Calgary hikers faced waist-high water as flooded N.S. park evacuated

A couple from Calgary say they're still drying out after being evacuated from a Nova Scotia park this week.

Carala and Terence Jellema are experienced backcountry hikers who said they were visiting Cape Chignecto Provincial Park this week for their first time. They had a five-day hike planned and started Sunday.

The couple said they pushed through waist-high water Monday, fast-moving rivers and log jams on the way to the cabin they had rented. 

"We were up to our thighs," Carala Jellema said in an interview Wednesday. "At that point, everything let loose and basically you could just feel the water gush right into your boots and you're like, 'OK, we're wet now.'"

It wasn't until they regained cell service along the path that they learned the park was being shut down and evacuated.

The Jemellas called park staff and said they were told if they could get to their cabin they should stay put for the night and they would be picked up in the morning. 

The couple said they didn't bring a tent with them, so they knew they had to make it to shelter. Once they got inside the cabin, they began to think maybe this wasn't typical weather for Nova Scotia.

"It was kind of like, 'Oh wow, OK, this could get a lot worse,'" Terence Jellema said. "To the point where, holy smokes, they're actually pulling people out of here. Then it was kind of like, 'OK, this is maybe more serious than we realized.'"

They were rescued the next morning by park staff who drove a pickup truck along an old logging road in the area and managed to reach the couple.

Cape Chignecto Provincial Park is closed as staff assess the trails and infrastructure, according to a Parks Nova Scotia spokesperson.

"This is, I think, an event that has not been seen before in that park," said Sandra Johnstone. 

She said she doesn't know how much rain has fallen on the park the last two weeks, but it received nearly 80 millimetres on Monday alone.  The assessments will make sure trails are still accessible and it's safe for visitors to be in the park, Johnstone said. She said the plan is to reopen the park Thursday morning, but public safety is the priority.

The Jemellas said they're disappointed their Cape Chignecto visit was cut short after planning the trip for more than a year.

They're able to smile about their experience now, they said, laughing that their boots were still wet days later as they continued to sightsee across Nova Scotia.