Princes Ridge of the ECT

In the last 5 days we've had over 100 cms rain.  Today the winds were blowing at 50 kms with gusts to 70.  Not a biking or kayak day.  The first day without rain wasn't going to be spent on the couch.  I opted for a hike on Princes Ridge Trail, one section of the East Coast Trail.  It starts in Portugal Cove and ...

... goes up sharply 120 meters.  With all the rain part of the trail was a torrent.  I hiked in dappled sunlight but as I ...

... neared the top the trail opened up somewhat and brightened.

I topped out at 160 meter and had a fine view over Conception Bay and Bell Island in the distance.  The sea was turned into a foamy mess by the wind.

Some parts are always wet an where they are the ECT Association has planked it over and other parts ...

... are waiting for the same treatment.  For the time being one has to skip across on logs.

In the trees the wind was less of a factor.  Those sections were magical.

Good sections run over exposed bedrock.  The trail goes up and down with its highest in the distance at second hill before it starts down.

In places where the bedrock is exposed receding glaciers 12,000 years ago gouged channels out of the rock.  Where they were evident they all trended NW towards Conception Bay.

Sometimes the trail was hard to see where it went after crossing these open hilltops.  Here, a flag shows the way.

All the up eventually ended at 230 meters and the trail began to descend.  Here it ran through a section of windfalls.

A river runs through it!  A nice section of board walk but some of it was under 5 centimeters of water.

The trail ends at Longmarsh Road where there's a road walk to the next section south.  I turned around here and retraced my steps to return to the car.  But, I had to ...

... eat so I found a sheltered spot, got the stove out and had a hot meal and tea before finishing back at Portugal Cove.