Decided to do a throwback Thursday post to one of the coolest places I’ve ever been.
The cool thing about Fogo Island is that it’s the largest island off the coast of Newfoundland, and has a handful of these very modern buildings against the rugged terrain. When I was there, there were five studios, along with the Fogo Island Inn that bring tourists from near and far to this beautiful Island.
While I was out taking pictures the other day I noticed this beautiful bird out of the corner of my eye. I literally hiked over a dune (highly frowned upon….), through the snow-covered beach, and up a cliff to get a good shot! As much as I wanted to get closer, I was quite nervous to be attacked (lol). 
Hiking is by far one of my favourite things! Unfortunately, this winter seems to be either absolutely freezing cold (I don’t like hiking that much) or a blizzard. This is a throwback to a hike Shaugn and I did earlier this year. Fingers crossed there are some nice days coming!
Winter pictures is something I haven’t really done before. Usually, I go into hibernation and don’t come out until it is warm and sunny. This year I’m trying to push myself outside of my boundaries and get a little more adventurous, which means that winter hiking is a must! Although I would much rather be snowshoeing through the trails, there is barely any snow right now, and hiking is turning more into slowly shuffling through the woods trying not to slip down into the ravine because the trails are nothing but ice. The day I took this picture featured one bruised elbow on Shaugn’s part, and me almost sliding down the hill after trying to read a map that was surrounded by ice. Nonetheless, getting outside and adventuring to all of these places is one of my favourite things, and I’m hoping to get out a lot more as the winter goes on!
This past weekend, Shaugn and I made the ‘big trip’ over to Moncton, mostly to go to Costco (no surprise there). When we decided to go on a Sunday, we both thought it would be a great idea to get up a few hours earlier and do some exploring. As it had been years since I was at the Hopewell Rocks, Shaugn never being there before, and only a 30 minute drive past Moncton, it was determined that this would be our adventure. Unfortunately, though, when we looked at the tide table, it was going to be high tide. This meant that the 40 feet of water would slightly hinder the experience of walking on the ocean floor! We still went, and hiked throughout the park (as Shaugn told me all the ways that the animals in New Brunswick can kill me), and had a great time!
The really cool thing about the Hopewell Rocks, and the Bay of Fundy, is that they are some of the highest and fastest tides in the world. When we were there around mid-morning, the tide was around 40ft. If we would have gone back around 2 or 3, we would be able to walk where the water once was. The tides rise around 6-7 feet per hour, meaning that in the summer you can hike on the ocean floor, go grab some lunch, and then kayak later that same day. We did not have time to wait for the tide to go out, however we were able to watch the water rushing out when we got back to Moncton, as some of the rivers that run through the city are connected to the Bay.
One of the best parts of Mooney’s Pond is the trail that surrounds it. It only takes about twenty minutes to complete, if you’re a speed walking demon like me, but it is so beautiful with many benches and lookouts. If you wanted to take your walk a little further, an extension around the pond leads you right to the confederation trail!
I also wanted to give a shoutout to all the people who shared my last picture from Mooney’s Pond. CBC Prince Edward Island, Views PEI, Tourism PEI, Canon Canada, and everyone else who liked, commented, or shared my picture on Facebook and Instagram. It’s things like this that motivate me to keep taking pictures (other than the desire to procrastinate studying!).
See you all next week!
What a beautiful hidden gem this was! I’ve been trying to find all these little place on the Island to take pictures of while the leaves are changing colour (and still on the trees..), and this was top of the list. The trip wasn’t even all that planned. I looked out my window one day, saw it was sunny, packed up my gear, and left. One RCMP check stop and two wrong turns later, I found myself at the foot of a trail leading down to this beautiful pond.
This picture has inspired me to challenge myself to post a new picture every week. That’s right, you’ll have to deal with me every. single. week. Whether it be a picture from a hike I recently took, or a throwback (Thursday-style), I want to commit to delivering content every week for the rest of the year. Let me know your thoughts, and if it goes well, maybe I’ll continue it into the new year!
This trail posed to be the perfect spot to have a little study break, so Shaugn and I took off and went for a little hike! The trail is absolutely beautiful, and has many different terrains, as well as benches (which were stopped at frequently) perched on the edge of the water. Another cool thing about this trail (and most trails I have been on) is that they contain many geocaches. We ended up finding two without any hints or directions, just a general idea of where they were located.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints (damn work..), we were unable to complete the full trail, but will definitely be going back before the snow falls to finish it, and may even head back out with our snow shoes in the winter time!
At the trailhead, the Winter River Trail heads off northerly, through the white spruce thicket, emerging shortly onto a woods road. There is a family of rabbits just north of the parking lot, dining on the colorful mushrooms in the vicinity. The road soon plunges again into white spruce over gently rolling terrain, except where it approaches the Winter River ravine via spurs, to catch the view. Small feeder streams are bridged and wet spots have boardwalks. A few mature white pine are found, including one patriarch 70 feet to 80 feet tall and 24 inches diameter at shoulder height. (kudos to Island Trails for providing this awesome description on their website :P)
How about a little TBT for everyone?! This was captured on our way home from Montreal way back in January. It was my first time traveling with Shaugn (call us crazy, we had been together for all of three months and I flew up to Montreal to spend New Years with him..and still together a year later), and we had been heading east all day trying to get to PEI at a reasonable hour. We stopped at a gas station about an hour outside of Moncton, looked behind us, and saw this gorgeous sunset happening. Much to Shaugn’s protest (like I said, tight timeline here), I grabbed my camera and ran to the edge of the parking lot to grab this. So thankful I had my camera in the truck with me!
Emily Gray Photography 