J & A's Adventure

After a week in Halifax, we decided it was time to do what we love doing the most together: go for a hike. Everything in Nova Scotia is close, and we were amazed by with the number of trails that were within a one hour’s drive.

Initially we settled with a couple of spots near Duncan’s Cove. They were a good distance, and there was even a lighthouse at the end of one. So, we loaded up snacks and water and made the trek out to the trailhead. It wasn’t long on the trail before we had to turn back, maybe 200 metres. The trail was overrun with water, and we didn’t have the proper footwear to venture any further.

We got back to our car and pulled out our phones to find another spot, which led us to Herring Cove. It was on the way back to Halifax so we figured if we can’t go far on this trail there was no time lost on the way back home.

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The trail is located on top of a series of bluffs that follow the coastline. We parked our car in the parking lot next to the trailhead and headed out in the rain to see how far we could get on this attempt. Luckily, this was a much better pick for the weather we were experiencing. The natural slope of the bluffs kept water from pooling on the path and made for a much more manageable hiking experience, and we could even wander off the path as it opened up to the cliffs around us getting to choose our own way.

Waves were pummeling the shores below us and with each swell the water would rise in some spots upwards of 10 feet. We were sure to keep a healthy distance from where the water was climbing up the cliff by making note of where the rocks darkened in colour. The last thing that we would want to do here was slip down to the rocks and water below us. So, from a distance, I watched waves grow and dissipate against the shore thinking about what it would be like to be caught in a small boat in the middle of everything I was witnessing.

Growing up, I spent most of my summers at large shallow lake on the prairies. Most days in the summer were calm enough to go boating, usually tubing or wake boarding. Even on the windy days there was never a fear for your life on the lake. At the worst it was a nuisance because you were getting sloshed around and thrown off a tube as you ran into each wave. From my vantage point some 30 feet above the water I was both mesmerized and terrified as I watched each wave crash with more force than I have experienced on a lake some 4000 KM away.

We continued on our way along the shore going a bit deeper in land and having to cross some mossy snow-covered ground before we emerged at the end of the trail. The end of the trail was not very conclusive, and it felt like we could have traveled further, but we decided to make this our end point and pulled out the snacks we stored in our backpacks.

As we sat on the rocks around us, we continued to gaze out in the endless water, still in awe that just a couple of weeks ago we were gazing out into the endless fields of Southern Manitoba.

It’s one thing to explore a new city and be amazed by the different design choices that different groups of humans made, but staring out into an unfamiliar natural setting really puts into perspective how big and varied this world truly is.