The pleasure of wilderness
Nova Scotia is a peninsula at the Atlantic coast of Canada. It is separated from the east coast by the spectacular bay of Fundy. Like much of the interior of Canada the landscape on the peninsula is a flat expanse of glacial lakes, swamps and forests. A part of it is protected as the Kejimkujik National Park. Our visit there was so haunting that I was able to remember that unusual name until now, 30 years later.
A bay of Kejimkujik Lake
The best way to experience the park is by canoeing. There are designated routes which are all classified as easy. On the open water of the lake orientation is facilitated by red and green navigation buoys. Everybody has to wear a life vest which has to be equipped with a whistle. Many of the routes include portages of different length where you have to carry canoe and gear from lake to lake. I thought this would be a novel and inventive way of experiencing the Canadian backcountry. And in contrast to hiking you do not have to carry a bag. The weather is nice and warm for this time of the year and so we decide to waste away a couple of days with a canoeing trip.
Kejimkujik National Park
We drive to the park entrance station at Jakes Landing to get a permit. On a map they specify the campsite which we have to use. Not that it matters at lot: it is end of May and still early in the season, there are no other campers or canoeists around. Therefore the canoe and equipment rental of the Park is not yet operating. We have to drive to an outfitter outside the park to rent the necessary gear.
Kejimkujik National Park
We have brought our own tent, mattresses, sleeping bag, stove and cooking gear. After a visit to a supermarket we drove to the outfitter. From the car we watched a man tending to a number of canoes stored upside down outside a wooden shed. While he was busy he was constantly hitting his head or arms with his other hand. A very curious sight. But we do not laugh for very long.
Kejimkujik National Park
We left the car and knew right away what the man’s problem was. While he was gluing repair patches on the scratches on the bottom of his canoes he was surrounded by a cloud of mosquitoes. And soon we were as well. He explained that, with respect of the mosquitoes which he called black flies, this time of the year was the worst. The flies come out with the first warm and sunny days. The birds feeding on them only start serious hunting when they have to feed their chicks. A month later the birds have consumed most of the tiny flies. We start to regret our plans. The campsite we are supposed to use is on an island in Lake Kejimkujik. He assures us that there are less flies on the open water of the lakes.
The canoe strapped to the roof of our rental car
We are a bit concerned about how to get the canoe to the lake but the outfitter has suitable styrofoam blocks and tension straps to fix the canoe to the roof of the car without a roof rack. Before we load our stuff into the canoe and begin our trip we stop at the visitor center of the park and buy mosquito nets to put over our heads. We look quite stupid but our faces are more or less protected. Outside the net you see the suckers dancing before our eyes seeking to find an entrance. In vain.
Prepared for the onslaught of the mosquitoes
Nova Scotia is the native land of the Micmac native Americans. There are more than 60.000 Micmacs in eastern Canada and Newfoundland. Their language, Mi'kmawi'simk, is still spoken by more than 9000 people. Throughout the 18th century the British Crown signed a number of treaties with these tribes which acknowledged their freedom of land-use. However, in the course of the centuries their rights were increasingly limited. Law is distorted but also has a long arm.
Park map of Kejimkujik national park
In 1918 Gabriel Sylliboy (1874–1964), a religious leader of the Micmac, was elected as the Council's Grand Chief, a position he held until the end of his life. In 1927, Grand Chief Sylliboy was charged by the State of Nova Scotia with hunting muskrat pelts out of season. In his court defense, he used the rights defined in the Treaty of 1752 for the first time. He lost his case. However, in 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada finally recognized the 1752 treaty rights for indigenous hunting and fishing. 50 years after his death, a posthumous pardon and a formal apology were issued. It was the second posthumous pardon in Nova Scotia's history.
Time for lunch
With the arrival of the first settlers the Micmacs almost disappeared. They have left petroglyphs, traditional encampment areas, and canoe routes dating back thousands of years. The new settlers depleted the forests of Nova Scotia by logging for many years. The logs were winched across the lake in big rafts. A boat dumped an anchor far ahead of the raft. A rope connecting to the anchor was hauled in by cranking a windlass. For orientation a lantern was hung to a rock which still bears the name “lantern rock”. Logs which were lost on the way still float in the water after many years, covered in sphagnum moss, sundew or scrubs.
There are plenty of curious and tame deer around
The landscape has little changed since the time when the Micmac were the only residents here. The lakes are shallow, at the shores the water gives way to swamps. There are plenty of deer, beaver, muskrats and also black bear. Although the latter usually seem to avoid humans I am kind of glad that our campsite is on an island.
Rocky shore of Kejimkujik lake
We don’t see anybody while we follow the shores of the lake to our private island. The outfitter was right. There are no mosquitoes on the water. The wind was just strong enough to keep them at bay but not too strong to make paddling on the big lakes too bumpy. Some of the lakes are spring-fed and clear, others have dark brown water like the streams flowing through the bogs. The water quality is excellent but it still is better to boil or disinfect it before you drink.
Begin of a portage
Our route also involves a portage. We have to unload and carry everything like the Micmac and the first settlers did for centuries. The canoe is not too heavy and there are no climbs on the way. The portage also offers a glimpse into the wind-swept swampy forest between the lakes. The barren trees are still ghostlike this time of the year.
