29.28km

Today I woke up feeling a bit defeated. I definitely thought I would be past the halfway mark by now. I know stopping early the past two nights didn’t really help me in terms of getting this done fast. Neither has lingering about getting out of bed every single morning. I’m getting less kilometers in and having shorter days than I had originally wanted. I know at the end of the day this is my hike and just accomplishing it no matter how long it takes is a victory. But it rained all night and so absolutely nothing from yesterday dried, not only that but I feel like things got wetter. My sleeping bag and sleeping pad were definitely wet at the feet and damp to the knees. Keeping them dry has been really really important to me. I think it’s essential to be able to put on warm dry clothes at night and snuggle up for a good sleep.

Since nothing dried at all overnight, I had to put on wet clothes at 5:30 in the morning to get going. I am happy that I got up and got going a little bit earlier than I had been because I hope to get a lot of distance in today. Some people I was talking to yesterday said this trail is only rated moderate because of the distance and that it’s pretty flat and easy, and then I have a 5 km road walk which should be fast. It means I won't be able to stop and charge my phone or anything though. I’m aiming for an official campsite on the next trail so I hope to get all this distance in. I really want to avoid night hiking, but if I’m heading for an official spot I don’t mind if I get there a little bit closer to sunset.

The Cape Spear trail was exactly as I have been told it would be which is refreshing. The first little bit in getting to Cape Spear was rough, but pretty much once I was there it was easier. Almost immediately when I saw Cape Spear, I saw a moose. I was a little bit nervous because it looked like the path would weave in and out of the trees near it so I made sure to talk and walk extra loud and hope I didn’t turn the corner and see it. I would’ve thought I’d hear it run off but I didn’t, however I also didn’t run into it so it’s all good. Can you spot the moose in my picture?

I didn’t linger at Cape Spear since I had explored all of it when I was here last. It was a little bit hard getting up to it and just beyond but then it was pretty much just flat and wide open all the way. I was really impressed with how fast I was going on this trail, I was matching my speed on road walks. I even got to see a pair of eagles nesting along this trail!

Cape Spear is another National Historical site, a lighthouse set on the most easterly point of North America. The lighthouse was built in 1836 and was in use until a new one was built in 1955. When I visited here five years ago, we did go inside the historical lighthouse. They've kept the inside as a recreation of the family home it was for 150 years. The Cantwell family actually had generations live there and maintain the light. There's also a Fort there that was a defense battery during WWII and it's an extremely popular point to watch the sun rise.

The trail was really smooth sailing since it was so flat. Before I knew it I was done, and it turns out my road walk is actually shorter than I first thought. I contemplated using the extra time to pop in somewhere and get stuff charged. I calculated how far still had to go I decided it wasn’t worth it. It’s interesting hiking on trails where I don’t know the campsites. It’s hard to know how long it will take me to get anywhere which is different than my previous backcountry experiences.

Walking through Petty Harbour I realized that I had actually been here before When Lianne and I came to St. John’s five years ago, we rented a car and came here to the aquarium. It's really cool to actually recognize places again that I didn't realize I'd come across. The town, and aquarium are really tiny but I really enjoyed our visit to this aquarium as it had a touch tank.

My next trail started off pretty rough, in the beginning it just went straight up and up and up. But once I got all the way up to the top it pretty much just flattened out and I was zooming along again. I ran into another hiker probably around 5 o’clock or later. She asked how much further she had to go and I said she still had 10K at least. She said that she had a headlamp and warm clothes so she should be fine and then guessed I camping out. I said yes and then we went on our ways, both eager to get going before dark.

Here's a shot of how flat and smooth this trail was once I got up to the top;

The terrain stayed relatively flat until the last kilometer or so before the campsite. It really was quite scenic, with the ocean filling my view on one side, and lakes and ponds on the other. I got to the pipeline road and I considered trying to find somewhere up there to camp. I’ve had good luck with flat spots off ATV trails, but ultimately I should at least see what this official campsite looks like. I’d read that it didn’t have tent platforms just cleared out grassy area so it’s definitely appealing but they also said it wasn’t necessarily sheltered.

Am I the only one who prefers grass to platforms?

It’s definitely an interesting official campsite. There’s a cleared out large flat area with a fire pit right up to the front that’s not very sheltered from the wind, and a couple more spots spread around. This is the front campsite, it's nice and flat enough but quite exposed to the elements.

None of the campsites are necessarily super flat or large. If people had a bigger tent than mine or were two people than they might have a harder time camping here. I chose one of the back spots that had a perfectly flat spot the size of my tent and set up. As you can see from the photo below though, my tent takes up the whole flat spot. It also looks like when it's wetter, there might be a bit of a brook running through camp.

This time I even found the toilet! It’s way off up in the woods and I just had to meander bunch of paths until I got to it. 

After a dinner I was just sitting in the doorway of my tent contemplating if I should review my maps then or get into my pajamas and review them snuggled up in bed. I definitely told myself I can go to bed at sunset tonight since I got up early, and this is my biggest mileage day yet. But then I look over to the side, and see a headlight bobbing along...Another hiker is coming through!

His name is Don, he’s also from Halifax and he is doing his thru hike in the opposite direction as me. I decided to put on my warm clothes to give him a chance to set up a little bit. And then I asked if he minded if I joined him while he was having dinner. Of course he didn’t mind, company is slim pickings out here. We chatted for probably two hours or so. We warned each other of things the other was going to encounter, and things to look forward to on the upcoming trails. We talked a lot about gear as well, I was really impressed because his base weight is 12 pounds and he has a Z pack bag which I’ve been kind of eyeing.

He was also sleeping in a one-man bivvy which I had done some research into before I decide on the Hammock tent. He said it was more spacious inside than it looks but he misses sitting up and having his gear around. I like reviewing my maps at the end of a day, and again in the morning to prepare for the upcoming trails. He said he can't even do that in the bivvy because he can only lay in it.

As nice as it was to have company, I had know stayed up later than any other night on my trek. Eventually I said I really have to go to bed because I’m hoping to do the whole Spout trail tomorrow. He said to feel free to make noise when I got up and we can have breakfast together before we go on our separate ways.