Anyone up for a little shore walk?
I’m leading a group for a short but picturesque walk on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 16 to the Princess Louise monument.
The plan is to meet about 1:15 p.m. at the Point Prim Lighthouse and start walking about 1:30 p.m.
The monument is on the shore about 2 km west of Point Prim and it will take us about an hour and half to get there, walking slowly, taking lots of picture breaks, breaks to catch our breath and breaks to soak in the scenery.
I’ve been planning the walk with Greg Turner as part of the Lights Along the Shore Lighthouse Festival.
That festival started in 2000 as a celebration of 26 lighthouses from Peggy’s Cove down the South Shore to Cape Sable Island and up around to Yarmouth.
In the Digby area only Gilbert’s Cove, Point Prim, Annapolis Royal and Hampton (near Bridgetown) are part of the festival.
The complete schedule of events for the Lights Along the Shore festival (PDF)
That Saturday, Sept. 15, Rob Hersey will be giving tours of Point Prim, telling stories of the lightkeepers, their families and shipwrecks along the shore. Those tours start at 11 a.m. and go every hour until 4 p.m.
At the same time, Greg Turner will be showing people some of the hidden wonders lower down on the point in amongst the seaweed and tidal pools—his Plankton, Periwinkles and Predators tour.
For the Sunday walk, both Greg and Rob have agreed to come along and share their knowledge of the shore.
We’re figuring four hours total including a long break at the monument to relax, picnic, stare out to sea or even play on the Lego Cliffs.
The terrain is the attraction and the challenge.
The route is uneven and not straight-ahead but I’ve discovered time and time again, you just go one step at a time.
We won’t be in a hurry and Greg and I have made a couple trips just thinking about the easiest ways to move along.
I also did the route recently with someone unfamiliar with shore and whose legs are a bit shorter than mine.
She says the route is exciting, adventurous and not as challenging as she thought it would be.
Anyone who feels confident climbing the seats at the arena can do this walk. If you can climb up the slide at the nearest playground and slide down, you can do this walk.
More to the point, if you feel comfortable climbing around on the rocks at Point Prim and going across beaches of round rolly rocks, you should be all right.
We do have to cross one 20-foot stretch of slimy seaweed (Greg will tell us exactly what we are walking on).
And one spot in the woods we have to duck under a fallen tree—possibly on all fours.
If you can climb arena seats, you can walk the shore -
And then there’s the spot Greg and I call “Four Gorges”.
It is intimidating to look at but we have worked out a pretty easy route.
Once down in the gorge, the surface is a bit slippery but you can use the walls of the gorge for support.
Again, if you can climb the arena seats, you can do the Four Gorges—one step at a time.
Parents should think carefully before bringing young children along—if they have the stamina to walk/ clamber for four hours (with breaks) and can climb a tree confidently they should be all right.
This is not the kind of terrain though where you should be carrying a child.
Anyone who is unsure can call Greg (245-4689) or me (245-4715) to discuss it further.
The monument was erected in 1884 in memory of sailors who drowned when a government ship went aground in December 1883.
But Rob will tell us more about that next Sunday. Hope to see you there!
jriley@digbycourier.ca
The complete schedule of events for the Lights Along the Shore festival (PDF)
The ship was named the Princess Louise. SS stands for steam ship. For clarification on the name of the ship, here's the URL of a photo of the monument: http://ns1763.ca/digbyco/prlouisemon.html