Hiking the Grand Bank Cape Trail a/k/a The Marine Trail

Friday, August 18, 2023

Hi Blog!

Our time in Fortune is almost over. We have one more day to explore the southern Burin Peninsula before heading east to the town of Burin. For today's adventure, we decided to drive over to Grand Bank and hike the Grand Bank Cape Trail (also known as the Marine Trail). We decided to follow the trail from Admiral's Cove in Grand Bank to L'Anse au Paul Beach.

Before we parked at the trailhead, we stopped to get a photo of the Grand Bank Lighthouse. Built in 1922, the present concrete octagonal tower was erected on the eastern pier in the harbor. This tower stands 7.1 meters tall and today displays a quick-flashing green light.

According to a January 12, 1923 account in The Daily News, the three-masted schooner Frank R. Forsey, struck the pier at Grand Bank and sank with a load of salt. The salt dissolved over the next day causing the ship to float, but the incident left a scar on Grand Bank Lighthouse. The schooner’s bowsprit gouged a hole in the lighthouse where the “B” is in the word “Grand Bank.”  The lighthouse name was later inscribed on the seaward face of the tower. From our vantage point, we couldn't see the original injury.

Pictured below is Admiral's Cove Beach. In 1765 Captain James Cook mapped out the area and moored his ship at Admiral’s Cove. The crew came ashore and gathered buds off the small spruce trees to brew beer. Spruce beer is an excellent source of vitamin C.

Jack's Pond sits just behind the Admiral's Cove Beach. They are separated by a gravel bar. In Atlantic Canada, these coastal lagoons are called barachois. They are fed by fresh water streams, but salt water may enter the barachois during high tide.

One reason we picked the Admiral's Cove trailhead was to get out on the beach and look for sea glass. We did manage to find a few pieces before we continued with our hike.

As we began our climb up the Grand Bank Cape, we turned to take one last look at Grand Bank.

The Town of Grand Bank is situated on the western side of the Burin Peninsula near the entrance to Fortune Bay. Settled by French fishermen in the seventeenth century, the town straddles Grand Bank Brook, a small stream that has formed a harbor where it empties into Fortune Bay, and likely received its name due to the high bank that extends from Admiral Cove to the harbor.

Our hike followed along the edge of the cliff as we walked out to various points and back again. There were several times our trail followed an ATV track before heading back out along the edge. The coast line has several secret coves. However, the cliff walls were too steep to climb down to the beaches.

From our vantage point high above the sea, we could see several boats working their way from Grand Bank to Fortune and back again.

We were only a few miles from Grand Bank, but we felt like we were transported to the Scottish Highlands. The gently rolling landscape also reminded us of our hike in the Alps.

At one point, we dropped down below the edge in order to explore a shale deposit. Newfoundland is world famous for its fossils. In eastern Newfoundland, trilobites and acritarchs (plant microfossils) are the most common fossils. They occur in marine-deposited shales and slates of Cambrian and Ordovician age on the Burin Peninsula. 

While we didn't spot any fossils, we did find lots of cool rocks including this amazing pink granite conglomerate.

As we continued along the Cape, we found we could look down the coastline to the Fortune Head Lighthouse.

Table Rock is a favorite destination for hikers from Grand Bank. The large square block sits all by itself in the middle of the cove.

After reaching the height of land, we began a long, easy descent toward L'Anse au Paul Beach. We had to work around a few boggy spots.

We were rewarded for our effort with more cool rock formations.

For our vantage point, we got a good look at Fortune.

The cormorants were kind enough to pose for a photo. However, the seals in the neighborhood quickly dove out of site.

Every once in a while you come across a glacial erratic and wonder just how it got there.

On our way to the beach, we passed the lone residence at L'Anse au Paul.

We found a picnic table right on the edge of the beach and tucked into our sandwiches. After lunch, we scoured the beach looking for more sea glass. The clouds gave way to some sun as we made our way back to Grand Bank. Kathy made one more sea glass sweep of the beach at Admiral's Cove. Pictured below are today's finds.

We leave Fortune tomorrow and head over to the town of Burin. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures of Dave and Kathy intrepid RV explores as they wander the highways and byways of Newfoundland!