Hello!

I haven't been here in awhile, as I've not lived in the Fundy area for around three years. I still go down to visit when I can, as it's my home. Alma is Spanish for soul, after all, so is it really surprising that I still go back to such a place full of beauty?

I have slowly found ways to discover things all over my province, not just in Alma and Fundy. There may be more forest and wildlife there, but in Moncton and the surrounding area, there is still so much to be found! I have created something completely different for that: it is a Tumblr blog called NB Finds. Anyone may submit to it with anything New Brunswick related they have found, be it events, photographs, videos, write-ups, shops... anything, as long as it's safe for work and New Brunswick-related, may go there. You can even plug your own New Brunswick-related blog, if you like!

Thanks to those who came to Fundy Blog during its short tenure. There wasn't much here but it was fun to make and write. I hope to see any of you who may have visited Fundy Blog over at NB Finds!

K.

Blogging by the bay, pt. 1

My walking partner (read: mother) and I decided to go to the beach one not-so-sunny day and take a look around. There is a rather vast beach along the Fundy coast . . . that same beach that yields the world-famous high (and low!) tides. Today was a very sunny and bright day, so I decided to walk out by myself to see what I could find as the tide went out. This is going to be part one of a continued series of posts about Alma's and Fundy's beaches and what you can find on them. In this one I'll cover . . .

Shells!

Alas I could not find a scallop shell on my beachwalks. Those are very common shells to find on the beaches of Alma, but not nearly as common as the mussel shell, shown here.

The mussel shell has a very pretty opalescent underside, shown in the second picture above. Sadly, this photograph doesn't do the shell proper justice! To give you a bit of an idea what it might look like in person, I played with the saturation and contrast of the photograph. I recommend doing your own beachcombing, however, because nothing compares to seeing the shells on their own!

Just look at all those colours that come through from something that looks like it's just white! I found another part of a shell earlier that had all these greens and pinks in it . . . it was beautiful. I didn't take a picture because I knew it certainly couldn't do justice; the details were much too fine. I wish I could have, though!

Here we have a crab's shell. I wasn't able to find a full exoskeleton, but here is a very good specimen of the crab's body.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what kind of shell this is, but it is fairly commonly found. I would assume it would normally belong to some sort of sea snail. More often than not, these shells are adopted by hermit crabs looking for a home.

Barnacles are odd little critters that will cling to just about anything that doesn't move around a whole lot. They're hard little white shells with little creatures in the middle that look kind of like a pair of lips. When water comes up to cover them, they can be found sticking their little feet out to look around for nutrients. Here is a picture of some barnacles on a mussel shell. They can also be found on boats, rocks, seaweed and other shells.

Finally, these little things are what I like to call "boat shells" because a little rowboat is exactly what they look like! To be perfectly honest, I've never seen one with the actual animal in it, so I don't know exactly what they look like. I can only assume they live in the little slipper portion.

I put two of them side by side to show you what they look like on top and on bottom.

I am missing a few of the shells frequently found on the Alma beach, but there they are for the most part. Over the next little while I'll continue to show you treasures and other pictures and information about the beaches of Fundy.

A brief post regarding the Canada Day weekend: the weather was miserable! Because of that (and the fact I was working the morning shift while any events were taking place), I don't have much news for you. However, all summer, interesting interpretive events are taking place in the park just about every night, as well as children's activities and of course hiking and bike trails, canoing and kayaking, swimming and sightseeing. Not to mention Fundy's golf course is top notch! Weather is meant to be beautiful according to the Weather Network until sometime next week, so if you're thinking about experiencing some Fundy magic, this week would be a great week to do it!

K.

Alma Celebration Days!

I haven't been able to get to a trail in the past week as my walking partner (my mom!) hasn't been feeling up to it, so instead I will bring you information on Alma Celebration Days this Sunday!

Alma Celebration Days are small, weekend-long events that take place every Canada Day long weekend. They differ depending on the year. If you want to visit a happening spot this Canada Day, then Alma is definitely the spot for you! This year, there are events going on starting Friday the 27th of June right on into Tuesday, July 1st: Canada Day! Thank goodness for an early weekend, I suppose, and a mid-week Canada Day, because that makes the festivities even more exciting! Here I have listed the contents of this year's Celebration Days booklet so you can know exactly what is going on and when! I hope you'll make the trip out to Alma next weekend, if you're handy enough, and stop by the Fundy General Store while you're at it! I'll certainly be there all weekend!

Without further ado, here are the events that will be happening!

