Day 12 - Cove to Cove in Newfoundland: Stories of Locals, Legends, and Long Walks

Leaving Fish Sheds

Just left the cottage at the Fish Sheds after making sandwiches (many sandwiches... and you will see that for some reason I had intuition to make more sandwiches than usual - as two other people got to enjoy them today. Stay tuned).

Rocky Harbor Cove

Since we cannot get steel to drive down the boat ramps here, I chose Rocky Harbor Cove, which lets you drive your car on the pier all the way to the water.

I saw on the pier that they have electric motors with pulleys that allow you to lower heavy things using your car battery because I saw wires with alligator clamps. So, I assume people come with small boats and lower them down that way.

A seagull was busy basking in the sun in the middle of the road and would not get out of the way until I got really close, and she finally decided to move.

When leaving the pier, I realized there's a sign that says "Use at your own risk."

I wonder why?

Lobster Cove Lighthouse

Next stop, the Lobster Cove Lighthouse, where I met Lori and Takoda, her pup.

Lori has been living in this area all her life, and she was taking Takodafor a walk. Takoda is very lucky to be able to walk in this fresh, clean air. I wanted to ask Lori where the next must-see place northbound is because I don't want to miss out. She mentioned Cow Head, a nice fishing town.

I asked Lori, "What is this 'interpreter' I see everywhere?" She explained that it usually means someone is physically there to answer questions and explain the area's history.

LORI - If you are reading this - then know that I took your advice and went to Cows Head today and tomorrow I plan to go to viking village.

LORI AND TAKODA

Sally's Cove

On the way to Steve's Trail, I stopped on the side of the road in a small village and walked toward the ocean, which was probably about 100 feet away. It was raw, wild, and untamed, with wood, sticks, and weeds everywhere—but it had its own beauty, as you’ll see in the pictures and video.

Bridge the Viking

Bridge is from Port Saunders, about a hundred miles north. He built this entire pier and boat ramp I'm standing on as well as a second pier with his own hands. All those tons of rocks under the pier, making sure it remains steady, were put in one by one, by hand.

Bridge finally explained how they get the boats into the water. When I get to the car, I’ll explain it to you all, but there’s a method, and it works.

I asked why they don’t have concrete ramps like we do back home. He said it’s because Mother Nature is so powerful here that the area can change every year. They have to restack the stones and rebuild the ramps. That’s why they’re made of wood—so they can be pulled in and stored for later use. The rocks move around here all the time; nothing remains the same.

This man, with his own two hands, built almost this entire little corner of Newfoundland, and he fishes here. I am calling him the Bridge "The Viking", and I think he deserves it!

Now I understand—they put the boats tilted slanted leaning on the wood, and Mother Nature pulls them down. They use a truck with a rope tied to the boat, going through a pulley, either letting it in or pulling it out. Of course, pulling it out is actually easier than letting it in, because with Mother Nature, you still have to give it a little push.

The interesting thing is, I wasn’t planning on stopping here. I just drove by and saw this road going right down to the ocean in a super steep decline, so I quickly took it. Look how much information we gathered by this unexpected visit.

Very Steep Incline

North Brook

I can’t drive more than two minutes without stopping somewhere pretty—that’s how nice this road is.

Another unexpected stop was in a place called North Brook. This is where the salmon thrive, and I went for a quick hike.

Steve’s Trail (also known as Broom Point)

I parked and did the hike. It was pretty short, but Steve’s Trail was fascinating, much more than I expected. Everywhere we turned our heads, there was something remarkable and beautiful.

Pictures and videos will never do this place justice. I could definitely pitch a tent here and just move in when it’s decently warm outside.

Interestingly enough, this shore has lots of seaweed (see video) —a thick 5 to 12-inch bed of it—and no seashells. Not even a single seashell! I also found a pet swan in the shape of a piece of driftwood. There’s a lot of wood thrown up on the shore here, and it’s just beautiful beyond words. Also, there are some super strange rock formations.

Cow’s Head Lighthouse

The lighthouse is small, and you basically stand right next to it. It’s probably 20 feet high. Now we’re going to go to the "lookout" off the lighthouse where the Cow's head lives.

