[NatureNS] August creeking: frogs aplenty

From: "Andrew Steeves" <andrew@gaspereau.com>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:58:16 -0300
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I had to be in Shelburne briefly for work on Friday morning, so I =
decided to take my time getting back to the valley. In fact, I tied a =
canoe to the roof of my car and arranged to meet a friend for an =
afternoon of Shelburne County bushwhacking.

My friend Danny is trying to paddle every named lake in Shelburne County =
in his home-made 14 foot cedar-strip canoe, so he wanted to head for a =
few lakes he'd not yet visited. You can see some of his photos at: =
http://www.panoramio.com/user/1641644

The plan was to start on Highway 103 just east of Jordan Falls and to =
follow Ogden's Creek to Mud Lake, Hayden Lake, Ogden Lake, then into the =
Atlantic and up Jordan Bay.=20

"Will there be any water in that creek in August," I asked, skeptical. =
"Oh yeah," he said. "Should be some." I didn't believe him, but I went =
anyway. I like wading canoes up and down streams.

Wading would have been a luxurious! Instead we spent 7 hours travelling =
about 7 km, better than half of which we spent carrying, sliding and =
manhandling our two canoes over rocks from puddle to puddle. This wasn't =
low water; this was *NO* water. There were moments when the absurdity of =
the two of us wrestling canoes down that waterless creek took on a =
quality reminiscent of a Beckett play. Might have been easier to have =
thrown the canoe into the woods and just admitted that we were walking.

But it was beautiful in there and the day was astonishing. There were a =
startling number of frogs, seemingly hopping out from under our every =
step -- Greens, Woods, Leopards, and toads too. There were dragonflies =
of all shapes, sizes and colours, and many different spiders. I saw a =
set of perfectly formed raccoon tracks in the mud. When we finally made =
one of the lakes, we saw a nice Garter snake out for a swim. There were =
a couple of derelict, illegal cat snares on trees felled across the =
creek. It was hard to hear the birds for all the racket we made with our =
thrashing, and we were pretty intent on watching our footing in the =
rocks, but I managed to notice or hear mallards, chickadees, and song =
sparrows.=20

Anyway, when we finally reached the road along Jordan Bay at mid evening =
we decided that we'd better cut the trip short -- daylight would soon be =
lost, we were hungry and thirsty, and I still had to drive home to =
Wolfville. I'd rubbed the red paint clean off the canvas on the bottom =
of my canoe, but that's not really news and is quickly fixed. I hear a =
lot of talk about the Slow Food movement; I suppose this is the Slow =
Canoe movement.

Best regards,
Andrew Steeves
Wolfville

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<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I had to be in Shelburne briefly for work on Friday =
morning,=20
so I decided to take my time getting back to the valley. In fact, I tied =
a canoe=20
to the roof of my car and arranged to meet a friend for&nbsp;an=20
afternoon&nbsp;of Shelburne County bushwhacking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>My friend Danny is trying to&nbsp;paddle every named =
lake in=20
Shelburne County&nbsp;in his home-made 14 foot cedar-strip canoe, so=20
he&nbsp;wanted to&nbsp;head for&nbsp;a few lakes he'd not yet visited. =
You can=20
see some of his photos at: </FONT><FONT size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.panoramio.com/user/1641644">http://www.panoramio.com/u=
ser/1641644</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>The plan was to start on Highway 103 just east of=20
Jordan&nbsp;Falls and to&nbsp;follow Ogden's Creek to&nbsp;Mud Lake, =
Hayden=20
Lake, Ogden Lake,&nbsp;then into the Atlantic&nbsp;and up&nbsp;Jordan =
Bay.=20
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>"Will there be any water in that creek in August," I =
asked,=20
skeptical. "Oh yeah," he said. "Should be some." </FONT><FONT size=3D2>I =
didn't=20
believe him, but I went anyway. I like wading canoes up and down=20
streams.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Wading would have been a luxurious! Instead we spent =
7 hours=20
travelling about 7 km,&nbsp;better than&nbsp;half of which we spent=20
carrying,&nbsp;sliding&nbsp;and manhandling&nbsp;our two canoes over =
rocks from=20
puddle to puddle. This wasn't low water; this was *NO* water. There were =
moments=20
when the absurdity of the two of us&nbsp;wrestling canoes&nbsp;down that =

waterless creek&nbsp;took on a quality reminiscent of a Beckett play. =
Might have=20
been easier to have thrown the canoe into the woods and just admitted =
that we=20
were walking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>But it&nbsp;was beautiful in there and the day was=20
astonishing. There were a startling number of frogs, =
seemingly&nbsp;hopping out=20
from under our every step&nbsp;-- Greens, Woods, Leopards, and toads =
too. There=20
were dragonflies of all shapes, sizes and colours, and many different =
spiders. I=20
saw a set of perfectly formed&nbsp;raccoon tracks in the mud. When we =
finally=20
made&nbsp;one of the lakes, we saw a nice Garter snake out for a swim. =
There=20
were a couple of derelict, illegal cat snares&nbsp;on trees&nbsp;felled =
across=20
the creek. It was hard to hear the birds for all the racket we made with =
our=20
thrashing, and we were pretty intent on watching our footing in the =
rocks,=20
but&nbsp;I managed to notice or hear&nbsp;mallards, chickadees, and song =

sparrows. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Anyway, when we finally reached the road along =
Jordan Bay at=20
mid evening&nbsp;we decided that we'd better cut the trip short -- =
daylight=20
would soon be lost, we were hungry and thirsty, and I still had to drive =
home to=20
Wolfville. I'd rubbed the red paint clean off the canvas on the bottom =
of my=20
canoe, but that's not really news and is quickly fixed. I hear a lot of =
talk=20
about the Slow Food movement; I suppose this is the Slow Canoe=20
movement.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Best regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Andrew Steeves</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Wolfville</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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