Diligent River Bar

A Nova Scotian view I have said is one of the most beautiful in the whole world, is above the little harbour of Diligent River, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. I enjoyed it first when I became minister of the Baptist Church there, in 1996. Last weekend, for the fist time, I walked across the beach and the river, at low tide, to get to the gravel bar, with its tiny forest of white spruce trees. In fact, I took my tent and camping gear, and stayed overnight.

The view across the Minas Channel is a priceless picture of Cape Split, and the western, cliffy edge of that ridge of rock we call the North Mountain. The days I was there were clear, blue sky, except for a bit of beautiful fog on Saturday morning.

As soon as I got over and set up my tent, I set out to walk the beach, east, all the way to a similar gravel bar at Black Rock, near Parrsboro. It is four kms along a gravelly beach that is bordered by a  spectacular sedimentary rock cliff, much of it with the layers running vertically. Along the two gravel bars, at each end of this hike, I did a mini bioblitz of the plants I found, taking photos of them for iNaturalist. There was more growing here just above the high tide line than I expected. 

And it was fun to camp - wilderness camping, really: by that I mean where this is no campground, no campsite. I camp in a tent very seldom. I just had to haul food and water for a 24 hour period, though I did not quite spend that long over there. Below you can see where I pitched my tent, and a couple of my meals. (Those are huckleberries in my pancake.)

 

Along with plenty of plants I found a few other critters. The chanterelle mushrooms were probably edible - I left them for the slugs that had already nibbled them. I did nibble some of the big rose hips from the seaside bushes. On the dried seaweed of the beach I found a lost caterpillar! 

The rock formations along the cliffs were amazing. Pictures and descriptions can't do them justice. Walking over to the bar at low tide, by the way, is possible for about two hours before and after low tide. Then, there is lots of beach to explore along this secluded area. And there are always a few fun stones on any beach...

I nibbled more than rose hips, as I foraged. A few black chokeberries, blueberries, and about two mountain cranberries.

There were plenty of expected plants in bloom, including seaside goldenrod and silverrod. Below is a plant that had whitish flowers like silverrod (one of the goldenrods), but they were on a robust, smooth plant, like a seaside goldenrod. I bet it was a hybrid. This bit of shoreline is a wonderful place to visit for a day and a night. I will surely go back again.