Monstrous Moncton

Somehow the weather is able to drop 10° in an hour....I go from sleeveless top n shorts to 4 layers and trousers within no time, and if I'm not quick enough on the change it's bone chilling and hard to recover body temperature. So it was when I sailed into the beautiful nature reserve on the south side of Moncton and the gray clouds closed in.
The plan was to wild camp here, well somewhere outside of the city, but I hadn't quite banked on it being just that....a city, a big gray, traffic-laiden city...the most populated in New Brunswick.
A dark feeling had descended with the temperature. It just didn't feel right. Navigating roaring trucks and HGVs on 6 lane highways - where had my beautiful trails gone, the birdsong, the streams, the smiling waving people. I actually felt at risk. I had to get out of there. I bailed; over sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, dodging traffic and hoping there weren't any police watching, to the safely of Atlantic Motel on the outskirts of the other side of town. Time to warm up, charge up, and get a fat boy pizza delivered. #ruffinIt

The next day was a nice fresh start. I'd dried the tent out overnight and rocked off early. A short stop in Salisbury looking for essentials and some bear spray in prep for this evening's wild camping... but no joy...every shopkeeper I asked looked at me as though I was mad - "Ain't not bears here".

Onwards.

I had a possible campsite in mind but its website said it was closed, still, worth a try, since I was only a little 1-man tent. When I arrived I immediately got a super warm welcome from Carrie and her husband Chris, who wouldn't let me pitch the tent and insisted I stay in one of their cabins, AND join them for supper! How could I say no?Read more