Amélie hikes the East Coast Trail – DAY 32 – Doin’ Stuff Makin’ Stuff

FLAMBER HEAD TRAILHEAD TO HARE’S EARS POINT, BRIGUS HEAD

A beautiful late afternoon hike despite the very windy day. It was past 3pm by the time we made it to Brigus South, but Amélie was so excited about the hike that we managed to put more trail behind us than we’d imagined would be possible today.

We met four hikers on the trail we’d already bumped into twice this week, which made everyone laugh. It looks like the foursome are attempting a thru-hike going north. And they’re making great time!

At around the 800-metre mark, Amélie tripped over a small rock and fell on her hands and knees. Not a scratch on her, but one of her knees landed in wet moss. Apocalyptic screams followed as she realized her knee was wet. Although we had a change of clothes for her in the backpack, it was decided that changing her pants right away would just confirm her disgust with getting wet and/or dirty. Séb explained this to her, and promised her that her knee would get dry all on its own in a few minutes. Those were long minutes for everyone. But the wailing eventually subsided, replaced with the excitement of finding blackberries to eat.

As we climbed the hill towards Herring Cove, we could hear the northwesterly wind howling through the trees. We also hear a few tops breaking off and falling. Amélie was fascinated by the idea that the wind can push trees down, and kept asking question after question about it. She was very excited when we came across a large tree that had been felled by the wind and that lay across the trail. Just past Herring Cove, we came across a dead tree whose root system was in the process of being torn apart by the wind. We watched the tree dancing in the wind and lifting up its root system for a good long time. This led to a long exchange with Amélie about ephemerality. Amélie was absolutely mesmerized by this. We talked about impermanence, how the nature of things is for things to change, and how everything has a beginning and an end. It’s at this point that Amélie connected the dots: “Papa, tu étais un bébé comme Évangéline avant” (“Dad, you were once a little baby like Évangéline”). Séb was astounded by the connection she was able to draw – proof that she’d grasped the ideas being discussed at a much deeper level that we could even hope.