It’s been a while since my last update. Since about mid March I’ve been hanging around home working and discovering the amazing amount of quality creeking that there is near my house. With the Cobequid Mountain Range only 20 minutes from Truro, Nova Scotia (my home town) it’s proven to be an ideal location for exploring the creeks the province has to offer.

Fun on the Chignois

There has been little to no rain in Atlantic Canada so far this spring and with a warmer than usual winter hardly any snow melt to help the rivers rise. Most of the usual play runs haven’t come up, and may not come up, but oddly enough the creeking has been consistently good. Local runs like the Folly, the Bass, and the Chiganois offer continuous sections of white water and the occasional “huck your meat” drop. Clean isn’t exactly how I’d describe most of the harder drops. Mostly it’s stuff like boof five feet onto a rock slab, continue down a 20 foot slide with a really abrupt transition at the bottom, hope you miss the big rock at the bottom and land in a foot or less of water. Although there are some things that are very out of place, like the 40 foot Drysdale falls that couldn’t be cleaner.

Last drop on the Bass River

The New Brunswick boys have been great for a laugh and a good time on the river. Last weekend we did the Bass river which has a stupid first drop. I only describe it as stupid because you either barely make it through the hole at the bottom with a fight or you end up in the hole and swim. The fellows were convinced you couldn’t boof it because the water was so aerated off the lip but I felt other wise. Sure enough I was wrong, my boof stroke was more like a practice swing in golf, same motions except nothing but air. I ended up swimming and loosing my paddle, which seems to be an annual event because I did the same thing about this time last year on the North River. I think I’ll start using one of those cool paddle leashes. Luckily this year I had a breakdown. Special thanks to Craig Langford at Aqua Bound for the breakdown, you really saved the day!

Warm up on the Folly

If there is a classic creek in Nova Scotia it has to be the Folly. The Folly has consistent flows, almost no flat sections and something of every paddler to enjoy. It’s one of the safest creeks I’ve been on but at the same time has some challenging lines for the more advanced paddler. The access couldn’t be better and the river couldn’t be more fun. The weekends have seen herds of New Brunswickers on this river and some great carnage. If this ran in the summer I would probably set up my lawn chair at the last drop and watch paddlers try to hit there line. There’s always one in a group that has a less than pretty line, and a less than pretty boat afterwards.