August 21
End: River of Ponds
Miles: 39.6
Total: 5319.3
My night at Parson’s Pond was quite restful considering the close proximity of the main highway in Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula. I packed up and left as early as I could, happy to not lose any tarp stakes in the mossy undergrowth where I had camped.
Walking through the town, I quickly moved forward along the highway. I was walking Route 430 from Rocky Harbour almost all the way to the end of my journey. Route 430 is the vast majority of The Viking Trail, which leads to L’Anse-aux-Meadows, the historic Viking site which I was looking forward to seeing.
Soon I was hailed by a passing truck, and I met Paul, an IAT maintainer in Newfoundland on his way to an IAT meeting in Corner Brook. He pulled over onto the non-existent shoulder and let me get in his truck so we could talk. We discussed my time in Nova Scotia and my experience in Newfoundland. Paul openly admitted that little time is spent maintaining the thru-hiking trail in Newfoundland, and most time is spent on the mountain trails, which apparently get some traffic.
Paul took a picture of me and then we parted ways. I felt good to be finishing my journey mostly on the highway, and was learning that most of the thru-hiking route is on the highway anyway. Continuing on, I arrived at Daniel’s Harbour, which I had been looking forward to. I foolishly thought that there would be a store on the highway, so I did not take the main street into town. There was no store, and I elected to continue since I had enough food to make it to another store.
I used some music to keep me entertained during the day, and by sunset I had reached River of Ponds. In case there is any question as to how much marshy, swampy land there is in Newfoundland, there is a town here called River of Ponds. I searched for a spot to sleep, and settled on some flat rocks right at the ocean’s edge. It was a bit loud, but I got used to the noise quickly and went to sleep.
