Medway Lakes Canoe Trip - 3 Day

Hosting the headwaters of Nova Scotia’s two finest rivers, the Medway Lakes Wilderness Area boasts small ancient lakes, sandy summertime beaches tucked in quiet coves and pine and hemlock sheltered campsites.

I don't want to shower you with superlatives and risk this sounding exaggerated and/or cheesy (maybe I already transgressed above) but there really is something special about this paddling region. The lakes are generally small and studded with scruggy (yep, I made that word up) little islands and there just seems to be more beaches than any other place we offer tours. I try not to make much fuss about the wildlife because it’s just not something we can guarantee on a trip, but every night we listened to coyotes singing or owls hooting or beavers splashing about.

This trip strikes a fine balance between rugged adventure and relaxing bliss. 

Generally, I like to try and imagine who’d be best suited for each trip based on the personality of the paddling region, amenities available and the distances paddled and portaged. I’m having trouble with this one as I really can’t imagine who wouldn’t enjoy it. Perhaps a self assessment is in order- If you do not enjoy the following, please look elsewhere for your summertime adventure:

• Moderate paddling distances (4-6hr days)

• Minimal portaging*

• Many sandy beaches

• Perfect swimming temperatures June through September

• Scruggy islands

• Evening serenade from coyotes and loons

• Pitching your tent on the forest floor (as opposed to a hardened tent pad)

• Sitting on a large granite protrusion watching the sun go down

• Campfire cooked meals

• Stargazing

• Using a thunderbox (or digging a cat-hole)

*To make this trip a loop there is a 950m portage and a 460m on the final day, followed by some shorter carries (<100m) to get around some rocky shallow sections and to hop a beaver dam. This trip can be an 'out and back' trip to avoid portages. Your choice.

Scruggy

scrug.gy

portmanteau adjective: scruggy

A combination of scruffy and rugged, (of ground or terrain) having a broken, unkempt, wild, rocky, and uneven surface covered in moss and lichen. "a scruggy shoreline"

Don't worry, we will provide you with clean drinking water (and one of our cool Whynot Adventure 1000ml/32oz water bottles), we won't make you share a tent with a stranger, the bugs are never so bad you won't have fun (July/August and September have little to no bugs!), and there are private thunder boxes some of the sites. Oh, and we take coffee seriously. It’s french press in the backcountry, with a locally roasted bean. We grind at the campsite for freshness.