62km – the long way around
After a light breakfast at the inn, we started the morning optimistically with a brief stint on the trail where a gorgeous barred owl flew out and perched above us. Our joy was shortlived though as we soon had to divert from the closed sections of trail, and spent the morning battling rolling hills into a brutal headwind on roads with no shoulder and cracked surface. To dampen our humour more, our targeted lunch stop was closed. This is quickly getting stale …
The towns in these parts are either quaintly historic (Wolfville, Windsor) or a nod to a newer North America of strip malls and drive thrus (New Minas which we passed quickly through today).
Somehow the country fair in Berwick brought out our smiles after lunchtime, even though we couldn’t eat there either as it’s cash only (they did let us in for free though). Between the waggiest tail dog competition, the strongest oxen contest and the flashy old cars lined up on the field with lids up to display their muscle, it was a joy to a soundtrack of country music. And speaking of joy, a chance encounter with local Shawn and his daughter Joy was half-an-hour well spent – Shawn and his wife rode across Canada a gazillion years ago (ok, maybe not, but before cell phones were a thing). He offered us a swim and a stay overnight, both of which we declined so we could get the last 20km to Kingston under our belts and not have to do it tomorrow.
The Harvest Moon Trail was open from Berwick. It provided shade, shelter from the wind and lots of views of farm fields and orchards. We even ate apples from wild trees next to the trail.
Kingston is neither quaintly cute nor strip mall central. The Aurora Inn is functional, but most restaurants are closed for the long weekend. Fortunately the Roof Hound brew pub was open and has really, really good food to go with wonderful service.
Today: 62km
Climb: 420m
Total distance: 4,577km
#transcanadatrail
#biketouring
Trans Canada Epic 