Roaring out of Roaring Cove

Saturday night we had light rain as we slept in the tents at Roaring Cove on the East Coast Trail.  The timing was perfect; Saturday was excellent weather for hiking and we got our social in before the rain.  Sunday morning we woke to beautiful brilliant sunshine for our hike out.  Brian and I walked out to the viewpoint over the cove with Flamber Head beyond.

Setting out along the forested path.

I checked out Flamber Head the previous day whereas the others bypassed it to hike directly into camp.  So, on the way out we all stopped to climb the headland for ...

... the view, here looking south.  Deep Cove Point in the near distance, Brigus Head further on and Cape Broyle Head in the far distance.  Some of us have kayaked that shoreline back at the end of March 2014 and we resolved to do it again soon.

We walked long the west side of Freshwater Bay where at The Key, the bottom of the bay, a river runs out.  An old bridge crosses the river but it looked like it soon would need replacing.

Climbing out of The Key uphill we gained some altitude and arrived at Gentlemans Head where we had another great view.  This time looking south we could see Flamber Head and how far we had come.

Leaving Gentlemans Head we still had some elevation to climb and stopped to catch our breath in the sunshine.

Brian, Clyde and Dean took a side trail for the view at Cape Neddick before we all took another side trail at Money Cove for the view.

Walking into LaManche under fall colours.

It was my first overnight backpacking trip which I very much enjoyed.  Such a first comes with lessons learned.  I expect to modify what I pack for the next one and apply other lessons learned until I end up with a fine tuned set-up.

Many thanks to Dean for instigating the trip and Brian, Cathy, Clyde and Gary for sharing the experience. 

A first backpacking trip

Two years ago I bought an Osprey Aether 70 backpack.  It sat idle since then until this weekend.  Earlier in the week Dean mailed some of us to propose an overnight backpack trip on the East Coast Trail (ECT) from LaManche to the campsite at Roaring Cove.  I felt it was now or never to break in the new pack.

Dean got 5 positive replies from Brian, Cathy, Clyde, Gary and myself.  The plan was to meet at 12:00 to drive down to the trailhead.  I opted to leave earlier to make the most of the day.  I started walking at 9:30 and 20 minutes later I was at the site of the resettle community of LaManche.  Today it is dominated by the beautiful suspension bridge on the ECT.

Dean has been actively hiking for two years and fine tuning his set-up by replacing his heavier gear with (more expensive) lighter gear.  I used my kayak camping gear which put my backpack at 40 lbs.  That was a substantial load at 30% of my body weight but I had to get this first experience to base a decision on whether to invest in lighter gear later.

The pack felt good but it was early going.  At Herring Cove Point I caught sight of Cape Neddick my first target.

The start of a lung busting climb!

At Bluff Head a selfie with Cape Neddick.

At Cape Neddick I dropped my pack to make the climb to the top of the headland at 500 feet high.  Looking north along a coast we frequently kayak with Great Island on the right.  Climbing down I got out of the wind to eat my lunch.

A rock cut at Gentlemans Head.

At Gentlemans Head I was looking south over Freshwater Bay towards Flamber Head with the campsite location just behind it.  But first I had to make my way along the trail around the deeply indented bay.

Climbing through narrow forested openings.

Just over 4 hours after leaving the car I arrived at the Roaring Cove campsite.  There are tent platforms there but I decided I preferred to put my tent on the soft mossy ground.

After setting up the tent I walked over to Flamber Head which I had bypassed to see if I could see the others coming along the trail to no avail.  They had passed by me while I was at the top of Flamber Head and were ...

... busy setting up tents when I returned.

They left 3 hours after myself and arrived in camp two hours after me.  They obviously meant business and made much faster progress than I did.  I was happy I set off ahead alone enabling myself to set my own pace not knowing what to expect with the heavily laden backpack.  I stopped frequently to take pictures and take in the views.  It great though to see them in camp.

The evenings close in early this time of year.  We hit the hay at 9:00 after an evening chatting and a few laughs.  I worried about the pace hiking out the next day as I drifted off to sleep.  I slept like a log.