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Irving Nature Park:
Gooby.ca:
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Irving Nature Park, Saint John, NBTrail NotesTuesday, March 23, 2005I've walked the trail four times in the past week and all I can say is: "boy, that ice sure is slippery!". I haven't any new pictures to show as I've been walking lightly, bringing only a snack in my pocket. I'm off to the west coast in a few weeks (Saturna Island, BC) to work at Haggis Farm Bakery and won't be back in NB until late Fall. I guess I'll have to wait until '06 before I can enjoy the park in the Summer. On the bright side, I'll have new pictures from BC and the parts of Saturna Island I hadn't yet explored during my last stay there. Saturday, January 8, 2005
This is my first hike of the park when the trails have been snow-covered. It gave it a peaceful look, quite a departure from the muted greys and browns of the dormant forest. It did, however, present some hazard in the form of ice hidden under the snow. After many instances of almost landing on my rear, I finally succeeded in meeting the ground with my back. I got back up, brushed the snow off of myself, took a couple of steps and ended up on my back again. At this point I was laughing and cursing, scooping the snow out of my collar. I figured it would probably look hilarious to any observer, like a bit of slapstick. Fortunately, there were no more wipe-outs, only a few instances of doing a wild dance to keep from falling after a slip. I was the first person to walk parts of the trail after the last snowfall, although the Taylor Island Trail was fairly busy. I've been breaking in new boots for the past couple of weeks which has meant sore feet after these walks. My last pair of new boots were flawed to the point of being useless. I hope these new boots will at least take me through the next 6 months (the usual lifespan for my boots). Photos:
Sunday, January 2, 2005
I've been a little lazy over the holidays and didn't get out to walk the park much, or walk anywhere for that matter. Luckily, I didn't overindulge over the holidays and actually ate less than usual. I tried making up for some my slackitude today by doing the full circuit, about 30km, and cutting an hour off my usual round-trip time. I'll do the same thing on Tuesday. There wasn't very much that was noteworthy on the walk today other than the trail was pretty icy in places after the rain on the New Year's Eve and the subsequent freeze. I spotted a couple of partridges along the trail but nary a pear tree. It's getting more difficult to find subjects for photos on the trail. I only take photos of things that appear unusual now and the photo on the right is just that. The small fir tree had about a dozen wooden ornaments hanging from it plus two nearby trees also had an ornament. It was a lot more festive than the bag of dog poo I found hanging from a tree the last time around. Photos:
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
I haven't been to the park in two weeks as I opted to go to Rockwood Park last week to check on the condition of a hidden cave, in anticipation of re-exploring it. The last time I was at the Irving Nature Park I took about 50 photographs of the sandy cliffs along the beach. Unknown to me at the time was that the exposure setting on my digital camera had been set to a high value. This resulted in all the pictures being washed out by the brightness (the water of the Bay appeared nearly white.) I went back today to retake most of the shots from my previous trip, making sure that the exposure setting was at the correct value. The recent rains have soaked the layers of clay in the cliffs, producing a lot of contrast between differing layers. It'll probably make for great pictures around sunset but I didn't have time for that today. I had work waiting for me and could only walk the Sheldon Point trail, skipping the Taylor Island trail. 
It was a a bit nippy today, with the temperature hovering around -11°C when I headed off to the park (-18°C with the wind chill), but I simply added another layer and kept moving to stay warm. I've also confirmed that my new boots are waterproof by standing in the surf while taking some shots. The tide was fairly high today, with waves were almost reaching the base of the sandy cliffs. Most of the pictures I took didn't pass quality control but 9 of them managed to make it to the photo gallery. It's supposed to be sunny again next Saturday so I'll most likely be hiking the full circuit on that day. Photos:
Saturday, November 27, 2004
This is my second walk of the park since the last Trail Notes. The last outing was fairly unremarkable so there wasn't anything to write about. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the walk, just that there was nothing out of the ordinary to note. With the windy conditions we had a few days ago, the surge washed in plenty of trash onto the beach. I managed to fill about 4 grocery bags by the time I got to Taylor Island and also hauled a few larger items that I'd passed by on previous walks and deposited these next to the trash bins. While passing the end of the Sheldon Point Trail portion of the beach, I had a couple of small dogs decide to be my friends. They absolutely ignored their owner's commands, preferring to jump around my legs barking the whole time. I ended having to kneel down to pet the friendlier one and let her lick my face so its owner could come and retrieve them. Heading back, I stopped at the beach and took some video of the incoming waves simply because I love the sound of the surf and, especially, the unique sound the outgoing waves make as they pass over the gravel beds. Unfortunately, the video files are too large to make available on the site. The only other thing of note was the light on the beach at sunset. For about 5 minutes, it turned the sandy cliffs a deep coppery red while the rest of the beach was in shadow (see photo at right.) The rains we've had have soaked the clay in the cliffs and made possible this great show of color. Alas, it was over in about 5 minutes as the sun dipped below the horizon, only allowing me time to get a few shots. Photos:
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
My leg got better fairly quickly but I had to wait to get new boots before walking the park again. Unfortunately, it'll take some time to break in the new boots but I managed to repair the old ones well enough to use them today. I packed the busted air cushion with plastic wrap, which kept the heel from compressing too much while still giving some cushion. I walked my normal route, taking in the Sheldon Point Trail and the Taylor Island perimeter trail. The tide was fairly high, with the boardwalk almost fully surrounded by water. The trail itself was, for the most part, snow-covered which required a somewhat slower pace. I spent about six hours walking altogether today. The temperature was a bit on the cool side today, with a cold wind making it feel even colder. This is my first walk of the park in which I actually brought and used my fleece jacket instead of wearing just a t-shirt the whole way. I can't wait until we get a real accumulation of snow to dress everything up. 