The walk here was really nice, through a very thick, dense forest. It was so dense, it was actually dark.

After the lighthouse, I kept hiking to Cow’s Head, and it went on and on. So, I checked AllTrails, and it turns out this is NOT a short few hundred yards walk like I was anticipating. It was a 2 mile hike.

That’s not what I was planning, folks! I was mentally prepared for a short hundred- or two-hundred-yard walk in and out, and then moving on to the next point of attraction.

But since we started it, we’re going to finish it. Then I’ll have to change shirts again because I’m already getting wet. It’s up and down and while not very difficult, it is challenging. I think we’ve reached the end—yep, finally the end. I’ll shoot some pictures.

Reached Cow’s Head "real" Trail End

And to think I considered turning back halfway because it was too long! I would have missed this glorious location, this amazing picturesque place like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

I’m so happy I did it, even though it’s 2 miles in and 2 miles out. Who cares? We might miss seeing other stuff because we won’t have time, but now I deserve a sandwich, right?

I burned at least 1,000 calories.!!!

I also had signal at top of the cows head trail so I managed to called the "Viking Lodge Hotel" and told them "Mr. Freeman is on his way. Make the preperations, prepare the room, and get the jacuzzi ready!"

Now we begin the hike back, but it’s going to be quicker because now I’m mentally ready for it. I’ll touch base at the car when I have a sandwich in hand.

Arches Provincial Park

Okay, this one is truly a short walk—very short. I mean, like 50 feet, so let’s go do it. 🤣😜

It’s very beautiful. At first, I only saw the two main arches, but when you walk around, there are other arches lower down. It depends on what angle you’re looking from. I hope I captured them—it just looks amazing.

I really wanted to climb on top of the arch, but there’s just no way to do it without taking risks, so we’ll leave it at that.

Jim and Marge from Athens, Georgia

Just before I left Arches Park, I bumped into someone who was pointing down at the ground in front of my car.

So, I stopped the engine, got out, and asked him what was going on.

He pointed to a very strange-looking caterpillar, which happened to be the exact same color and type I took a picture of at Cow’s Head.

We got talking. He’s from Georgia. His name is Jim, and Marge is his wife. They’ve both been here for 10 days. Their favorite place so far was Grates Cove.

Jim also has driven from Georgia to Alaska by car, which is exactly what I wanted to do. So, I’m going to get his number, and I’ll probably call him before I embark on my journey and get some tips.

Jim is a massage therapist—a sports medical relaxation expert.

How funny! I was really looking for a therapist the other day after driving so many hours.

He felt my shoulder, and it took him exactly one minute to confirm that I am in desperate need of some physical therapy.

I heard Marge saying something about making sandwiches during this stop, and I couldn’t help but offer them some of mine since I had so many. Remember, I told you I made a lot of extra sandwiches. Now I know why—God works in mysterious ways, doesn’t He?

We also found out from Jim that castor oil and mustard are really good for muscle pain. I gave him my sandwich, and since it had mustard, now he’ll have less muscle pain!

Since Jim gave me some tips and suggestions about relieving my muscle pain, I gave him a big tip about free usage of Chat GPT. I think he was quite impressed—he’s going to start using it!

Nameless Cove

A nameless cove—imagine that! A cove with no name, an orphan. There are so many coves here and nobody wants to claim this one. Even this little orphaned, nameless cove is pretty. I stopped by, took a quick walk, and snapped a few pictures just to show you. Even a random place that nobody wants to claim is still beautiful. From now on this cove shall be named "Steele Cove"

Viking Lodge

After driving a few miles off the main road, then a few more miles on a potholed dirt road we arrived at the Viking Lodge.

Ted and Marina—totally off-grid in the middle of nowhere in a most beautiful area.

They live here all year round. During winter, they use a snowmobile to get groceries. They leave their truck permanently (during winter) about 3 miles away at the end of the dirt road because the road is closed off during winter. They snowmobile to their vehicle, drive the truck , shop, park teh truck , and snowmobile back home again.

