Nestled in the northeast corner of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, the East Coast Trail is my next long hike.
The East Coast Trail is a 330 km (205 mile) trail located on the easternmost coastline of Canada. Consisting of 25 wilderness trails interspersed by walks through a variety of historic communities — including St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador — the East Cost Trail links Topsail Beach in the north to Cappahayden in the south.
The East Coast Trail Association describes the trail thusly:
The paths of the East Coast Trail take you past towering cliffs and headlands, sea stacks, deep fjords, and a natural wave-driven geyser called the Spout. Experience abandoned settlements, lighthouses, ecological reserves, seabird colonies, whales, icebergs, the world’s southernmost caribou herd, historic sites, a 50-metre suspension bridge, two active archaeological dig sites, and many more attractions.
This will be my northernmost long hike to date (and easternmost, as well, depending on how you want to consider New Zealand and Australia). It will also my first long hike in Canada (though the Long Trail ended at the Canadian border, and both my Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail hikes ended at the Canadian border with short extensions in to Manning Park and Waterton Park, respectively). This will also be my third long hike this year, after the Great South West Walk and Great Ocean Walk in Australia this January. This will also be my first hike entirely in a timezone with a 30-minute offset. (Newfoundland Time is the only time zone offset by 30 minutes in the Americas; on the GSWW, the trail very briefly dips into South Australia and its half-hour offset timezone.)
As usual, my wonderful partner, CareFree, will be hiking the ECT with me. After some deliberation, we picked the ECT because it was a location neither of us had been to before, and it was long enough to be interesting, but short enough to do within the time window available during CareFree’s winter vacation from New Zealand.
It should be a fantastic experience, and I’m looking forward to it!
As usual, I’ll be writing daily posts about my hike. Feel free to follow along!