Kejimkujik was established as a National Park in 1969, preserving old growth forest, a landscape for rare wildlife and waterways traveled by the Mi’kmaw people for thousands of years. In 1995, it was also designated as a National Historic Site celebrating the Mi’kmaw culture. The canoe routes were used to travel between the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Coast (with portages). Traces left behind by the original indigenous people included stone carvings (petroglyphs) on outcroppings along the rivers. These portray the typical Mi’kmaw life including hunting, fishing and wildlife. Being semi-nomadic, the Mi’kmaw spent winters inland, away from the colder coast while stocking up on fish and other food from the sea during the summer.
Water sports – paddling, swimming – rule in Kejimkujik. We haven’t paddled since we sold our canoe about 15 years ago. However, the park described about 30K (18 mi) of nearly flat hiking/biking trails. Although that’s not our usual first choice when visiting a national park, it might just work for me as a next step to check my endurance level as I recover from West Nile. We checked out options when we arrived.
National Park Visitor Centres are generally fun and informative. If we biked the 5 miles to the Visitor Centre, we could then follow the Mersey River back, with several stops for scenic views. Ten miles might be a stretch for me (sad!), so we planned to go slowly, limiting effort as much as possible. No elevated heart rate nor heavy breathing allowed.
OMG! It felt so good to be back on a bike! Even at 6 kph (3.5 mph)! We were biking! And the Mersey River, heavy with browning tannins and referred to as Mersey Tea, is quite delightful.
It turned out 10 miles was maybe just a bit too much. It took 3 days for me to recover from our epic outing. *SIGH.* Still, it was so good!
So we decided to change personas for awhile. We became your little old aunt and uncle who drive around looking for fun things to see and photograph. We took ourselves out to lunch at the Lakeview Cafe for a nice meal on the deck overlooking the swimming beach at Merrymakedge. We drove to the next point of interest to view the site of a former Mi’kmaw encampment. A stop at Jakes Landing was cool. We visited an awesome gear rental shop called the Why Not Adventure Centre where would-be adventurers can rent canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, and bikes, as well as to find advice for self-guided tours or meet up with guided tours. Oh, the toys!
I’ve got to figure out how to figure out where my exertion limits are on a given day as I recover from this #%^& mosquito bite. I also need to think creatively and get beyond the usual activities I can’t yet do. As an example (too late now, though) we could have signed up for a tour to check out the petroglyphs in a 3-person canoe with a guide. As your little old aunt, I could have been sitting in the sun in the middle of the canoe with my wide-brimmed hat, enjoying the view and taking photos while the others did the work. Ya, not my nature, however, it could’ve been a fun way to see and experience the deeper interior of this beautiful park.
For anyone who’s interested, more Mersey River bike ride, Merrymakedge, Mi’kmaw encampment, Jakes Landing and Jeremy’s Bay camp pix…
