August 23
End: Flower's Cove
Miles: 37.2
Total: 5395.1
In the morning, it was still quite windy (surprise!), and I had little motivation to get out of my sleeping bag. However, I knew that I needed to put in a big day, and that I could get out of the wind quickly as the Viking Trail would be protected from the coastal winds by the forest. I managed to gather my things together, and got off of the coast.
Soon I came across the community of Castor River South, and moved on to pass dirt roads to apparently private lots and possibly hunting grounds. I saw many lots full of what must have been lobster traps. Some might have been under repair, while others were just waiting to be used.
Stopping in at a convenience store, I charged my phone, ate some chips, and drank some chocolate milk before moving on. The next immediate goal I had in mind was getting to Plum Point, where I hoped to get some peanut butter, or possibly even Nutella.
After awhile I arrived at the road diverting off to such innovatively-named towns as Main Brook. Soon I arrived in Plum Point, buying a few apples at a convenience store, only to learn that there was a grocery store in town. I headed over there after snacking on more chips, and found that while they did not have any Nutella, they did have peanut butter. I got some and left town.
The next interesting thing to happen to me was passing a town with ferry service to Labrador. I think that technically the ferry goes to a town in Quebec, but it is very close to Labrador, a wild and often cold land which I had planned to visit, but now I was just ready to finish my journey and head south.
My goal for the day had been to get lots of kilometers in so that I wouldn’t have as much to do the next day, when the forecast was certain rain. When I was still an hour or so from Flower’s Cove, it started raining and I put my rain gear on. Moving quickly to get to town, I finally arrived nice and wet.
I knew that things had changed because when I found a Co-op grocery store I was elated. Back in New England I had turned my nose up at these stores, which I considered smaller and more expensive than a national chain. Now that I was in Northern Newfoundland, something like this was a real gem. I came up with some of the smaller-sized Nutella jars, and bought them.
Turning down the opportunity to pay for a bed and breakfast, I went for the town softball field and was happy to find covered dugouts, which I hoped to stay dry inside. I bedded down there, but found around midnight that the rain was blowing into the dugout. I frantically gathered my things up and ran over to a house across the street. I was not sure if anyone lived there, but the house had a bug covered porch where I hoped to stay dry, except that my gear was already wet. It ended up being a tough night.
