The PEI railway was abandoned in 1989, because: rail trails are more fun and who rides trains anyways?

Lucky for us, it’s now known as the Confederation Trail and is a spectacular 273km rail trail that traverses the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. We decided to spend some time converting kilometers to miles (on an hourly basis….”we have how much farther to go?” by cycling it from Tignish to Elmira. Let’s go.

The trail goes over the rivers and through the woods (no grandmother’s house, though), and as far as I’m concerned, this trail by bicycle is the only way to see PEI. 

Plus, there’s potatoes. 

SO. MANY. POTATOES.

Day 1: 28.7 Miles – Tignish to Alberton / St. Anthony Mill River Resort

So, to celebrate and kick off the first few miles, I bring you— a devastatingly sad story.  Just past the start of the trail in Tignish is a large wooden cross and plaque that mark the site of PEI’s worst-ever rail accident on February 21, 1932.

As if the worldwide effects of the Great Depression were not enough bad luck for the 30s, I present the story of Freight Train #211, which got stuck on the tracks of the PEI railway in the midst of a savage snowstorm.  In the wee hours of the morning (that’ll teach anyone to get up before 5:00 am) train #53, approaching with a heavy steel plow, presumably to clear the snow, opened up (I think that’s train-speak for “went really fast”) and were thus instrumental in creating a decidedly unhappy day for the occupants of Freight #211.

Upon impact, the baggage car of #211 split from end to end and, to do the job properly, tossed two other cars up into the snowbank.  Four men died, 11 were injured.

All due respect. Of course.

However,

this…

…was not an upbeat and/or encouraging way to start a 273km bike ride.

A few miles past this immediate downer is a plaque explaining the Miminegash, Irish Moss Connection.  Admittedly, “The Irish Moss Connection” could use some work as a great band name, but interesting to know that this area of PEI was once called the “Irish Moss capital of the world”. Local people traditionally earn a seasonal living harvesting the rich beds of Irish moss, a seaweed valued for its carrageenan content. Hmm.

I looked it up too., and carrageenan is somewhat controversially used as a food thickening agent. As they said in the ’80s, “the more you know!” Cycling on…

Side note as we cycle on: These gates.

These gates SUCK. So much that they warrant the use of all caps. There are about 600,000 of them in 20km, and with panniers on the bike, they are precarious, narrow, sandy, and strangely, locked in place. They will happily and without reserve be responsible for tossing us from our bicycles on more than one occasion today.

And tomorrow. And the day after that.

Onward, to a lunch detour in Alberton (the Albert & Crown Pub & Eatery) and a pop-up street fair, some beautiful potato fields…(rows and rows of green, white flowers, and deep red dirt), and then our stop for the night, the Mill River Resort in St. Anthony. I took a photo of the field because I naively thought I may not see another one. SO. MANY. POTATOES.

The resort is a hotel with a pool, comfy rooms, bike storage—and most importantly, a restaurant. I don’t have to cycle to dinner, as it is only one floor below me. Day one, success.

Day 2: 45.3 miles – St. Anthony to the PEI Potato Museum to Summerside; and the Warn House B&B

Indeed, I cannot. (Resist, that is).

Welcome to the Canadian Potato Museum! Follow the potatoes on the floor to everything you could possibly want to know about this fabulously interesting tuber.

Potato art.  Potato vodka.  Potato funerals? Did you know there are 45 billion different diseases that can befall an innocent potato? That’s an exaggeration, but the number is so staggering that I am thinking of getting into the potato coffin business.

Potato coffins.  Yes, you read that right.

Put the Canadian Potato Museum on your bucket list NOW and thank me later. The most entertaining 2 hours I have ever spent in a museum; and that includes the Louvre, the d’Orsay, and the National Gallery.

After procuring all of the potato-related souvenirs we could carry on our bikes, we pedal on.

Pedaling on to sunny, swampy, scenic cycling into the Tyne Valley.  Awesome Alliteration!  (Take that, Mrs. Landry. My 8th grade English teacher would be proud). Lunch stop at Tyne Valley Teas Cafe, for baked goods, and a huge variety of teas. 

Warn House B&B is the next and final stop for the evening.

A short walk down into Summerside town to Evermoore Brewing Co., a converted train depot that was the Former Summerside Railway Station. I mean, it’s historical! So, for the sake of posterity, we have to go check it out, right? Plus, some of those potatoes have been transformed into spectacular poutine, so it’d be a real shame to miss that. Plus there’s homemade ice cream, and I never, ever, ever, say no to homemade ice cream.

