Achin' for the Bacon (Cove)

Today my kayak was a time machine. I've paddled here before with a group but today I was on my own with a plan to have a look for a geological feature known as an angular unconformity in Bacon Cove. I had been there on a geology class field trip almost 40 years ago and I wanted to check out if could find it again.

The first time, in 1971, was with fellow geology classmates. I can't remember a lot about the trip so it was going to be a challenge. I knew that if I saw it I would recognize the location. Question was, where exactly. I stopped in Bacon Cove on the first beach for lunch and looked around but nothing looked familiar. A couple of hunderd metres further another beach and this looked vaguely familiar. I landed and sure enough, there it was. I sat and took some pictures; it was really weird. So much water under the bridge and yet the mind recognized the location after just one visit almost 40 years ago.

After a while, back to the present. OK Scotty, beam me up and I was back at the take-out after a great day paddling. You'll see from some of the pictures following what I mean.

Tony :-)

Two churches. One traditional, the other on the water in my Necky Looksha IV. The church wasn't open for business today as it was Thursday but I had a spiritual day anyway.

Wharves done up in Conception Harbour. Looks like a nice place to socialize in the summer but not so inviting at this time of year.

Some rugged coastline along the way. Here some big rocks have tumbled down from the cliff face to land in the water. Glad I wasn't going by here when that happenned.

Small sea-stack after leaving Conception Harbour.

The reason for my trip to Bacon Cove. What is represented here is an angular unconformity where a lens of basal Cambrian conglomerate lies unconformably on Conception group siltstone. More on this in a subsequent post - its very interesting stuff, honest!

Theory of gargoyles

A natural formation that looks like a sculptured - by - man gargoyle

Gargoyles are carved stone grotesques with a spout used to convey water away from a roof and away from the side of a building. I connect gargoyles mainly with churches, maybe there's a bit of unnatural erieness connected to both?

I think kayaking has a gargoyle quality to it, not the grotesque part but the part about diverting water away from buildings. Instead of water, kayaking gargoyles divert worries and everyday concerns. Being on the water on sunny peaceful day has that same ability to take me away from things that may be on my mind and everything is good with the world.

Tony :-)

There something serene about paddling a kayak when you have time to stop, look and take it all in.

Theory of park

Contem- plative bench at a lookout in Pippy Park in the City of St. John's, Newfound- land

In the late 1960's local entrepreneur Chesley A. Pippy donated a big piece of land towards the creation of a park within the city limits of St. John's. The park has hiking trails, a botanic garden, lakes to kayak in and a trailer park. Its a jewel. Within minutes you feel as if you're in the middle of a wilderness. We need parks today as a society because its often the only space where we can be free of civilization and we need to protect their integrity.

There has been some erosion of land in the park recently. A piece of ground was used for a french only school and recently land was given to the YMCA for a new building. Its worisome because its like a slippery slope. Once the people who make these decisions start to justify use of the land for other than park land, it gets easier every time after that to nibble away at the boundary. Like Joni Mitchell sang "they paved paradise, put up a parking lot". A little bit of that going on here.

Today, I planned on a short paddle but opted for a short cross-country outing in Pippy Park. The snow won't be around much longer so I took advantage of the snow and beautiful day. Why? Because you don't know what you got till its gone!

Tony :-)

View from the bench. Oxen Pond and the OP Botanic Garden in the foreground with O'Leary's Indusrial Park of St. John's in the distance.

Theory of wealth

Looking down into Marysvale

There's a fault that runs through Marysvale, it runs directly down the center between the two hills. The fault is an area of weakness that has allowed the rocks on either side to erode faster than rocks farther from the fault, therefore the valley formed.

Marysvale also has been explored for manganese. An exploratory pit was sunk in the hill to the left. The rocks were found to contain between 5 and 10% manganese; apparently either not rich enough or not enough mineralization in the host rock that it could be mined for profit.

Wealth is from an old English word "weal" which was originally an adjective used to describe possession of great qualities. Today of course its meaning is not related to quality but to quantity. The more the better, especially if its money. But how much is enough? Enough to buy food and shelter? Enough to buy a 30 foot cabin cruiser versus a 17 foot kayak? Who would have a better view of Marysvale?

