NEW SECTION OF TRAIL OPENED ABOVE DARK HARBOUR

TRAIL BOOKLET (6TH EDITION) NOW AVAILABLE

GPS USED TO VERIFY TRAIL LOCATIONS

BENCHES AT SOUTHWEST HEAD

SHIPWRECKS OF GRAND MANAN - UPDATED

TRAIL CLEARING 2002

Our Readers Write…

DARTMOUTH VOLKSMARCH CLUB VISITS AGAIN

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW GRAND MANAN?

WINTER WANDERINGS ON WHITE HEAD

EEL BROOK ANYONE?

SOURCES OF REVENUE

DONORS

TRAIL ADOPTERS 
NEEDED!

TRAILS COMMITTEE

TRAIL BOOKLET (6TH EDITION) NOW AVAILABLE

The 6th and most recent edition of the trails booklet Heritage Trails and Footpaths on Grand Manan is now in print. It is the first major revision in a few years, and incorporates trail changes which have taken place over the past few years. Some of the revisions include a new cover, the trails from Deep Cove to Bradford’s Cove, the inland trails from Tatton’s Corner to Money Cove, corrections to the Northern Head map, the addition of the names of weirs on the North Head map, and an enlarged and more detailed centerfold map of the Grand Manan archipelago. We would welcome comments about the new book and its new look, and will incorporate these suggestions into the next edition.

It would be appreciated if Tourism Association members would stock copies for sale to their guests. top

Our Readers Write…………

Dear Grand Manan Trails,
 We had another fabulous week of hiking last summer and can’t wait to set foot on Grand Manan again—as soon as possible. Please accept this donation for trail maintenance.
      Sincerely,
      Paul and Robin Kenny
      Flemington, New Jersey

Cecilia,
 I took the Trail Pin. It’ll join my “sew-on patch.” The trails are certainly one of the great attractions of Grand Manan and the people who maintain them deserve a lot of credit and gratitude. See you next year.
      Thanks
      Stan and Lorraine
     Address unknown

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW GRAND MANAN?
Test your knowledge of Grand Manan firsts and facts.        Answers 

SOURCES OF REVENUE

Our major source of revenue is donations from you, precious readers. Donations go up after the newsletter is mailed and this past year totaled over $1200.

Our annual fund-raising dinner last October at the Inn at Whale Cove so ably co-ordinated by Judy Stone, brought in over $600. Laura Buckley, the masterful chef and owner, bless her, donated wine and many ingredients. Our special thanks to Richard Rice, North Head Bakery and Danny and Diane Jaillet for the meat for the lasagna.

Another source of revenue comes from the sale of trail crests and pins which raised approximately $800. We are particularly grateful for their unremunerated efforts to the Grand Manan Museum, The Inn at Whale Cove, Island Arts, Shorecrest Lodge, the Marathon Inn, Cow-Mon In and Harrington Cove Cottages.

Two local initiatives also brought in funds. Judy Stone sold her notecards ($10 for 6) and Roger Maker prepared sea urchins which sell for $1, both for sale at Harrington Cove Cottages. Should you have any ideas for items you could sell, please let us know.

DONORS

As our tireless leader, Don Baldwin, may be leaving this year or next, this dinner seemed an appropriate time to pay tribute to all the work he has done on Grand Manan trails over the years. As Maude Hunter observed: “He was the trail system” and all that it has become today.

Don and Maureen first camped on Grand Manan in 1968. In 1970, they bought 1.6 acres of waterfront land south of Seal Cove and camped there nearly every summer for 20 years. At this time, Don was the Science Master of the Prep School at Upper Canada College in Toronto. His claim to fame there was the Outdoor Education Program he developed for Prep School students.

When Don retired in 1990, he envisioned himself with machete and paint in hand working the island trails and running Baldwin Nature Tours. The ecotour business fitted nicely with the bed and breakfast Don and Maureen opened in 1990.

