly visible is the light at Cape Capstan which heralds the entrance to Apple River Bar -- across the bay to the right -- in Nova Scotia.
More difficult to see is the light at St. Martin's at West Quaco, up the coast in the opposite direction from Grindstone.
If you get bored with lighthouse searching, you can do down the brand new metal stairs to the shale beach, look for fossils and maybe catch some adventurers rappelling down the tall cliffs.
Do not forget to have a bite in the lightkeeperr's lunch room or check out the gift shop, which should both be up and running in time for tourist season.
Did I mention that if you hike all the way from Dennis Beach to Cape Enrage you should arrange to be picked up or else leave a vehicle at either end?
If you like coastal hikes, this one is a dandy.
As a final note, as interesting a diversion as last column's hiking to the markets was, I must say that I would rather be out in the wild.
Hiking in the hinterland is what it is all about.