Die happy.

Day 3: 49.1 miles- Summerside to Charlottetown 

49.1 miles but I’m rounding up to 50 because it definitely felt like 50 and it was the first time in a long time I had ridden 50 miles anywhere. So I get .9 miles for the novelty.

Fun fact: 10 billion donuts are made each year in the United States. In my quest to consume them all, we decided to stop at Bakin’ Donuts to fuel this 50-mile extravaganza. They were nicer than anyone should be at 6 o’clock in the morning. Plus, rainbow sprinkles. After reminiscing about planting seeds in my half-pint milk cartons in 3rd grade, we saddled back up and passed on through the Kensington, PEI Rail depot to learn the fate of Engine 1762.

It is a tribute to PEI’s railway system and Kensington’s love of big trains. I wanted to climb on top of it but there was a sign saying I couldn’t, and I’m a first-born rule follower, so I didn’t.

Through a cow field, to lunch in the By the River Bakery & Cafe in Hunter River, where “nothing is gluten-free”,  and on to Charlottetown, the capital of PEI, named for King George III’s Queen Charlotte. (Flashback to seventh grade: King George III was the British King while America was declaring independence and turning Boston Harbor into a very late evening tea). It’s a gorgeous little city full of history, Anne of Green Gables, and great scenery.

Day 4: 40.4 miles- Charlottetown to St. Peters 

Potato fields.

Like, so many potato fields.

Through the Points East Coastal Drive in Scotchfort,  and along the Hillsborough River, is an excellent welcome/interpretive center, that specializes in displaying stuffed versions of the animals that you can go see live right out on the bay. Which was weird. But interesting. And a bit creepy — I mean, those eyes, right?

Let me pause here to relay the most pathetic cookie story ever. After spending some time persuing lifeless and slightly dusty animals, we decided to partake of the little bakery attached to the museum. I figured at this point in the trip I must have burned at least 45 million calories, so, cookie. I ordered a chocolate chip, the very sweet girl at the counter put it in a bag, and we decided that since it was such a warm day and we hadn’t had nearly enough nature, we would go sit on the benches outside and eat said cookie.

Yeah. That’s the chocolate chip cookie. Number of chips: zero. The depths of my disappointment cannot be adequately communicated in an appropriate way for all audiences.

Happily, we made up for it miles later with french fries and continued on to gorgeous seaside cycling past the rope cultured mussels, to Fryers Hut food truck for the best use of all of those potatoes, ever.

Before the “big hill”, another quick stop at DJs Dairy Bar for Butterscotch ice cream (I don’t have a problem, YOU have a problem) and then the charming and cozy cabins at the Inn at St. Peters,  with their “welcome cats”, oyster specials, and fine dining with a superlative view.

Day 5: 27.8 miles to the end of the Confederation trail

Through the Cow River Wetlands, we continue on, with the end goal in sight. (Well, not literally in sight, not just yet. But mentally, we were in the game).

Oh look! A fish ladder! Any excuse to stop, really.

This is the McVarish Pond Fish Ladder. OSHA recommends 3 points of contact on a ladder at all times.

Thankfully, Canadian fish can ignore OSHA laws, as they are a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor. And, I don’t know many fish who follow rules, as it were.

Close by is an artesian Aquifer, (the only artesian Aquifer in eastern PEI. Reaching for notoriety there, but let’s go with that). We arrive at the finish line, marked by the Elmira & Railroad museum, with the cutest little orange caboose (It’s orange. I love orange) and a swing set nearby for your troubles. The end, of the train and the trail. But not of our ride.

We did it! 273 kilometers. Which sounds like so much more than 169.634 miles. So I’m staying metric here.

So, 273 kilometers is a weird number. We are going to even it out to 240, by riding 7 more miles. Miles, not kilometers, which will also make a weird number but it all works out in my head, to also see a lighthouse. The only lighthouse in Canada that was built in 1867 (the same year that Canada became capital C: CANADA)  and still operates today. It’s aptly called EastPoint Lighthouse, as it is on the easternmost point, is 64 feet tall, has 67 steps to the top, and provides a perfect panorama of PEI’s island status. Thanks for noticing that I was going for more alliteration there.

The PEI Confederation trail. I propose a new bumper sticker slogan: SO MANY POTATOES.

That’s why I’m not in marketing.

And happy trails.