TORBAY: LITTLE BEACH TO LITTLE GALLOWS COVE
Starting out from “downtown Torbay,” Father Troy’s Trail is one of the most “civilized” sections of the East Coast Trail. It’s more of a “nature trail” than a “wilderness trail.” Walking through long-abandoned pastures and alongside current cow pastures, the long-standing human occupation and transformation of this landscape is immediately obvious. What’s more, most of this section of the trail is shared with ATVs and snowmobiles, which, on this terrain, makes for very easy walking.
HOWEVER.
Easy walking depends on good footwear.
And Amélie definitely wasn’t wearing the best boots today. Though we had two of her best pairs of boots with us in the car, Amélie insisted that she wanted to wear the pair pink rain boots she’d recently inherited from her cousin. She wears these quite a bit around the house and to run errands, so we figured that they’d be just as good as her other hiking footwear. Well… these didn’t work out so well. A few hundred metres in, one of the boots came off her foot and she fell. Then it happened again. And again. Half a size too big and not as rigid as her other rain boots, these slowed her down very significantly. She dragged her feet the whole way.
We certainly were glad to have discovered the problem in such an easy trail instead of having to face it in a trail like the hellishly mucky Island Meadow Path linking Renews to Cappahayden we hiked yesterday!
An unexpected surprise was waiting for us at the wharf at Tappers Cove. A beautiful mural celebrating the life of the wharf adorns the breakwater, and playfully hidden throughout are little trickster fairies. We played at spotting them with Amélie, who wondered out loud about what they were doing there. At the foot of the stairs is a little fairy dragging a large sac behind him. We of course suggested that he might be the one leaving treats for her on this trail.
AMÉLIE’S PROGRESS
- DAY 1: 0.15km (Our house to Alder Hill)
- DAY 2: 1km (Alder Hill to Bears Cove Inn)
- DAY 3: 1.65km (Bears Cove Inn to Tobin Memorial)
- DAY 4: 1.5km (Tobin Memorial to Otter Cove)
- DAY 5: 1km (Otter Cove to Upper Red Cove)
- DAY 6: 0.6km (Upper Red Cove to South Head)
- DAY 7: 4km (South Head to Bay Bulls Trailhead)
- DAY 8: 3km (Bay Bulls Trailhead to Captain Wayne’s Excursions)
- DAY 9: 5.8km (Captain Wayne’s Excursions to the Bull Head Light)
- DAY 10: 7.2km (Fort Amherst to The Battery)
- DAY 11: 1.3km (Our house to Harrigan’s Grocery & Convenience)
- DAY 12: 3.5km (Harrigan’s Convenience to Camel Cove Beach)
- DAY 13: 1.8km (Mobile Beach to Herring Cove)
- DAY 14: 500m (Deadman’s Bay Trailhead to Lookout Point)
- DAY 15: 4km (Herring Cove to Camel Cove Beach)
- DAY 16: 2.5km (Mobile Beach to Cape Canine)
- DAY 17: 3.3km (Cape Canine to The Cribbies)
- DAY 18: 2.9km (The Cribbies to Burnt Cove Beach)
- DAY 19: 800m (LaManche Bridge to Herring Cove Point)
- DAY 20: 1km (Riverside Restaurant to the Cape Broyle Wharf)
- DAY 21: 2.7km (Bauline East Wharf to LaManche Bridge)
- DAY 22: 3.1km (The Battery to The Quidi Vidi Village Plantation)
- DAY 23: 1.5km (Quidi Vidi Village to Bawden’s Highlands)
- DAY 24: 4km (Cape Broyle Wharf to Pagoda Projects)
- DAY 25: 2km (Burnt Cove Beach to Bauline East Wharf)
- DAY 26: 5.4km (Cappahayden to Island Meadow)
- DAY 27: 800m (Blackhead village to Bull Cove)
- DAY 28: 3.5km (Brigus South to Hares Ears)
- DAY 29: 1.5km (Chafe’s Landing to Big Hill)
- DAY 30: 2km (Island Meadows Path Trailhead to Renews Bridge)
- DAY 31: 1.8km (Chafe’s Landing to Cape Spear Path trailhead)
- DAY 32: 2.5km (Flamber Head Trailhead to Hares Ears Point)
- DAY 33: 4.3km (Hares Ears Point to Admirald’s Cove trailhead)
- DAY 34: 4km (Calvert Plant to Castle Hill)
- DAY 35: 4.7km (Renews trailhead to Island Meadow)
- DAY 36: 2.2km (Torbay’s Little Beach to Little Gallows Cove)
Related posts:
Amélie’s total progress: 93km/316km
Distance walked by the adults today: 4km
Total distance walked by the adults: 178.2km
I hiked that part of the East Coast Trail on my first visit to Newfoundland. Stayed at a lovely B&B in Pouch Cove and walked with the owner’s dog towards Flat Rock. Flat Rock became my very favorite spot on the trail. You will discover the majesty of it when you get there. Happy Trails dear precious ones. Je vous aime et me réjouis de ce merveilleux pèlerinage que vous faites en famille. XXxx