ECT Day 237&238

IAT Day 68&69

Day 237: 20 miles

This morning we wound up sleeping in super late at the room. The zero day yesterday was anything but restful so I was still exhausted. Eventually we packed up at the room and began talking about our possible options for the day.

There are a couple spots along the road walk here in Nova Scotia that we would be able to shave miles off. If we followed those alternate routes it could save us about 4 days of hiking possibly. For me that extra time could be used to relax in Alabama for a few days before I continue my journey to Key West. Sparkle has been dealing with a lot of injury over the last couple of months so the idea appealed a lot to her as well. She had originally planned to be back home a lot sooner than this.

We didn’t have to decide anything today though. The route we followed today would be the same regardless of the potential route. So we could walk and decide what to do over the course of today and tomorrow.

Around check out time we finally left the motel room and got moving. The road walk was easy going and we all just moseyed along.

Then around 3-4pm we decided to stop off for our first break. The trail brought us right by a park. Though the park was down the road so we didn’t technically hang out there. We just sat by the sign where the pull off was. It was a perfect grassy area for a quick break.

After resting there for a bit we pressed on. A few miles in we passed by another lovely park which was just off the road. I was able to grab some water there and throw out trash. It would have been a nice place to camp if it wasn’t super early.

We kept on walking until it got dark. Then put our headlamps on and walked a bit longer. There weren’t a lot of camping options alongside the road because of private property. In the end we wound up camping down by a beach area. It was nice and quiet and we planned to leave early in the morning.

Tonight is my first night sleeping on my new pad which is exciting. It’s a very cheap 1 inch foam pad so it certainly won’t be luxurious. But it will definitely be more comfortable that my busted thermarest or the ground! I got set up in my tent and snacked a little. Then got comfortable and called it a night.

Day 238: 33.3 miles

This morning we all got up before the sun came up. We packed up with headlamps on and got moving around 6:45am. Within the first couple of miles of the day we passed an incredibly conveniently located porta potty. Then walked by a convenience store shortly after. Sadly though it didn’t open up until 11am.

As we walked the road we followed along the ocean, beautiful homes, and some lovely bridges. It was a perfect day for a walk. Nova Scotia is a really adorable province from what I’ve seen of it.

Over the course of the day we passed by multiple businesses which were all closed. We were hoping to pass some sort of store. Eventually we went by a motel and decided to check it out. I wanted to see if they had some drinks for sale or something. It turned out there was an entire convenience store inside which could not have worked out better.

As we sat outside and snacked we began to look at the weather. Apparently it’s supposed to be really awful out tonight and tomorrow. This motel is the only one that we’ll pass by over the course of today. So the three of us were discussing the possibility of staying here tonight or zeroing tomorrow. With how cold it has been in Canada we’re trying to avoid hiking in all day rain.

But in the end when we went to check this motel was already fully booked. And anything else nearby was booked as well. There is apparently some kind of event this weekend in the area. So the decision got made for us! But that’s quite alright. We got what we needed at the store and continued walking.

While we walked Sparkle was able to get in touch with a motel up ahead. It had availability for tonight but was over 15 miles away. We would have to be hiking late into the night to get there. Trucker personally just wanted to tough it out. Sparkle and I did not, but we wound up just deciding to go with the flow. If we get rained on, we get rained on! We stopped trying to find accommodations and decided to just continue walking and eventually find a place to camp.

About 5 miles down the road we went past Darby’s Old Church Restaurant. I got a sandwich and a drink and we debated our plans a bit more. But in the end we all decided it would be easier to just hike and suffer if need be. After we got our late lunch we continued along. Looking at the map up ahead we decided there was a spot along the beach that we could camp at. We would have to hike into the dark but not nearly as late as we would have to get to a motel.

We walked well after the sun had set. The road was bringing us through a really beautiful residential area. At one point we passed a big house with a “for sale” sign. The house was on the right side of the road but there was also a big piece of grass on the left side of road. It had a bench and was lovely. I remember thinking that it would have been a perfect place to camp! If it wasn’t someone’s private property.

I continued walking along up ahead of Sparkle and Trucker. And after a minute or so a car drove up to me and pulled over. There was an older couple inside and they said, “We just asked your friends back there if they would like to sleep in our garage tonight to stay out of the rain. How does that sound?” It sounded like magic to me. It was lightly raining and supposed to rain all night. We still had to find a place to camp and get set up. Now we can just sleep comfortably inside someone’s garage? Boy do I love Canada.

I turned around and followed them to their home. And it turned out to be the beautiful house with the for sale sign! That felt like magic to me. The three of us got brought out to the most beautiful garage I had ever seen. It was absolutely enormous and even had a bathroom inside. It was everything I could have hoped for and then some. And the couple was so kind they were adamantly wishing they could have offered us more. But we didn’t need a single thing! This was truly a scenario I could have only dreamed of.

The three of us got set up on the floor inside the garage. It was toasty warm and dry which was all I could have hoped for. How did we get so lucky? After making the decision to suffer in the rain for the next couple days it was such a pleasant surprise to wind up in someone’s garage for the night. We all ate something, charged our devices, and called it a night.