Welcome to Terra Nova National Park of Canada. Where long fingers of the sea touch the sheltered landscape of an island boreal forest. This is a place abundant with life, from beaver to bear, eagle to orchid. Where icebergs drift on ocean currents and lilies float on inland ponds. We are Canada's most easterly national park. A special place to enjoy and protect. Slow down, admire, wonder and reflect. Discover a part of our national heritage.
So reads the sign at the trailhead of the Coastal Trail in Terra Nova National Park. It was a hot day and we were looking for a hike with cooling bay breezes:
The hike starts on a bridge over Salton's Brook, the site of Thomas Turner's commercial sawmill and small store:
The trail continues south along the shore of Newman Sound, a remote arm of the sea south of Eastport Peninsula stretching 4.8 km from the park visitor center to the Newman Sound Campground. While most of the trail winds up and down, in and out, through a typical spruce forest, it periodically pops out onto the bay for a view of -- or a walk on -- the fine gravel beaches:
No Newfie trail is acceptable unless it is up-and-down, and no up-and-down trail can be without its stairs. So we had our share of stairs and boardwalks to provide the expected ambience:
While in the U.S., trails are usually simply blazed at regular intervals with a unique color of blaze on trees or rocks, Newfoundland trails tend to have signs. Much like the "Walk" lights in cities such as Toronto, Montreal, St. John's and the like, these hikers usually have an attitude -- which Kathy tries to match in this photo below. The signs really weren't necessary because the trail is well-worn and quite distinct:
In a first for Newfoundland hiking trails -- and, actually, for hiking trails anywhere we have been, part of the trail was marked with painted footprints across the macadam (in this case at the boat ramp where the park administration keeps its patrol boats). Note the Zodiac boat in the background:
The boat ramp is about halfway along the trail, where a lively stream tumbles out of the uplands. A bridge led us across it on our way --
-- with a short detour to a pretty little waterfall:
Something not formally marked on literature for this trail, but which we stumbled upon as we walked, was this teepee frame off-trail, which we imagine is used for ceremonies or traditional events for the local First Nations citizens. We would have liked a sign to explain its cultural significance:
This is the height of summer, and the wildflowers are taking full advantage of the rains and warm sun:
Moose are not native to Newfoundland, but, having been introduced, have no natural predators (other than humans) and, as a consequence, are wreaking serious damage to woodlands in the province. Terra Nova National Park, in an attempt to counter the destructive impact of the moose, has constructed "exclosures" to try and exclude the moose from certain areas to help restore them. We saw one of the exclosure fences, along with a sign explaining its purpose:
To our mind, this strategy is expensive and futile, because it is not possible to fence off a large enough area to make a significant impact. While Newfoundlanders might not accept an alternate strategy of reintroducing wolves to reduce the moose population, wolves were once native to the province and would be effective, as experience in Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. has demonstrated. However, of course, wolves also have side effects that may be undesirable. Perhaps it is all a puzzle not yet to be solved. Perhaps permitting wider hunting of moose is a solution. We don't know, but we sympathize.
About 2 miles into our hike, we came upon the ubiquitous Red Chairs that the national parks have installed. Terra Nova has 8 pairs of Red Chairs, according to its literature. This was the second set we've found and we hope to find more. The view from the Red Chairs (as is usually the case) was superb:
The Red Chairs perch on Sandy Point, which was the location of the Lane Sawmill, operational from the mid-1920's to the mid-1950's. The sawmill was owned by George Hubert Lane and his wife Hilda. Five schooners were built here, from local wood, to transport timber and sawed wood to market. A part of one of the sawmill engines sits alongside the trail at Sandy Point:
...And, just in case you forgot about those moose that are wreaking havoc with the plant life in this area, we stumbled upon this skull of a moose, which may have been posted by park personnel as a warning against any ungulates who might be so impertinent as to munch on local flora:
Closer to the far point of our hike, we passed this beautiful sand spit. A picnic table perched invitingly on it -- but we had decided that we wanted to have lunch at our turnaround point. So we passed it regretfully.
One one of the beaches, we stumbled upon this array of empty crab shells, arrayed in a rank behind a (probably deceased) crab. We wondered who arranged this grisly decoration -- perhaps someone who had just finished feasting on a crab boil on the beach or in the nearby campground.
We eventually reached our destination: one of two amphitheaters at the Newman Sound Campground. Primitive log benches were spread out over a lush grassy meadow, and picnic tables stood at the far edge, where we could catch a cooling southerly breeze as we ate our lunch.
This is a linear trail, and the return was the same as the outward hike. Overall, we hiked almost 10 km, just over 6 miles. Luckily, the sun was veiled by clouds today and it was not as hot as yesterday; but the humidity increased throughout the day during our hike. We were almost sprinkled upon by a passing rain cloud, but it veered away from us, leaving us essentially dry for the entire hike.
We've spotted a couple other Terra Nova National Park hikes we might try in the remainder of our stay here. Or perhaps we'll find a place to put our kayaks into the water and do a little paddling about. It all depends on the weather, which has been changeable of late.
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