Day 109: Sheet Harbour, NS -> Antigonish, NS

Date: Friday, September 1, 2023
Start: Sheet Harbour, NS (East River Campground)
End: Antigonish, NS (Whidden Campground)
Distance: 144km

I woke up to find that my tent was soaking wet.  It turns out that cold temperatures cause a lot of dew to fall...and when you sleep near the water, doubly so.  I got up and put on a few extra layers.  It was really cold!

When I stood up out of my tent I was greeted to a beautiful scene.  There was a heavy mist rising off the water and the moon was full and nearing the horizon as it set.  The grass was covered with droplets of water and all of them looked like diamonds as each one reflected the rising sun.  I went to take a picture but I had forgot to charge my phone and it had died overnight.  So you're going to have to settle for this picture I'm painting in your mind...

I knew it was going to take a while to dry the tent, so I ate breakfast and set the tent out to dry.  I spent some time on pumping up tires and oiling my chain.  I changed and did lots of little busy work as I waited for my phone to charge.  As I waited I enjoyed the nearby scenes of the river and the tiny boats that plodded up and down on their way out to sea.  At about 9:30am the sun was strong enough to really dry the tent and I started packing.  At about 10:15am I was ready to go and set off.  It was a later start, but everything was dry and ready to go!

I hit the road and passed a nearby school I'd considered camping behind last night.  I'm glad I decided against it...because today was the first day of school and the place was packed!  Oh what a story it would have made for those children, coming back to school to find some rambler camping in the playground!

The day was bright and warm.  The road rolled up and down as it followed the coast, and the smell of salt water and seaweed was everywhere.  I immediately noticed that there was a wind...a headwind...that also stirred up the water.  Each perturbation in the surface caused the sunlight to sparkle off the disturbed water.  The gulls and cormorants flew this way and that, and the occasional osprey would fly past on its way to hunt for fish.  It was another incredible East Coast day!

The goal for the day was Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia.  Once there I'd decide if I wanted to try to push to Antigonish, Nova Scotia.  Sherbrooke was about 85km and Antigonish was 140km.  That would be a long day and I was already feeling tired from the previous days ride.  I thought I might have to content myself with 85km for the day because I knew the road was going to be hilly.  I had completely forgot about the wind...

And the wind obliged!  Not in any kind of helpful way.  Just the opposite in fact.  I had to pedal down hill as well as up because the gusts would slow me even when I should have been coasting.  There were one or two times where I had to unclip my shoes from the pedals because a gust would hit me while I was on flat ground and slow me so much that I thought I might stop and topple over.  This was going to get tiresome if it kept up, but it was too early in the day for me to get very frustrated.  I popped in my earbuds and put on the best of Stan Rogers and continued to enjoy the views!

After about 30km I stopped for a snack of chocolate milk, a candy bar, and some chips.  Nothing but the best fuel for me!  In all honesty it was the best I could find in this tiny convenience store that still smelled like cigarette smoke inside since I'm confident it had been around from a time where that was allowed.  Outside I admired an El Camoino and wondered how much I'd have to pay to leave with it and be in St. John's tomorrow.  Such frivolous thoughts...

I continued down the road.  While rounding a bay and admiring the scene I noticed that I was about to hit another milestone.  Such enough, just the other side of Ecum Secum, Nova Scotia, I hit the 9000km mark!

These numbers feel so meaningless now.  I can't even rightly conceive of the time it has taken to bike it all.  The start of the trip back in May feels like a lifetime ago and as I tried to think about all the places I'd been I realized I could picture some of them but forgot their names.  It's all blurring together.  And while 9000km is a long way, I feel like I can't properly appreciate it even as I've now done it!  It is just a number, and the experiences are what count...but even those are starting to fade from meaning.

I passed more typical scenes of the East Coast.  Bays with islands in them, fishing boats at dock, a large ship dragged up on shore for reasons unknown.

After another 30km I reached Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia.  I was very happy for it.  This marked the third Sherbrooke I've visited on this trip.  I was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec and wanted to stop into Sherbrooke, PEI and Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia.  Now I've collected them all!

I rode into town and found a little bistro where I stopped for a bite to eat.  It was great!

