Bauline to Portugal Cove

The weather forecast for the weekend was not kayak friendly.  Gary suggested a hike from Bauline to Portugal Cove.  Its part of the East Coast Trail an know as Piccos Ridge Path.  The plan turned out to be Brian generously dropping Cathy, Gary and myself off in Bauline where we would begin the hike south.  Brian and Sue planned to hike towards us from Portugal Cove and meet somewhere along the trail.

Looking at distances; steeling ourselves for the 14.5 hike rated as strenuous.

The trail leading out from Bauline is up and down steep slopes, here with a rope aid.  The day before we had torrential rains and that made the trail slippery and mucky.

It stopped raining but drizzle was expected.  Luckily the drizzle didn't materialize but it was foggy obscuring what would have been a spectacular view over the ocean 100 meters below the ridge.

The trail was easy to follow even without the black and white markers spaced along the trail.  The foggy conditions continued.

We came upon these two big glacial erratics which I dubbed "Arnold's Dumbbells".

As we hiked along the fog gradually began to lift as Bell Island emerged from the fog.

An inukshuk!  We left a rock each.

Group of three photo on the ridge.

9.5 kms in and and almost 3.5 hours later we arrived at Brocks Pond Falls.  This is a regular destination for us by kayak.  The last time we were here was in My 2016 and you can check out my post here and see the 100 meter high falls from sea level.

Cathy, Gary and I arrived at the falls ahead of Brian and Sue coming up from the other direction.  We scouted a place to get across the river flowing out of Brocks Pond. We ...

... crossed and walked a short way south before calling out and making verb and then visual contact with our fellow hikers.

We walked back the short distance to the falls where we stopped for lunch.

Then, it was off again and a climb away from the falls up the 100 meters high Brocks Head where we had ...

... a great view 100 meters above the pond and the outflow and 200 above sea level.  The fog was lifting but it was still hazy.

The going became easier and drier.  Here the tree branches closed in overhead and we emerged into brilliant sunshine.

Once on top of the hills south of Brocks Pond the trail was mostly over glacially scoured rocks.  We stopped to take in the view.

As we approached the end of the trail in Portugal Cove it was downhill all the way.

I had my doubts about doing the trail on the day because of the water that fell the day before and the forecast for drizzle but it turned out to be a fine day with our hiking boots on.  Its not for the faint of heart or the occasional hiker but quite doable training up to condition.