A genuine "Scotian Hiker" group hike.

There is a marvellous dude here in Nova Scotia who for six years has lead group hikes through various scenic areas of this lovely province for no other reason than to share his joy of hiking and his love of the place.   "Scotian Hiker" as he calls himself, has a web page with a link to a calendar of monthly hikes. Anyone who wants to, is welcome to tag along on a hike.  No need to sign up; just turn up.  For a couple of years I've been following S.H.'s antics on Facebook and have occasionally sought his advice on places to hike, but I'd never actually been on one of his hikes.  Timing and lack of motivation have stood in the way.

I am happy to report that (at last) I finally got off my duff, set the alarm, had an early breakfast, packed a lunch, and drove 110 km. across the province to join yesterday's hike along the Woodville Hiking Trail.
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I arrived at the parking area on Bligh Road late.  The hike was to start at 11 a.m. and when I parked my car I could just see the group of hikers at the top of the gravel road in the distance.  By the time I got my gear from the car, togged up in warm coat, mitts and ear muffs, put on my back pack and got Wendy from the car -- they were out of sight  !   

The trail begins with a loooong uphill slog and I was moving in double-time in an effort to even catch a glimpse of the group.  By the time I did catch up with them, they were resting by a lovely waterfall and I was huffing and puffing like a 3-pack-a-day-smoker -- and their rest stop was over.

 As you can see from the map (above), there were many choices of trails and it was lucky that our intrepid guide had a map.

 Occasionally we'd stop for a head count and to see where we were on the map.

 Guess where "Cabin Trail" led ?

 The cabin was old, sturdy and beautifully made with carved, interlocking wood corners and massive door hinges. 

 There were some soggy sections of trail and I quickly became aware of the benefit of having a walking pole to steady oneself on uncertain ground.

 We found this memorial stone next to a stone foundation

.  I wonder if Mr. Balsor ever lived here ?  

Later, we came across this BIG sign for "Picnic Table".   See the tiny sign for "Look Off".  

As a result, the  look off view came as a lovely surprise.   The picnic table was nothing to write home about..    ;-)

For some it was an irresistible "selfie with view behind us" photo op. 

And then we did more walking.

Overall we guessed that we walked 12-13 km on the whole hike.   Some of the dogs probably did twice that distance.

More walking ...

Finally back at the parking lot we said our "goodbyes", and spoke of looking forward to the next "Scotian Hiker" led hike. 

Sam gets a hug.

See you next time everyone and many thanks to Scotian Hiker for a marvellous outing.