Pedaling the Park

We rested easy this morning waiting for the sun to warm the chilly air and allow the hungry mosquitoes to finish feeding. I went out on the porch to put together a blog post. I have to move fast before the Canadian internet throttles me down and makes it impossible to even get an answer on Google. We rode our bikes up to the kiosk and paid for another night then headed off on an exploratory adventure around the park. We did a loop out to the visitor’s center that began down by the amphitheater then followed the lagoon clockwise around Kouchibouguac National Park. But first PJ had to give another of her famous lectures on the circuit spreading love and hope to an anxious world.

Are there any questions?

Oh, me me! The crowd responds

We pedaled along through the spruce and firs past Kelly’s Beach and then stopped for a moment when we reached the open meadow at Callender’s. We were told this was a good place to put in the boards. It was an easy entry, but honestly a really boring area with not much to see along the shoreline. We had a look at the giant teepee then continued on through the forest going inland into the trees.

We crossed streams and through little valleys always keeping half an eye out for the ever elusive Canadian moose. Are they real or a myth like Bigfoot? Oh, you believe Bigfoot’s real? Sorry, didn’t mean to offend. The day was cool, but the sun slipped through in spots. We saw maybe 20 other people in twos and threes during the 3 hours we were pedaling around.

We reached the visitor’s center and I was kind of excited because I saw a cool sweatshirt in there yesterday that I had talked myself into buying since everything is 40% off. Not that I need any more clothes to haul around in our limited space. But the store was closed! Now, after Labor Day, only to be open on weekends. You snooze, well you know the saying. The worst part was we were looking forward to refilling our bottles with some caffeinated beverages but were relegated to the funky tasting water out of their tap.

We aired up the tires at the awesome little bike station by the cross country skiers hut. Then it was back on the trail for the homeward segment of the ride. We covered close to 35 kilometers in our foray stopping now and then to take in a view or explore a small side trail. Fantastic network of trails throughout the park. We’ve only seen a tiny sample.

Back at the RV, we released the hound then took a nap before getting up enough energy to cruise over to the laundry hut by Ryan’s rentals where they have internet. We sat out on a couple of Adirondack chairs and took care of some business and decided on some options for the upcoming direction of our travels. We had an unobstructed view of the river as we worked and it was calm and inviting. At least to me, PJ was a little skeptical about going for an evening paddle but her FOMO got the best of her. We raced back to camp for the paddles and gear then came back and launched off of the dock at Ryan’s.

First we paddled up the Kouchibouguac River into the woods and after about a half an hour we turned around since we knew we were getting a free ride on the incoming tide that we would have to compensate for it on the way back. We worked our way back out to the rivermouth past Ryan’s and towards the open lagoon. A few late arriving fishing boats were still straggling in to join the rest of the fleet docked across the river at the fish processing facility. We reached the outlet to the Northumbrian Sea where the sand bars became really shallow.

We turned and headed back into the golden sunset and let the current carry us back to the dock. We could lean on our paddles and coast as we watched the day end. We usually land our boards onto the shore so parking at the dock is a new skill we obviously need practice on. PJ unceremoniously hit the dock for a splash landing while I figured I’d just step off onto the dock only the board had other ideas and pulled away as I stepped, leaving me to bang my shin on the edge. But, we’ve got nothing but time to improve 😃. The mosquitoes were as fierce as I’ve ever had to deal with as we were carrying up the boards and loading them onto the car. It was a slaughter. We headed home for some nice hot showers and a hot dinner. Action packed day at Kouchibouguac.

PJ’s landing