Date of hike: 2016/08/26 - 2016/08/28
In this post, I will discuss a backcountry trip to the camps at Foster Brook and Goose River in Fundy National Park.
Yes, I know, this is the third post about Fundy National Park on the blog. This is supposed to be a blog about trails all over the Maritimes and beyond. Believe you me, there are plenty of posts coming about plenty of places. But Fundy happens to be my favourite hiking destination in the whole wide world, so bear with me.
Earlier in the spring, Dale and I hiked through the Foster Brook trail and examined its features and, more importantly, its backcountry campsites. We had been wanting to camp in the backcountry of Fundy for years, and we had been backcountry camping a couple of times, so we decided to go to Fundy and do a weekend trip that would take us to Foster Brook the first night, and Goose River the second. The crew consisted of Dale, Jeremie, myself, and a friend of ours whom we had invited to join us for one of our summer trips. We had planned three trips and invited him to join us on any that were convenient for him. He said that the Fundy backcountry trip was the most convenient for him; however, in a sense, he later ate his words. He was a city slicker from Brampton, Ontario, who had never been on a proper hike or camping trip in his life, and he was about to embark on the most strenuous hiking and camping trip that any one of us had ever attempted. We mentioned this to the lady in the visitor centre when we were checking in, and she said, "You guys are so mean!", to which I chuckled. Her statement proved true in the end.
After we checked in, we drove to the Foster Brook trailhead. (The trail and campsites are discussed in greater detail in the previous post.) After strapping on our gear and taking a few obligatory trailhead photos, we set out.
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Dale fooling around on the trailhead sign. |
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Myself hangin' out at the trailhead! |
We climbed the initial hill and continued up the trail to the main downhill slope. The first while was uneventful, except for the fact that our packs became uncomfortable, and needed adjustment. Our novice friend needed frequent breaks, as well. We descended the hill and reached the river just as the last glimmers of twilight faded away. From this point onward, we used flashlights to navigate the trail; since the trail is well marked and well maintained, this was not a terribly difficult task.
Eventually, we reached the campsites. By this point, it was completely dark; setting up camp in the dark was challenging. We set up the tents, and then went about preparing supper, which consisted of hot dogs and baked beans, which, I can now say from experience, I do not recommend as backcountry food. We spent the evening talking, stargazing from the river bank, and trying to rig up a bear rope for our garbage. A large, nearly horizontal tree served the latter purpose. Later, we took turns going up to the outhouse, and then we called it a night.
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Hmm...do the ecologists and wardens at Fundy National Park know about these rather intimidating, um...creatures roaming about the Point Wolfe River valley? |
I woke up and stepped out of our tent in the middle of the night and looked up at the celestial dome. By now, the stars had come out very clearly, and the display was stunning. Fundy National Park is one of Parks Canada's Dark Sky Preserves. In these areas, very little artificial lighting is installed so as to minimize light pollution, so that the night sky might appear similar to how it did centuries ago.
In the morning, we awoke to a beautiful, sunny sky, green trees, and a crystal-clear babbling river just metres from our campsite. Well, actually, we awoke to our friend's music. As I lay awake in the tent, I heard his phone start singing; "Oh, ho, ho, it's magic, you kno-o-ow, never believe it's not so!" He figured that it was best to wake me up with the song, as he feared that if he did not wake me up, I would wake him and the others up by a more innovative and unpleasant means. So his actions were justified. Albeit, I'm not sure exactly what unpleasant means I would have pulled out of my hat. I'll have to think of some for this summer's trips...hee hee.
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Campsite 10 in the morning sun. |
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The Point Wolfe River from site 10, looking upstream. Notice the pitch of the valley wall; several hundred metres upstream, the trail ascends this incline without switchbacks. The photos do not do the landscape justice; this valley is far deeper than it appears. |
We all got up and got breakfast cooking. Or, rather, tried to get breakfast going. We had brought instant just-add-water pancake mix (not a bad backcountry food, but impractical to lug around a 1kg box of it, as we did), but we had overlooked a method of greasing the pan. Because of this, breakfast was a horrible disaster; all we produced was soft pancake glue and a pan with hardened pancake batter stuck to it. However, we did eat it, and it didn't taste half-bad. However, we realized that we would have to go back to Alma to get grease spray for the next morning's breakfast before heading to Goose River. (Another backcountry tip: Bring different meals for different days, so that if one fails, you have viable alternatives for following days. Some foods are more foolproof than others; for example, oatmeal.) So, we decided to retrace our footsteps to the Foster Brook parking lot, rather than continue to the Marven Lake trail, as Dale and I had done in May.