Friday, June 27th

11:00 AM : Family Games, Picnic, and petting zoo. Bring your own picnic lunch. This will take place at the Alma Rink/Recreational Center.
1:00 PM : Fisherman demonstration at the Alma Wharf.
1:00-4:00 PM : Walk-in bingo in the upstairs of the Alma Activity Centre. All proceeds go to the Shepody Food Bank.
7:00 PM : Country Music Show, featuring the local talents of Louise Butland, the Weston Family, Charlie O'Hara, Doug & Juanita, Carol Ross, & more! This will take place in the upstairs of the Alma Activity Centre. Admission is $5.

Saturday, June 28th

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM : Mock jail at the Fundy General Store. Cost is $2 for 15 minutes. Lock up a friend or co-worker!
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM : Craft sale and flea market at the upstairs of the Alma Activity Centre.
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM : United Church bake sale at the Harbour View Market.
1:00 PM : Parade! Begins at the junction of Route 915 and Route 114. Ends at the Alma Activity Centre.
2:00 PM : BBQ and pony rides at the Alma Recreational Centre/Rink. Admission is $2 and proceeds go to the Alma Recreational Committee.
9:00 PM : Adult social evening with Mike's DJ at the Alma Activity Centre. Admission is $10. Tickets cannot be bought at the door and are only available at the Harbour View Market.

Sunday, June 29th

10:30 AM : Alma Baptist Church Service
11:00 AM : West River United Church service
1:00 PM : Demonstration at Butland's Seafood
2:00 PM : Gospel concert with potluck to follow in the upstairs of the Alma Activity Centre.
9:00 PM : Molly Kool Tribute Concert at Fundy National Park's outdoor theatre.

Monday, June 30th

10:00 AM : Cake walk in the downstairs of the Alma Activity Centre
11:30 AM : Demonstration at the Alma Lobster Shop
6:00 - 10:00 PM : Games night for the kids - free admission. A great way to make some local friends! Includes Wii games, Guitar Hero, Rockband and more! This will take place in the upstairs of the Alma Activity Centre. 6 - 8 PM for grades kindergarten - 5, and 8 - 10 PM for grades 6 - 12.

Tuesday, July 1st

10:00 AM : Historical Walk. Meet downstairs at the Alma Activity Centre.
11:15 AM : Blacksmith demonstration at Vista Ridge.
1:00 PM : Demonstration at Collins Lobster.
3:00 - 4:00 PM : Frog celebration and children's activites in Fundy National Park's Headquarters campground area.
7:30 PM : Concert in the Park with Aislin House and Canada Day cake at Fundy National Park's outdoor theatre!

If you want more information and plan to be in the area, pick up a booklet as featured on the right (please don't mind the terrible, blurry photograph . . . just so happens I am without a scanner at present! All the better reason for you to pick up your own copy!). You can find them at just about any local store or restaurant. Inside, there is a map of Alma to direct you just about anywhere you need to go. If you need further directions, the locals are generally very helpful and friendly so please feel free to ask one of us! Inside the booklets there is some more information on local shops and restaurants, as well as a coupon for Saprano's pizza (THE pizza place in Alma) and a lot of information on local historical figure, Molly Kool, North America's first female sea captain.

I hope to see lots of people this weekend at the Celebration Days, and hope you all have a great time! It's sure to be an eventful weekend!

K.

Sunday trail reviews - Dickson Falls

Dickson Falls is a popular trail in Fundy, known for its spectacular scenery. It's one of the shorter trails in the park and also one of the more scenic. I think I'll stop writing for a few minutes and let these pictures do the talking for me! This review won't be as in-depth as the last one as there is and was always only one way to do Dickson Falls!

After a particularly heavy rain, the falls are always larger. On a hot summer's day, their spray is very cool and refreshing. Just the sight of all the lush greenery in the area is enough to have you feeling cooled off, even if you aren't really. There are cave-like areas among the wooden stairs that drip water off bright green moss.

Here are a couple more pictures before I get to the trail specs. It's really better if you just go on the trail yourself!

Rating (out of five)

Trail - 4 and a half footprints. If only it were a little longer!

Difficulty - 3 and a half footprints. Lots of stairs and a few hills to walk up and down, but the trail is short, which makes up for it.

Length - less than 2 km, roughly a half an hour walk. Perfect for families!

Fruit flowers!

