Amélie Hikes the East Coast Trail – DAY 26

CAPPAHAYDEN TO ISLAND MEADOW/RENEWS ISLAND

This is by far the quietest hike we’ve seen on the East Coast Trail.

If this is one of the paths less travelled, the reason isn’t that it’s not beautiful (it is). Or challenging (it is). Or scenic (it is). Or worthwhile (it most definitely is). The reason probably has more to do with the fact that Cappahayden is over 100 kilometres from downtown  St. John’s; it’s literally and figuratively farthest from the beaten path.

The southernmost point in the East Coast Trail – the Island Meadow Path trailhead at Cappahayden.

Regardless of the reason why it’s not as popular as it deserves to be, the fact that the path sees so few feet has a drastic effect on how mucky the ground gets. And the muckiness of the ground had a drastic effect on our hike.

The first few kilometres of the hike take place in a gorgeous (and dry) meadow with tons of wild strawberries, wildflowers, rough boulders, and tall grasses, so it was easy to keep Amélie progressing. The two large pods of humpback whales continuously spouting a few hundred metres from the shore were definitely a great topic of conversation.

We were disgusted with ourselves when we realized we’d only brought the macro lens (it has no zoom and it actually makes things farther than they are in reality)! So we don’t have any pictures of the hundreds of breaches we saw! 

Entering the wooded section, however, the path got decidedly wetter. And Amélie’s first stumble resulted in a wet knee. And dad had not brought a spare pair of pants.

Oh the humanity!

After about half an hour of wailing like a banshee, Amélie suddenly realized that the bit of water on her pant leg had dried off. And all was well… until, two kilometres later, the ground got so mucky that her socks got wet over the rims of her waterproof hiking shoes. She was clearly distraught. This time, however, she kept on trucking with a smile, looking forward to Séb’s promise of putting her into the backpack carrier as soon as we got to Renews Island.

Amélie was radiant when the island came in sight. After a few high-fives and a short break watching the humpbacks breach and spout, Séb plunked her into the backpack carrier and we raced back to the car. She fell asleep within five minutes on the hike back.

A very tired little hiker!

We celebrated our fantastic progress with a lunch at Fermeuse’s In Da Loop Restaurant.

AMÉLIE’S PROGRESS

1. 0.15km (Our house to Alder Hill)
2. 1km (Alder Hill to Bears Cove Inn)
3. 1.65km (Bears Cove Inn to Tobin Memorial)
4. 1.5km (Tobin Memorial to Otter Cove)
5. 1km (Otter Cove to Upper Red Cove)
6. 0.6km (Upper Red Cove to South Head)
7. 4km (South Head to Bay Bulls Trailhead parking lot)
8. 3km (Bay Bulls Trailhead to Captain Wayne’s Excursions)
9. 5.8km (Captain Wayne’s Excursions to the Bull Head Light)
10. 7.2km (Fort Amherst to The Battery)
11. 1.3km (Our house to Harrigan’s Grocery & Convenience)
12. 3.5km (Harrigan’s Convenience to Camel Cove Beach)
13. 1.8km (Mobile Beach to Herring Cove)
14. 500m (Deadman’s Bay Trailhead to Lookout Point)
15. 4km (Herring Cove to Camel Cove Beach)
16. 2.5km (Mobile Beach to Cape Canine)
17. 3.3km (Cape Canine to The Cribbies)
18. 2.9km (The Cribbies to Burnt Cove Beach)
19. 800m (LaManche Bridge to Herring Cove Point)
20. 1km (Riverside Restaurant to the Cape Broyle Wharf)
21. 2.7km (Bauline East Wharf to LaManche Bridge)
22. 3.1km (The Battery to The Quidi Vidi Village Plantation)
23. 1.5km (The Quidi Vidi Village Plantation to Bawden’s Highlands)
24. 4km (Cape Broyle Wharf to Pagoda Projects)
25. 2km (Burnt Cove Beach to Bauline East Wharf)
26. 5.4km (Cappahayden to Island Meadow)

• Amélie’s total progress: 65.7km/316km
• Distance walked by the adults today: 10.5km
• Total distance walked by the adults: 125km