A shortish day brought us to a beautiful campsite in one of the most remote parts of the East Coast Trail.
It was surprisingly nice overnight. Even with the wind, it stayed nice and warm inside the tent. Unfortunately the rock ground underneath didn’t make for the nicest of sleeping quarters, and neither of us really got a good night sleep.
About 10 minutes after we started, we passed the place we turned back from yesterday. Just past a jumble of boulders, which turned out to be easier to get through then initially appeared, we found the campsites we were looking for yesterday. They were also less than ideal, being very much not level with lots of roots, but it probably would’ve been at least a little bit more comfortable than where we slept.
Along the way, we passed a tree that looked like it had been gnawed on by beavers, that we didn’t notice yesterday.
Another 40 minutes later, we reached the end of the Cape Spear Path and began the community walk through Maddox Cove and Petty Harbor. This trail was a bit more rugged than the majority of the path from the lighthouse yesterday, which was a breeze to walk through, but at least it wasn’t too difficult.
It took us well over an hour to make it through the two small towns, because we stopped four times. The first was at a little library by one of the first houses we passed, which had snacks and water for hikers, as well as a logbook, which we signed. A little further ahead was the first of three picnic areas alongside the main road through town. We took the opportunity to throw trash in the trash can, and I took a little snack break to eat an apple, so I could throw the core in the trash and not have to carry it for the next two days.
A little while later, we passed a public restroom, which was great because there was absolutely nowhere to dig a hole anywhere near our campsite.
Our last stop was at a convenience store most of the way through Petty Harbor, where CareFree got coffee, and we both got ice cream. From there, we followed a dead end road to the end of town, climbed up a steep hill, and began Motion Path, which follows the shore above Motion Bay.
After an initial climb through a forest, the trail went through a very different landscape than what we’ve had before. Instead of forest, or bare rock, we were traveling through rolling hills filled with bushes, scrub, and low ground cover. It was a great change of pace, and we made pretty good time through relatively easy terrain as we worked our way south.
Around noon, the wind started to pick up, and darker clouds started to blow in. After several tries, we finally found a large rock to work as a wind break, and we stopped for a break. Just as we were packing up to leave, some rain started to fall as fog blew in, and I put on my new rain jacket for the first time on trail.
The next hour was pretty rough. Although it didn’t rain very much at all, it was still foggy, and very windy. Unlike earlier, where we could easily see where we had been and where we were going, now it felt like we were wandering back-and-forth and up and down in the middle of nowhere without actually making any progress. The wind, of course, made it hard to walk, but the trail also went through more challenging areas, especially some that had a a lot of overgrown pine trees, which made everything more difficult. Although we couldn’t see it, the ocean was still nearby, and the crash of the surf and the blowing of the wind were together pretty loud. Occasionally, we got a view of the ocean, and saw waves vigorously crashing upon rocks. Pretty exhausted, we stopped for a break sooner than we usually would have, just to get out of the wind and get some quiet.
After not quite an hour, and less than 2 km after that break, we reached the Miners Point Campsite, one of the six official campsites on the East Coast Trail.
CareFree sat down, exhausted. I sat down so I wouldn’t have to stand anymore — my feet were starting to hurt again. After some quick deliberation, we decided that we were going to stop here. We’re on “vacation”, after all, so there’s no need to go as far as possible every single day. And, we still have plenty of time to finish the trail before we need to head back home. Not quite 3 pm, this was the earliest time we’ve stopped on the ECT so far. (And we’d still gone more than 16 km, which after three hours in fog and wind, still feels like an accomplishment.)
The sky was somewhat indecisive for a while, alternating between a little light drizzle, and brightening skies, until eventually, the sun came out, and we had blue sky around us. There was still plenty of fog over the ocean, though, and it was still blowing in further north, but after a couple of hours of frustrating wind and fog, it became very nice outside.
Once the sun came out and it was nice out, it did feel a little silly to have stopped so early, but we felt like we deserved a relatively short day for once. (The next official campsite is in another 7.5 km, most of which is strenuous trail. It would be another long day if we decided to go all the way there.)
Water on this section of the tail is said to be tannic and not great tasting, but a short distance before the campsite, we crossed over a small creek, flowing on the rocks. The campsite also had water closer by, but it looked relatively stagnant and a little bit gross, so I went with the flowing water instead, and when filtered, it tasted perfectly fine.
Except for a couple of whale spouts during our break before the fog rolled in, we didn’t see any whales at all today. Then, while I was finishing dinner, I noticed an unusually large splash of water in the ocean, far enough away from the rocks along the coast that it got my attention. After it repeated, I grabbed the binoculars, and was able to see a couple of whales, jumping out of the water and splashing with their fins and tails. It was pretty cool to watch, but they didn’t stick around for very long, gradually moving away after the first time I saw them.
We plan to get to bed a little early tonight and get started early tomorrow. The next section, Spout Path is rated strenuous, but from here, the town of Bay Bulls is only 21 km ahead, so with an early start, we should get there by late afternoon.