Chester, NS to Liverpool, NS

June 23, 2015

Another overcast day, but it promised to get better by mid-morning. And it did get better . . . for maybe 30 minutes. You need to have not-so-good days in order to have good days.

So no breakfast until Mahone Bay. Chester was light in that department, and Mahone Bay was only 20 miles or so down the road. So we ate some of the "reserves"' we carry and headed out on NS-3. Unfortunately, I either failed to start my Garmin or it "malfunctioned" (i.e., user error), and the first seven miles didn't get recorded.

Today's ride to Liverpool

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But we were not on NS-3 for long, and we were soon on the Dynamite Trail, an unpaved rail trail that was really an extension of the rail trail we had ridden yesterday until we hopped onto NS-3 to ride along St Margarets Bay. It wanders through various wetlands, over waterways, and along several lakes. We followed it as far as Mahone Bay.

Crossing the Halfway River looking downstream.

We enjoyed the trail so much that we stayed on it all the way to Mahone Bay, crisscrossing NS-3 several times along the way. In Mahone Bay we settled in on a Tim Hortons, for better or worse. The McDonald's of Canada. Then it was on to Lunenburg, where we stopped to tour the Bluenose II.

Bluenose II is named after the original Bluenose, a legendary multiple winner of the International Fishermen's Race. Bluenose II was built in the same shipyard in Lunenburg as the original Bluenose and has become a Goodwill Ambassador not only for Nova Scotia but for Canada as well.

Here I am, about to board the Bluenose II.

And John, after the tour, Lunenburg Harbor behind him.

After Mahone Bay, we had returned to NS-3 as the rail trail, for the most part, had turned to head for Bridgewater, a major town that was more attractive to the original rail service than the way we were heading . . . which was along the coast. And also, the ferry service downstream from Bridgewater that would take us across the LaHave River. Of course, that also saved the railroad the cost of building a major river crossing . . .

The LaHave II ferry schedule. Lots of signs to read.

Disembarking and embarking went pretty fast. No gates or chains to mess around with, just lower the "drawbridge."

The view looking downstream. Yeap, that would have been an expensive bridge for the railroad to build.

Our approach to LaHave and, like almost all ferries, a bit of a climb up upon disembarking.

We were having a good time but still had some miles to go, probably another 37 or so, and it was already nearly 2:30. We continued to hug the coast, more or less, following it all the way to NS-103, a fairly major highway. We could have picked up the rail trail again, but as you can see, the weather was a bit overcast, so making quick time helped.

Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 3,142 miles (5,057 km)

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