Day 32: Caribou-Munroes Island PP — Truro

When I woke up this morning, it was pouring rain. I had actually awoken a few times in the night because of the wind—the wind was so strong it had been blowing my tent flat onto my face. It seemed by the morning, the wind had died down a bit, but not the rain. I had camped out at Caribou-Munroes Island because I had heard the beach there was really pretty, but suddenly I had no desire to go to the beach.

I put on my raincoat and walked over to the comfort station. It was about a 3 minute walk, and by the time I got there the rain had soaked through my raincoat. It really didn’t want to pack up and set off in this rain. Once I went back to my tent, I looked up the forecast, and the rain was supposed to let up by about 12:30, so I figured I’d just hang around the camp in my tent until then and read. 

It finally cleared up just after 12, so I packed up and headed off towards Truro. About halfway there was the Salt Springs Provincial Park that I stopped to have lunch in. It turns out the Nova Scotia is really hilly. And really windy. So by the team I got to Salt Springs, I was really happy to take a break. All the provincial park signs in Nova Scotia are carved into wood, which I thought was cute. 

Once I left Salt Springs, I was hit with more headwinds, and both Mount Thom and East Mountain, all the way to Truro. I don’t quite understand how the Nova Scotian winds work, but somehow I was always facing a headwind. Like even when the road curved and I was thinking finally I’d get a bit of relief, somehow I was still biking into a headwind after the curve too. Finally I was getting close the Truro, and the final town before it was Bible Hill. Which, unsurprisingly, was quite hilly. After climbing two mountains, I had to go through a suburb named for its hilliness? Ugh. 

Finally I arrived at my friend’s parents’ house (which was also at the top of a hill), and met Bruce and Amy. They were both super lovely, and I was able to relax after my shower with a cold beer. Amy was an elementary school teacher, but today had been her final day at work before retirement, so she had brought home a ton of cards, and even a bouquet of Snickers bars that he students had given her. 

Amy and Bruce made a huge, delicious meal, and as we were finishing up, their 3 grandkids arrived to stay over for the long weekend. The kids were a little suspicious of me at first, but I quickly won them over, with one then suddenly HAVING to show me her glow in the dark picture. They were super cute, but 3 kids under the age of 5 definitely seemed like a handful. 

Once the kids were in bed, I chatted with Bruce and Amy a bit more. Bruce has done some super cool canoe trips up north before, and he was showing me photos from a canoe trip upto the Yukon which looked amazing. It turns out though that biking up two mountains with headwinds is pretty exhausting though, because not long after the kids were in bed, I was ready to pass out too. 

Total distance: 77 km

Total elevation: 605 m