Tricked by Trails Again

Great Canadian Beaver Pond Voyage

This interpretive, guided walk takes you through a pristine nature reserve with a chain of beaver ponds. Examine dams and lodges built by beavers and see for yourself the architectural abilities of these remarkable animals. Join in hands-on activities that will introduce you to a variety of wetland wonders found in the Acadian forest. Gentle, wheelchair-accessible trails allow for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy this experience. The tour begins at the Park Administration Building, across from the main entrance to the park. 

The above is a description of the trail in our local provincial park where I and my family decided to take a walk on one hot sunny day this summer. We (I) thought it would be a grand idea for our little family of grown ups to take a walk in the woods before our eldest daughter got on her airplane and went back to the big city. The fresh air and the smell of pine trees and just maybe spotting a healthy and happy beaver near his/her lodge would keep her sane in the crazy traffic and the gas fumes of the city until her next visit. 
We opted to head out on our own since we had missed the start of the guided walk. Although not by much and strangely once we began we did not see another living soul --certainly not a guide with tourists trailing behind. 
 All the beauty of our rugged outdoors here in New Brunswick was set out in front of us as we walked. But then... yup my karma isn't that good for picking trails this summer obviously. We encountered mud holes and slick chewed up trails with deep ruts. Avoiding these sent us off into the underbrush often to find our way.

You reach a point when you have to decide whether to stay the course and hope it gets better or to turn back and go through the mess you knew was there. We opted to keep going. 

Decision time!

The question became "are we doing a loop? will we come out where we went in? or is this straight to somewhere?"

When we encountered heavy machinery sitting in the mud we realized we must be coming to the end. 

The end came just in time. We headed out to see this sign tacked to a tree. If the wind had been strong it would have blown away. Maybe that's what happened to the sign at the start of the trail where we went in.?? 

When we came out into a clearing we were at a maintenance depot a good 45 minute walk from our car. Our party of four had to separate as only one had the energy to run to get the car. It was sweltering hot! This young woman agreed to sit in the shade with her mother while the other daughter did the running with dad to get the car and rescue us.

A lovely lunch was had by all at the lodge where the wait staff were so alarmed by our red sweaty faces they plied us with water shaking their heads at the tourists who took the wrong trail in their little park.