canoeing Eastern Shore's Boggy Lake Wilderness Area

[Dusan Soudek]

Five of us spent an extended weekend canoeing and exploring Boggy Lake Wilderness Area, just inside the Guysborough County line. We started and finished at the crossing of Liscomb River Road and the Melopseketch Lake – Middle Lake portage. The Melopseketch River below Middle Lake is reportedly navigable at high water, but we had to portage about 1000 M on river left. An older, wetter, and more overgrown carry on river right also serves as the boundary of the Liscomb Game Sanctuary.

 

We established a base camp near the E tip of Boggy Lake, although we noted several other excellent campsites along its shoreline. Much of it consists of a gravel beach. The gentler drumlin landscape resembles that of Keji. We portaged 550 m into Square Lake, which drains into Moser River via Long Lake. Here we had partial success in searching for an elusive portage to Long Lake, home of the old warden’s cabin, where, coincidentally, another party was busy building new wooden bunks.

 

Finally we explored Melopseketch River on foot down to Bulrush Lake. There is a series of small ledges below the outlet of Boggy Lake, culminating with a majestic near-vertical  4 –5 m waterfall. Once it likely sported a log chute, the remains of which can be seen in the river’s channel. Interestingly, here the river forms several channels, all of which feature interesting vertical falls.

 

The Boggy Lake Wilderness Area is quite wild, and we met no one during our three days there. The good news is that the Boggy Lake Wilderness Area is about to be significantly enlarged. We will be back.

 

Dusan Soudek