Friday, July 9, 2010

July 9 – Hike French Head

Today is a beautiful, sunny day in Twillingate, the hottest day (high 290) we have had on The Rock; compared to 70 and 170 in St. Anthony. It has gone from being too cold to being sweaty hot in a matter of days. The locals are just as surprised at the sudden change as we are. It is easier to hike in cooler temperatures, as there is less dehydration and fewer mosquitoes, if only there was sun too instead of fog, I would be so happy though I would complain about anything we have had already. Most of the time it has been perfect for us though I am disappointed that the weather for our iceberg and whale trip was no good, aside from the fact that we did not experience an up close and personal with a whale or two.

We went to Lower Little Harbour (3 kms) where there was natural arch; a crack must have developed and the lower rock has fallen while a bridge remained attached and a hole occurred (stunning) to view if those nasty mosquitoes did not swarm at that spot; nowhere else. The path leading to this spot was fine; windy and drier so mosquitoes congregated in a hot homey spot where many of them probably were newly hatched due to the warmer weather. I would like to stay longer but the biting is bad in this little area. It is a popular trail because it has been the only time we met more than 4 people on a hike. Most of the time we are all alone hiking a trail without any or only two people anywhere on the trail. Not that we find it a problem; it is just odd to have all of these trails to ourselves all the time.

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Note Stuart down in the arch.

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He climbed up to the top and got this view.

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Looking back down at Jennie.

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After lunch we hike French Head (4 kms) which involved a long trail crossing a rocky beach to wind our way up to the top of the hills, traverse from one top across some climbing of jagged rocks and edges of steep cliffs.

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It looked like a long distance going out but the return seemed much quicker. I could not believe how wet this trail was. Sure it had rained yesterday but the sun was out to dry off surface moisture but some of this water is deep in the soil. It is not quite pond like but the dirt squished and droplets splattered with every step.

Some nice sunny views of the ocean.

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The beach looked enticing from the top of the climb, so at the end of the trail, we sat at French Beach to soak up sun and relax

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It was 4:00 pm so we went for some groceries and made a snack of cheese stick & salsa when we got home.

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