25.39km

I had my alarm set for 5 and 5:30 again. I’m fairly certain I’m still snoozing the 5 AM one in my sleep. But the 530 one got me up and going. I joined Don at his campsite, really only a few feet away, for breakfast and of course we got talking again. I didn’t end up being fully packed and ready to hit the road until almost 8. This is later than I had planned as I have a long day again today but I was really enjoying the company.

Today, I’m hoping to do all of the spout path, I will probably linger to watch the spout for a while. And then I have a 5 km community walk, which although it goes fast it’s still a lot of distance. And I’m hoping to camp somewhere on Mickeleens. Don did tell me that it was a relatively flat trail and I shouldn’t have any issues. It’s also really short so technically I have either end probably to choose from.

This trail is absolutely stunning! I would not call it easy by any means, and it could definitely use some more marking but I’m loving it

The Spout was so cool! I don’t know if it is technically a geyser, because it’s not geothermal. It has something to do with the ocean current and an underground stream. I don’t know if somebody is more scientific and reading this and knows if there’s a difference. Either way it was super cool to watch, it goes off quite often and varying heights. I stopped there for an early lunch and just enjoyed watching it. The campsites on this trail are also the best I’ve seen so far. The platforms are all spaced out in private little nooks in the woods.

The only other hikers I encountered on this trail were two guys and their dogs, they came up behind me shortly before I got to the lighthouse. They were obviously out for a day hike but I was due for a break so we all sat and chatted. The one dog wouldn’t stop barking at me, I find a lot of dogs have an issue with the pack. Once they realize I will pet them, they usually settle.

Tonight I am pretty much entirely responsible for finding my own campsite. This isn’t a trail people often camp on. Since it is rated easy and looks relatively flat I’m hoping it’s not an issue. It definitely makes me a little nervous though not knowing exactly where I’m aiming for. As I was coming off the spout and doing my community walk. I was lying all the good spots there were on that end to put a tent. Like just imagine all the flat spots there are in here...

I made it to the other side of the community and started on the trail. I was a little bit nervous because the majority of the trail seemed to be boardwalk because the trail was essentially a swamp.

Once the boardwalk was gone the trees are growing so thick there was no space. This made be a little anxious that I wasn’t going to find anywhere but about 2 km in I found the perfect little clearing under trees. If it was a windy night I would not go here because branches could fall on me. But theres supposed to be virtually no wind here tonight so I felt safe.

It was probably getting close to seven by the time I found this so I was anxious to get going and into bed before dark. I scared the crap out of three women as I was popping off the trail. They were racing to get out before dark and weren’t expecting to see anyone going into the woods. We had a good laugh and quick chat about what I was doing and then they were on their way and I set up my tent.

I had a quick dinner and then went to bed. I really want to get up early and get a lot of kilometres in tomorrow. I am feeling like I could do more than I do. But the way to get it in is to make use of all the daylight in the morning.