19.87km

Originally this was supposed to be my second last day but I’m feeling good about things. I got off to a little bit of a late start today, I really didn’t want to be hiking on the trail while it was still pouring rain. The forecast said the rain will probably clear up by noon so I had plans on leaving in the late morning. 

I also wanted to wait because a fantastic person I meet on the local hiking group was willing to bring me their Garmin inReach to borrow. This is something I definitely have contemplated purchasing in the past. Ultimately though I am not usually out of service areas and it’s a lot of spending just for this trip. Of my nine nights on trail, so far I’ve only been out of service for two of them. And one of them I only had to walk 100 m to get back in service. However, with how much rain fell I am very grateful to him for lending me this. I know it also gives my parents a lot of relief that if I came to a washed out part of trail or injured myself that I can get help easier. I’m also getting into the part of the trail that is a little bit remote again. It will be harder for me to just jump off at a community and find somewhere to stay so I’m grateful that I can reach out to people if I need to get off trail.

It was kind of, well no it was really hard to get going on the trail again after taking this time off. I knew mentally and physically I was still capable of finishing it, but being off trail for two nights definitely made me feel a little bit like I was done at the same time. Especially since the forecast has been a little bit all over the place about how much more rain is to come. At one point and I did discuss whether or not I was done, and should go back to my car. I wasn’t prepared to pay for a third night so if the rain wasn’t going to stop, I was unfortunately going to be done. This made it really hard for me to get going on the trail again because I had thought about being done.

Being inside for most of the recent rain made it seem like it was less than it actually was. Hiking the first trail today I can definitely tell that a lot fell and I’m glad I wasn’t stuck outside in it. The majority of the creeks and rivers are overflowing onto the trail. The ocean is also still very aggressive with huge waves crashing ashore. You can see here on this trail how the little creek has overflowed and the whole trail is a small river now. 

The first trail took a little bit longer than I had expected due to the wet conditions. With a lot of the parts being flooded, I had to navigate carefully. I was also trying to keep my feet dry for as long as possible. I know that sounds kind of silly when I am quite frankly living outside until I finish the trail. However, it does a lot for morale to have them dry and comfortable. They did get a little damp as I went on but not fully soaked which was nice.

Finding the entrance to the second trail was a little bit difficult. The ECT maps just tell you what road follow and for how long, they don’t usually tell you which direction to go or anything. This is only made more difficult by the fact that half the roads here don’t have signs up at the corners. I was actually staring my phone trying to figure out where I was and what the roads were and a woman saw me and came out of her house to gave me directions.

This trail actually took me along a gravel road for probably a kilometer and then onto the main road for three or so. It was a really great way to pick up the pace and get going after such a late start. I’m not really sure why this counts as a trail and not a road walk. The map will specific the difference between trail and road and this was labeled as a trail.

This trail, La Manche Village Path, took me to an abandoned settlement which I had actually visited when I came to St. John’s a few years ago. It looks pretty much the same as it did then and wasn’t as exciting the second time around. I’ve seen a lot of abandoned places along the trail now so the novelty is wearing off a little bit.

La Manche was first settle in 1840 by one man, then his family, and then a community grew around them. It never great very large by modern standards but was a common type of community for Newfoundland. At it's peak, there were 13 houses, a school, a church and many fishing platforms. The community began to relocate in the early 1960s due to a number of reasons, a lot of it weather and remoteness.

Looking at the area now, it's hard to imagine how they fit that many houses there and so close to the cliffs. It's not surprising to find out that a bad winter storm caused the ocean to destroy some of these buildings. You can see some of the old foundations in this photo;

I really really want to make it to the tent platforms tonight, they look really nice and well sheltered. Finding campsites is probably my number one anxiety on the trail, most people assume it's safety but I'm confident in my abilities. If I make it to the official campsite tonight, then tomorrow I can stay in the cabin still!

The other thru hiker told me this official campsite with platforms was the busiest campsite he’s stayed at so far. He was also here on a weekend, but I was kind of hoping for some company again. I knew the weather would make that unlikely but it would be nice. I don’t mind hiking alone or spending most nights alone, but it is nice to sit around camp chatting with people or just see and hear other humans. 

Today's trails were actually kind of boring. The first one because it was more of a road walk than a trail. The second because a lot of it wasn’t right along the coast so it wasn’t scenic. The most exciting thing I saw was an eagle.

I did come across a set of foot prints that looked to be going to same direction as I did, I could tell that they had been since the rainfall so I got kind of excited than maybe somebody else was coming into camp. I knew there was also a good chance they were just hiking all the way through or doing an in and out but I hoped they were coming to camp. Eventually two guys came towards me and mentioned that the trail was really wet up ahead and they turned around because they couldn’t get through it, this worried me a little because I don’t really have a choice but to go through it. After I passed them I realized that it was their foot prints I’ve been following. They must have the same brand of boots and been walking far apart or something. Because I could genuinely only see one track in but once they turned around it was definitely their tracks.

Eventually I got to where I think they turned around and it was definitely less water than expected from their warning. Would you have to turn back if you encountered this on a trail?

Even though the trail was really wet and I had to navigate carefully I was making really good time. There weren’t a significant amount of ups and downs and the trail was really wide and well-maintained. Eventually I saw a sign saying I was nearing the campsite and I got really excited because there was still plenty of time before dark. 

I knew from reading the maps that the campsite was right after a river. A lot of the rivers on trails have been really small, It’s hard to tell how big it is by looking at the map. However, anything that has been big has had a bridge of some sort. When I got to this one though it’s the biggest one I’ve seen without a bridge, I definitely hesitated about how to cross it safely. I went up and down a bit trying to see if there was a better spot to cross instead. Downriver turned into a bit of a waterfall, and upriver the trail got too high so I would  have to go down a bit of a bank to get to the river. I can imagine crossing it isn’t super hard normally, I could see a line of rocks that would probably normally be stepping stones when there wasn’t two days of rainfall warning level rains. 

I blew my whistle and shouted out a few times. I figured if anyone was near the campsite heard me maybe they could come help or advise where to cross. Eventually I realized there was probably no one and I was just going to have to go across alone. I contemplated trying to go across the stepping stones but really did not want to fall in. Instead, I went towards the middle because there was a big boulder, I only had to take a few steps and then I could get onto it and off the other side and only have to take a few steps. I really wanted to avoid the most heavy flowing parts of the current. It was also a little bit difficult because I couldn’t see the bottom like I could on my last big river crossing. 

I did make it safely across, and only really got wet up to the knees so it wasn’t too bad. It kind of made me happy that I had crossed a higher and wider river in Gros Morne so that this looks easy.

I made it up to the first camp platform and sat down my bag. After camping on White Horse, I learned to go examine all the different campsites before picking one. A lot of the platforms here aren’t in very good condition, but most of them are bigger than my tent needs anyways. I didn’t see anyone else around at all. Ultimately I just picked the only platform that I had any cell phone service at. 

I quickly set up my tent and started dinner. The first batch of water I was boiling I accidentally knocked over and had to start again. Eventually I got tired of waiting and just ate my noodles kind of lukewarm, and not fully cooked. Ah, the glamour of camp life.

I reviewed the maps for tomorrow before going to bed. It’s not going to be a super long or difficult day but I do want to start really early. I want to make sure that I get to the cabin in time to actually enjoy having a fire in the woodstove. Depending on how early I get going and what my pace is like, stopping at the cabin might be too soon. There is another spot about four or five km further that logistically would probably be smarter. However, that cabin has been a big mental reward since I started planning this trip and even though I just spent two nights off trail, I want it.