canoeing the Pine Island Ponds Loop (Herring Cove, HRM)

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Dusan Soudek

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Aug 11, 2022, 11:59:30 AM8/11/22
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My partner and I recently spent half a day canoeing the above scenic loop, through six ponds, starting and finishing on Powers Pond off Highway 253 (John Brackett Dr.) in Herring Cove, just outside Halifax. Surprisingly, this scenic little suburban loop doesn’t get much use, so the portages are somewhat overgrown and some of the portage signs are missing.
 
We paddled it as follows: Powers Pond – The Neck and Gully – East Pine Island Pond – Upper Mud Pond – West Pine Island Pond –The Neck and Gully – Powers Pond. EPIP and UMP are essentially one body of water, connected by a shrubby channel. No portaging required here. Between WPIP and TNAG we completely missed the carry, having taken the wrong trail. We eventually found it, but it supports a luxurious growth of of Poison Ivy.
 
The loop goes through a compact area of Crown Land, so most likely it will not be developed. But one sees more new houses on the private lands on the surrounding high ground. Some of the area was burned in the April 2009 Spryfield Fire, which did wonders for the local blueberry crop. The burned over area is rapidly regenerating.
 
Dusan Soudek
Pine island Ponds Loop Track 1.jpg
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