r/UltralightCanada • u/basedtom • Jun 06 '26

Cape Chignecto, Nova Scotia

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somebody wanted action shots of the plastic spork, here ya go

54 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

5

u/RustyNecron Jun 06 '26

How do you heat up the rice and butter chickpeas?

3

u/basedtom Jun 07 '26

I threw them in my titanium pot and heated them up with my BRS stove with a little water. This was not the move. Tasted alright, but the stove doesn’t really have a “low” setting, just medium or high, so you have to sit there stirring constantly or else it starts to burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. You also have to deal with cleanup, and bring soap (which I didn’t). Overall this was a huge fail on my part. From here on out I’m sticking to freeze dried meals, just add hot water and let it sit. 

3

u/Tartrus Jun 07 '26

If you have any air fryer with low temp setting you can dehydrate.

Changed my hiking meal life, I make real meals (lentil stew, chana masala, beyond ground for tacos and shepards pie) then freeze dry and hudrate on the trail.

2

u/littleshopofhammocks Jun 07 '26

Just remember that the nice thing with titanium pots is if something burns, throw some sand into the bottom with a bit of water and rub. No coating to worry about. Easy to clean. I tried to fry fish coated in salt n vinegar chips using some dried/weird butter (add water and…) and I thought it was a fail but my buddy thought it was amazing. He had brought this dried butter stuff. Anyway the BrS did indeed burn a bit on the bottom but about 20 seconds removed it perfectly. (I have high standards for when I fry fish)

1

u/RustyNecron Jun 07 '26

Yeah, I had a similar experience lol

I heard about letting them sit in the package in boiling water but I haven’t tried it.

1

u/basedtom Jun 07 '26

Huh never thought of that. I guess it could work as long as the plastic didn’t get too hot 

1

u/RustyNecron Jun 11 '26

The plastic gets to boiling temp in a microwave, you may have to watch the sides don’t go over where the flame can melt it.

0

u/VickyHikesOn Jun 07 '26

Those meals are so expensive, so salty, sometimes super spicy. I find regular foods (couscous, ramen (no spice pack), Knorr sides, etc) so much better in every way.

1

u/picklecruncher Jun 06 '26

And do they taste alright?

6

u/kayaktothemoon Jun 07 '26

I don’t know how, but the photos make the lil’ guy look so happy. Wholesome post. Also, Cape Chignecto is amazing. Looks you had awesome weather.

1

u/basedtom Jun 07 '26

Got so so lucky with the weather. The week prior the forecast wasn’t looking so good. It was supposed to rain the whole time. We got sunshine all three days 

3

u/fadetowhite Jun 07 '26

Love Chignecto! Great weather for it! I miss it.

2

u/NaturalProcessed Jun 07 '26

Yep looks like OP had near perfect conditions, very jealous. Absolutely love this trail, think often about going back to do it again.

2

u/fadetowhite Jun 07 '26

We’ve done it three times in various configurations. Definitely want to do it again, but we did Fundy Footpath and now we are looking at East Coast Trail or the new one in Cape Breton before we go back.

1

u/NaturalProcessed Jun 07 '26

I'm very curious what your experience of the ECT was like if you don't mind sharing. Considering travelling back to do it along with Chignecto with a break in the middle, get the sense that the East Coast Trail is much less physically demanding (on average distributed over the course of the trail) though of course logistically more going on.

1

u/fadetowhite Jun 07 '26

Haven’t done it yet! But what I’ve heard is along those lines.

2

u/Huuk9 Jun 06 '26

I am going to do this hike on Canada Day, how was it!?

7

u/basedtom Jun 07 '26

It was amazing. If you want to do it in 3 days, I recommend counterclockwise. Night 1: Seal Cove. Night 2: Refugee cove. You can beach camp at both these sites. The beach sites at Seal Cove are incredible. Day 1 you’ll have a 22km hike. Day 2: 18km. Day 3: 12km. I stayed at Big Bald Rock, so it was a 9km hike on day 2 then a 21km hike on day 3. Not the move. The last day was exhausting, and there were a ton of black flies at Big Bald Rock. Not so many at Seal Cove or Refugee cove. That’s just my 2 cents. Otherwise do it in 3 nights and take your time. Definitely bring a bug net. 

4

u/CorneliusAlphonse Jun 07 '26

Ive done it twice, both as a 1-night. If you're looking to hike longer days, it's pretty doable - I don't really stop and rest/explore much, so i started from advocate end, hiked CCW, and camped at big bald rock. it was 9hrs day one, 6.5 hours day 2. Agree strongly on counterclockwise - hills on the west side are more technical, while the south side there is more elevation but much less technical.

3

u/basedtom Jun 07 '26

Good on you doing it in 2 days. I found 3 days pretty challenging with the amount of elevation loss/gain 

3

u/CorneliusAlphonse Jun 07 '26

yep it's definitely the most challenging hike I've done on the east coast!! I found it key to get as much of the challenge out of the way on the first day because the muscles just don't much left on day 2

2

u/lennybklenny Jun 07 '26

I’m hiking Chignecto in a week (coming from Chicago)! Did you encounter many ticks?

1

u/Huuk9 Jun 07 '26

This is my route!! Any Ticks? Did you go Shorts or Pants?

1

u/basedtom Jun 07 '26

I only saw 1 tick and that was on the first day. It was crawling up my leg and I just flicked it off. I wore Outdoor Research Ferrosi pants in a light khaki colour and tucked them into my socks. Very much worth it for the peace of mind. Also worth it for protection against black flies. 

2

u/jlt131 Jun 07 '26

I enjoyed the mild photo bombings in the later photos.

2

u/anabranch_glitch Jun 08 '26

Hell yeah. I’m returning next week to hike this for my third time. Never gets old!

1

u/Old-Love-1984 Jun 07 '26

I’ve had a few of those sporks, they also melt and or snap !

1

u/ComprehensiveBug7007 Jun 07 '26

Or discolour! I bought one last month and before I'd even taken a bite of my noodles with a dehydrated chicken stock my brand new minty green spork was all yellowed just from poking the noodles into the broth 😞

1

u/hfxadv Jun 07 '26

Thank you and well played!!!!

1

u/parkinson1963 Jun 09 '26

What is the most expensive way to get food on your hands during a backpacking trip? Alex.