Our Walk Along the East Coast Trail (ECT)

Hiking the Spout Path East Coast Trail  "Just a few more kilometres" After spending a peaceful and comfortable night on a level tent platform on the East Coast Trail , we woke at 6 AM to discover that the torrential rain that had been falling for most of yesterday evening and last night was still persisting.  Since the rain showed no signs of abating, and the idea of getting everything wet as we packed it up and then slogging down the trail was unappealing, we decided to wait until noon to see if the weather would clear up.  The family we shared the campsite with waited until 9 am and then headed out, wishing us luck as they walked past. By around 11 AM the rain seemed to be abating, so we packed everything up and headed out.  Within minutes the rain turned mostly to fog, and we were soon removing our sweaters and rain gear. For much of the morning, the footpath took us along the edges of high cliffs, offering stunning views of deep gulches, sometimes with to...

Hiking the Motion Path on the ECT East Coast Trail Thru-Hike After a longish day of hiking yesterday, and a very peaceful night on our clifftop campsite, we slept in until 7:30 am.  After enjoying a breakfast of raisin bread and coffee, we set off along the Motion Path once again.  It was a pleasant morning, walking among the glacial erratic, past clifftop lakes, and through fields of spring flowers and heath/heather. At times the narrow footpath, which was sunk ankle-deep into the ground cover, wound very close to the edges of the cliffs, offering multiple opportunities to plummet into the sea below.  While this was a little nerve-wracking, overall it was an enjoyable trek.   When we reached Motion Point on the East Coast Trail , the feature for which the trail is named, we paused to enjoy the unique wave action, which had a somewhat mesmerizing effect.  The unusual patterns seemed to be caused by waves playing around exposed rocks near shore, and ...

East Coast Trail Hike to Cape Spear ECT Blackhead Path We were up at 6 AM this morning.  As we made our breakfast of oatmeal, raisin bread and coffee we watched as a huge fog bank rolled in off the ocean, completely obscuring St. John's harbour.  The fog was so dense we assumed that our views from Cape Spear would consist only of the immediate coastline, but to our amazement, half an hour later the fog had burned off, leaving only blue skies.  The weather on the edge of the Atlantic really is fickle.   After packing everything up we set off along the very short community connector to the Blackhead Path trailhead on the other side of town.  The Blackhead Path , which is fairly short, began with a steep climb up a rocky slope. Birdwatching along the East Coast Trail As we paused to catch our breath, we looked back over the harbour and to our great delight saw a minke whale!!  He surfaced a few times before disappearing.  As we watched ...