The Grand Manan Trails Committee was launched in the late fall of 1990 at a meeting at the Water’s Edge restaurant. (It was owned by Phil Waters, then Chair of the Tourism Association.) In attendance were: Don and Maureen, Eric Hadley, Maude Hunter, Billy Daggett and Phil Waters. The trails group was formed as a sub-committee of the Tourism Association but with separate finances, and this relationship continues today.

Many of the old trails were in poor shape and could only be found with difficulty. The Tourism Association spent a lot of time worrying about trail problems. So Don stepped into the breach and decided - quote - “I am going to concentrate on the trails.” He wanted to make a contribution to island tourism and decided to devote his knowledge, energy and outdoor expertise to rebuilding an extensive, natural trails system. Today there are approximately 70 km of trails on 3 of the islands.

Don took the lead and over the years has filled at least 20 functions relating to trails: clearing old trails; developing new ones; making driftwood signs and painting markers; writing and editing trail guides; maintaining file cards on donors; keeping the books and doing the banking and public relations; setting policy; coordinating the design and production of trail crests and later, trail pins, as sources of revenue; organizing work crews and writing grant applications; liaising with the Tourism Association; making presentations to the Rotarians and Village Council; maintaining the tools inventory and writing Trail Maintenance Guidelines.

With Don’s organizing style and diplomatic personality, he was able to recruit many others to the cause – both Islanders and tourists alike. Among those who have been a particular help over the years (and I apologize in advance to anyone who has been inadvertently overlooked – there are few written notes to record your contribution and these names are not in any particular order), Don is most grateful to: Maude Hunter, Ce Bowden, Gene Gillies, Jackie Foote, Andy Normandeau, Kevan O’Donnell, Billy Daggett, Walter Wilson, John Cunningham, Barbara and Sydney Guptill, Molly and Ivan Laffoley, Shirley and Sheldon Cook and Laurie Murison as well as many others who have been recognized in annual newsletters.

Early on Don realized he needed help and the Friends of Grand Manan Trails was formed in 1992. Friends are those who contribute either physical labour on the trails or money. Most of you here tonight are Friends and you are essential to the trails network.

“Behind every successful man is a woman” the saying goes and we must also pay tribute to the solid contribution of Maureen throughout the 90s. Don and Maureen had a shipboard romance coming to Canada from Britain in 1958 and they’ve now been married 43 years. Maude recalled two typical contributions that Maureen made over the years. She provided home-baked sustenance for breakfast meetings and she did yeoman (yeolady?) work as the Trails Newsletter Editor and typist for many years - while all the while running the bed and breakfast. She shares Don’s enthusiasm and devotion to the trails in her low-key, warm, winning way. And she’s Don’s soulmate.

To close, I want to quote Maude Hunter again. “Don came and went to work; he had the time and the knowledge; he made it happen. He is a leader and people are willing to follow him.”

Please rise and join me in applauding Don Baldwin, for all his years of devotion to the great trails system of Grand Manan. top

NEW SECTION OF TRAIL OPENED ABOVE DARK HARBOUR

For the first time in a number of years, a new section of trail has been developed. If hikers were hiking south from Money Cove to Dark Harbour, it was necessary to descend a very steep slope to Dark Harbour, walk along a muddy trail behind the cabins to the asphalt road, and then walk up the road to the trail which continued south to Western Head. We received  permission last autumn from Crabbe Lumber to develop a trail along the crest of the slope, joining the existing trail above Dark Harbour to the start of the trail to Western Head and south. Initial assistance was provided by good friends of the trails group, Eric and Jane Hadley, and from that beginning, Carmen and Pete Roberts and Judy and Bob Stone completed the routing and flagging of the new trail. The work was completed this spring when Anne Mitchell, Jessie James, and Cecilia Bowden joined the team to brush and clear the newly-marked trail, and Anne, Jessie, Judy and Bob changed the flagging to red trail markers. There are a number of wonderful views of Dark Harbour, and one outstanding lookout, from where one has a panoramic view. We hope to have a picnic table there before the summer is completed. This new section of trail can be used by hikers who are hiking the entire back of the island, or as part of a circle route from the trail parking lot on the Dark Harbour Road, across the new trail (a 30 to 40 minute hike) to the junction with the existing trail, then left (south) down the slope to Dark Harbour, and up the road back to the parking lot. This circle route should take between an hour and an hour and one half. top

