23 Aug 2023 – Days 16-20
Sat: Day16 zeroK/zeroM on the trail~2hrs driving from Gaudet’sByTheSea-Cavendish. Watched a brilliant performance – Gaslight@WatermarkTheatre/N.Rustico, charming&delightful place to visit. Delicious seafood dinner@OnTheDockEatery
Beautiful drive along the coast with miles&miles of ocean view which would have been part of the IslandWalk and probably the most scenic part of the IslandWalk despite the road-walk – fortunate to be able to drive this route with clear blue sky.
Nancy: PEI August 19 – We moved from Tignish on the North Cape to Cavendish in the central area – about a 2 hour drive. The car was almost as full as when we had 5! Cavendish is a shock – like a touristy beach town. So many people! Fun parks, water parks, many, many tourist traps. Thankfully, our motel is set back from the main road and very near a coastal national park. We had seen a flyer for the play “Gaslight” and purchased tickets to the Wstermark Theatre in North Rustico, a quaint town. We took a walk along the boardwalk then proceeded to the theatre. It was a great show! The term “gaslight” has been overused recently but the play that coined the term is quite dark and really explains the term. Only 4 actors but they did a wonderful job. It was a small, intimate setting. We were able to purchase alcoholic drinks and snacks. Dinner was on the pier and we again had great seafood selections. Lobster, oysters, fish tacos, and salmon for me. Afterwards, we drove along the shore which is actually part of the Island Walk (it would probably have been the best day of the Island Walk for about 6 miles). The lady who checked us in told us we should go to the fire pit and make new friends so that’s what I’m doing. Apparently, I missed the fox sighting. Beautiful weather today and we did get in a mile walk.
Karen:Traveled today from Gaudet to Cavendish/N Rustico so it was a fun zero day & back on the trail tomorrow
Sun: Day17~14+k/9m, ~5+hrs from Kensington-Emerald on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops&brunch. Finally got to see some old railway tracks@Kensington. Crossed paths with a fly-fisher who got himself a lovely rainbow trout on WilmotRiver and someone walking his 2dogs.
Karen&Nancy decided to go into the HauntedMansion while my preference was outside in the fresh air.
Nancy: PEI August 20- Kensington to Emerald Junction. What a beautiful day (although it did spit rain occasionally). The part of the Confederation Trail we completed today was in mostly wide open spaces, not a tree tunnel and the mosquitoes were not nearly as troublesome. I got to walk with short sleeves most of the day. Met a couple of talkative guys walking dogs and listened to the first few chapters of American Prometheus (about Oppenheimer). The book is very engaging. It’s interesting that he had such a liberal upbringing. He attended a high school that was very open minded and used the Socratic method to teach and discuss social issues such as race relations, social justice, environmental issues, etc. The book covers some mistreatment he received as a young boy at camp that I personally felt was intrusive into his life and could have been left out. He confided this event to a close friend who should have kept his secret. But otherwise, the book is quite good, although I’m totally lost when it starts discussing the quantum physics work he and others completed. After the hike, we ate at a pub in Kensington that is located in the old train station. Miss Wiggy and I then toured the Haunted Mansion. A huge, musty old house that had room after room of scary displays. We liked the kitchen best with the blood running faucet, bones and skeleton in the oven, baby in the pot on top of the stove, clanging pots and other staged items. Today, I got both a cool sunrise photo (half a rainbow) and a nice sunset picture.
I forgot potato facts yesterday..I have sort of mixed up my slides so I know some of the facts are repeated. Skip if you aren’t interested in potatoes. But PEI is all about potatoes!
Historians have established that the Spaniards were the first to bring the potato to Europe from Peru, in about 1550. The conquistadors discovered that potatoes were nutritious, heft well on long sea voyages, and were an effective measure against scurvy.
NEveRTHELEss, for hundreds of years,
it was believed that potatoes originated in Virginia and had been introduced into Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan courtier and adventurer. Raleigh was said to have brought the “Virginia potato”to England from the colony he sponsored on Roanoke Island.
-Virginia (now North Carolina) In fact, he never set foot in the colony which failed after ten months..
In an era when it was not unusual for at least half a ship’s crew to die from scurvy and malnutrition during extended sea voyages, the Spaniards discovered that the potato was the ideal shipboard food.
After observing how the native slaves in the silver mines were able to survive for long periods on a potato diet, the Spaniards were quick to realize the potato’s value.
BEING HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS and rich in vitamin C, two potatoes a day were enough to provide each sailor with his daily vitamin C requirement and so prevent scurvy. In addition, the tubers were easily stored and kept well in the cool, dark holds of the galleons.
ThE SPANIARDS in the colonies adopted the Inca name baba for the potato although this name was never adopted in Europe. The English word “potato” is derived from batata, the Caribbean Arawak Indian word for the sweet potato.
