Amélie Hikes the East Coast Trail – Day 44 – Doin’ Stuff Makin’ Stuff

CAPE ST. FRANCIS LIGHTHOUSE TO BIG COVE SOUTH

Given the fact that the road leading up to Cape St. Francis is only maintained by the Department of Fisheries to ensure the functioning of the lighthouse, very little is spent on its upkeep. We got lucky – when we got there, crews were finalizing the pre-winter grading.

Cape St. Francis is one of those place that offers a glimpse of nature’s awesome power and brutality. Pushed up by ship-breaking reefs and skerries, waves claw high up into the air, roaring like lions. The shape of the cape amplifies the effect. The howling of the Northwest winds on this dreary, foggy day added to the effect.

Presented with such sights and sounds, it’s difficult to avoid the realization that we’re just tiny specks in a massive swirling universe. Being reminded of this fact is always a strange feeling.

Amélie’s progress on the 600-metre “community link” from the lighthouse to the trailhead was very slow. Maybe it was because she had stayed up until late the night before. Maybe she was tired from not having slept well. Maybe it was because she was looking forward to the activities we’d told her about for the evening. Maybe it was the grey weather. Maybe she just felt like taking it easy.

Whatever the reason, Amélie did NOT speed up once we got to the trailhead. Much to the contrary.

Every step forward required encouragement, distraction, conversation, and tons and tons and tons of parental patience. But she didn’t complain. She didn’t ask to go home. She didn’t refuse to walk. She marched on, and on, and on. SLOWLY.

We were less than one kilometre into the trail when we made the decision to bail as early as possible. Since there’s a side trail “exiting” at Big Cove South, we decided to make that our destination for the day.

Getting there seemed to take FOREVER.

It’s funny how we come to take things for granted. When we first started this project, Amélie was much, much slower than this. Much slower. And she was much more difficult to encourage (we hadn’t yet learned how).

Amélie eventually got to the fork in the trail, with a smile on her face.

Séb carried the girls out of the woods – with Amélie in his arms and Évangéline sound asleep in the backpack carrier – and ran back to get the car.

Driving back towards Town from Pouch Cove, we spotted a familiar face walking along the road – it was Justine, the thru-hiker we had the opportunity to host! She’d just completed her lightning-fast East Coast Trail journey the day before (after a total of 15 wet days on the trail), and she was making her way back to her B&B with a case of celebratory beer.

Amélie was very excited to see her!

CONGRATULATIONS, Justine!!!