Freshwater Bay

It was a clear and crisp morning with a wee bit of frost on 4-Nov-06, so I decided to go for a quick return-trip hike out to Freshwater Bay from Fort Amherst. My intent was to go right out to Small Point which is a needle-like bit of rock jutting out into the sea. Anyway, I set off from the road on the South Side Road and took the East Coast Trail up onto the hills overlooking the St John's harbour narrows. It's a prolonged climb but not a great amount of elevation really. Anyway, once at the top of the hill over Fort Amherst, I turned to take this shot looking north up the coast. Signal Hill overlooks the harbour narrows which is out of sight down behind the trees at the bottom of the shot.

Once you're up here, it's pretty much a plateau with some small up-and-downs as you walk south. As you get closer towards the trails coming in from Shea Heights, there are signs of people on mountain bikes using the trail, which I thought was frowned upon by the East Coast Trail people but oh well, I suppose they can't police the paths. Anyway, by this time, the frost had melted off and while it was hardly warm, it was an extremely pleasant day. There is a spot along this part of the trail where Freshwater Bay (and it's barachois) are visible. See photo....

I eventually approached the treeline where you descend into the bay and I have to confess to a little navigational mistake here. Well, to be honest, I always overestimate how clear the path is on the East Coast Trail because I assumed it would be easy to follow. Not so. I veered off over a rocky mound and into thick trees. By the time the feeling of "this isn't the path" sunk in 100%, I had already descended a fair bit. Since I knew where I was, I made the decision to add to the adventure of this wee hike and continued to plough through the trees, heading ever downward to where I knew the path would be. It was quite taxing and following a slip on a log with the subsequent fall onto my back, I took it fairly easy.

So, after perhaps double the time it should have taken and covered in various forms of dirt and moss, I emerged onto the path that goes to Coadys Mine, which is a little beyond the regular ECT path (I knew this and hoped to arrive at it). I brushed off the worst of the dirt and headed for the barchois. This photo shows the kind of terrain I was coming down. It's taken from the barachois, looking north. I was fighting my way down through those trees on the left.

Anyway, the barachois is a natural formation of rocks across the bay and is littered with wreackge from a boat that sunk in the area. I'm not sure on the details of this but it gives the place a bit of an eerie feeling. Here's some of the wreckage strewn along the rocks.

As I said, my intention was to continue over the bay to Small Point but the problem with this is that that barachois does not go right across and has an opening for a stream to flow into the sea. At this time, it was after a lot of heavy rain and the water flowing over the gap was a little fast. However, I'd walked all this way and didn't want to be turned back this easy. Therefore, I donned my gaiters, took a firm hold of my hiking poles (which I'd taken specifically for this reason) and started wading. It was surprising how quickly my feet got wet. Anyway, I didn't get more than a third of the way across before my nerves got the better of me and I chickened out. Maybe a younger version of myself would have gone further but the thought of being washed into the sea did not appeal to me at the time.

So, I retreated and met a follow hiker just coming onto the barachois. He probably thought I was an idiot for trying to cross it and this was most likely confirmed when I said I was going to head further upstream to attempt a crossing there. I said farewell to him and experienced another failure. Well, I didn't even try to cross again as the water was simply too high to get across.

Given this turn of events, I went back the way I came. Of course, this didn't include the trek up through the trees as I actually used the path this time. With damp feet and a slight feeling of defeat I hightailed it back to the car, meeting people going the other direction along the way. What happened to getting up early for a hike? It must have been all those Moray Mountaineering trips when we had to get the bus at 4:00 in the morning.

Just to finish off this entry, here's a picture of Signal Hill, showing the trail that runs along the side of the hill in the narrows.

Avalon Wilderness Reserve

I had tried mountain biking/cycle touring into the Avalon Wilderness Reserve (referred as AWR from now on) about a year prior to this trip but due to technical difficulties with my bike, I had to retreat. So, on 12th August 2006, I tried again but this time on foot to minimise any mechanical issues.

Anyway, I left from St John's and drove down the Southern Shore Highway until I reached Horsechops Road, just before Cape Broyle. The word 'road' in Horsechops Road is used very loosely given that I'd call it more of a track with a ridiculous amount of pot holes but it's still better than walking from the highway. I drove in as far as my car could physically take me before continuing on foot.

By this time, it was well into the evening and as I walked into the AWR, it was getting dark. My aim was to reach Mount Carmel Pond and find somewhere to put the tent up there. Enroute, a rather grumpy looking fellow travelling in the opposite direction to me took it upon himself to ask me where I was going and then put another dent in my morale by exclaiming "you've got a fair ways to go yet!". I was swearing under my breath as he drove off on his quad bike.

