Before the storm

Thursday, May 22, 2025

I woke up around 5:30 AM and, besides the usual morning chores—brushing teeth, etc.—I was already set to go. I’d learned the previous day that people don’t start showing up on trails until at least 9:00, so I expected to be well underway by then. Aspy is on the English side of the island, and this was going to be a long drive over French Mountain and MacKenzie Mountain. There should be some nice lookouts along the way, but the sun was hiding a bit this morning, so I might not get so lucky.

The problem right now is everything is beautiful, everything is awe-inspiring, but nothing is photogenic—trees in the way, brush grown up, etc. Unlikely to be removed. I left the camp no later than 6:00 AM and started towards the trailhead, which is at Beulach Ban Falls.

Climbing the mountains always has me on high alert: I’m listening for noises, smelling for smells, watching my heat—but the Subaru just muscles through without complaint so far. I passed by a few of the shorter trails, like the bog trail—which I expect to return to probably on Saturday or Sunday, as I don’t want to push myself too hard and give myself a chance to rest a bit before heading to Fundy on Monday.

I also learned today that, yes, if you let the Subaru speed control manage your hill descent (assuming you have the original model like me), you will catch your brakes on fire. I started hearing alarming noises and smelling a strong chemical burning smell on the descent down MacKenzie, which is quite steep with several switchbacks. I pulled over at a snowplow turnaround at the bottom of the hill and, in the shade, saw my rotors were not the usual gray steel color but were starting to take on a slight blue. This is not good. Hardening would be bad. That’s what I get for buying those cheaper slotted ones from China. Full marks on the StopTech Pro pads, though—they did not catch on fire, but the heat coming off the whole unit was impressive.

Thankfully, the turnaround had a pleasant little waterfall, which I spent about 10 minutes shooting before continuing on. The rotors had returned to their usual gray, but maybe a bit darker. The trip to the trailhead had me second-guessing myself because it seemed longer than it should, partly due to several construction areas along the road. I did eventually make it after about an hour, up the dirt road to Beulach Ban Falls.

I spent some time trying to figure out whether I should do the trail first or get my falls pictures first and decided to do the falls first, considering the sun would come around and who knows how many people would be tromping around when I came out. This place has changed quite a bit—it used to be just a dirt road that ended in a couple of concrete barriers right before the river, and no outhouses or anything. Now, there’s a nice bridge over the river to the Aspy Trail, and two full-sized bathrooms.

The falls themselves look how I remember, so after getting in and wading a bit, I got some shots that I can be pleased with (I think) and headed out. The Aspy Trail is basically a road for the first 1.5 kilometers before becoming a road that goes up the side of the fault, then not much more than a sketchy goat path for the last 1.5-ish kilometers, ending unceremoniously at a sign that says “Trail End” and a red Adirondack chair.

This was a pretty rough one for me—I think most of the trail ended up being uphill, but I soldiered on, resting and snacking when I could. The reward of the chair was nice, and the view was nice too—but not particularly photogenic. In a bit of a risky move, I stood on top of the chair and took pictures over the brush, but it wasn’t very good. One of those places you had to go to appreciate. There were a few nice streams along the route, which also got some shots, but most of what I got from this trail when I got out around 12:00 was motion and, hopefully, health.

On the way back, I only met a woman with a couple of dogs (loose, of course) and a young couple that looked underprepared for the cold. Which I should mention was quite chilly, as there’s a wind warning today, and judging by the snow I saw along the way, this fault valley doesn’t get much sun and gets plenty of wind.

So now, with tomorrow planned to go to Egypt Falls, I had a bit of a sword hanging over my head. I decided I’d deal with it the most certain way without needing to buy hardware, tools, etc. I headed to the closest Canadian Tire—that was in Sydney, which is about two hours from here. But it was the only place I could be certain to find everything I needed. So off I went.

It was a sunny, beautiful day—again, not great for much other than tourist photos—and I was on a mission. I watched out the window as I followed the coast of Bras d'Or Lake, looking out and seeing the deep blue water. This lake is special, as it has a connection to the ocean but is mostly fed by the freshwater on the island, so there’s a lot of different species in it, making it a UNESCO special biosphere reserve.

I reached Sydney around 2:00 PM and stopped by A & K Lick-A-Chick for lunch. I’ll let you look that one up. I took my meal to Canadian Tire but then saw that there was a ferry loading to go to Newfoundland, so I found a spot nearby and watched. It isn’t as exciting as you might think, but watching cars drive into the front of a ship that swings down and still manages to seal is somewhat like watching a sea monster swallow a bunch of cars. I have to say, that was good food.

So I went back to the Canadian Tire and picked up some JB Weld, JB Weld fiberglass, a tarp, some extra short bungees, and some eyelets just in case. A two-hour drive later had me back at the campsite around 4:30 PM.

I see lots more people—unfortunately, I think the leaf blower man has a cousin; let's call him vacuum cleaner man. Why do you think that vacuuming the grass is a good idea? What is wrong with people? I also have a couple of young guys directly behind my site. They are... loud. Hopefully, they don’t go late into the night. They’ve already started a fire, so now that I have the tarp over top, I’m getting the draft and smoke blown into and under it. My roof fan, of course, blows in, so I can’t use it, and that’d just evacuate the smoke out the top and draw it in through my floor vent.

Anyhow, considering how well-fed I am, I’m just going to rest up and hit the hay around 7 or 8. The wind is already coming up; the new tarp is flapping in the wind even though I have it strapped down pretty well. Hopefully, this storm isn’t too bad, or tomorrow I might not be heading to Egypt Falls after all. It is supposed to hit in the afternoon, but like I said, there are already wind warnings, so it could come up fast or just miss us entirely.

I’m prepared either way. At least it isn’t a hurricane, like I was joking about before I left.