Hittheroad
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2009
- Messages
- 311
FWC fights Global Warming
Your camper may be an important tool for fighting global warming. That is provided you are not tied down with a job or grandkids.
It has been a warm year. By the end of June we had had our fill of summer heat. So we packed the Eagle and headed north. Using hot spots (the other kind) to keep track of the weather we ended up on Cape Breton Island where there were both sun and cooler temperatures. Our goal was to stay north until the 10-day forecast predicted cooler weather at home. Based on previous years I expected that would be about August 20 (6 weeks on the road). Now we are back home and several times have had to wear a sweater. We have demonstrated that with time and a Four Wheel Camper you can fight Global Warming and control the weather, at least as you experience it.
I am not going to give a travel-log of our time in Nova Scotia as I don’t have the pictures to back it up. But I will try to list the things we learned that might help other Wanderers with this or similar trips.
If you are not a sardine you will find the best official camping in the Nova Scotia Provincial Parks. They are worth going out of your way to find. We never found one we did not like. The national parks on the other hand tend to be crowded and the private ones are all over the place, but mostly packed tight.
Just prior to leaving home there was a WTW discussion about corrosion in the truck to camper electrical connection. I foolishly decided it was more important to leave than to check the connector. So no amps from the alternator all trip. I quickly learned that our 120-watt solar panel could handle the job even with the Engel in freezer mode, provided there was some sun. We got through a cloudy patch by stretching our 12-foot jumper cable through the cab to camper pass through. (A very close fit on a Tacoma access cab.) This was our first important use of the pass through in the 3 + years we have had it. (and of the jumper cable). Ran the engine about an hour to top up battery. A built-in digital volt meter was very useful for keeping an accurate track of the battery as well as for quickly finding out the time I accidentally unplugged the solar panel.
The Cabot trail drive is worth doing with several stops to hike the trails. But it does more or less put you in the national park campgrounds - tight quarters in the summer season (and closed much of the rest of the year).
At the northern tip there is Meat Cove a private camp ground with tight but interesting quarters.
There is great hike out of Meat cove to an old lighthouse site and then southwest along the coast to a small cove where the trail inland is very well hidden. We spent over an hour with another couple hunting for it.
We also enjoyed a small private campground in Bay St. Lawrence called “Jumping Mouse”. It has 10 reasonably wellspaced sites. A hike to the Bay St. Lawrence light proved a bit more than we were up for – but we still got some good views.
Just South of the Cape Breton Highland National Park is a huge area of forest under the management of the Department of Natural Resources. There is a complex system of forest roads running through this area. A map is available from the department. As with US National Forests, dispersed camping is permitted. We did not have time to explore this area so we cannot say much about it. While the road network is extensive access points are limited (none out of the national park).
If you want to see birds a boat tour of Bird Island is well worth doing. There are two companies that offer tours both have campgrounds. We found the Puffin Express in Big Bras D’or had by far the better (less crowded) camping so we used them and had a great trip. More puffins and eagles than the eyeballs can handle.
We used the Mira River Provincial Park as a base for exploring Louisbourg. Certainly worth a day, especially if you later visit Grassy Island in Guysborough. Stock up with bread at the bakery – it is the best you will find in the province.
If you want to see Nova Scotia as it may have been 50 years ago go to Boylston Provincial Park and explore Guysborough county. There is a very useful guide book “Get Out in Guysborough County: overland, undersea, through the water. It is not easy to get hold of but there is an on the web version of the same name. Do not expect to find a vibrant nightlife in Guysborough or much in the way of tourist facilities. On our way south we drove for about an hour without seeing another car on the “main” road to Halifax.
We found Kejimkujik Park in south central Nova Scotia far too crowded. It used to be a 4 season park but recent government wisdom now limits its use to just the summer. We did not explore the much smaller seaside version of the park but understand that one can camp in the adjoining Provincial camp (Thomas Raddall). It looks a great place for kayaks.
Southwest of the National Park is the Tobeatic Wilderness Area. It is much larger than the park and we got the sense that is where one really should go. I do not know the camping rules or what the roads (if any) are like. Research before you go as local information is limited.
We took the Digby ferry to St. John and had a rare motel night as the town campground appeared to be right on the edge of Highway 1.
In Maine we spent a night at Cobscook Bay State Park. Campsites are nicely spaced and very pleasant for a big park. The “Cobscook Trails” guidebook suggests a summer’s worth of hiking trails. We did the shorter version of the Bold Coast loop and came out ready to rest. The coastal section was rough going with many spectacular views of the fog on the sea (often just the sound of the sea.
I would also like to plug MaineAyr Campground in Steuben. We stayed there on a previous trip and loved it. I expect it is just the way it was 50 years ago.