Folks, this couple is the real deal of MacGyver! (For the young folks, MacGyver was a guy who always got things done—like a human Swiss Army knife.)

First of all, they plant grow, harvest and preserve their vegetables, seal meat, and preserve calamari and cabbage pickles. Ted was busy drying/salting his own fresh caught cod.

They also have an entire moose frozen for meat for the winter.

They have barrels of potatoes. They grow them here themselves and store them in a special cellar.

They are also self-sufficient for eggs. The 12-chicken coop is so well-insulated that one strong light bulb keeps the entire coop warm during the freezing winter.

I took a picture of Ted’s "garage", and you can see it’s loaded to the brim with firewood and a snowplow.

Walking around here, I realize that the wind is treacherous and freezing—it’s so cold!

Well, who would have believed I’d learn so much in one day?

When the s*** hits the fan, as they say, we should all come live with Ted and Marina! Hahaha.

True survivalists.

Pickled SEAL Meat - - So RED

The Dozen Eggs creators (12 chickens)

Their relaxing view

MY ROOM at the VIKING LODGE

St. Anthony Food Mart

I went shopping for my usual groceries like bread, tomatoes, and avocados. Ted told me to take the dirt road, which I did, but it’s full of potholes, just like the roads in Costa Rica.

Remember that, people?

So I was driving zigzag, avoiding the potholes.

I made it to the Food Mart, grabbed my groceries, and picked up bananas for Ted (he asked for a few bananas). I tried to get back as fast as I could before dark because I wanted to see the potholes.

I must admin - I may have driven fast—thank God there were no speed traps, or they would’ve caught me! But I had no choice. I couldn’t do that dirt road in the dark—it would have been impossible because of the potholes.

No, Ted doesn’t know about the potholes because he drives an F-250 with wheels the size of Texas. When he drives, he probably doesn’t even know there are potholes!

On the way = there was a beautiful bridge and glaring sunset that I captured

Strider the Hiker

After I came back from the Food Mart and parked my car, a hiker with a giant backpack walked right by me. I guess he’s got a room for the night.

I asked him, “Did you walk here?”

He said, “Yes, I walked from Alabama.”

Wait, Alabama from the USA???

“Yep, I’ve been walking for thousands of miles.”

Strider is originally from Minnesota but has been walking the Appalachian Mountains, starting in Alabama, and he’s walking the entire range—all the way to the tip of Newfoundland.

He carries 35 pounds with him everywhere he goes.

He carries three days’ worth of food at a time.

He’s 34 years old, worked a desk job for 10 years, and is making good on his bucket list. He didn’t want to reach retirement age to do this. LOL - I totally understand why !! (said this 60 year old)

So Strider has a plan called “Work, work, save, save, hike, hike.” Pretirement, he calls it.

He works for the park services and takes unpaid vacations to use as hiking time. He saves for four years. then sets out on a long hiking adventure.

His previous hike was the North Country Trail, which is 4,600 miles from the Missouri River in North Dakota to the Appalachian Trail of Vermont. This hike has taken him seven months.

It costs about $2.50 per mile, so $10,000 for 4,200 miles.

How many hours a day does he hike per day you ask?

From 8 a.m. to dark—so, usually that turns out to be 10 to 12 hours.

After he settled in, he came to my cabin, and we sat and talked for about two hours. I gave him the rest of all my sandwiches, a banana, and some dried fruit and nut mix. ( see - another reason god made me make many sandwiches this morning)

I must say, this was the most fascinating discussion. Strider is a very special, highly intelligent unique human being. I would definitely like to travel with him in the future sometime

;) Maybe I will pay him to help me drive to North Bay hehehe

Todays Summary

The day was filled with unexpected adventures, from exploring rugged Newfoundland coves and piers built by a modern-day Viking to meeting fascinating travelers like Strider, a long-distance hiker from Alabama. Along the way, I encountered beautiful landscapes, shared sandwiches with new friends, and marveled at the resourcefulness of Ted and Marina, true MacGyvers living off-grid in the wilds of Newfoundland.