Sprucing Up the East Coast Trail, Newfoundland, Canada

The Trip

On this trip, we’ll be hiking and working on Newfoundland’s spectacular East Coast Trail, which hugs the rugged edge of Eastern Canada. This coastal trail has taken its place among the world’s premier long-distance hiking trails. Its paths cover some amazing terrain—dramatic headlands and colorful rock formations, pristine forests and bakeapple bogs, pocket coves and wide sea meadows.

One morning we’ll take a Zodiac boat trip into the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve and see islands teeming with millions of nesting puffins, murres, kittiwakes, and their chicks. We’ll also see minke and humpback whales.

We'll enjoy a guided kayak paddle in scenic Bay Bulls. Novice and experienced paddlers alike will appreciate this unique perspective of the bay's waterfalls, colorful rock formations, and sea caves.

We'll visit Cape Spear, the easternmost point on the North American continent, to tour the 180-year-old restored lighthouse and hike the Cape Spear headland. And in the town of Ferryland, we'll have a picnic lunch at the lighthouse, visit the Colony of Avalon museum, and take a tour of the archaeological dig of the colony, which was founded by English settlers in 1621.

Newfoundlanders are very hospitable and the people from the East Coast Trail Association are no exception. They're great to work with and they throw a big party for us at the end of the trip. Our week will be a wonderful experience.

We'll be meeting in St. John's, and on the first day of the trip we'll visit its wonderful art and natural history museum. The rest of our time will be spent in a small town south of St. John's. If participants have time, it is highly recommended that they plan an extra day or two to explore the picturesque streets and harbor pathways of cosmopolitan St. John's. There are also many lovely Newfoundland towns and historic sites to visit within a short distance of St. John's. 

The Project

We’ll work 4.5 days, clearing brush and branches from the trail. Our 2.5 days off will give us a nice amount of time to experience the region near the East Coast Trail.

Here’s the general plan for the week. However, the itinerary may change due to weather.

Day 1: We’ll all meet at 11 a.m. in the lobby of a hotel in downtown St. John’s. We’ll visit The Rooms, an excellent art and natural history museum in St. John's. 

Then we’ll drive to Cape Spear for a walk to the easternmost point of North America. From the Cape, we can look back toward St. John’s and admire the magnificent views of the coastline. We’ll take a tour of the restored 180-year-old Cape Spear lighthouse and hike the trail out onto the headland. The trail offers open views of the ocean on one side and forest, ponds, and bakeapple bogs on the other. Along the trail we can stop to look at the many low-growing bog plants, including Newfoundland’s official flower, the pitcher plant. Distance: 5-6 miles, mostly flat.

We’ll drive south to Celtic Rendezvous by the Sea in Bauline East, get settled in our cottages, and enjoy a group dinner.

Day 2: We’ll drive to the trailhead and hike to where our work project begins. At the end of the work day, we’ll return to our lodging and fix ourselves a group dinner.

Day 3: We’ll drive to Witless Bay, where we'll board a Zodiac boat to see humpback whales and nesting puffins, murres, and gulls in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. It's always a great trip. We’ll drive to our work site and work a half day on the trail. At the end of the work day, we’ll eat out at a restaurant.

Day 4: We’ll drive to the trailhead and hike to where our work project begins. At the end of the work day, we’ll return to our accommodations and fix ourselves a group dinner at the cottages.

Day 5: We'll drive to Bay Bulls for a guided kayak to see the bay's waterfalls, colorful rock formations, and sea caves. Our guide will help us identify the marine life of the bay. 

After our paddle, we’ll drive to the town of Ferryland and take a short walk to the lighthouse for a picnic lunch with a magnificent view. We can relax or stroll around the lighthouse headland after lunch. Then we’ll tour the archaeological dig and visit the museum of the Colony of Avalon, founded in 1621. That evening we’ll fix ourselves a group dinner at the cottages.

Day 6: We’ll drive to the trailhead and hike to where our work project begins. At the end of the work day, we’ll return to our lodging and fix ourselves a group dinner.

Day 7: We’ll drive to the trailhead and hike to where our work project begins. After work, we’ll return to our lodging and get ready to drive to our dinner and celebration with the folks from the East Coast Trail Association.

