This past week the province of Nova Scotia was hit with a HUGE rain storm, reminding many locals of the hurricane the area suffered in 1971. As I didn't live here then (or anywhere for that matter!) it's hard for me to compare the two storms, but some of the folks we spoke to said there was more water in the canal than there ever has been. I can attest to it being a lot higher than I have ever seen it, so Megan and I decided to go for a little drive and explore some of our favorite kayaking spots. Here are some of the results.
This is at the bottom of Grand Lake, a place we have both ended and started many adventures, and passed by on many others. The parking lot is elevated a couple of feet above the surrounding woodland, which as you can see was a very good thing. The grass that you see covered by water is never even muddy or wet (unless after a recent rain) and I often walk through there to the tree line to relieve myself. You can see the floating dock in the distance- that's usually where the shore begins, and there is usually a step down to get onto that dock from the shore. In this photo I'd estimate the water is 2-3 feet higher than normal. Here is the small beach area a month and a half ago:
Here is the road down to the beach you see me in above:
As you can see, the small boat house that is normally a foot above the water is almost completely surrounded.
You can compare this to Megan's GIF's from our last kayak trip there:
Another shot of the beach six weeks ago:
Next up we have another familiar spot:
In this photo the raging torrent you see behind Megan is the spot where she got grounded the last time we kayaked through here and she found herself in a bit of trouble. The platform she is standing on is where a passing cyclist stopped and offered help as she was caught on some rocks quite badly. The current through here is quite strong at the best of times, but not usually this bad. In fact, somewhere we have a photo of Megan walking a boat through this section, and the water is somewhere around ankle deep. I wouldn't suggest she try that now!
Here is another spot that might be familiar to folks who have been following my kayak adventures:
This is the same spot I filmed when shooting the rapids two years ago, when the water was unnaturally high.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-MuGNpt6AY&list=UUmt03RC_rBR7tmz3eJVUPIQNow the water is so high, I'm not certain I'd make it under the bridge.
You get an idea of the speed the water is coursing through the canal at this point. I'd say the water is at least a foot and a half, if not two feet higher than when it was what I considered to be unnaturally high."
Areas that used to be land are now completely under water.
This section of the canal is not only a couple of feet deeper than usual, it is also about twice as wide.
And here's the proof of that. A while back I was helping Megan gather awareness for some contested land- a lady said she owned it, the Canal Commission claimed they owned it and a battle ensued. Here is a photo of Megan using part of the contested land a little while ago:
And here is that same spot now:
The section under water is the contested area. The lady was recently granted ownership of it. I bet she's not so thrilled about that now.
This section of the lock also is in poor repair and hasn't been used in years (centuries? Megan will probably correct me) and I have personally never seen more than the slightest trickle of water through it, and even then, that was when the water was "unnaturally high." It's a very different story now.
Most of the time that lock is bone dry. I have several photos of it somewhere with no water in it at all, so that gives you an idea of how much more water we are looking at than usual.
We also visited one of my favorite kayak shops. This one is a small family run shop that is right on the canal so that you can try boats before spending money on them. Usually that's a good idea, but as you can see, his parking lot disappeared!
Luckily everything in the store was fine- the owner said he wasn't worried as his inventory floats! The apartment building next door wasn't so lucky though, and all of the ground floor apartments were flooded. There is a small wall at the end of the parking lot, and a two to three foot drop to the water, with a floating dock in it. When the water was "unnaturally high" the floating dock was more or less even with the parking lot level. The water is about a few feet higher than normal, and again, about twice as wide.
Last but not least is another of our favorite spots:
This is the Natural Resources boat launch on Lake William. I have put my kayak in here many times. Usually though, I would put the boat in 30-40 feet past where it is now. The building on the right is usually not sitting in the water- there is in fact four or five feet of land usually on the opposite side of it, then a three foot drop to the water. The road ahead of me in this photo leads down to the water usually, rather than being level with the grass on the left, which is where I usually get everything put together.
It was a heck of a storm, and no one can remember the canal ever being that high. I wished I'd brought the kayaks so we could explore more, but the water is pretty cold this time of year, the currents are exceptionally strong and fast, and there is no space to get under the various bridges, so if we had taken the boats out there is a very good chance this post would have had a very unhappy ending.
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