Getting to Know New Brunswick (Part 4 of 4)

Part 3/4 can be found here

Monday was New Brunswick day and to Celebrate we planned on conquering the highest elevation in the Province. 

We woke up in Inkerman and had way too much to eat at the bed and breakfast. There was just too much good stuff. Unique stuff too, that they insisted we tried long after we were full. I said one last goodbye to the puppies and we hit the road.

Retracing our drive from the previous night, we went passed Grande-Anse to Bathurst where the car was refueled. An hour and a half on a dreadful road later we arrived at Mount Carleton National Park. Last time I was here was the early spring when the park was closed, the roads covered in slush and we almost drove the car into a lake. A story I might try and blog here at a later date. But today was beautiful, and we set on towards the mountain. 

The first hour and a quarter of the hike followed a stream. It was mediocre terrain: not really insane but not a stroll in the park either. It was a gradual hike. A little background for those not familiar: Mount Carleton is the tallest mountain in New Brunswick however Mount Sagamook is just down the road and although ever so slightly smaller it is a much more challenging hike. Sagamook is the one we attempted in the spring. 

Anyway, about an hour and a half in we finally find a fork in the road: Easy route to summit, dangerous route to summit. I was happy to see Laura's enthusiasm for the difficult route matched mine and we headed right. 

What had been a gentle scale turned into a narrow path with rocks crowding both sides. No big deal. Pfft, if this is why this is the difficult way than this is a joke. 

It wasn't. We were out of the trees into a clearing where it became obvious that rocks with green circles lightly painted on them would be our only guide to the top. That being said, the view was starting to shape up. And the occasions where we would turn around to view our progress we got to marvel at the sights. 

                 

                 

                                

Thankfully it started raining as well. Which made us wet and the rocks slippery. It was actually pretty difficult, in a aerobic challenge kind of way, to get over these rocks. The worst part is when we got to the top, of what we thought was the mountain, we were greeted with this:

Despite what the picture suggests, we had to first navigate down and then back up. So close yet so far! You would think they could put a suspension bridge here no? Whatever. At least that hut is probably a McDonald's or something to get some food.

We took a break to bask in our misery, and continued on the final surge. It was no problem for us who had already conquered so much! Unfortunately the hut was not a fast food joint (wish this were the USA :( ). We had to rely on our own food for some re-energizing. We did however run into a special new Brunswick day promotion where we got a coupon for a free shirt.

At the end of this video you can see what we had to climb up

The way down was very easy, it was almost a walking trail. It was downhill and actually quite dull. At the bottom we went to find our t-shirts, I got a fluorescent green shirt and Laura chose a white one. We also went for a quick swim to wash off. There were no crabs in the lake so I even got in for a bit. 

On the drive home we encountered a messy messy storm. Laura kept pointing out the lightning to me, but true to form Lighting is quite fast and by the time she showed me where it was I had missed it. We stopped in Plaster Rock to get some food but the Power was out to the city. Lucky we didn't need gas (as most of the people at the Irving did) because we would have been spending another night away. Perth Andover had power but not really anywhere to eat. In the end I just snacked on whatever was remaining from our several grocery trips and Laura bought a sandwich. 

We got home at 9, and I am quite satisfied to say that I discovered a lot of New Brunswick. Worth it. Very happy about the vacation inside the province. 

Oh wait, some idiot also tried to take me off the road. So I am driving, like just past woodstock right, and  I am in the passing lane probably doing 120 or something reasonable. Anyway I notice that I am passing two cars and the first of which is probably doing 45 KM/H. The car behind him will have to hit the breaks and leave cruise control if I pass. So being the canadian citizen that I am I slow down to let him pull out and pass. But he doesn't do that. Umm ... okay, your call bro. So I speed up, hoping to pass both of them before he has to hit the breaks. So I am in the passing lane, the car doing 45 is still doing 45 and the other guy just has not noticed the speed of this car. He is literally about to drive through the guy. Absolute last minute he looks up and sees that gramps is right in front of him. OH SHIT, Swerves into the passing lane which is currently being occupied by me. I slam the breaks and swerve off the road and he narrowly misses the front of my car. I pass him a bit later and he still seems oblivious to everything. What a douchebag. Worst trip ever.