One Potato, Two potato ..

 

Saturday 27th September    Breakfasting on coffee and doughnuts in my tent at dawn - who needs Tim Horton's?

 

 

 Coming into potato land. This area is renowned for its potatoes, and this was taken riding through Florenceville, where global French fries and frozen foods company McCain was started up in 1957 by the four McCain brothers.

 

This hirsute gentleman was waiting for me on the trail - Brad McBrine who rode his horse from near Florenceville to North Bay, Ontario over twenty years ago.



Arrived around midday at our next stopover with Heather Salmon, husband Shaun and two cute kids Rowan and Willow, near Bath.  Heather has a small home business making cakes, and she was busy producing her next creation for a birthday party that afternoon, a very elaborate process involving preparation...

concentration......

titivation....

and finally DA-DAH.....

A fabulous evening view over the St John River valley from the hill behind the house

before feasting on green waffles and maple syrup...

 

Family photo, but Shaun looks very serious and Willow has gone to bed....

We don't cross the longest covered bridge in the world

Thursday 25th September.  Barb (and Rosie running ahead) accompany us on the start of our ride along the Trans Canada Trail to Woodstock, Barb well dressed for the occasion in her hunters orange, as it was the last day of the moose hunting season.

..and it was not long before we came across the gory evidence..

 The autumn colours on this isolated section of trail were stunning..

 ..though it was sad to see some of the destruction of the Acadian forest that has been taking place.

Unfortunately large companies such as JD Irving (known among other things for the famous chain of garages) that exploit these areas for wood, then spray these cleared areas with herbicides to prevent regrowth of less commercially viable hardwoods. This in turn has a knock on effect on the forest environment, as native fauna is not only effected by the chemicals used but by the resultant restriction of vegetation variety.
My hostess for the night near Woodstock was the public spirited Cindy Tozer, shown here with some of her many cats, twenty two at the last count!

This was not by design, but because of her generous nature.  Having inherited three cats on moving into her lovely property overlooking the St John river valley, people have kept dumping further felines on her doorstep. She feeds them all and has them neutered when she can - an expensive operation in Canada, unlike the UK where it is a free service. I had a hearty meal and a good night's sleep here while the horses roamed a large pasture.
It was a short walk down to rejoin the trail in the morning (Friday  26th September) - an idyllic section following up the bank of the St John river, utterly peaceful and beautiful.

 Posing in front of the longest covered bridge in the world at Hartland...

and it was slightly disappointing not to cross as the trail stayed on the east side of the river here, and I didn't have time to deviate. 

In the afternoon a young woman offered grazing by her house while we had a rest.  It turned out to be the cousin of Heather Salmon whom I was due to stay with!  Rather like Wales, "Mae pawb yn nabod pawb'  everyone seems to know or be related to everyone in this part of the world.

Late afternoon as we travel northwards up the St John river,..

 and eventually find a safe grassy spot to camp for the night...

 

The woman who thought her husband was a bear

This was a famous case in which an American woman on a hunting trip in Newfoundand shot and killed her husband claiming she mistook him for a bear.  The message of this story is that the short two-three day moose hunting season was due to start in the latter part of September, and I had received several warnings to wear 'hunters orange' when riding through the woods at this time. I had hoped to be over the hills to Woodstock by the time it commenced, but it looked increasingly likely that I might not entirely make it, as it was apparently scheduled to start on September 25th. But I made sure we were all kitted out with orange jackets.
At any rate it was a huge relief to be back enjoying the peace and beauty of the Trans Canada Trail the following morning Tuesday September23rd.   Along the St John river....

and up the Keswick river valley....

Lunch stop at Burtts Corner - this old building was once Cardigan Station ..

..and apparently there were quite a few people of Welsh descent living in the area, presumably originating from the Cardigan area of Wales.
From here the country began to become wilder, though we did not see any moose. The trail followed the rushing Keswick river for much of the way....

