courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
The shady traversing walk through coniferous forest, twists and turns and roots and all, came to an end about an hour and half after setting off from our Long Beach break stop, as we approached Seely Beach. A notable point of interest along the trail soon before reaching Seely Beach was a neatly-perched boulder in the forest - a huge one about twenty feet high, elongated and standing on its narrow end. It is known locally as the Dragon's Tooth, and the trail maintainers have put a nice interpretive sign here.
courtesy JInnes
Perhaps ten minutes beyond the Dragon's Tooth, we arrived at a lookout where we could see Seely Beach to the east of us, not far away. In a few more minutes, the Fundy Footpath led down to the beach itself. This was the first time the trail had led right out onto the shoreline for the entirety of our hike so far today.
Seely Beach was also our destination for the day. We had clocked about eight kilometres from the western trailhead at Big Salmon Beach, so it hadn't been a long hike. It hadn't been that strenuous, either, with only minor ups and downs and a total elevation gain and loss of only about 160 metres (530 feet). We knew, however, that the tough stuff was yet to come.
courtesy JInnes
Crossing Seely Beach Crook
Crossing Seely Beach Brook
Here on the first day of our traverse of the Fundy Footpath, Seely Beach was our destination. There are campsites here, and, as mentioned before, there were no reservations required and getting a site was a first-come, first-served affair. We had come. And hopefully we'd be getting served (self-served, of course).
Immediately ahead of us we saw the flow of water that marks the mouth of Seely Beach Brook. On the other side was what appeared to be a spacious and attractive campsite, but unfortunately it was already occupied by another group of hikers. We proceeded a few metres further east and found another spot in the trees, which, although less spacious and accommodating, did appear like it would suffice for our group of six.
Some of us were not quite content with this site, however, and continued to scout a little further along the beach. Jenn soon came back and reported that there was a much more promising site perhaps another minute's walk farther along. The rest of us went to have a look and indeed, it was much nicer than our first chosen spot - tons of space for tents in the trees (and even out on a square of flattened beach grass, if desired), and it was much more private than the other site. The campfire ring was out in the open along the coastline at this spot, and there was a grand view eastward along the cliffs and bluffs of New Brunswick's Fundy Coastline. In short, it was perfect in all ways.
courtesy JInnes
Our short-ish first day had meant that we had arrived at camp and completed setup with plenty of light left to enjoy a leisurely evening. The hot day had cooled off into a very pleasant warm evening, and there were (for whatever reason) almost no bugs about. In fact, the whole day had seen a relatively low amount of biting and buzzing pests. We were a bit surprised, but not unhappy.
courtesy JInnes
We had dinner around a crackling fire out on the edge of the beach, then watched as the daylight faded into a moonless night. [Chris] Hatko and I stayed up until the stars came out, and we were even treated to a train of recently-launched Starlink satellites chugging across the sky in a tight line - my first time seeing this. Very unnatural-looking, but at the same time, kind of neat to see.
courtesy JInnes
And so, we come to the end of Day one of our Fundy Footpath backpack. My thoughts on the day? Hot and a bit sticky for one. As far as the trail goes, my thoughts were this: very beautiful sections of moss and fern from time to time. Uneroded footbed. Excellent per-kilometre trail signs. Not much in the way of elevation gain or loss - or roughness for that matter. Less lookouts and true out-on-the-coast walking than I had expected. Very civilized stop at Long Beach. And here at Seely Beach.... beautiful campsites.
Day 1 - Big Salmon to Seely Beach - Hike Data
(Track color: )
Start Time:
10:58a.m.
End Time:
3:56p.m.
Duration:
4h58m
Distance:
7.97 km
(4.95 mi)
Average Speed:
1.6 km/hr
(1.0 mph)
Start Elevation:
33ft
(10m)
*
Max Elevation:
247ft
(75m)
*
Min Elevation:
11ft
(3m)
*
End Elevation:
19ft
(6m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
527ft
(161m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
546ft
(166m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
