The covered bridge day

We had several tough days in a row. It started with a difficult hike to Three Vault Falls. Only 8K, Linda said. Much like the Baker Brook falls last year, the first part is relatively easy, except for the ankle breaking stones and tree roots lurking under the fallen leaves. At least I had the scene to myself, though there was a lovely little pool at the base of the falls. It's a perfects scene for that iconic model posing in a bikini scene, if one could be persuaded to do the hike. All the photos from there need to have the edit checked on the big screen, since I think several are contenders for image of the month.

To get there it's down a set of stairs, and down a steep slope where the trail is not clear, then down some more stairs. This is the last set of stairs, and yes, you scramble over or around that big rock. 

This isn't the part of the path that has you jump from rock to rock as you work your way down the stream, but it looks a lot like this. 

This is the easy part of the path. 

Then the next day we were back for a shorter, easier hike to Laverty Falls. Well, that was the plan. 

You know from the previous blog that we found a covered bridge totally by accident because Mrs Google led us astray. This bridge. I was in no mood to scramble down the hill to get other photos of it.

We ended up, finally, in Alma for lunch. Then up the correct way to get to Laverty Falls. Only 5.5 K return, and an easier hike. Well, there's a couple places you have to be careful of your footing. It's a long enough way down. These falls aren't as tall but they're wider, and were easier to photograph.

The fun part of the day came as we were nibbling a restorative cookie (I NEEDED one!) and watched a guy walking from vehicle to vehicle issuing warnings for not buying a parks pass on the way in. There were a couple dozen cars in the parking lot, and most of them got warning. We chatted with the guy as he worked from car to car, says it happens a lot. He thanked us for buying the annual pass.

Then the big 3 hour drive up to Miscou Island lighthouse. Have I mentioned there's lots of one lane closures for road work? Good thing we weren't in a rush. It's sort of your typical lighthouse, and two nearby beaches. It was really windy, but we did the lighthouse catwalk, and both beaches. We worked our way back towards home and stopped at Kelly's Beach again. Our thinking was that the sky was supposed to be clear and I could get in some astro photography. Alas, the skies were completely clouded over, but I found a couple good possibilities for setting up.

That's why today was an easy day exploring the nearby covered bridges. Turns out there are 5 of them in easy driving distance, starting at a really nice coffee shop. At least that's what Mrs Google told us. We already knew that one of the results isn't a covered bridge, and that a review for another of them said it had been removed.

Poirier covered bridge 159 Poirier Office rd Nice setting. The sign says no thru traffic, but it's clear that people drive their vehicles through. We didn't.

Budd Bridge 511 Victoria rd Still operational. Setting ok.

Magnetic Hill (parkindale) covered bridge Magic Mountain rd. A toy bridge for an amusement park. However it’s really near the winery, and we got another bottle.

Boudreau covered bridge, 36 Gayton Rd Memramcook. Hard to get a good photo of it, and setting was nothing special.

Joshua gallant covered bridge 1200 Shedia River Rd Once again, Mrs Google led us the way that took a long time. Might have looked shorter on the map, but it wasn’t shorter to drive.  The bridges all look pretty much identical on the inside. I can easily imagine there was a standard plan for the various river crossing widths, and they were churned out by local carpenters. 

Hard to believe we're at the half way point of our trip. Zoom!