Captured

Snapshots of the cycling seasons

[lewcoty]

Brake Brook is located in the Lookout Hills drainage northwest of Woody Point, NL. Its final kilometer before flowing into the ocean runs through a tight-walled gorge. It’s an arduous half-day hike to get there. Without swimming or using a rope I could only partially penetrate this chasm from above and below. I skirted the middle section across the cliff side banks above.  Peering down close to the edge from one high perch, trying to glimpse more of the spectacular swim pools below, I had to ask myself what possessed me to engage in such dicey behavior? Considering I was alone, its remoteness, and my age, acting like this is not always sensible and I may regret my blasé attitude some day. But, I can’t seem to help it. It feeds my soul.

Though the interior of the defile was well shadowed, I was grateful this brook didn't flow into a sunless sea like Alph the sacred river in Xanadu!

[lewcoty]

L’anse aux Meadows

At the northern tip of Newfoundland this is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It commemorates where the Vikings first landed in North America a thousand years ago.

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Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve

Hiking this limestone barren is like walking on the moon. You would never guess at first glance that it's a significant botanical site with over 30 species of rare plants, some of which can’t be found anywhere else.

Coastal cliffs drop abruptly to the ocean in places, and then spread out leaving a rock shelf floating just over the water.

Seed heads of Mountain Avens, Encrusted Saxifrage, Harebell

Infant and mature sea caves.

These circular patterns weren’t created by a lunar lander but were formed by repeated frost cycles.

[lewcoty]

A few first-class hiking trails on the north end of the Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland

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Treena’s Trail (Back of the Land)

Countless acres of coastal grass and sections of moss/lichen meadows with velvety smooth surfaces looking like a putting green.

Labrador Tea, Reindeer Lichen

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L’anse aux Bauld Head Trail

Foam Lichen, Sunburst Lichen, Encrusted Saxifrage, Twinflower, Green Sea Urchin Shell. This urchin lives in the ocean and is dropped by birds on land to extract the meat.

Sections of this trail were a bit of an engineering feat winding up precipitous slopes to the high plateau above.

[lewcoty]

Fortune Path

This gently rolling seaside tail passes through the abandoned community of Fortune.

Beach Pea, Harebell

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A costal arched opening shaped like a needle’s eye called the Glass Hole near Conche NL.

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What the fisherman’s shanties lack in architectural complexity is made up for with distinctive color schemes that brighten up the shoreline.

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Beaver Brook near Roddickton NL flows through a ½ mile long underground limestone cave. It’s claimed this is the only place in the world where salmon migrate upstream through underground pools. The upper photo is where the river disappears underground, and the next photo is where the river flows out of the cave.These salmon resting at the entrance to the cave look like they’re working up the gumption to swim into the darkness.

[lewcoty]

Watching Atlantic salmon swim by at the glass walled fish ladder on the Torrent River, NL.

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Wild Cove, southwest of York Harbour, NL

Nest egg

Sea stacks in the bud

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Crossing Fox Island River, and heading west into the Lewis Hills with the tops in the clouds, and a wind strong enough rip your pants off.

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[lewcoty]

I spent most of the afternoon just under the clouds.

[lewcoty]

Like Vermont, Newfoundland had a cool spring, and there is still plenty of July snow in the north facing pockets.

[lewcoty]

At twilight the sun started to poke through creating a pleasant cloudscape to end the day at Hines Pond. This lake is quintessentially alpine, and hiking around it is an enjoyable stroll.