Ottawa to Fredericton - Day 13

Wednesday, September 19 - Fielding, NB - 86 km

Had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel restaurant as I waited for the sun to rise. Packed up my gear, checked out, and started riding at about 07:45. I was fine for the first few km, then my knee started to hurt. I rode on anyway, taking many short breaks and riding while standing for long stretches at a time. I even tried walking my bike up one of the steeper hills, but this proved to be much more work than just riding it. Today was a day of dogs. It seemed that every few houses would have a dog running loose. Some just stared, some stared and barked, others gave chase. This was fairly annoying. Chain your dogs people! After a few chases, I armed myself with pepper spray in my pocket. Fortunately I did not need to use it. The terrain was rolling hills, none of them very steep or long, as the road followed the St. John river through small farms, which were mostly potato fields. Traffic was light, with simply the occasional potato truck passing from both directions. I noticed the Trans Canada trail was following along this route on an old rail bed. I took it for about 5 km, but it was loose gravel so I went back to the road. I had lunch on the shore of the river on a small grassy trail and then continued, my knee not bothering me as much now. A couple of women sitting in a mini van by the side of the road flagged me down. They just wanted to chat, which I was glad to oblige, as I have not really talked to anyone in quite a while. We chatted for about ten minutes and then I head on my way. They were working on a creek rehabilitation project. I continued on through Bath and then started to look for somewhere to camp. The houses were pretty close together, but it was getting more wooded as I got out of town. After passing through Fielding, I turned down a side road and found a trail off into the woods. I followed it aways and then found a nice spot for the tent in a mossy clearing. I am out of sight of the trail, which is good because I have heard kids on it a couple of times as I am relaxing in the tent to get away from the mosquitos. I hiked into the bush a little further and found a clear cut area, where I cooked up a chilli and couscous supper. A sad looking apple tree which had been spared the chainsaw provided dessert, and another sad looking birch had a suitable branch for hanging up the food bag.

Potato harvesting.

Bridge to Woodstock, NB.

Trans Canda trail on an old rail bed.

If you look carefully in the next two pictures you can see wind turbines on top of the hills in Maine, USA.

Hydro electric generation along the Saint John river.

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