Finally, as it was getting almost "properly dark", Mount Carmel Pond was in front of me. This is another weird Newfoundland thing. A pond to me is something in someone's back garden. This thing was like a gigantic loch. Anyway, whilst being eaten alive by various flying objects in the dark, I found a spot to get the tent up, drank some beers that I'd lugged in with me and fell asleep.

In the morning, I surveyed the area for the first time in daylight and this photo shows where I put up my tent (one-man). This area appears to be fairly well used by campers given the stump/seat that someone has made and of course, the litter and beer cans that were lying around (none of mine!). Thankfully, I was the only person around while I was here.

Once I had some breakfast, I left the tent, took a small bag and continued along the same track (Horsechops) as it basically goes right in the AWR. I was hoping to see some caribou but unfortunately, there wasn't a single living thing to be seen - well, nothing that runs, flies or bites anyway.

After I felt that I'd had enough of the track, I went cross-country over to a wee hill to get a better look at the surroundings. These photos are typical of what I saw in either direction.

Once I'd had my fill of the scenery, I decided that I couldn't really be bothered walking much further into the AWR. Well, there was that and the fact that the weather was closing in with fog and rain so I wanted to make it back to the track as soon as possible and start back to the tent. On the way back, I decided there was no need to stay another night and further exploration would require walking in WITH the tent. I got back to the tent about mid-afternoon, so I decided to pack up and continue on to the car and home.

Overall, it was a worthwhile trip but I needed more time to really expore the place. This trip was just to get a feel for it. Maybe next time, I'll go in further and maybe walk right across it.

Cape Spear to Petty Harbour (Snowshoeing)

I did this walk, which is part of the East Coast Trail, on 18th March 2006 when there was still as fair bit of snow and low temperatures to deal with. At the time of writing this, it is still the only time I've been out on my snowshoes, which is pretty lame. I'll have to make more of an effort this winter.

Anyway, I got dropped off at Cape Spear car park and walked up to the lighthouse area without the snowshoes after which I took this rather dramatic photo of myself thinking that I look cool. The whole walk is coastal so that's the sea I'm pretending to look out over. I'm really just waiting for the timer to go off on my camera so I can rush back and get it before it's blown over.

So, after donning my snowshoes (a pain in the erse to do with cold fingers) I made my way south along the treeless coast. About 3/4 the way along here, it started snowing and the wind picked up so I wussed out and put on all my waterproof gear, which of course involved removing and re-attaching my snowshoes to get the trousers on...bah!

Without snow, you'd have to continue right along to the point before heading SW towards Petty Harbour. However, with nothing but a smooth expanse of snow, I just took a direct shortcut across what is normally fairly boggy and rough ground - it was great for a lazy bastard like me. However, before I did this, I took a shot looking back at Cape Spear. See below.

Once I'd cut the corner and returned to the coastline, I spotted a few cross country ski tracks but did not see anyone else at all that day. Anyway, the most difficult part was yet to come as I entered the wooded part of the coastline. There was considerably more gradients to deal will, as well as some difficulity actually sticking to the correct route. I'm still not sure I did stick to what would be the East Coast Trail but somehow I found my way through without getting too close to some of the cliffs nearby.

I stopped in an abandoned hut with no door and collapsing roof for lunch. It was a tad chilly to be sitting there for too long but I took my trusty flask to provide the ever-welcome cup of tea that takes the sting off any discomfort on a walk. I cannot stress enough the importance of tea when hiking and camping.....I'm sure this will be a recurring theme.

After this (and a hairy stream crossing where I couldn't determine the edges of the stream), I made my way into Maddox Cove, which is actually where you first return to civilisation. However, I took off my snowshoes and continued around the road to Petty Harbour, where I bought a cup of coffee and phoned to be picked up. All in all, I think it took me about 4 hours but I can't recall how accurate that is. Worth doing again for sure.

Welcome

Well, I've been here in Newfoundland for five years now and it's time that I shared some of the adventures that I've been on in my time here. Therefore, I decided to set up this blog for people to see what I get up to over here. It's going to be primarily hiking and scenery shots so don't expect any nudity.......ahem.

Anyway, it looks like I'm going to have to delve into my adventures from the distant past to fill this up a bit. However, I'm going no further back than 2006 and start from the end of last winter.....just after I'd returned from Mexico and this.........there won't be many shots like it.