East Coast Trail Day 7: Freshwater Bay to Cobbler Brook

September 14, 2016

Distance: 29.7 km (18.45 miles). Cumulative: 235.92 km

Paths: Deadmans Bay (5.2/10.6), Sugarloaf (8.9), Cobbler (2.6)

Communities: St. Johns and Quidi Vidi (8.0), Logy Bay (5.0 including trail backtrack, see spreadsheet)

It was another pleasant day on the East Coast Trail.

Freshwater Bay

It was a steep climb up the South Side Hills. At one point I missed a turn and wandered off on a side trail.

There was a great view overlooking St. Johns.

Signal Hill

There were several scenic ponds.

Looking back to Cape Spear

Freshwater Bay

Signal Hill

It was a steep descent down to the trailhead.

I could see the Signal Hill trail and had considered taking it, but stopping to resupply would take me a different way to Sugarloaf Path. I had previously been to the top of Signal Hill with my parents.

There was a short walk over to the Fort Amherst Light

I began the longest community link of the ECT through St. Johns.  There was a large cruise ship. There were lots of people who had just gotten off a tour bus going to see the light.

A lot of the walking through St. Johns was on sidewalks with busy streets.

I went over to Dominion Market and it was quite the store. I stayed for a couple hours while I waited for my camera batteries and phone to charge. I even found a nice spot on the third level with a table and power outlet.

There was a scenic trail by Quidi Vidi Lake.

I reached the Sugarloaf Trailhead.

Quidi Vidi

Cuckolds Heads

There was a great view from Bawdens Highland. I could see all the way to Cape Spear.

I could see the landfill down below. Due to the landfill, drinking from the water sources on this path is not recommended.

Bridge over John Howards River

Sugarloaf

This area was not one of my favorites on the ECT. There was lots of trash from the landfill and it didn't smell that great.

There were still many nice views though.

View from Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf

There was a great view of Logy Bay.

I reached the end of Sugarloaf Path and talked with a few people near the trailhead.  One guy had hiked some of the new trails west of Cape St. Francis and said they were quite steep. The connection to the Cobbler Path is unique as the route to the trail doesn't meet it at its southern terminus.

I was moving quickly on the road walk for a second at a blistering pace of 5 km/hour.

I ended up meeting the trail at a different spot than anticipated.  I dropped my pack and started the out and back to the southern end of the path.

There were historic structures and lots of graffiti.

 I reached a trail sign and discovered I hadn't been on the trail.

I continued south with great views.

There was an excellent view of Logy Bay from the end of the trail.  Unfortunately it appears private landowners have limited the trail from connecting with Logy Bay from here.

I found a cat in the trail with a mouse in its mouth. The cat dropped the mouse and it ran away.

I bushwhacked through the forest to retrieve my pack and returned to the trail.

I had planned to camp at Red Cliff but I heard people in the nearby World War II battery. This whole area didn't feel that safe so I continued on.

There was a beautiful set a stairs on my way down toward Cobbler Brook.

I looked for a place to camp.

I found a reasonably decent place where someone had camped before.  There was quite a bit of trash nearby and it was far from level.

Continue to Day 8