High Tides and Hobbit Feet: Two Days at Five Islands

 After driving past Five Islands last year on the way to Cape Chignecto, it jumped up on my list of parks/ hikes I wanted to do in Nova Scotia. So what better time to go then when the pandemic is stopping any outside travel...

On the way to Five Islands we stopped by the Masstown market just a few minutes up the highway from Truro. As the pandemic is still going on, we of course wore our masks. After picking up a few treats; cookies and tea biscuits and a quick bite to eat, we were on our way again. 

We arrived at our campground: Five Island Ocean Resort (the provincial park was booked up) at around 1500. It was a very blustery day, which made putting up the tent an absolute joy. After our struggles we did manage to secure the tent in a fashion that ensured we were mostly confident it would not blow away. 

Down by the beach the tide was out. From our campground to the five islands in the distance it looked to be all muddy sea floor. I thought it would be fun to walk out a bit on our bare feet. The first few steps were fun, albeit very messy with the mud squishing through our toes. But after a few steps we quickly realized that underneath the soft mushy mud were sharp rocks. Not so fun. In spite of the pain, it was an entertaining experience to walk along the ocean floor. 

After washing the mud off our hobbit looking feet, we decided to take a walk along the beach (the rocky portion) to take in some of the sights before heading back to our campsite.  We decided to take the rest of the day to relax and read our books, with me finally starting :Millionaire Teacher (it is about time I put my money to work!).

At around 2100, the sun was fully set. We went to check out the beach again to see how high the water had risen. The water was now up to the beach line. A huge difference from a few hours earlier. With the moon shining on the high tides, and the sound of the waves along the shore, it made for a very peaceful night. We stayed sitting on one of the benches just taking in the nature surrounding us. For a few minutes a fellow camper disrupted the peace with a few fireworks. It was a quick entertaining intermission before returning to the peaceful nature sounds. Then it was off to bed to rest up for our hike tomorrow.

While the wind had thankfully died down, the night proved to be a chilly one. We woke up to a 7 degree morning. Even inside the tent I could see my breath in the air. After eating breakfast we packed up our tent to get ready to head over to the Five Islands Provincial Park. Initially we were planning on staying two nights, but with the incoming rainy night and thunderstorms Sunday morning, we saw no real benefit to staying the other night. An inconvenience as we had, had this trip planned for a little while but that is to be expected with Nova Scotia weather. We joked that the weather does not like us going to this part of the province as last year on our hike at Cape Chignecto we had to be evacuated out of the park due to Hurricane Dorian making its way to us!

From our campground the park was a quick seven minute drive up the road. There did not appear to be any check in for visitors not staying at the parks campsites. Just outside the park office there was a small parking lot on the right. Five Islands has a few trails and we did a kind of amalgamation of two of them: Economy Mountain and Red Head Trail. Starting at the park office we hiked about a kilometre to where the two trails meet, from there you can continue with the Economy Mountain or veer off to Red Head. We opted to go with Red Head, as we wanted to see the coastal views and the mountain trail appeared to be mostly just a forest hike. Red Head was a much better groomed trail and offered some beautiful lookoff spots to see the red cliffs of the Bay of Fundy. The return trip went by quite fast and in total we hiked approximately six kilometers over an hour and a half. The trail was not overly difficult. Economy Mountain was a bit more rugged and had some roots, stumps and a few steep inclines. Other than that, it was fairly easy going.

After the hike we drove to the day visitor parking lot just down the road from the park office. This allowed us beach access. The views along the beach were just as spectacular as the views from the trail. It was fascinating to see the unique geology of the Bay of Fundy close up. From the 90 metre red cliffs to the colorful rocks along the ground, everywhere you looked you were seeing an assortment of colours. Some of the red cliffs even appeared to have other colours mixed in, such as; yellows and oranges. Along the ground I even found a few unique looking rocks to take home with me; one even having some blue/green colour on the inside! It is important to note that while you walk the beach to be wary of the tide times. The tide can come in extremely fast and if you are not careful you can get stranded somewhere along the beach with no safe way back to land! In some areas along the Bay of Fundy the change in tide is up to 15 metres. Lucky for us the tide was on its way out so we had nothing to worry about. Along the beach It was a good walk, while I did not keep track of distance, we probably walked for close to an hour out and back. 

To finish our northern adventure we headed back to Diane’s restaurant for chicken fingers and fish and chips before the return drive home.

While our weekend was cut shorter than we had planned, we still had a marvelous time. As it is only an hour and a half from home we even mentioned returning one day for a day trip and bringing along others in the family. There are also other hiking spots in the surrounding areas and other amazing views of the Bay of Fundy. The geology is just so extraordinary, it is something you just have to see in person. Photos never do the real thing justice!