My radio documentary on the search for the Boundary Rock aired nationally on CBC’s In the Field, November 1 and 6. (If you missed it, you’ll find the podcast at that link.)
I was interested to read the comments on the piece — especially from a couple of folks (Beavis1 and Bush Rat) who were less than impressed.
All of the commenters disagreed with the decision to remove the flagging tape. I was a bit surprised to see it come down myself, but I wasn’t part of the discussion. My main role on the trip was to record, capture what I could, and share the story as accurately as possible.
I can tell Bush Rat that it’s highly unlikely the tape was a critical marker for anybody. The rock is several kilometres inland from Junction Lake — so it’s definitely not marking a fishing hole. The rock is also in a heavily forested spot in the midst of a protected wilderness area: no ATVs, no snowmobiles, no forestry, no hiking trails. Limited hunting is allowed, but you’d have a hell of a time getting your deer out from the Boundary Rock on foot.
But whether or not the tape should have been removed is a real question for debate, and I’m glad to see the question come up.
When I was working on this piece I was hoping that someone would hear it and come forward to say they knew who had put the tape up. A lot of people have looked for the rock over the years, but the number who have actively devoted effort to researching the location and trying to find it is probably limited to a relatively small number of hardcore outdoors enthusiasts — many of whom know each other. As one of the people on the trip said, “There aren’t that many people in Nova Scotia who’ve been looking for this rock, and probably half of them are right here.”
At this point, I think we can safely assume the Whynott brothers had nothing to do with it. A rumour I’ve heard from a guy who spends a lot of time in the woods is that some apprentice surveyors marked it as part of an exercise. I don’t know if they hiked in or flew in with a helicopter, but I’d love to learn more.