Everywhere you look in Fundy right now there are fruit flowers/blossoms of all different types. Others will slowly be coming in over the next few months, particularly wild raspberries and wild blackberries, but for now if you look carefully, you will be able to find the following:

Wild blueberry flowers


Wild strawberry flowers


Wild apple blossoms



Vibrant pink crabapple blossoms

While most of these are yet to be ready for eating, the other day I saw apple blossom petals falling from the trees. I was told that when apple blossoms fall from the trees, cedar waxwings, which are lovely and sleek brown birds that look akin to jays, will dive to catch the petals as they fall and eat them. Sadly I didn't manage to find any to take pictures of. Just goes to prove that although we can't eat the apples yet, there is always someone who will come to tidy up!

That's all I have to share for today, but I will have a trail review for you tomorrow - Dickson Falls - and I leave you for now with this picture of the first strawberry of the season! It's not very appetising, and the picture isn't very good, but here we are nevertheless!

Secret Spots of Fundy

I'm working on a little video project called Secret Spots of Fundy. In this I will be going to various out of the way spots in Fundy and in Alma - they're kind of "off the beaten path" so to speak. I don't know how many parts they'll be in but there will be quite a few of them. I've started filming them on my walking route and next time I'll head up to the park to get some vids there!

Here's a little teaser picture for you. I took this just today.


K.

Sunday trail reviews - Caribou Plain

Every Sunday I'm going to make an attempt to do a trail review of one of the many trails in the park, including photographs taken on that trail. This week's trail is Caribou Plain.

Caribou Plain is a bit of an oddity as a trail now, because its name doesn't really reflect what it is anymore. It used to be that a hiker could walk this trail and see a plain that felt somewhat like something from overseas; a hiker could forget he or she was even in Canada if they tried hard enough. Here are some shots of the actual plain to give you an idea.

It is called Caribou Plain because before they were extirpated - locally extinct - caribou could be found walking among that very plain. They got stuck in flark, which is like bog or swamp quicksand, and would starve to death from being unable to move. The name made sense when the boardwalk that led to the plain was still accessible, but now you can neither see the flark, the plain, nor where the caribou used to be. The old trail has been hidden from view to new hikers to the park, and a new trail that goes all the way around the lake in the center of the plain has replaced it. Originally, there was meant to be a lookout tower on top of one of the lookout points, but because of an apparent lack of funding, that project was ceased. Now we cannot see the plain at all because it is on the same level of ground as the lake. It is impossible to see any of the plain.




The billboards describing flark remain on the trail, but their placement no longer makes sense, either. You cannot see the flark so the billboards are misleading. There is no way to see where the caribou once got stuck. The view is nice enough, but there is nothing indicating an actual plain beyond the lake. If you didn't already know that the plain was there, you wouldn't know at all. To the right, you can see an image of what flark looks like. Very muddy!

In addition, there are a few forks in the path which become a bit confusing. There are no signs indicating where those paths lead. While it's fine for most to just travel along, coming out from one of the sidepaths can be disorienting; it's not always easy to see which way you should go to go down the path you were traveling before. One could easily backtrack by accident.

The new path is also very forest-y, and while that is nice, the trail is called Caribou Plain still. Unless, of course, by plain, they mean that the trail is rather plain. The first part of the trail is still quite scenic, with the pond that used to home a beaver dam, featured here on the right, and a small marshy area. However, here are a few photos of what you're missing from the old trail. These include the above photographs of the plain.


There are two ways to access the old trail. You have to look carefully, though, because the path is covered with branches that park staff placed there to misdirect. Here are a couple of photos to show you how to get there. The trail isn't completely cordoned off as a result and I would recommend you go there while you still can! I'm not sure if they plan on tearing up the old boardwalk or just letting it sink into the flark, but I recommend you exercise caution while walking the path regardless. The boardwalk hasn't been serviced in a long time. Look carefully at these two pictures. When you come to this section of the trail, go right. After getting past some initial "debris" you should find a path that will eventually lead to a boardwalk.

You can also enter the back way if going backwards. It looks similar, with a massive branch blocking the path.

It's very sad, to me, what has happened to this trail. I think the name should probably be changed to something else as Caribou Plain doesn't fit or make sense anymore. I understand it's for the sake of the flark and ecosystem of the area that the old trail is being blocked, but there are ways to still show the beauty of the plain without disrupting that ecosystem. There are several ways.

Rating (out of 5)
Old trail - 5 footprints - beautiful and atmospheric, with a unique view. One of my favorite trails.
New trail - 2 and a half footprints - no plain and too much forest. If it weren't for the former beaver pond at the front and the lake in the middle, this would be like any other walk in the woods.

Difficulty - 1 footprint. Recommended for people who like to walk without climbing hills or stairs. Very easy-going and relaxing.

Length - less than 4 km, roughly an hour's walk.