After eating and packing up, we hiked out of the camping area and back up the trail. We ran into a handful of other hikers on the way; a few hikers had brought their dogs out for a woodland stroll. We stopped for water and a rest at the base of the steep hill, and a chance to take our loads off for a while. Then, we began the ascent to the top of the valley. Needless to say, the return climb was far more strenuous than the initial descent. We stopped several times on the way up the 300-metre (330-yard) incline, and this climb tired us out for the remainder of the hike out. On the way out, we stopped several times for a drink and a breather. I still wonder how we would have felt had we continued to the Marven Lake trail, as the trail between the river ford upriver from the campsites and the Marven Lake trail is every bit as steep, but far longer and more relentless than the first incline.
After our hike out of the gorge and over the rolling terrain on the hilltop, the trailhead was a welcome sight. We placed our gear back in the truck, and rested for a few minutes before driving to the Fundy General Store in Alma for much-needed supplies. We stopped in at the visitor centre on the way to Alma to inform the staff that we would be parking at the Goose River parking lot for the second night, rather than the Foster Brook lot. The lady recognized us from the evening before, and was surprised to see us back so soon. But, she quickly figured out what we were doing there.
After our shopping, we drove back into the park down the Point Wolfe Road, past the Foster Brook trailhead, over the signature red covered bridge to the parking lot for the various trails that depart from Point Wolfe. Trails accessible from this parking lot range in length from the 500-metre (550-yard) Shiphaven to the 10.1 km (6.3 mile) Coastal trail, which leads to Herring Cove and ultimately to Headquarters. We loaded up our gear, and began the Goose River trail.
Before I go on, I must apologize for the current lack of photos from the Goose River leg of the trip. We took many photos on the trail and at camp, but they were taken on Jeremie's camera, and we have yet to transfer them to my computer. I will update the post with the Goose River photos as soon as they are available.
The Goose River trail is almost entirely an old cart track; some sections are gravelly, and others are grassy. At its western terminus, the final descent into Goose River is a narrow footpath. The trail as a whole is rated as "difficult" by Parks Canada based on its length (7.9 kilometres (4.9 miles) one way; newer signage indicates slightly longer) and its variable terrain.
The first 1.2 kilometres are shared with the Marven Lake trail. This section is difficult because of a gradual but relentless incline, the difficulty of which is only amplified if the hiker is carrying camping gear, as we were. At the junction with Marven Lake, we continued to the left towards Goose River. The incline became gentler for a short while; a little while afterwards, the trail reached a short flat, then trail went into a series of gentle inclines and declines over a grassy cart track. The trail turned to gravel just as it began to descend into First Mile Brook, 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) from Point Wolfe. First and Second Mile Brooks are terrific places to rest and refill water bottles and bladders; the water is clear and cool. However, as any backcountry hiker knows, all surface water should be considered unfit to drink unless adequately boiled (Parks Canada advises boiling for a minimum of ten minutes) or filtered. A hiker's water filter is a terrific asset in the backcountry; I highly recommend one to any prospective backcountry hiker. We used a Katadyn Hiker model; after the initial chemical taste (imparted by cleaning the filter with chemical tablets) was cleared out, the filter output the freshest-tasting water I had ever drunk. I look forward to using it this year to filter the clear, cold waters from the streams and rivers on the Dobson Trail.
After crossing the bridge over First Mile Brook, the trail ascends sharply, then levels out some distance beyond, and for a short time, the trail returns to rolling terrain. Then, after another sharp but relatively short descent, the trail reaches Second Mile Brook at 3.1 kilometres (1.9 miles). This is the last fresh water source before Goose River.
Crossing the bridge over Second Mile Brook, the trail becomes considerably more strenuous for about the next 500-700 metres (550-770 yards). The gravel trail inclines considerably, and immediately after the brook, most of the path is washed out; signs are placed at intervals to warn the park's firewood ATV drivers of the washout. The hiker must walk on the narrow edges of the trail until reaching the top of the hill. At the end of the hill, the trail again becomes grassy, and takes the hiker over gently rolling terrain all the way to Goose River.
At the end of a gentle decline, some 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) beyond Second Mile Brook, the trail reaches the first backcountry campsite at Goose River. Campsite 4, located just off the main trail, is spacious and provides spectacular views of Martin Head and the Bay of Fundy, all while being sheltered from the harsh weather elements that the beach campsites are more vulnerable to. The tent pad, however, while spacious and grassy, is slightly inclined. There are trees all around sites 4 and 5; this would make them ideal for hammock camping. Immediately adjacent to site 4, on the main trail, is the outhouse for sites 4 and 5, and the woodshed for all of Goose River's campsites. Campfires are permitted at every campsite at Goose River, with metal firepits provided on sites 4 and 5, and a stone circle firepit on site 6.
