HIke Preparation for the East Coast Trail
Hike Preparations for the East Coast Trail
Preparing for ECT Thru Hike
As we began making travel plans for trekking the East Coast Trail we came across several options including the Way of St.
Francis in Italy, the Camino Norte in Spain, and the John Muir Trail
in the United States. However as the year moved on, job
requirements, rising monthly bills, and limited time off from work led us to consider trails closer to home. It was also during this
time that we began developing our plan to hike the Trans Canada Trail, also known as the Great Trail, from St. John's,
Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia to Tuktoyaktuk, Nunavut
from 2019-2021 (Come Walk With Us). Canada's East Coast Trail, which stretches over 300 km along the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, seemed like a great choice!
The results of our situation and my future plans lead us to investigate medium to long-distance trails on Canada's East Coast to better acquaint ourselves with the environment and define our expectations.
When we began planning and examining navigating Newfoundland, several things became immediately clear. First, the landscape and wildlife are beautiful, second, the cultural mix that makes up the province is great, and third, we knew very little about the practicalities of hiking on Canada's extreme east coast. As such, to be better prepared for our three-year-long adventure crossing Canada and to test our new lightweight hiking equipment, we chose the first 300+ kilometres of the Trans Canada Trail, also known as the East Coast Trail.
ECT Trail
The
East Coast Trail or ECT is located on the easternmost portion of the
Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland Canada. Though a singular Trail
system it is composed of a series of 26 + pathways which move
along the coastline from Portugal Cove northwards to Cape St Francis
before turning southwards down the coast crossing through St.
John's the provincial capital (and home to the eastern terminus of
the Trans Canada Trail) and continuing onward to Cappahayden. While
several path sections of this trail system are undeveloped, the
complete trek currently exceeds 300 km in length.
It is our understanding that the
majority of the trail remains close to the coastline, coves, cliffs,
and beaches of the Avalon Peninsula and proceeds along natural
ridges, through forests, fens, and meadows. In addition, the
trail passes through several villages and towns en route as well as
over a suspension bridge, through historical settlements, past
lighthouses, to North America's easternmost point, rare bird
colonies, provincial parks, Important Bird Areas, ecological reserves
and past countless sources of natural beauty.
The ECT is
advertised as a developed series of trails, which are well-signed and
provide several established camping sites as well as access to
filterable water sources along the route. In addition given that the
ECT passes through a number of towns and communities, there are
opportunities for thru-hikers to resupply en route as well as
affording the luxury of being able to stop at local Bed and
Breakfasts or take guided birding and nature tours.
Planning our thru-hike along the ECT
The first stage in
our advance planning was to contact the East Coast Trail Association
directly. After answering our initial inquiries we were directed to
purchase the available resources on the trail including Guidebooks 1
and 2 for the ECT as well as a complete set of trail maps which we
later laminated. While the maps are comprehensive they lack
particular details (water sources, resupply options, grocery
availability, postal offices, alternative accommodations) and are
rather dated (2002). Similarly, while the guidebooks are well
written, they only currently cover part of the trail.
With this basis of information, we
turned to the internet and soon came upon a vast and comprehensive
blog by Randy Best (www.ectthruhike.com). Mr. Best has
scientifically broken down the entire trail, creating and providing
extensive spreadsheets noting water source locations, camping sites,
town resources, walking distances including community connectors, and
noting GPS Waypoints. In addition, Randy Best has posted a complete
set of YouTube videos which highlight each section of the trail in
which he notes key points to be aware of while planning your hike.
It is fair to say that much or our preparations for this hike have
been based on and planned around his advice.
While our online searches did lead us
to several other thru-hiker blogs on the ECT, most directed
readers back to Mr. Best's site and highlighted their use of his
data.
Time of Year
During our
previous hiking trips on the Camino Frances in Spain, on the Via Podiensis in France, and on the Bruce Trail in Ontario Canada we typically preferred to avoid the warmer summer periods and
trek either in the Spring months of May and June Fall months of
September and October. However, past experience in Newfoundland and
research into weather trends indicated to us that both of those times
would likely be cooler but also more susceptible to more dramatic
changes in temperature and weather conditions. By comparison, the
months of July and August would likely give us warmer periods less
prone to the cool wind off the Atlantic. In addition, this Summer
period would let us hike longer as they provided for longer periods
of daylight allowing us more time to trek per day. In addition to
all of these practical reasons for deciding to travel in July was the
fact that icebergs, whales, puffins and seabirds are all in season
and possible to view during this period.
A few weather-related points to note for those unfamiliar with Newfoundland. First fog, rain storms, and even snow squalls can often quickly
appear with little warning. Second, especially for those not
familiar with Newfoundland, hikers need to be aware of the strong
winds throughout the province and along the coastline – which can
make hiking along coastal paths difficult if not dangerous at times.
Finally, even by local standards the weather and wind are known as
unpredictable.
See
you on the Trail!
https://www.comewalkwithus.online/
https://www.comewalkwithus.online/
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