Homeward Bound, But The Adventure Continues!

Friday, July 18, 2014
      Location this morning is Deer Lake, Newfoundland. The sun is shining with a bright blue sky. Our plan was not to rush home, but to explore anything that caught our fancy.

Salmon Fishing ~ Deer Lake

We weren’t even a mile from our night’s stay location at the truck stop, when we were intrigued by a row of fishermen, with waders standing nearly waist deep in the inlet of Deer Lake. What looked odd was the shoreline filled with spectators. After talking to some of them, we discovered they already had their two Salmon limit, hence they were cheering their fellow fishing buddies. For those of you who are wondering, the fisherman were catching Salmon left and right.

Bringing in the Cod!

Traveling South towards Corner Brook, we looked at many side roads that followed Deer Lake. If they looked interesting, we just meandered of the main road and explored the small villages. I was always looking for that special photo opportunity. In no time we arrived in Corner Brook and revisited the tourist info center. “What have we missed in this area”, I ask the young lady. She said, “Have you

Fishing Village Life

been to Lark Harbour”? “Yes”, I said. “How about the, ‘very scenic hiking trails near Little Port’? “No”, was my answer. It was only mid-morning as we headed towards Lark Harbour. This time we looked very carefully as the road weaved passed small fishing villages. I spotted several small red boats on shore in the village of Frenchman Cove . If anything else, they would make for a colorful picture. A dock just prior to the little red boats

Lobster Trap ~ Harmony Wave

caught my eye as a fishing boat was starting to unload some fish. I parked and started to walk over to get a better look and take a few pictures. I could see the fish were Cod and soon I started a conversation with the fishermen. A lady wearing a safety vest and hardhat was taking tally of the basket weights and recording the numbers on a clipboard. She was obviously from the fish processing plant. Helen and I walked around the dock taking pictures and finally walking through the village towards those small red fishing boats for more pictures. A little further at the end of land, a half dozen larger boats were on shore. I imagine they only put them

The "Cave" in background

in the water when the fishing season is open, for that particular type of fish or lobster. What really caught my eye was the names of these boats. Some were female names, one as to wonder who they were named for?… Girlfriends, wives, children or grand-children. Another noticeable thing about the locals, walking around the village, was their rubber knee-high boots. I’m sure they looked at us and said, “Another bunch of tourist with their sneakers”.

Wild Raspberries!

Our forty-five minute ride to the end of the main road brought us to this huge pile of Lobster traps. They were constructed a little differently than the usual type and warranted a picture of them all piled along the fence line. We had driven through villages of Benoit’s Cove, York Harbour and finally the end of the road here at Lark Harbour. One final side road called Little Port road was were the Visitor Center had sparked our interest in some hiking trails.
On a side note…  Last year, on our first visit

Odd Rock Formations

to Bottle Cove, we had stayed overnight in a gravel parking lot at the end of Beacon Road. This was our destination today. We weren’t too excited about tracing last year’s adventure again. The parking lot overlooks Bottle Cove and a spectacular view of a fairly large cave facing the ocean. At high tide, water enters the cave. I don’t think one could explore the cave unless a boat was used. In any event, it was still a spectacular view for us this year.
What we didn’t do last year, was hike this area. On the edge of the parking lot ,was a crew of men working on the trail. We talked to them and they assured us it was worth the hike of the views we would see on the other side of the mountain. The trail made a large loop. Another couple ahead of us took to the left and we took to right just to keep the journey as pure as it could be. The trail had primitive rest areas with log benches here and there. At this junction, so far the trail we heavily wooden with softwood spruce

Clear Ocean Water

and pine trees. No ocean views, but peaceful forest with moss covered grounds.
The trail soon opened up to a meadow with wild raspberries and flowers sprawling throughout the large meadow. The trail led to the edge of the meadow and rocky cliffs, with the emerald green ocean below. The water, even though green emerald in color, was clear and the multi-colored stones below the surface shined in the sunlight. The camera was at the ready and I was looking for composition from different angles. Miranda Cove is, in my book, a five star location for photo composition. The unusual thing is the rock formations. Unlike glacial rock that is scratched, scraped and worn,

Little Port and the Mountain

these formations seem to be melted together as in  some sort of volcanic lava creation. We spent some time admiring these formations before hiking to the higher cliff locations.
So far, we enjoyed this hiking relatively alone. Hiking to the higher terrain, we could see more hikers on the lower trails. I carefully made my way to the highest point of the land. You know I’m always looking for that magical photo opportunity. This brings me to a note of caution. For many years, I feared no heights, able to walk a 2x4 wall on many construction sites. Well now that I’m nearing my 70th year of adventure, I must say I must now plan my footsteps.My balance is still there,

Edge of Miranda Cove ~ Volcanic Rock Formations

but now I have to think about it instead of being on auto pilot. In any event, this old dog still plans to travel and see what’s on the other side of the hill and share what I discover.
After our little hike we left Bottle Cove and drove a couple of miles to Little Port. We had visited here last year, but I wanted to see how many  boats were anchored. Little Port lies adjacent to a very high mountain. If we would have had more time I think we would have taken the trail up this mountain. I’m sure their would have been impressive views from the top.

That is what we saw and did!

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