GPS USED TO VERIFY TRAIL LOCATIONS

We have never been completely sure that the north and south trails from Tatton’s Corner to Money Cove were positioned on the Northern Head map in exactly the right place. This summer, however, we have been most fortunate in that George Logan has brought along his GPS (Global Positioning System) instrument, and has been taking positional readings on both trails. He expects to have this completed by the end of September, and once we have those readings, we will be able to position the two trails on the map to within metres of their actual location. A corrected map will appear in the next edition of the trail booklet. Thanks very much, George, for your assistance. George has also given us the exact readings for the new trail above Dark Harbour.

BENCHES AT SOUTHWEST HEAD

 We received so many positive comments about the lobster-shaped bench we placed last year on Seven Days Work that we asked Junior Green to construct three more. They have been placed at Southwest Head, one to the left of the lighthouse at the beginning of the trail to Southern Beach, one behind the lighthouse, and one a short way along the trail to Bradfords Cove Pond. We hope that these benches will give hikers a place to rest, and sunset watchers a place to sit and enjoy the marvelous views. top

SHIPWRECKS OF GRAND MANAN - UPDATED
Don Baldwin.

Early last fall The Grand Manan Historian #XXVI was published. This is an occasional publication and this latest edition features an updated history of the shipwrecks of Grand Manan by Eric Allaby, MLA of Seal Cove. Many readers will know his previous treatment of this subject from an earlier Historian, or will have heard him lecture on this subject. Eric, well known as a maritime illustrator and pioneer underwater archaeologist is the authority on this subject. Our museum collection has been enriched by the addition of many artifacts he has brought up from the bottom.

This chronological account catalogues 339 named vessel wreckings with the port-of-registry, point of departure, destination, type of cargo, plus the names of skipper and owner as well as the numbers of crew and passengers and their fates.

Eric has embellished his account with 15 maps and 18 sketches and photographs. These are to his usual standard of excellence and fit in with those featured in that gem of island lore Grand Manan republished in 1995. In this new shipwreck publication, the sketches include 4 oblique underwater wreck views showing the scattered remains in situ as  he himself found and mapped them. Most useful are his renditions of the various sailing vessel types. This landlubber was enabled to sort barges from brigantines and differentiate between the many types of sloops!

The saga begins in 1720 when the sloop John from Canso was wrecked at Grand Manan with “a detachment” on board. Happily no lives were lost. The location of the wreck back of the island still bears the name Sloop Cove. 

In 1946, 226 years later, the last sinking involved the coastal steamer Robert G. Cann. Sailing with general cargo from Saint John for Yarmouth, she foundered on February 4th eight miles SE of the Swallowtail light and her crew of 13 were forced to transfer to the lifeboat. Driven by the storm, they could only attempt the long row to Nova Scotia. They soon began to die from exposure and only one man ultimately survived. Amongst the dead was the stewardess Mary Jacquard. To link the fate of this craft (which had served as the island’s ferry for much of WWII) to the present is my neighbor at Jack Tars Cove, Alberta Young; Mary Jacquard was her mother.

Many place names like Ashburton Head and Pandora Head refer to wrecks on Eric’s list. You can add interest to your next shoreline hike if you study his accounts and maps before setting out.

This publication also carries a four page account of the recent workings of the Historical Society which is perhaps not as well known as it should be. Readers will applaud their actions in helping to preserve the historical Seal Cove waterfront and its breakwater.

