Perhaps my favorite place to hike – Indian Path Common. There aren’t a huge number of trails, such that I can usually hike 1/2 of them each time I go. The landscape is variable as the hike brings you through several microclimates – one minute smelling ocean air and then the next smelling the forest scents.
We branched out yesterday and went for a walk along the Adventure Trail – which is a rail trail between Bridgewater and Mahone Bay. There are so any rail trails in this province! Anyways, this was a nice walk but not one worth repeating. A couple times while walking we were passed by a series of ATVs and Dirt Bikes. The particular portion of the trail we were on is definitely well used for motorized traffic. There are enough other rail trail segments that are prettier and have less traffic that there is no need to try this one again.
Rissers Beach used to be one of my default places to walk. It is one of the closests beaches. However, it isn’t the best for dog walking – or more to the point – it isn’t the best place for me to allow Cali off leash to run after the ball.
As I walked through the park today, I explored both the campground and the beach. I was reminded of just how pretty Rissers it. It makes me understand why it is such a popular beach in the summer. When the Provincial Park is open, it is almost impossible to get a campsite. It is definitely a favourite for people who like to go to one place and stay there for a couple of weeks – which is, in part, why it is hard to get a campsite there. We did manage a mid-week site in June. We are looking forward to seeing what it is like when people are camping there.
For now, I will enjoy the park during the off season, when there are no tourists and mostly the people hanging out at the beach or walking their dogs are local.
Boxing? Yes boxing.
One of the recreation activities hosted by the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) is called multisport. It has typically been for kids. It exposes them to a bunch of a different sports – something different each week. I thought it was cool, so when a friend mentioned that they were doing a female multisport for adults I figured I would try it out. On Wednesday night I went to the first session – boxing.
I never imagined myself trying out boxing. I never imagined that I’d love it. I had a great time. I dislike the “fight” aspect of the sport, but all the other parts of the sport are fun. It was a great workout, both physically and mentally, and the people were a lot of fun. There was lots of laughter as well as lots of punching and moving around.
Today, I got out to the beach again – this time for a 4km walk. We went to Crescent Beach – a not-so-original name for a beach, as there are several different Crescent Beaches in Nova Scotia. This particular one is the closest beach for dog walking. With the day starting out rainy and cold, I had not thought I would make it out for a beach walk – but when I finished my marking at 4pm, and the sun came out, and the low tide wasn’t until 6pm, I figured why not. I’m so glad I did – it was a gorgeous evening walk with the sun shining and almost no breeze.
Sue and I walked 4pm. Cali ran about 7-8km. I think she will sleep well tonight 🙂
I didn’t have enough time between meetings today to get in the car and go someplace. Instead I decided to take my usual walk around the “Duck Pond” (officially called Town Pond) and turn that in an official walk. In order for it to count, it had to be at least 3 km, and the normal “long” walk is 2km, so I did an extra lap of the pond.
The pond brings a lot of entertainment at different times of year. There are, of course, the ducks – which I have trained Cali to ignore – ironically by giving her a duck treat if she ignores them. Then there are the turtles that enjoy basking in the sun, the shy mergansers that visit in the spring and fall, and the muskrats that swim and play in the pond.
The term “common” was new to me when I moved to Nova Scotia. Common is used to mean land that is owned by one of the governments – typically municipal – as the provincial lands are known as Crown Land. The common are often setup with hiking trails or other shared uses. There are two near us, River Ridge Common and Indian Path Common – both have trails that I love to hike on.
The low tides are too early and too late in the day at the moment, so hiking is a better option. The more established paths like River Ridge Common are less likely to have ticks, but at this time of year especially that is always a risk – so I put on long pants, long socks, and I spray my pants and ankles for a natural tick repellent spray. I don’t need to worry about Cali because she takes a tick medication, that if a tick bites her it kills the tick. Also, there is a Lyme disease vaccine for dogs, so she is vaccinated. If only they had one for humans!
Want to join my challenge? Leave a comment with your hikes/walks below.
Kicking off my summer challenge today, we went to Beach Meadows for a walk on the beach. The beach isn’t quite 1.5km long, so we needed to do a little more than one lap of the beach. It wasn’t the warmest of days, but it was still a beautiful day at the beach. Tourist seasons is fast approaching – so I’m not sure how much longer we will have these beaches mostly to ourselves. The one other person with a dog on the beach was visiting from Ontario, en route to spend her summer in Cape Breton.
In the feature image, you can see Scott teaching Cali how to fetch a ball. You’d think it was a bit of a theme – who else can I convince to fetch the ball for Cali?
My semester is about to end. With the end of this semester, I am off until the Fall. I don’t feel like I’ve had a summer off in years, although I don’t think I taught last summer! Anyways, this summer I have wanted to set myself a challenge – something that I could achieve but also something that would help me get out more.
I have decided that between May 1 – Aug 30, I am going to try to do 75 hikes / beach walks. These need to be at least 3 km (2 miles) in order to count. The distance may not seem like much but when you add in the bending over to pick up and throw the ball (for my dog) into the mix that equates to about an hours walk on the beach or through a forest trail.
Now that I have my darling puppy dog – she is so darn cute – had to share a photo.
Anyways, now that I have a dog, I walk regardless of the weather. I try to take her out 3 or 4 times per week to the beach or for a hike. She also gets at least 4 walks per day, at about 1km each. When my hubby is home and healthy, he helps, so I don’t do all the walking. We also send her to puppy daycare twice a week on average, where she gets to play with other small dogs and walks a lot and comes home exhausted. As the weather improves, I hope to get out more this summer.
With this summer challenge, I will plan to also write a quick blog update and share a photo or two of each walk/hike – as long as I remember to take a photo! The trails and beaches here feed me emotionally as well as physically. It will be interesting to see how they are transformed over the summer now that we are likely to have tourists again.
Sunday is May 1st, so I better start planning!
75 hikes/beach walks in 4 months. Anyone want to join me?
Feature image: My friend Sue and Cali running after the ball (or Sue trying to coax Cali into running).
When I’m out walking my dog, I find myself reflecting. I do this several times during the day. I reflect on how I’m feeling. I ask myself, am I happy? and lately the answer has been yes. I’m happy, I’m content.
What is interesting is this the type of reflection that some of my getting over cancer programs was trying to get at. The idea is living in the day and checking in each day. I didn’t get it. Now that I have a dog that needs to be walked several times a day, I get it.
Hitting the seven year mark really made a difference.
Moving back to Canada made a difference.
Spending time with my friends makes a difference.
Knowing that I don’t have to go to the beach alone, or go for a hike alone. I have multiple people I can call who often enjoy spending time out at the beach or as is the case for today out for a ski.
I got out for a 6km ski today. That might not sound impressive, but given that we don’t have groomed trails, it was pretty good. The weather was spectacular. My puppy dog follows along behind me or runs ahead, frolocking in the snow. It is such a joy to watch. A friend joined me, so we spent the entire time talking while skiing. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my afternoon.
I wanted to write this so that anyone reading my blog knows – it is possible to get back to that place of happiness.