Though botanically unrelated, the sweet potato was confused with the potato by Europeans. The sweet potato was introduced into Europe more than 50 years before the potato, by Columbus after his famous voyage to the Caribbean in 1492
Mon: Day18~18k/11+m ~6hrs from Emerald-HunterRiver on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops&brunch on a drizzly hike crossing paths with trail-maintenance. Beautiful pastoral landscape and Beethoven6thSymphony on my mind.
GreenGablesHeritage – a 19th century farm and literary landmark in Cavendish and served as the setting for the Anne of GreenGables novels by LucyMaudMontgomery. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11370
Good fresh mussel dinner@TheLostAnchor/Cavendish
Nancy:PEI-18 km/9.2 miles, Emerald Junction to Hunter River. It rained a lot today and I don’t have many pictures from the trail. We passed 6 picnic tables, 12 or 13 benches, 2 bridges, 7 lady walkers (in groups of 2 or 3), a few bikers, 2 on ATV (not allowed), several maintenance folk, a horse ring, and many cows and crops. Afterwards, we visited the Green Gables Heritage site and learned a wealth of information about Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote Anne of Green Gables and many other books. She put PEI on the map as Anne of Green Gables is based on some of her experiences and her knowledge of the Island and is read worldwide. It has also been the subject of movies and tv shows, more recently a Netflix series called “Anne”. I loved these books and read them several times in my youth. Some of her quotes collected by the museum speak to her love of the outdoors and nature.
Montgomery found great comfort, peace, and inspiration in Prince Edward Island’s natural beauty. Her journals and novels are filled with detailed, loving descriptions of the Island’s forests and shores. When world events or personal challenges troubled her, a walk in the woods and fields around Cavendish restored her spirits. Montgomery’s sense of belonging to the land of her Island home endured after she moved to Ontario. She visited Prince Edward Island as often as she could, revelling in the Island’s uplifting beauty.
“This evening I went for a walk -all alone but not a lonely one. I am sometimes lonely in the house or when walking with uncongenial company but I have never known a moment’s loneliness in the woods and fields. I have rich, rare good company there”.
Karen: Catching up from the last 3 days with beautiful days on Sunday & today sandwiched with a rainy day on Monday.
Accommodations from 19-21Aug: ShiningWatersInglesideCottages/Cavendish
Tue: Day19~13+k/9+m 5hrs from HunterRiver-LoyalistRd on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops&brunch on beautiful warm day in perfect conditions. Crossed with more trail maintenance, a couple geocaching, literally a trail-angel and even a baby-snake!!
Learnt something new – Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a GlobalPositioningSystem/GPS receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, sounds fun, like treasure hunt.
Nancy:PEI- Day 19/August 22 – 9.3 miles according to my phone and watch. 12+km according to trail markers- does not compute. Oh well. Hunter River to Loyalist Rd. Great weather today and very few mosquitoes. At least 23 bikers passed me along the route but I know some of them were people who passed twice. Only 3 other walkers and they appeared to be a family walking a dog. A number of people were looking for geocaches. We are beginning to see a lot of trees down on the trail and especially near the cabin we are staying in – remnants of hurricane Fiona, I think. Our new cabin is rustic and comfortable and very near water.
Wed: Day20 ~14+k/9+m, 5+hrs LoyalistRd-York including rest stopss, long lunch and meeting with the same trail-maintenance person for 3consecutive days on the ConfederationTrail on another warm beautiful day.
a long yummy lunch stop@WinsloeFarmMarket
where all the produce there are from the own farm@NewGlasgow – their fresh CheeseBiscuits are to die for…
Nancy: PEI – Day 20/August23 – Loyalist Rd to York – 9.7 miles, appx 14 km. Good weather but very warm. Started at 57 degrees and ended at 70 degrees. Weather was similar to yesterday but today seemed much hotter. I think yesterday’s cumulus clouds provided more cover. We had wispy clouds today and this heated up the trail making our feet hot as well. Few mosquitos so that was a plus. The trail was busy – at least 23 bikers, 2 runners and 2 walkers passed. Lots of signs to read. The highlight was meeting Karen and Amy for lunch at a little shop that sold prepared meals and fresh cheddar biscuits. We split two chicken teriyaki with rice and 2 biscuits between us and went back after our hike to pick up dinner. A stop at the fresh veggie stand made our meal especially delicious.
Karen: Back on the confederation trail for 14k/8.7m and another stunningly beautiful day – really warmed up this afternoon but cool evenings & mornings.
Accommodations from 22-25Aug: TracadieCottagesQueensCounty/York
Day1-10 ~188k/116m+Day11-20 ~104k/65m=~292k/182m
To be edited and updated when energy permits…