Continuing down the trail, about 30 metres beyond site 4, the trail crosses over a small stream with a pipe protruding from the ground. This is the water source for the Goose River campsites. Next to the water source, a side trail departs to the right; this is the Fundy Footpath access trail. The Fundy Footpath is a very scenic but very strenuous 41.4-kilometre (25.7-mile) footpath through some of the last remaining coastal wilderness on the East Coast. The trail ultimately leads to St. Martins. We plan to hike through and document this trail from west-to-east (St. Martins to Goose River) in the summer of 2018.
Some 20 metres beyond the water source, the trail reaches site 5. This site is very sheltered, with trees all around, but is significantly smaller than, and offers a less spectacular view than, site 4. Continuing down the trail, the final descent into Goose River begins. The trail is very narrow, and descends the hill in a 400-metre (440-yard) series of steep switchbacks. This is the one drawback to site 6; to get firewood or water, the hiker must hike back to the top of the bluff and carry it down.
We reached Goose River in mid-evening; the sun was already below the horizon at this point. We had reserved site 6; however, another party, who had presumably reserved a bluff site, had already set up on the site we had reserved. Thankfully, an old and now defunct campsite existed about 100 metres (110 yards) up the beach, which we could set up on, as we did not have the heart to ask the other party off of site 6. At very least, the other party was social and friendly towards us, so the whole ordeal did not turn out as badly as it could have.
We set up camp, and after a lengthy struggle, the nature of which I do not care to elaborate on, we prepared chili for supper. The beach site, while beautiful, is quite cold, and exposed to the wind. It was quite difficult to start a fire in the stone pit; it took us a few tries to get a stable burn. After supper, we stargazed, walked on the beach, and sat by the fire for the rest of the night. I was the first to go back to the tent and lay down, and I fell asleep very quickly.
The next morning, we woke to a cloudy sky. Goose River was at low tide by this point. The difference in the water level between the previous evening and the morning was amazing; tides in the Bay of Fundy can fluctuate by over 15 metres (49 feet) on strong tides. At low tide, the stony bank of the Goose River shore was fully exposed, and was a very interesting sight. The bank was very steep and at least 7 metres (23 feet) high; it almost looked like an earthen dam.
After taking in the scenery, we prepared our second pancake breakfast, this time with success. By this point, the sun had come out, and the area was absolutely beautiful. After eating breakfast and shooting the breeze for a while longer, we packed our gear, said goodbye to our neighbours, refilled our water bottles, and departed in the early afternoon. The hike out was enjoyable, but uneventful; we stopped at both brooks, rested, took photos, ate some food, and refilled our water bottles. The last kilometre was far easier going down than it was going up.
When we reached Point Wolfe, we discovered a note in the truck window telling us that we had ran over our permitted time on our entry permit. We packed up the truck quickly, and made a beeline to the visitor centre to explain our tardiness. The staff were perfectly understanding, and even allowed us a few minutes to use the washroom and shop around in the park boutique.
After leaving the park, we went to the Fundy Take-Out, just across the Upper Salmon River from the park entrance, for supper. The Fundy Take-Out is one of my all-time favourite seafood restaurants; the food is excellent, and portion sizes are enormous. The Seafood Platter, which costs around $30 before tax, comes with clams, a fish fillet, scallops, shrimp, a lobster tail (Bay of Fundy lobster are said to be the world's best), and fries. It all turned out to be too much for me to eat in one go, but nonetheless, it was worth every penny after our excursion (or, for that matter, on any occasion).
All in all, this camping weekend is not for the faint of heart. The terrain is challenging to say the least, but the hiking trails are pleasant and the campsites beautiful. I absolutely intend to return to Foster Brook and to Goose River at some point in the future. Next time I go to Goose River, however, I will stay on the bluff, rather than on the beach, and I will spend both nights at Goose River, rather than trek around the park to different campsites. I recommend both campsites, but I also recommend that you make a different choice of food than we chose, and that all members of your party be seasoned hikers, the latter piece of advice I'm sure our friend will strongly agree with. But to that friend, I say on behalf of the three of us, "Congratulations, buddy, you're a survivor of the long hard trail!"
Get out there, log some miles, see some places, and live some stories.