Like the manganese in Marysvale, for me, wealth is not measured in quantity but in quality. And, like the fault that runs through Marysvale, is it a fault of society that we place such high value in quantity? There are some things money can't buy and I had one of those things out with Stan for a paddle in Colliers Bay this past week.

Tony :-)

Theory of better days

The rusty bucket Baffin Run has seen better days

Well, today we're getting the snow (15-25 cms & 100 kms.hr) and wind we were promised yesterday so I'm glad we got out to enjoy Colliers Bay, Newfoundland in benign conditions.

On the way back to the put-in in Colliers, we paddled alongside two rust buckets that have seen better days: the Baffin Run and behind it the Baffin Bay. So today, weatherwise we have something in common with these "boats" - we've seen better days.

But today is also good if you like raw weather. I like walks in the woods (i.e. forests) in this kind of weather and I don't even mind shovelling the snow that falls in my driveway. If I didn't like it I'd move. Move and give up the secenery we paddled in yesterday, I don't think so. You have to take the "bad" with the good, realizing that there's no day better than the one you're given.

Tony :-)

5 degrees warmer and this mass of icicles will melt. Climate change in a century may mean an increase in the average global temperature of as much as 5 degrees. Its a fine line as 5 degrees isn't much.

Stan sizeing up a picture opportunity. Stan has a real eye for some great kayak phototaking. The picture he took here is on his blog

When Stan gets his black Nordkapp he'll blend into the landscape.

Theory of opportunity

Stan seizing the opportunity.

We all know that opportuniy only knocks once. Winter is so unpredictable here on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland that when the opportunity presents itself you just have to take advantage of it. The forecast for tomorrow, Wednesday, was 15 - 25 cms of snow and 100 NE winds. Today the window of opportunity was open for a short time.

So, Stan took a vacation day and we decided on a paddle from Colliers to Marysvale, which we managed to turn into about a 20 km paddle. I brought a lunch but my neoprene hatch covers were frozen solid to the boat so I had to put it in the cockpit. It didn't get eaten until the drive home.

We started off in some crusty ice on the surface and a few flurries falling. Just right to keep ya cool. Picked our way along the coast taking pictures of icicles where water flowing out of the cliffs had frozen. Crossed over to the Colliers side and had a liesurely paddle back to the take-out. Conveniently, there's a river running out so we washed out the boats and splashed around to wash the salt off our gear. It wasn't a challenging paddle but a very worthwhile thing to do today.

Stan and I didn't wait to see if a second knock would come, we were happy we didn't. Thanks again Stan for your excellent company on the water. I expect it was a good use of your vacation day!

Tony :-)

Looking out the bay. Marysvale is around the headland on the left. It was glassy calm in close to the put-in but lots of ice forming on top of the salt water.

Stan making his way into Marysvale. I stopped here and took a drink out of a natural spring that was running out of the hillside. The water was much warmer than the water we paddled in.

There was a bit of swell that made for a bit of splish - splash!

Stan cruising along the ice and snow covered cliffs on the way into Colliers.

The rock is an erratic, that is it was transported from somewhere else by the glaciers that retreated here 12,000 years ago.

Theory of patience

Cover of LP "Recall the beginning ... a journey from Eden" by the Steve Miller Band

I bought this record back in, I think, 1972. I can't be certain as you'll understand, 1972 was a long time ago. I bought the record before the hit single "the Joker", in other words I didn't get turned on to Steve Miller Band because he got on Top-40 radio. I bought the record after working with friend Scott Stoyles who had seen him perform in San Francisco.

Its one of my favourite LPs. It just hit a chord (pardon the pun) with me. Today, I still have my turntable but I thought wouldn't it be great to have this on CD. Fast forward to today's technology that lets me rip it to CD. Fantastic, still has a little crackle and pop and that warm feeling but the convenience of slipping it into the CD player.

Out of curiosity, I googled Steve Miller and I read that he's the godson of the father of the Les Paul electric guitar - Les Paul (!). Les Paul taught him his first chords at the age of 5 in 1948. That was 24 years before he recorded said LP at age 29.

I've been trying to learn the guitar for about 4 years now and progress is slow but I put time in every day. At the age of Freedom 55 +, I don't expect to become a guitar god but I thought I'd be able to play a few more tunes than I do now. But 24 years is a long time and if I have patience, I just might get there.

Tony :-)