The idea of the Backyard Adventure Challenge was to start right at your doorstep. There was no need to travel far or to make big plans. Adventuring close to home is also good for the environment. All you needed was some free time, a few good friends and the will to let loose.
This is exactly what we got! Thank you, everyone, for participating! It was inspiring and fun to see how different your adventures were.
The Backyard Adventure Grand Jury (well, that’s our brand manager and our social media manager) went through the candidates and ranked them. The winner was a very positive, approachable short film from Nova Scotia, Canada.
Congratulations Aryn, Bader and Alex for your win, and thank you for sharing your Lighthouse Imitation Tour. You will each receive a brand new Suunto Vertical GPS watch to accompany you on your future adventures.
”The bottle pointed in the southwest direction…”
Hey Alex. Thank you for participating in the Suunto Backyard Adventure challenge. Who was out there adventuring with you and where were you?
The team consisted of Aryn Sanojca, Bader Kanawati, and myself (Alex MacLean). Our Backyard Adventure took us on a tour of the Chebucto Peninsula just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
What were some of the highlights of your adventure?
I think the main highlight of the trip was actually creating the human lighthouses! This created a purpose at each stop, instead of just riding to each lighthouse and taking a photo. It also added some humour to the day, which was much appreciated at the end of a long day in the saddle. But besides that, the Timbits and Iced Capp I bought at Tim Horton's were fantastic and the weather remaining rain-free for the entire ride was also great!
Can you tell me a bit more about the lighthouses?
When the bottle stopped spinning and pointed in the southwest direction, we did quite a bit of brainstorming. We considered biking to the most southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, Hawk Beach. Recent flooding had washed out sections of the local rail trail and road, eliminating this from our options. We also considered aid climbing all the climbs at a local crag, but concluded that this would involve primarily Type 2 fun. We decided we wanted something a little more enjoyable, and committed to an activity on the Chebucto Peninsula.
The "Peggy's Cove Loop" on the Chebucto Peninsula is a loop that is approximately 100 km round trip from Halifax, and passes by the famous Peggy's Cove lighthouse. It's a common route for cyclists, and we decided it wasn't unique enough to be deserving of the Backyard Adventure challenge. So we built upon this, and decided to attempt to visit each lighthouse on the Chebucto Peninsula with our bikes. And to add an element of silliness to the adventure, we decided to "build" a human lighthouse at each stop and take a photo.
Unfortunately, the photos proved somewhat unsuccessful. Bader missed the turn for the first lighthouse, and decided it wasn't worth cycling 15 minutes in the opposite direction to join Aryn and I. Access to the second lighthouse was restricted as it was on private property, even though it appeared on Google Maps. We settled for a photo at a small lookoff over the ocean. The third lighthouse had been demolished, so we took our photo on its old foundation. The fourth lighthouse was also blocked by a private road. We walked down a vague path until we were as close as we could get, and settled for a photo there. We never did make it to the Peggy's Cove lighthouse as a 25-foot section of the road was washed out from the recent flooding. We decided to take our final photo in front of the washed-out road, before wrapping up the tour and heading home.
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like your Backyard Adventure was full of surprises – as it should!
Learn more about the Backyard Adventure Challenge – and the tools for your adventure.