On November 8th, Ava Sturgeon then the society’s archivist, was en route home aboard the ferry with a load of newly printed Historians. She said the ferry was about half full; nonetheless she sold 33 copies during the crossing. The author was also on board and autographed every one. An impromptu promotion for a great Christmas stocking stuffer.

If  you wish to have a copy mailed, contact the Grand Manan Museum. The cost is $15 plus $2 postage. 
Complementing the Historian article, Eric’s latest colourful poster depicts all the wreck sites on a map of the archipelago and it too is on sale at the museum for $10 plus $2 postage. (The address of the Grand Manan Museum is 1141 Route 776, Grand Manan, NB E5G 4E9.) top

TRAIL CLEARING 2002

Again this year we have been fortunate to have had the services of Anne Mitchell and Jessie James to brush and clear the trails. They spent many hours in May and June working their way along all of the coastal trails and a number of inland trails, using a cutlass, pruner, and chainsaw to maintain them. They were also instrumental in completing the final clearing of the new trail above Dark Harbour. It has become increasingly difficult to maintain inland trails because of all of the ATV tracks, and the signs which have been torn down or misplaced. So the emphasis has been on the coastal trails. Your donations to Friends of Grand Manan Trails are used every year for this trail maintenance, and improvements we make to the trail system. Our annual costs are approximately $1500-$2000 per year. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, please send a cheque to Grand Manan Trails, c/o Grand Manan Tourism Association, 130 Route 776, Grand Manan, NB E5G 4K9. top
 
DARTMOUTH VOLKSMARCH CLUB VISITS AGAIN

In 1996, 55 members of the Dartmouth Volkamarch Club visited Grand Manan to hike the trails for three days. This year a record 96 members came from September 3-5 filling most of the North Head accommodation.

Ably led by Lionel and Lily Conrod, who had visited earlier to reconnoiter, members hiked the island in three days: on day one, 16km from Whale Cove to Dark Harbour; day two, 11km from Pats Cove to Hay Point and in the afternoon, 11km from Hole-in-the-Wall to Net Point, and on day three, 20km from Dark Harbour to Southwest Head.

Lionel again found our trails more difficult (because they are intentionally left in a natural state) and more beautiful than many the group had hiked elsewhere. He calls Grand Manan “a spectacular place,” and this in spite of six hours of rain the first day.

WINTER WANDERINGS ON WHITE HEAD
Brian Dalzell.

White Head Island is one of my favorite places to wander about whenever I have a few hours to spare - especially in winter - when it takes on a totally different aspect from that shown the visitor during the summer season. I usually catch the 11:40 ferry and drive to Battle Beach or Langmaid Cove soon after arriving; there I leave my Jeep for a hike around the back of the island.

This account, by the way, is an amalgam of several visits, but all the events are true, having taken place in January or February of recent years. Today it’s late January and I’ve started at Battle Beach, where the pavement ends and the road follows the rugged shore to Long Point and Sandy Cove. A fierce southeast gale has just subsided and the beach is littered with dozens of smashed up lobster traps thrown high on the beach, full of seaweed, but alas, no lobsters.

It is easy to see why it is called Battle Beach, as a bulldozer will have to be employed to clear out the road so it will be passable again, even by 4-wheel drives. As I start out along the wave-thrashed shore, I hear a winter wren calling from the edge of the woods and look back. Unexpectedly, it flies out of the woods and lands under my Jeep, where it sits for a few seconds before continuing on its own winter wanderings. The weather is sunny and calm, about –5C.

Further out along the beach, I flush a couple of song sparrows from the beach grass and about halfway to the light, I see a killdeer feeding on the great piles of wrack thrown up by the sea. In the little cove just before the light, a flock of about 15 wary little buffehead take flight. Their presence here is most welcome, and of rather recent vintage, with three having first been noted here during the winter of 1997-8. Between 35-40 birds were recorded here in early March of 2002.