But though beautiful, the woods meant not much in the way of grazing, so after a long trudge I was happy to come across a large grassy clearing deep in the woods as the dusk fell.  No cell reception but a rather spooky gravestone overlooking the site...

We were untroubled by ghosts overnight, though in the morning I heard a distant shot - someone 'jumping the gun' perhaps?  Still no cell reception when we reached Milville at midday, but a helpful couple lent me their phone to warn my next hosts Barb and Neil Brown of my imminent arrival.  A friendly woman pressed two packets of seaweed on me (!) and happened to drop into the conversation that the moose hunting season had in fact started two days earlier as it had been extended to five days!   Ah well, we had managed to survive unscathed so far.
Further down the trail a lone figure clad in orange appeared - it was Barb come to meet me with dog Rosie.  Obligatory photo taken by Barb at a New Brunswick covered bridge - Lady fidgeting as usual.

The horses stayed in a paddock near the trail with friend Eileen, a school teacher with Barb's husband Neil, while I went on to Nortondale with Barb to see the cobs, have supper, and spend the night in a little outside cabin they have.

Neil with one of their home bred Welsh cob mares.

 

I am booked by the police.

Monday 22nd September was leaving Fredericton day, but first I took the truck over to the Mc Farlane's for safe keeping.  Cindy kindly followed me all the way along the main road to the Trans Canada Trail in Fredericton which I was very grateful for, and I set off through parks and residential areas.  It was getting late by the time I reached the outskirts of the town but there did not appear to be anywhere very suitable to overnight.  Reluctantly I started to set up camp on a grassy area with trees by a housing estate, but I had no sooner unloaded and pitched my tent than blue flashing lights appeared - a young policeman who did not really know what to do rather hesitantly got out his book. A more senior police officer had also turned up on the scene when my saviours arrived in the nick of time in the form of Sarah and Jason who kept horses up the road and were happy to take me in. I made a quick getaway, and ended up having one of those lovely unexpected evenings chatting over a glass of wine. Many thanks for the hospitality!

A Break in Fredericton

On Friday 19th September we continued the tedious plod along the Chipman-Fredericton road to arrive at Cindy McCloskey's Sterling Creek stables in Noonan, where we were to have a break for a couple of days while sorting out arrangements for the next leg.  Cindy gave me a quiet bedroom with en suite in the basement, and I could come and go as I liked - perfect.  First job was to fetch the truck from Spruce Hollow, and on Saturday I drove over to visit David and Marion MacFarlane, university friends of school friend Alison Metz whose help was so indispensable to me in Germany.  Marion and I had a very jolly day shopping in Fredericton for essentials such as French dictionaries and goose down jackets, and Marion threw in a trip to Boyce Farmers Market (here I am being tempted by the moose skin slippers)...

....and a pub lunch with French friends.  A relaxing non horsey day was rounded off by a convivial supper at home cooked by David....

...and enlivened by a bottle of wine.  As they have lived and travelled widely, we had plenty to talk about.

Sunday was spent catching up with blog, facebook and making arrangements. Cindy had been busy with a show on Saturday, but treated me to an early supper.

The McCloskeys at home..

 

 

I Spend the Night with two snakes.

Sunday 15th September and after considerable sorting out of the pack saddle baggage, the new team set off.  We took a back route to start with and Del baulked at the first puddle we came to, but then tackled them all without hesitation.   Our first real test was an unpleasant bridge with gaps between the planks, mainly with girders beneath, but open to the water at the sides - but I led the horses over one by one and they passed with flying colours.   Del waiting patiently for her turn...

  Along a fairly quiet road and Del seemed fine with the traffic that passed, and we stopped in a farmer's field for a lunch break and she took easily to the hobbles.

 Jeremy had arranged for me to stay with Ross and Paula MacFarlane overnight, and I had a comfortable and relaxing time at their lovely home.

 Paula used to run a stables and the horses were turned out in the riding arena with plenty of hay.

