June, 2018
No trip to The Bay of Fundy would be complete without a visit to The Hopewell Rocks at both high and low tide. (Thank you, Paige for sharing your traveling wisdom!) The Hopewell Rocks are also known as The Flower Pot Rocks due to their shapes and because of the trees that continue to grow on top of them. We arrived at our campground in Shediac and were able to set-up for our stay just in time to head down to the Rocks to experience high tide rolling in. Signs cautioned us to keep the tide schedule in mind so that we didn’t get trapped on the floor of the Bay!
With sunset in about an hour and a half we headed into the park. It is a lovely place, with a slow leisurely 20-minute walk down a well-kept tree-lined path to the Bay. A heavy-duty staircase with various observation decks allows visitors to walk the 98 steps down to the floor of the ocean. Just the thought of actually standing on the floor of the ocean was thrilling! We could hear the tide coming in as we descended the metal steps, and we patiently watched as the base of the most photographed of these mammoth rocks – Lover’s Arch – soon became surrounded by water and kayakers. While we began our vigil on the “beach,” we had to move to higher and higher steps as the incoming tide showed us no mercy. It was quite a sight to see as the Bay waters engulfed the bottom set of stairs as well as the lower portions of the Rocks that could be seen at high tide.
The tides shift religiously ever 6 hours alternating between high and low tide. The next low tide we could make was scheduled for 2:30 pm the next days o we spent the morning and early afternoon driving through Fundy National Park. As we drove we found a “look out” that gave us a terrific view across the Bay, and we stopped in the Village of Alma (2011 population 232) that claims to have the highest tides in the world. It was almost low tide when we arrived so we could walk out toward the Bay for a good 1/4 to 1/2 mile to turn around and imagine how it must look at high tide. The rocks that covered the shoreline were incredible and the beach was littered with hundreds of shells. Signs to the beach discouraged the collection of shells because smaller creatures used them as shelter from predators.
It was time to mosey on to The Hopewell Rocks for low tide. What a difference a day makes! Hundreds of cars and several RVs in the parking lots – people buzzing everywhere. We walked with excited anticipation to our previous night’s outpost, and we were astounded to see so many people walking about on the Bay floor!
This site is completely accessible for 2.5 hours before and after low tide. We joined a tour in progress lead by one of the Park’s Interpreters. We learned how the rocks came to be and through time, how the winds and the water have changed the look of the beach. There are white marks on the sides of the cliffs that help track the erosion. We had expected the surface of the Bay’s bed to be slick with mud, but for the most part, it was just wet sand. The whole walk from the staircase to the last of the rocks is about a half mile and includes names like Mother-In-Law, Lover’s Arch, Bear Rock, Apple Rock, Castle Cove, Elephant Rock, Sea Cave, Big Cave and Diamond Rock. Just a quick note that these rocks are accessible only at low tide. There is also an Emergency Tower just in case you don’t heed the warning we read the night before and get caught at high tide with no way to return. The Park staff perform a “beach sweep” before the transition to high tide begins, but there are recorded instances of individuals waiting just a bit too long, becoming stranded, and having to wait the 6 hours for low tide and the chance to return.
We learned that the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun influence how high the high tides become. The fuller the moon, the higher the tides. But the primary reason the Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world is the length and shape of the Bay. The Bay is like a funnel; wide and deep at the mouth, narrow and shallow at the upper reaches. As the tide moves up along the ever-narrowing Bay from the Atlantic, the rushing water simply has nowhere else to go but up. Even more curious is that the receding waters reach the mouth of the Bay at the same time as the next high water is arriving from the Atlantic. A never ending cycle of 100 billion tons of water moving in and out of the Bay twice every 24 hours. Our Park Interpreter stated that a container that could hold 100 billion tons of water would take one year and 9 months to fill if placed beneath Niagara Falls. Someone in the group asked why the water is so brown. Apparently this is due to the constant movement of the water over the mud flats; the water mixes with the silt in the water and turns the water brown.
Check off one more item from our bucket list…The Hopewell Rocks are awesome.
Barbara and Brian
Aimless Wanderings 