Your camper may be an important tool for fighting global warming. That is provided you are not tied down with a job or grandkids.
It has been a warm year. By the end of June we had had our fill of summer heat. So we packed the Eagle and headed north. Using hot spots (the other kind) to keep track of the weather we ended up on Cape Breton Island where there were both sun and cooler temperatures. Our goal was to stay north until the 10-day forecast predicted cooler weather at home. Based on previous years I expected that would be about August 20 (6 weeks on the road). Now we are back home and several times have had to wear a sweater. We have demonstrated that with time and a Four Wheel Camper you can fight Global Warming and control the weather, at least as you experience it.
I am not going to give a travel-log of our time in Nova Scotia as I don’t have the pictures to back it up. But I will try to list the things we learned that might help other Wanderers with this or similar trips.
If you are not a sardine you will find the best official camping in the Nova Scotia Provincial Parks. They are worth going out of your way to find. We never found one we did not like. The national parks on the other hand tend to be crowded and the private ones are all over the place, but mostly packed tight.
Just prior to leaving home there was a WTW discussion about corrosion in the truck to camper electrical connection. I foolishly decided it was more important to leave than to check the connector. So no amps from the alternator all trip. I quickly learned that our 120-watt solar panel could handle the job even with the Engel in freezer mode, provided there was some sun. We got through a cloudy patch by stretching our 12-foot jumper cable through the cab to camper pass through. (A very close fit on a Tacoma access cab.) This was our first important use of the pass through in the 3 + years we have had it. (and of the jumper cable). Ran the engine about an hour to top up battery. A built-in digital volt meter was very useful for keeping an accurate track of the battery as well as for quickly finding out the time I accidentally unplugged the solar panel.
The Cabot trail drive is worth doing with several stops to hike the trails. But it does more or less put you in the national park campgrounds - tight quarters in the summer season (and closed much of the rest of the year).
At the northern tip there is Meat Cove a private camp ground with tight but interesting quarters.
There is great hike out of Meat cove to an old lighthouse site and then southwest along the coast to a small cove where the trail inland is very well hidden. We spent over an hour with another couple hunting for it.
We also enjoyed a small private campground in Bay St. Lawrence called “Jumping Mouse”. It has 10 reasonably wellspaced sites. A hike to the Bay St. Lawrence light proved a bit more than we were up for – but we still got some good views.
Just South of the Cape Breton Highland National Park is a huge area of forest under the management of the Department of Natural Resources. There is a complex system of forest roads running through this area. A map is available from the department. As with US National Forests, dispersed camping is permitted. We did not have time to explore this area so we cannot say much about it. While the road network is extensive access points are limited (none out of the national park).
If you want to see birds a boat tour of Bird Island is well worth doing. There are two companies that offer tours both have campgrounds. We found the Puffin Express in Big Bras D’or had by far the better (less crowded) camping so we used them and had a great trip. More puffins and eagles than the eyeballs can handle.
We used the Mira River Provincial Park as a base for exploring Louisbourg. Certainly worth a day, especially if you later visit Grassy Island in Guysborough. Stock up with bread at the bakery – it is the best you will find in the province.
If you want to see Nova Scotia as it may have been 50 years ago go to Boylston Provincial Park and explore Guysborough county. There is a very useful guide book “Get Out in Guysborough County: overland, undersea, through the water. It is not easy to get hold of but there is an on the web version of the same name. Do not expect to find a vibrant nightlife in Guysborough or much in the way of tourist facilities. On our way south we drove for about an hour without seeing another car on the “main” road to Halifax.
We found Kejimkujik Park in south central Nova Scotia far too crowded. It used to be a 4 season park but recent government wisdom now limits its use to just the summer. We did not explore the much smaller seaside version of the park but understand that one can camp in the adjoining Provincial camp (Thomas Raddall). It looks a great place for kayaks.
Southwest of the National Park is the Tobeatic Wilderness Area. It is much larger than the park and we got the sense that is where one really should go. I do not know the camping rules or what the roads (if any) are like. Research before you go as local information is limited.
We took the Digby ferry to St. John and had a rare motel night as the town campground appeared to be right on the edge of Highway 1.
In Maine we spent a night at Cobscook Bay State Park. Campsites are nicely spaced and very pleasant for a big park. The “Cobscook Trails” guidebook suggests a summer’s worth of hiking trails. We did the shorter version of the Bold Coast loop and came out ready to rest. The coastal section was rough going with many spectacular views of the fog on the sea (often just the sound of the sea.
I would also like to plug MaineAyr Campground in Steuben. We stayed there on a previous trip and loved it. I expect it is just the way it was 50 years ago.
