TSP is Crowd Free!

September 29-October 2, 2012

It’s been a great stay at TSP.   So far we’ve had great weather to enjoy the fall beauty of the North Shore.  Tettagouche has always been one of my favorite state parks.  There are lots of hike options, there’s the Baptism River (which is sometimes kayakable), there’s lots of waterfalls, there’s Lake Superior and its accompanying shoreline hike.  And the campground has plenty of big-rig friendly sites, some of which are electric.    It makes for a great destination.

We’ve been lucky on this trip, because the visitor’s center and rest area are being rebuilt.   This means that the usual 100 plus parking lot can now only accommodate 10.  And whereas before construction the general public could park for free and enjoy all the hikes; now you’ve got to have the state park sticker.  Together, this means that the crowds are astonishingly light.   Never before on a sunny fall weekend day would you have the Shovel Point hike almost to yourself.  (We biked the mostly downhill route from camp in 8 minutes.  The return bike UPHILL was embarrassingly longer.  I’m not saying how much). And during the week, I can hike along the Baptism and only pass 1 or 2 couples.   It’s fantastic.   From our campsite, it’s only about a mile to the High Falls, so it makes for a nice morning hike with the dogs.

On Tuesday, Missy decided she’d like to move campsites.   She wanted one with a bigger yard and on the outer rim (so nothing but forest behind us).   I thought it was roughly comparable to where we already were, but I agreed to move.   She arranged the switch at the office and paid for another week, and we moved to our 3^rd spot of this campground.  Soon we’ll have been in them all and can write the definitive tome on the subject of the TSP Baptism River Campground.   Number 11 was uneven on the door side, so when we leveled, it meant the door/steps raised several feet off the ground.   But Missy used some good ol yankee ingenuity and built us a set of stairs using the scrap firewood lumber.   It works quite nicely!   Now that we’re moved, I have to admit that the extra big yard does make this site seem more luxurious.

I’ll close with a reenactment of one of our conversations:

Scene: Shovel Point.   Missy and Tina have been watching several groups of rock climbers make use of the cliffs.   Upon leaving, they pass a solo rock climber.

Tina:  Is that unsafe, to rock climb by yourself?

Missy:  I guess not.  It’s not like kayaking, where if things go to shit, it’s nice to have someone recover your gear and/or point out where the body ended up.   With rock climbing, if things go to shit, I imagine there’s nothing an extra person could do.

Tina:  I see your point.   If his rope breaks, I guess he’s screwed.  So who cares if he’s solo or not.  

Missy: Although…there must be some scenario whereby your safety would be helped by a buddy.

Tina:  I’ve got it!  What if you run out of energy on the climb back up?   Then a buddy can lower you down an energy bar.

Missy:   I’ve got one too!   What if an eagle attacks and mauls you?  Your buddy can help shoo away the eagle!

Tina:   So that’s probably how rock climbers word their safety posters then.   “Never Rock Climb Alone:  What if you Need an Energy Bar or Get Attacked by an Eagle?!”