Our campsite
Our island is not bigger than an average-sized garden. There is the usual table and bench combination and a metal fireplace. We set up our tent between the trees. The park has provided the campsite with a pile of firewood. It is not allowed to collect wood from the forest. The logs are big, to get a fire started and start to prepare our dinner I have to split off some kindling. There are no mosquitoes.
Trying to get the campfire started
It gets dark late but much colder with the sinking sun. I have to realize that a lonely island in the middle of the wilderness is not everybody’s favorite. I have made that experience before. Wilderness is not the right place for a romantic date. My love is not happy. She feels lonely and bored that she has to spend a long evening without much to do besides dish-washing. It is too cold to sit at the table.
Sunset comes late at Kejimkujik National Park
The fireplace has nothing romantic for her either. Our front is steaming hot and the backs are ice-cold. Kejimkujik is Nova Scotia’s only Dark-Sky Preserve. However, the night comes late end of May in Nova Scotia. We have long retired into our tent and the cozy sleeping bags before it is dark. The long night in the little cold tent is not an inviting prospect for my love. She is glad that the canoeing experience will be finished after two days.
Boggy forest
One would expect that such a wet place like Kejimkujik has no problems with forest fires. But in the time of climate change even this is an illusion. The news of Wednesday, October 1, 2025, was that a full fire ban is in effect as of 5 pm. At the same time a forest fire was raging at the northern coast of Nova Scotia, the south coast of the Bay of Fundy.
Break at a rocky shore
The outfitter has given us beautiful and light wooden paddles. In my enthusiasm I have bought two paddles with the red and white Canadian flag sticker glued to the blade. Bringing them home on the flight back was no problem at the time. They are still in the garage. They were never used – the sticker looks like new.
Paddling in the sun
Kejimkujik National Park has a second part at the coast, the Seaside adjunct. The Seaside adjunct is a protected coastal wilderness area near Port Joli in Nova Scotia. There are a couple of pristine white sand beaches, turquoise waters, tidal flats, salt lagoons and areas of salt marshes. Access is limited to two hiking trails, motorized vehicles and boats are not allowed.
Limit of the National Park, Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct
There are two hiking trails to get to the coast. Both pass through dense shrubs lined by bogs and ponds. One is an old cart track which clearly visible passes through the forest. The tree cover gets thinner and lower the more we approach the coast.
Porcupine in a tree
In one of the trees we discover a porcupine. The porcupine is the second largest rodent in North America after the beaver. It wears a coat of long and sharp quills. Porcupines sleep during the day in burrows, rock crevices or hollow trees. I did not expect to see one in full daylight and high up in a tree. It seems to be comfortable and safe up there and is unimpressed by our presence.
Nothing wrong with this trail
The guidebook had promised boardwalks in wet sections of the trail. However, after a while the comfortable forest track ends. The track is so worn out that it becomes a ditch filled with water. The water is too deep to walk in it. It would fill our boots. We have to walk on the overgrown bank next to the water-filled track.
The sunken hiking trail
After a few meters my love starts screaming. Frantically she waves her arms, runs her hands through her opulent mop of curls, then inspects her trousers and jacket. The long sprouts of grass along the water are full of red ticks waiting for a victim. Avoiding to touch the blades of grass is basically impossible. I go ahead and try to get rid of the ticks by hitting the grass with a stick. Although the ticks are carried away in the wind they seem to travel considerable distances aiming all the while at love’s curls.
Are there more ticks?
Nevertheless we continue along the rim above the sunken trail until we reach solid ground again and a drier path without vegetation which leads to the waters etch. Salty bogs, marsh, beach and granite boulders alternate. A rocky outcrop off the shore is occupied by a group of harbor seals. My love has little appreciation for the views and checks again and again for ticks hidden in her hair and the folds of her cloths.
The beach at Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct
A strong and cold wind renders a longer stay on one of the pristine white sand beaches unpleasant. On the way back we take the second entrance to the park, a comfortable but more boring dirt road. After we get back to our room and take off the clothes we still find more ticks. Fortunately none has found an entrance to our flesh yet. Nevertheless it is comforting that the information pamphlets of the park affirm that the local ticks don’t carry any of the nasty pathogens their European mates have. We change and wash our clothes in the washing machine of the bed and breakfast. We still keep finding ticks in the boots days later.
Seals on a safe off shore islet
The name Kejimkujik is derived from the Mi’kmaw word Kejimkuji’jk, meaning little fairies. Historically, Kejimkujik Lake was known as Fairy Lake; one of its bays is still known as Fairy Bay. Fairies assume various forms in Mi’kmaw culture for example as little people, or gnome which also appear on the petroglyphs in the park. But maybe they also live in the local wildlife, the insects and the mist of the fridged lakes, to scare away intruders disturbing the peace of the native land.
Boulders at the Seaside Adjunct
Other posts about the same trip:
Kejimkujik Seasude Adjunct
Sources
Marylee Stephenson, Canada’s National Parks, A visitor’s guide, Prentice Hall, 1991