Near the lighthouse, but on the Sandy Cove side, I make my best observation of the afternoon, a little troupe of 16 harlequin ducks - ten males and six females. The spiffy males are trying to impress the females, and I’m able to get within 100 meters by approaching slowly and keeping behind some rocks. Their population has grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years, from practically nothing, to 100+ birds around White Head during the winter of 2001-2002.

Reluctantly, I leave them behind and strike out across the wonderful sandy beach at (where else?) Sandy Cove. The recent storm has left lots of kelp high on the beach to rot, and I flush two little brown birds from the top of one particularly large pile. I’m surprised to discover they are American pipits. They are somewhat common along the south shore of Nova Scotia in winter, where they subsist on kelp fly maggots, but this is the first mid-winter record I know of for the islands. 

The next cove is considerably less sandy, but to less choked with seaweed. At the other side I leave the beach and enter the trail that will lead to the The Bluff. The woods here are what is called Krumholz in Newfoundland, with the spruces being stunted and wind pruned. Getting between the gnarled branches was a problem in the past, but some kind soul has opened up this trail in recent years, and the going is pretty easy, even in winter, when the ground is bare as often as not.

At the Bluff I pause to look out over the sea towards Black Rocks, and note hundreds of common eiders on the surface, along with many black guillemots and long-tailed ducks (I still prefer the old name of “oldsquaw”). And, around a large rock about 250 meters offshore, I count at least 20 more harlequin ducks. For the most part, the woods are quiet, but as I near Langmaid Cove, I run into a noisy band of a dozen boreal chickadees and golden-crowned kinglets, accompanied by a single brown creeper, with a downy woodpecker bringing up the rear.

It has taken me two hours to reach Langmaid Cove, and I pause to look out at Gull Rock, where several great cormorants have taken up their stations for the afternoon. They remind me of so many stone gargoyles perched atop the parapets of a Gothic building. In the cove itself, four common loons call amongst themselves and dive in search of fish and crustaceans. With my telescope, about two miles offshore, I see thousands of alcids passing by. Most are likely razorbills, but there are goodly numbers of dovekies and murres thrown in for good measure.

Next, I drive to Gull Cove, as snug a winter harbour as you’re ever likely to find. I get out and walk around the point nearest Gull Rock and discover a nice raft of a dozen black scoter close to shore. The males look smart with their all-black plumage and bright orange bill knob. In fact, the latter feature has earned them the name “butterbill” amongst local duck hunters.

It is getting close to 4 pm so I pick up the pace and head back for the landing where the last ferry of the day is preparing to leave. As I drive past Marsh Point, a flock of 20 snow buntings swirl along the roadside like snowflakes, returning almost as soon as I’ve passed. In Cow Passage the brant have begun to return. There are only about a hundred, but their numbers will increase quickly now in the lengthening days of February. I reluctantly take my leave of the island, ending my day with a respectable 25 species of birds - pretty good for winter on White Head. top

EEL BROOK ANYONE?

For a short but rewarding hike, try the Whistle Road to the mouth of Eel Brook. Look for this trailhead, marked in blue, just past the old dump site and immediately before the Whistle Road dips to cross Eel Brook. The trail is barely a kilometer and only requires half an hour one way. Park at the trailhead or in one of the old dump entrances. You will hike downhill all the way to the boulder beach at the mouth of the brook.

To the west Ashburton Head overlooks this spot. On your return you can opt to join the red trail going out to the lookout on Ashburton Head and follow it back to the Whistle Road. This side trip will give you a view of Eel Brook Falls. (This trail to Eel Brook is shown on the map on page 14 of the 6th edition of Heritage Trails and Footpaths of Grand Manan).

TRAIL ADOPTERS NEEDED!