Day 8: After breakfast we’ll pack up the vans and leave by 9 a.m. for the drive to St. John’s. You will be able to catch a flight that leaves at noon or later. Those taking flights or picking up rentals cars will be driven to the airport. Those staying longer in St. John's will be dropped off at their place of lodging. If you need to schedule an early flight on the last day of the trip, our lodging in Bauline East is a 45-minute drive from the airport, and the taxi service to the airport would be quite expensive.

Getting There

On the first day of the trip, we’ll meet at 11 a.m. in downtown St. John’s and drive south to our lodging in Bauline East.

St. John's can be reached via nonstop flights from Toronto, Montreal, and Newark. There are also flights from Boston, with a stop in Halifax. A passport is required for travel to Canada. If you are driving, check on current identification requirements. On the trip, we'll be traveling in minivans, so participants will not need to rent cars.

A taxi to downtown St. John’s from the airport takes about 15 minutes and costs approximately $30 Canadian. An email with participant arrival times will be sent out to participants who might wish to cab-pool from the airport.

Your flight on the last day should depart no earlier than noon. The leaders will be glad to drive you to the airport that morning. If you need to schedule an early flight on the last day of the trip, our lodging in Bauline East is a 45-minute drive from the airport, and the taxi service to the airport would be quite expensive.

Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

The trip price includes seven nights' lodging in the pleasant cottages at Celtic Rendezvous in Bauline East. The cottages have gorgeous views of the bays and islands of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. These two-bedroom cottages will be shared by two to three people.

Our meals begin with lunch on the first day and breakfast on the last. We'll have one dinner at a modestly priced restaurant, which we'll pay for individually. All breakfasts, lunches, and trail snacks, and six dinners are included in the trip price. Our last dinner will be a celebration with the folks from the East Coast Trail Association. Those who have special dietary needs should discuss them with the leader. There are many food choices in St. John’s and most requests can be accommodated.

We'll all take turns preparing our group meals and cleaning up afterwards.

Extra costs:

• One restaurant dinner costing approximately $35 Canadian including tax and tip, but not alcohol.
• The Zodiac boat ride is not included in the trip price and costs approximately $70 Canadian if paid in cash, $85 if by credit card.
• The guided kayak is also not included in the trip price and costs $90 Canadian.

Trip Difficulty

Participants will need to be in very good physical condition for the work and activities on this trip. We'll be walking approximately three miles a day to and from our work site, carrying all our tools and daypacks. We'll work full days using hand saws, loppers, and clipping shears to cut away brush, branches, and small trees from the trail. We'll haul away the green debris to areas where it can't be seen from the trail.

Equipment and Clothing

Summers in the area are pleasant, but rainy days are possible, so waterproof pants and parka, daypack cover, and lug-soled waterproof boots are necessary for working and hiking. Be sure to bring work gloves and work clothes. Dress for the towns, including St. John’s, is casual. The leader will send out an equipment list to all participants.

References

• Morgan, Bernice, Random Passage.
• Johnston, Wayne, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.
• Proulx, Annie, The Shipping News.
• Hubbard, Mina, A Woman's Way through Unknown Labrador.
• Wallace, Dillon, The Lure of the Labrador Wild.

• The East Coast Trail Association puts out a set of excellent maps with descriptions of the completed trails. The maps can be purchased from the Trail Shop on its website: http://www.eastcoasttrail.ca

The leaders will have trail maps that participants can view.

• Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism: http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com (St. John's is in the Avalon region.)
• To view photographs and find out more about the East Coast Trail, take a look at the website: http://www.eastcoasttrail.ca
• Bob Brink of Pouch Cove, NL has some excellent photographs of the East Coast Trail and other areas of Newfoundland on his website: http://brinklau.ca/eastcoasttrail/

Conservation

Over two decades, the nonprofit East Coast Trail Association has planned and built one of the world's premier long-distance hiking trails. The association has worked closely with communities along the trail, which were hard hit in the 1990s by the demise of the cod fishery and more recently by a drop in oil revenues. In some areas, the association is encountering land rights issues caused by increased private development of the coast. Whale researchers have encouraged boat tour operators in the bays and coastal areas of the trail to adopt standards for non-harassment of wildlife. We'll learn more about these and other issues on our trip.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from Parks Canada.