I hoped to cut across country to Chipman, so I was delighted when Paula contacted her daughter's father-in-law Sheldon, who lived down the road and knew the forest trails like the back of his hand.  Just as well I called in en route with him and wife Marg (who fed me gorgeous pie), as he was able to go over my intended route and point out tracks I had intended to use that were no longer functional.  Sheldon also kindly turned up later in the woods on his ATV to check I was on the right track.

Did not hang around here as I had no intention of being mistaken for bait ......

....but I did a lot of noisy and hopefully scary singing.  ' The bear went over the mountain' seemed most appropriate at the time.

 My camp site in a marshy spot deep in the woods...

I suspect it would have been mosquito city a couple of weeks earlier.

The following morning Monday 16th September we made our way to Chipman, encountering this river en route....

I was a little hesitant as I was unable to see the bottom on the far side, but having taken the precaution of putting my cell phone in my top pocket, we plunged in. Del strode across confidently, and in fact the water only came up to her chest

Great welcome in Chipman from Jenny Lemon and her partner Roger of Horse Haven stables, who gave me a cheery evening with supper, wine and a very comfortable sofa.  Many thanks!  Jenny (on the left with Lady) and friend Kristen with Del, ready to set off the next morning ....

Tucker the dog helps out with Lady....

After some consideration and a chat with Jenny's brother, I made a last minute decision not to ride across country to stay with Pam Allen at Durham Bridge. Although it would no doubt be wonderful countryside, I had come to realise that the dynamic nature of the forestry tracks on the ground did not match up with my maps. I had mislaid my GPS, and on top of it all I had been warned that there were still a lot of fallen trees from Hurricane Arthur blocking trails
So on Tuesday I rode along a back road to Minto.  I had seen on an ATV club website that there was an ATV track running parallel to the main Chipman-Fredericton road, but I soon found this was not to be. So it was a horrid tramp along the narrow verge of the road with trucks and lorries roaring past within inches. The only plus was that it was evident that the new member of the team Del was bombproof in traffic.
I was about to set up camp by the side of the garage at Allbrights Corner when Kyle, the young man who worked in the shop offered me the chance of a field of lush grass opposite, complete with apple tree to tether Lady.  Grandparents Brian and Irene Gillcash invited me in for supper.

 

 "Do you mind snakes?" Brian asked mysteriously, but all became clear when I was offered welcome use of a bedroom containing two snakes in tanks (...and no, I don't mind!) 

A curious room mate ....

My New Horse Arrives

I had been keeping an eye out for a second horse to alternate with Lady as a riding/pack horse, as she is really too small to cope with both me and my baggage.  Among other potential mounts, I had seen a pretty little paint mare on Facebook and Kijiji, but she was a little smaller than I ideally wanted and her price was outside my budget. However, when I came out to Canada in September she was still available and her price had been reduced to something I could consider.  After trying her out I decided to have her, and on Sunday 14th September owner Barb Thompson delivered her up to Spruce Hollow Corral.  Apache Delusion, or Del for short (appropriately Del means pretty in Welsh!) is a 14 year old 14.1hh registered tobiano paint mare who has bred a couple of foals and was being used as a lesson horse. Here she is making friends with Lady over the stable door.

Shandi's husband Jeremy came to the rescue earlier in the day when I realised I had left some of the cash to for her in the truck in Amherst. Jeremy kindly ran me down to the ATM in Moncton. This was particularly public spirited of him as he was off to a pulling competition with his pair of majestic Belgian draft horses Peanut and Butter.  Pulling competitions in New Brunswick are not some sort of speed dating, but knock out contests in which pairs of draft horses are asked to pull increasing weights for twelve feet.  Here is Jeremy tarting up Peanut, or is it Butter, for the fray...

Shandi arrived back from a successful trip to a Western show later that afternoon, and I was able to cadge a lift from a fellow competitor to Amherst to fetch the truck which contained all my packing equipment.