 Over the years the trails have been cleared and re-marked sporadically by funded crews and spontaneously by keen individuals. Starting in 1993 the GMTC began to recruit volunteer “Trail Adoptors” who look after specific trails, monitor work needed and carry out light maintenance. Heavy work is typically done in the spring before many hikers are out. The commitment of time is not onerous. All tools and materials can be supplied from our inventory and 90% of the work simply involves a pair of hand clippers to combat intrusive growth. Keeping us informed about current trail conditions is probably the main contribution. 

Two trails needing adopting are those from the Eddy Light to Money Cove and from Whale Cove to Ashburton Head. Any takers? Please call Bob Stone at 662-8987 if you are ready, willing and able.top

1. Passamaquoddy Indians of the Point Pleasant band at Eastport visited Grand Manan every year until 1947 to hunt harbour porpoise and seals, collect feathers for the millinery trade and gather gull, tern and eider eggs as well as sweetgrass for basket weaving.
2. Champlain either ran aground or careened his boat on White Head during a storm in March 1606. He then spent about two weeks mapping Grand Manan using an astrolabe.
3. The light at Gannet Rock Lighthouse was first lit on Christmas Eve 1831. The Machias Seal Island Lighthouse was built in 1832 and for decades these were the only two light stations in the area.
4. The Swallowtail Light was built in 1860.
5. Joel Bonny from Machias, his family and those of his brothers-in-law Abiel and James Sprague sought peace and shelter from the Revolutionary War in 1779. Alexander Bonny, one of Joel’s children, was the first white child born on the island. The Indians who claimed Grand Manan, agreed to let the families stay unmolested on payment of ten dollars and a heifer. As Grand Manan at that time did not prove a desirable place of residence, in 1780 the families left the Island.
6. In December 1783 a license was granted to Moses Gerish and four other Loyalists to bring 50 families to Grand Manan. They arrived on May 4, 1784, the historic birth date of Grand Manan.
7. Grand Manan’s first church, St. Paul’s was completed in 1823 in Grand Harbour.
8. The oldest method of fishing around Grand Manan is with hook and line (handlining) for ground fish (cod, haddock and pollock). Hand line fishing grounds are the shoals to the east and south of Grand Manan.
9. Grand Manan is 15.31 miles long and 6.7 miles at its widest point. It is 18 miles from the nearest point on the New Brunswick mainland and 5.79 miles from West Quoddy Head in Maine. The current population is about 2500 and fairly consistent.
10. When herring were scarce at Dark Harbour, James MacDonald (1844-1926) had his men pick dulse, ulva (Sea Lettuce) nori and kelp (Devil’s Apron). He developed a market for these products, particularly among the Chinese in San Francisco, and Dark Harbour became the world capital of the dulse industry.
11. The first Fisheries Act, passed in 1851, prohibited the taking of herring on the spawning grounds from Red Point to Bradford’s Cove from July 15 to October 15 of any year, a closure which remained in effect for many decades.
12. The first migratory bird sanctuary in the Maritimes was established at the Anchorage in 1931 at the request of land owners in Grand Harbour.
13. The most common conifer is Red Spruce, the most common deciduous tree, Grey Birch.
14. John James Audubon chartered an American revenue cutter in Eastport in 1833 to sail to Labrador. He landed at Gull Cove, White Head, to see for himself the herring gulls nesting in trees. William Frankland, the landowner, loaned Audubon a gun to collect specimens. A famous Audubon engraving depicts a juvenile herring gull and an adult in flight.
15. A pair of moose was introduced in 1784 by Moses Gerish, the leader of the first settlers. The moose multiplied and 12 were killed in the winter of 1817-1818 for food and sport. The last moose was killed on Gull Heath, Southern Head about 1834.  Deer were introduced in 1845 by John Wilson for meat and sport.  Foxes were introduced by the Passamaquoddy in August 1874 for their pelts and trade.  Raccoons were introduced in 1905 by a Mr. Guptill as an attraction at an Agricultural Fair  at North Head. It is presumed he released the male and female afterwards. (Muskrat, Norway rat, beaver and many domestic animals were also brought to the archipelago.) top