2013: Post 49 – Close to home paddle

It's been two weeks since I have paddled.  Last weekend my forearm and elbow were still sore, and I had a bit of a cold/flu.  And since we did the three day camping trip the prior weekend (see previous post) I did not mind too much taking a weekend off from paddling. The rest did me good.

But I did kind of miss being on the water though, so I did some other kayak-related things. I finished carving my cedar Greenland paddle, tech-washed my drysuit, vacuumed the sand and dirt out of North Cape Jenny, and a few other odds and ends.  I admit that I did spend a bit of time sitting in my shed with my kayaks but I don't think I talked to them out loud... I must have been using my inside voice because nobody showed up with one of those long-sleeved white jackets.  Anyway...

Tony suggested a paddle out of St. Philips for today and that was just fine with me.  He sent an e-mail out and I was surprised when nearly everybody on the list replied saying they were interested.  So ten of us showed up this morning and off we went...

First, there was the gathering at the slipway in St. Philips..

Then there was the paddling...

And then there was the lounging around in the warm sun back at St. Philips...

Thanks to Hazen, Pete, Greg, Tony, Gary, Chris, Derrick, Neville, and Sean for another fun paddle day.

2013: Post 48 – Return to Gulch Pond

A couple years ago a few of us paddled to Gulch Pond in Placentia Bay for an overnight trip (see 2011: Post 35 - A night at Gulch Pond).  Tony had not been on that particular trip so I suggested Gulch Pond for our Thanksgiving  weekend camping trip.  He sent out the e-mail and we had half a dozen good paddling buddies signed up.  All we had to do was wait for the weekend to come and hope for good decent weather.


Day One

One member of our group suggested we meet at 7 am Saturday morning.  That meant I was at Tony's around 6:30 am to pick him up.  One of us commented that this was the first morning we had ever meet to go paddling while it was still dark...   

We met the rest of our crew (Brian, Peter, Neville, and Hazen) at the TCH Irving and off we went for a two hour drive to Garden Cove where we packed in the gear and used the slipway as our put-in spot.

The tide was down so launching was a little tricky.  

After all hands were on the water we set off, paddling the channel on the west side of Sound Island and the Woody Islands...

... until we reached La Plante Cove where we stopped for lunch.

   

We continued down the shoreline after lunch, passing Bar Haven Island to our left, until we reached the entrance to Gulch Pond.  We had arrived while the tide was flooding and we rode the current into the salt water pond to the campsite.

There were moose dropping around the site so Brian used his Euro paddle for one of its intended purposes...

We set up the tents... 

... and then collected wood for the fire... 

We lounged around in the sunny and cool fall afternoon waiting to get a bed of coals built up for our supper BBQ.

Hazen decided to make a round of Irish coffee while we waited for the wood to burn down.

Finally we had enough coals and the steaks went on the grill.

Our stomachs were well fed, and then dishes were cleaned up.  Then there was nothing much left to do but build up the fire against the cool evening, and have a few drinks to stay warm.

Some of us had a couple drinks too many, myself included... but we had a good time and some good laughs before turning in to our frosted over tents...


Day Two

The night was chilly, but I stayed snug and warm in my down sleeping bag.  The underside of my tent fly was covered with frost; frozen condensation I guessed.  When I crawled out of my tent it was covered with frost, as was everybody else's...

The kayaks were frosted over as well...  

But it was a beautiful, crisp autumn morning at Gulch Pond...

Brian had gone to the remain's of last night's fire and there was enough embers to coax it to life with a little more wood.  The warmth it provided was greatly appreciated in the coolness of the morning.  We took our time having breakfast.

Brian, Tony, Neville, Hazen, and I decided we would paddle to Bar Haven Island, and make our way as far as the community of Bar Haven.  Peter was not feeling well the day before and decided to stay at camp for the day.  

So the five of us geared up and got on the water, paddled around the perimeter of Gulch Pond for a look, and then let the ebb tide carry us out of the saltwater pond.  

We crossed over to southern end of Bar Haven Island, and then took out on the beach in Back Cove for a little look around.

We paddled the few kilometres up the coast of the island, rounded West Point, and headed to the beach at the little cabin community of Western Cove...

...where we took out for a look around and then decided it was a good spot to have lunch.

After lunch we paddled across Western Cove to the community of Bar Haven, seen in the distance in the picture below...

Myself and Hazen had been here before, but it was new territory for the other guys.

We talked to some of the locals who were there for the weekend; one of the fellows told us it had dropped down to -4 deg Celsius the previous night!  We were told that turkey supper would be ready at 5:30 and we were welcome to stay.  

