Kejimkujik National Park

Kejimkujik National Park, or Keji, is the only inland national park in the Canadian Maritimes. Leftover from glacier activity, a large lake was cut out of the landscape, with surrounding rivers and marshes flowing into it. The water here is quite acidic because most of the surrounding rock is inert, exuding very little mineral content into the water. This produces beautiful, dark (almost black in some places) water through many of the waterways.

The park is also home to much forest, including a stand of 300 year old Hemlocks, untouched by early logging operations. The Hemlocks are magnificient trees, which largely create their own habitat by shading out the forest below, preventing little else from growing except for mosses, ferns, lichens, and of course, more Hemlock trees.

We noted a very percular pattern in this area where very few of the Hemlock trees had any mosses on them, but they did contain plenty of lichens. Oddly, if a rare maple stood a few feet away, it would be covered in moss, as was the ground.

The trees themselves would grow out of anything we could attach themselves to, with this tree (below) being a prime example of this feat. Unfortunately, this particular tree is in danger of falling due to too many tourists climbing on it’s roots.

Of course, Keji is full of wildlife. I managed to startle both myself and this snake sunning itself in the path. We saw frogs, trout, squirrels, and plenty of birds during our visit. Moose and black bear are supposed to be there too, but we didn’t happen upon any.