Ride Day 4--Cow Head

Day 4, RT 22,  Monday, July 5th
Rocky Harbour to Cow Head
35 miles

Tour Guide Description: Turning northward at the ocean, we negotiate the park's immense fjords. There is plenty of time today to take in some exploring. There are several short hikes, as well as boat tours of the fjord at Western Brook Pond.

After our day off, we were back on our bikes and on the road about 8 am or so . . . in wet fog and chill. Since Suz had not visited the lighthouse the day before, I visited it again. I rode circles in the parking lot to keep warm while Suz walked the short trail around the lighthouse and took some pix.

We had a bit of climbing to get out of Rocky Harbour but nothing significant. When we got to Hwy 430N, Arlene and a couple of other campers went sailing past. Probably a relief for them to begin with a sweet downhill after the climb to the campgrounds.

Suz approaching the roadside where I am taking the photo of the flags below



Beautiful purple flags at roadside

Just before the parking lot for Western Brook Pond, many of us stopped at a roadside café for a snack. Here I got to know Pat and Rick Watts (from Florida) better. They had ridden the Erie Canal Ride.

When we got to the parking lot for Western Brook Pond, we parked our bikes, went to the trailhead restroom, and then hiked the boardwalk/gravel trail for 45 minutes to the boat. Someone from Atlantic Canada Cycling was going to watch our bicycles at all times.

View of Western Brook Pond from the parking area just off the highway

At the 1.5 kilometer mark

Occasionally the trail would be gravel, but for the most part it was boardwalk elevated over marsh and bog

We're getting closer

Along the way, in the peat bogs on either side of the trail, we saw more pitcher plants, some dragon-mouth orchids, and forget-me-nots. We also saw a small female moose quite close to the trail. She must have become inured to humans because she continued browsing and looked at us with no fright or curiosity.

Carnivorous Pitcher Plant

Dragon-mouth Orchid

Sheep Laurel



When we got to the boat, we found that we had no reservations, and the boat was full! Gary said he had put in a reservation for 20 the day before, but apparently it got lost in the shuffle. Only five of our group managed to get on the 1 o’clock boat. While they were boarding, a moose and her baby frolicked on a bank across the inlet. I took several long-distance shots and enlarged them for the journal so they are fuzzy. The calf was on the spit of land one can see in the background of the gull photo, so I had to really crank out the telephoto on my little camera.

The 1 pm boat leaves with only 5 ACC riders on it; we who "missed the boat" have a three-hour wait

This gull was well versed in how to cadge food from tourists

Mom & Babe

Mom

Mom turns her back to browse and Babe decides to check out the water

Most of those who could not get on the 1 o’clock boat hiked back out and biked to the Cow Head campgrounds 20-some miles away, but four of us—Suz and I and Ancilla and Heidi—knew we’d never get this chance again, so hung around for the 4 o’clock departure. The tour down this magnificent fjord cost $52 and is three hours long. That meant getting back to the dock about 7 pm, hiking the 45-minute trail out to our bikes, and then pedaling the last 20 miles to Cow Head and our accommodations . . . . which would take maybe another two hours, seeing us arrive around 9 pm.

We had three hours to wait, so took a hike along one of the nearby trails. We saw a redstart and blackpoll warblers along the trail, which came to a river. We also saw stunted and lichen-covered birch trees. The wind blowing out of Western Brook Pond can be very strong. We also found twin flower and cotton grass and I took pix of other trailside flora.

Cottongrass

Buttercups

Delicate Twin Flower on a weathered stump

Twin Flower

Forget-me-nots

The boat trip down the fjord was wonderful. We took many pix of the waterfalls, steep walls and sweeping landscape. The narrator told us many stories about the area and kept us entertained.

Natural silhouetted profile

Ancilla taking pix of cold, windblown Susan and Suz

When we got back to the boat dock, we fairly flew up the trail (Heidi actually ran it), jumped onto our trusty steeds, and pedaled the remaining soggy miles to the Shallow Bay Motel and Cabins. We got there just as it was turning dark. Once again we were cold, wet, and very glad to be in a snug, dry cabin with hot running water.

Shallow Bay cabins, from  the Internet