Unfortunately that would have meant we would be late getting back to the campsite (darkness would come before 7 pm), and we wanted to make a stop at Ship Island to check out a beach that we could see from Gulch Pond.  So we walked back to the kayaks and said good-bye and carried on, crossing from the end of Bar Haven Island to the north end of Ship Island.

At Ship island we took out on the beach and walked around, checking things out.

From there it was just a short crossing back to Gulch Pond.  The sun had done its work while we were away, erasing the morning's frost.  

Peter boiled some water and offered everybody a mug of hot chocolate, which warmed us from the inside after the cool days paddle.

We had our supper (although not as hearty as the previous day's supper) and straightened things up.  We then collected some wood for the night's fire.

We had a few drinks (one decided he had had enough the previous night) and built up the fire to provide some warmth against the night's chill.


Day Three

I slept a little better than the night before.  But somewhere along the way of trying to fall asleep, I think may have been half in dreamland... I was looking up at the roof of my tent and I could swear I could see light flickering on it. As I was watching it I thought I could hear what sounded like fire crackling... 

Tony's tent was closest to mine and he had warmed up a rock by the fire and put it in the foot of his sleeping bag to keep his feet warm. The thought came into my half-awake mind that perhaps the rock had been too hot and had sent his tent up in flames!!!  I sat upright, trying to come fully awake, and just had to stick my head out of my tent entrance to make sure ol' Tony hadn't done himself in with his hot rock foot warmer....

Well, all was fine.  The coolness of the night brought me back to my full senses... and boy was it a nice clear night and the sky was star-filled.  I zipped my tent up and lay back down, chuckling at myself.  It took me a while to get back to dreamland...    

I was awake shortly after 5 am.  It wouldn't be light for almost another two hours.  I tried to sleep but began thinking about the last couple days of our trip.  Then I was thinking that this was likely the last camping trip for this year. I began thinking about Peter's take-down buck saw (I believe it is the Trail Blazer Camp Saw)... nice and compact to pack in the kayak... maybe I would order one when I got home... my mind kept active for a while.  I knew I would not be getting back to sleep.  Time to start moving.  So I started gathering up my gear inside the tent, making it ready to pack into the kayak.

I thought I heard Tony coming to life...  I had another chuckle at thinking he had BBQ'd himself with his rock...  I crawled out of my tent and began to pack up, then took down my tent...

The other guys were coming to life too.  Before long people were having breakfast and packing up gear.

It was a chilly morning, although not as cold as the previous morning, but Jenny still had a good covering of frost...

I was ready to go so I got on the water and paddled around Gulch Pond a little to warm up while the other guys finished getting ready.  We paddled up the channel as far as Haddock Cove and then crossed over to Bar Haven Island , then took out at Carroll Point for a look around.  From there we crossed over to Woody Island and followed it on the east side until we came to Back Cove...

... where we had our lunch on the sandy beach.

Then Tony suggested we go look at a house built by a fellow named Randy Lieb.  I googled his name and found a little information... check out this link and this link...

I have to say that seeing this house was a highlight on this trip for me.  When I has here a couple years ago I paddled past Back Cove and had no idea it was here!

Anyway, here's a few pics of this very interesting house...

By the way, that tree you see in the picture above is actually growing up out of the earthen roof!!!

From Back Cove we paddled over to Sound Island and carried on up the east side.  When we turned our bows at Brimstone point we were paddling into a bit of wind; not strong enough to hold a paddler back, but just enough to make me wish this paddle was done.  

I had a sore forearm the previous couple weeks and had fallen and banged my elbow on my sore arm during the paddle the week before.  My neck and shoulder muscles were aching (same side) from paddling the last few days, and I was lacking some sleep from the last couple nights.  I know, I know, play the violin music... But it's funny how these little aches and pains seem to really aggravate the closer you get to the take-out...

Anyway, it was mid-afternoon when we arrived back at the slipway in Garden Cove.  The tide was up so it was a simple matter to just run the bow up on the seaweed covered end of the slipway and hop out.

Then the chore ensued of unloading the gear out of the kayaks and packing it all into the cars for the drive home.

We stopped at a coffee shop once we got back on the highway...

Well, what else is there to say.  The weather was great, the company was excellent.  We had a really good supper meal on Saturday, a couple of fine campfires, a few drinks, and some good laughs... 

Thanks to Brian, Neville, Peter, Tony, and Hazen for another fun-filled camping trip...