I then stopped at the grocery store for some snacks and stood outside contemplating my next move.  People from the town walked into the store and regarded me suspiciously.  I certainly stood out with my bike and all the gear.  It was about 3:45 and I had 60km to go.  That could be done in 3 hours IF there weren't many hills and the wind cooperated.  I estimated probably 4 hours with whatever hills and winds there were.  That would get me to Antigonish by 7pm which was still early enough that there would be some sunlight.  I decided to head out.

As I rode out of Sherbrooke I realized a few things.  The first is that the forests were completely coniferous, all pines and spruces and none of them growing very large.  I guessed this was likely because the weather on the coast made it too difficult for deciduous trees to grow.  The ground was covered in mosses and lichens and it all reminded me of the scrub forests and muskeg of Northern Ontario.  The second thing I noticed was that I had not passed a single farm in almost a day.  There simply was no farmland in this area.  Again, I guessed this must be because of the climate and now also because the soil was not good enough.  This place must survive off of fishing and forestry alone, and fishing hasn't been good for a looooong time!

About 10km North of Sherbrooke I hit the first major climb.  It was about 2-3km uphill and winding.  Despite the fact that I was now going North rather than East as I was along the coast, the wind still found a way to be a headwind!  The long climb was grueling.  I was clearly re-entering the central areas of Nova Scotia, similar to the ones I'd had to scale from Pictou to Halifax.  On the other side I dropped down into a valley area and suddenly everything changed.  There were lakes.  And the trees went from scrawny pines and spruces to huge maples and oaks.  Where ever I was, the ecosystem had completely changed.  And it was beautiful!

About half way to Antigonish I passed Lochaber, a beautiful lake whose features were accentuated that much more by the setting Sun in golden hour.

As I went further I noticed a strange feature of the signs.  They appeared to be in two different languages.  The name would be in English on the top and then something else under it.  It didn't take long before I realized it was Gaelic.  I have a friend who was born and raised in Antigonish (HI MARK!) and I knew it had a strong Scottish and Irish character because of the people that immigrated here so long ago...but never suspected that the signs still carried those names and that language!

Something I've seen a lot of on this stretch of Nova Scotia is porcupines.  I've seen about 5 of them in the last day.  In trees, off the side of the road, in fields.  And as I rode I came right up to one standing on the side of the road and chewing something.  I stopped to take a picture of the cute little rascal and he slowly turned his back to me and raised his quills.  He/she wasn't feeling very photogenic...

Another change I immediately noticed was that farms starting showing up again.  For the first time in almost 200km the land seemed to be suitable enough to grow and graze.  The endless forests gave way to pastoral landscapes on the hills.

At around 6:45pm I reached the campground, which was located in downtown Antigonish.  Not sure how it managed that, but it was nice to have a place to stay that was so close to all kinds of amenities.  I pitched my tent, made supper, and went to shower.  I ate and contemplated what else I might do this evening.  Antigonish is home to St. Francis Xavier University, which is known for having strong undergraduate programs.  I've always wanted to see it and so decided to head out for a visit.  On my way there I texted a cousin who had attended St.FX who recommended I stop in at a local pizza joint called The Wheel for a slice.  I decided I was still hungry and stopped in with my laptop and wrote a blog post as I ate.  He was right, it was great!

I then walked over to St.FX to take a little night tour.  It was completely dark and the buildings were well lit, accentuating their academic architecture.  It was a beautiful campus.  Lots of space, large stately buildings, statues and gardens.  A real institution of higher learning!  Of course the first week of the new school year was about to begin, and so the campus was packed with first year undergraduates who were all semi-drunk and running around looking for their friends.  It was probably their first ever weekend of being free from their parents and adults on their own.  As annoyed as I was for all the yelling and cheering, I was happy for them to have one weekend of freedom before the reality of the next four years comes crashing down next week!

One of the buildings on campus was different from the style of the others.  Big letters on the front told me that this was the Mulroney Institute of Government.  Why is this notable?  Because it's named after a former Canadian Prime Minister.  Turns out he did his BA here.  But I was disappointed because if you rank the Prime Ministers in the way that I do - from Best to Mulroney - then they've clearly chosen one of our worst Prime Ministers as their patron.

I walked back to the campground.  It was Friday night and a band was playing music outside for the campers.  In fact as I walked by they were playing Barrett's Privateers by Stan Rogers.  A song whose chorus includes "How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now!" and I laughed at the idea that I might have stayed the night in Sherbrooke and not been in Antigonish to hear them sing it.  I returned to my tent and slipped off to sleep.