I pretty much had the trail to myself today, encountering only one other person on the trail during my 4 1/2 hours in the park. It's really becoming more apparent that the days a getting quite short, with shadows stretching long on the beach by 3:30pm. I'm going to have to start my walks earlier in the day if I don't want to end up walking the trails in the dark (although it is dark by the time I arrive back home.) Now I need to get started breaking in the new boots so I can take advantage of their claimed waterproof-ness (this'll come in handy walking through snow.) I don't know if the process breaks in the boots or the feet wearing them. Oh well, the minor pain is well worth the enjoyment and appreciation of the outdoors. Photos:
Monday, November 8, 2004
My usual weekday for doing this hike is Tuesday but the skies cleared up in the late morning so I laced up my boots and headed to the park. The winds were a lot calmer than during my last outing on Saturday, which made things much more comfortable. I started out hiking the weaving route, running into Arthur Irving, et al, a couple of times and taking some snapshots of the scenery. Most of the pictures, as is usually the case, were discarded and the acceptable ones posted in the gallery. Just past the midpoint of the hike, as I was going to turn inland from the Bay side junction of the Heron and Seal Trails, I felt a sudden tightening in my left calf and then a popping sensation. It was, to say the least, quite surprising and painful. I think it was due to my trying to get a few more hikes out of my boots before replacing them. There's an air cushion in the heel of the boots, with the left one being punctured. This caused the left boot heel to compress further than normal and resulted in my left heel riding lower than the rest of my foot, as well as causing my left foot to pronate inwards. All this must have put a bit too much strain on my calf and it really let me know about it. 
I short-circuited the trail and walked the roadway to the park entrance and on down to Sand Cove Road. By the time I reached that point I was actually able to walk slowly on the leg without too much pain so I took the Sheldon Point Trail back to its trailhead. I walked the trail slowly, taking about twice my usual time, then walked the remaining 4km back home. As of this writing, my leg is beginning to ache and stiffen up and I'm pretty sure it'll feel much worse tomorrow. I guess that means at least the rest of the week without walking the trail and a new pair of boots before I do. Goodbye, old boots. Photos:
Saturday, November 6, 2004
As soon as I saw the sun was shining when I got up this morning I decided to walk the park to retake some photos in this more favourable light. I started off from home at 10:45am, arriving at the Sheldon Point trail at 11:30am for what I expected would be a full afternoon hike. The winds were fairly blustery once I got down to the beach but that meant some great surf shots (such as the photo on the left.) I decided to alter my route today in order to add a few more km's to the hike. Instead of doing the Taylor Island Perimeter Trail I weaved in and out, covering all the trails (except the Chickadee and Frog Trails.) I started on the marsh side of the Squirrel Trail and followed it until it crossed the park and got on the Seal Trail. I followed the Seal Trail on the Bay side until reaching the Deer Trail and headed back overland to the other side. From there, I continued on the Seal Trail up to the Heron Trail, where I again crossed overland. I looped around the peninsula on the Heron Trail and weaved in and out on the way back, covering the parts of the trails I missed and, in the process, doing the overland trails again. The map below probably makes more sense than my rambling description. Yellow is the inbound route, red is the outbound route. 
I noticed one of the foot bridges about halfway down the Seal Trail, on the marsh side, is broken. One of the boards that make up the bridge has broken in the middle. On the way back towards the Sheldon Point Trail I stopped and took quite a few shots of the pounding surf at Saint's Rest Beach, the best of which are in the Sheldon Pt./Taylor Is. Gallery. I managed to thoroughly soak my boots trying to take shots and having the water wash up over my feet. These hikers are on their last leg anyway, with very little tread left, so a little salt-water damage isn't consequential. They did, however, get me through the Rockies last September so I'll keep them in the closet for sentimental reasons :). Between walking the extended route, some backtracks, and getting from home to the trailhead and back, I managed to cover about 30km today. I ended up getting an interesting hairdo from the wind, as well as a good wind-burn. I think I'm now entitled to some ice cream tonight and a day of rest tomorrow. Photos:
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| Copyright ©2004 Stephane "Gooby" Theroux |