A long day took us along three trail sections, from Torbay to Quidi Vidi Village on the outskirts of St. John’s.
We had a nice conversation with Sandra over breakfast. One of the things she told us was about capelin, a small fish that comes ashore to breed. She said that the annual capelin “roll“ (when the fish roll in with the tide) is what really marks the beginning of summer in Newfoundland. They hadn’t started rolling yet, but should “any day now“, and if we were lucky, we’d be able to see them.
Shortly after CareFree and I left the B&B, we met a man jogging up the road. He told us that he had just been in Middle Cove, that the capelin had started rolling, and showed us a video. We suspected at least some of the whale sightings we’ve had in the last couple of days have been whale feeding on capelin still offshore.
Leaving Torbay, the trail joined the Silver Mine Head Path, a nice easy walk through forest atop the cliffs of Tor Bay. The trail brought us to Middle Cove, where there were quite a few people gathered on the beach, gathering beached capelin into buckets to carry them away. A wide shimmering band of fish, some dead, some still flapping around, stretched along most of the beach. Each time the waves rolled in, more fish came with them.
We also saw a few people fishing. We were informed by a local that they are cod fishers — cod season just started today — and capelin are prey to cod.
Leaving the beach, we followed a road through the outskirts of the towns of Middle Cove and Outer Cove, passing by several rock outcrops where large flocks of sea gulls roosted, the rocks stained with seagull droppings and several hundred birds standing, flying, or floating.
At Outer Cove, we saw the sheen of a capelin roll, though it was much smaller than at Middle Cove. We also passed a combined war memorial for Logy Bay, Middle Cove and Outer Cove. Every town we’ve been in has some sort of war memorial; I’m not sure if that’s a Canada thing or a Newfoundland thing, but regardless, it’s good to keep a local reminder of those who have been lost.
The road eventually dead-ended to Cobblers Path, our second section today. After some very nice boardwalk, Cobblers rose up to an exposed rocky area, where we stopped for a break. Like yesterday, a side trail continued out to a rocky promontory, but we skipped that this time because we were hoping to hike 30 km all the way to our lodging in St. John’s.
The Cobblers Path was relatively short and uneventful, though it passed the ruins of old WWII battery, and ended with a stretch along the back of some fairly fancy houses, dropping us off at a trailhead in Logy Bay.
After this was perhaps our longest community walk. So long, we accidentally cut it short, veering off the official community walk and instead taking an unmarked steep side trail up and over a mountain and to the parking lot of an Ocean Sciences Centre, where the Sugarloaf Path began.
The Sugarloaf Path traverses around Sugarloaf Mountain, with a mix of rocky exposed trail and dense forest.
It also passes through the regional landfill. For a couple of kilometers, the forest surrounding the trail was covered in shredded plastic bags, trash bags, and all sorts of other garbage. It was one of the least visually appealing trails I’ve ever hiked. (The views of the ocean were still pretty great, though.)
This section also featured a bridge under repair; access was via a strapped on extension ladder, and part of the platform that ladder went to was wobbly and not firmly attached. Hopefully, trail crews will get it back in shape soon!
About ten minutes after the bridge, on relatively nice trail, I sprained my ankle yet again. (Well, that is, for the first time this trail.) We took a short break there, and then another a little while later to actually eat something. We considered bailing out at a road crossing, but that looked like it would take us well away from where we wanted to go. So, instead we pressed on, just a bit slower to keep my ankle from yelling at me too much.
This led us to a rocky area on the outskirts of St. John’s, where the trail criss-crossed with a mountain bike trail. (Fortunately, there were no bikers out at the time!)
This was a bit strenuous to go through, involving a little rock scrambling and some vagueness on the trail’s actual path, but we eventually made it through.
Near the exit, we passed a pair of fox kits sitting on a rock next to the trail. They didn’t scare off easily. They were kinda cute, but we didn’t want to linger too long; their mother might take exception to our presence.
Eventually, we reached Quidi Vidi, a neighborhood on the outskirts of St John’s. Rather than keep walking another 5 km to our lodging for the evening, we called an uber.
After checking in, we went out for dinner, checking out the bakery/restaurant down the street. We opted to come back there tomorrow for breakfast, and instead went to a different bakery nearby they had pizza (and cinnamon buns), both of which were delicious.
Tomorrow, we’ll come back to Quidi Vidi and walk through St. John’s with nearly empty packs, taking advantage of the three nights we’ve booked in town to make at least a small amount of progress tomorrow, 10 km to the next trailhead.