Lessons Learned on Newfoundland's East Coast Trail – Rethinking Our Plans for the Great Trail

What Our First Extended Canadian Backpacking Adventure Means for Our Proposed Walk Across Canada
 

Reflecting on our ECT Hike, Reconsidering TCT Plans

 
Having recently returned from hiking 252.1 kilometres of Newfoundland's East Coast Trail, we have been looking back over our experiences and reconsidering some of the preparations we are making for our proposed journey across Canada on the Great Trail. Our time on the Avalon Peninsula provided an opportunity to explore remarkable coastal landscapes, observe seabirds and whales, visit historic communities, and experience a part of the country that we had previously known very little about.
 
However, beyond the many wonderful experiences recorded in our East Coast Trail journals, the journey has also raised some important questions about how we are approaching our much larger expedition.

 
When we first began researching the East Coast Trail, one of our primary objectives was to undertake an extended backpacking trip that would allow us to test our equipment and preparations before setting out across Canada on the Great Trail next year in 2019. Although we have previously completed long-distance hikes in Spain, France, and Ontario, many of those journeys involved established accommodations, readily available food, and relatively straightforward opportunities to obtain supplies. Newfoundland would require us to carry our camping equipment, food, and other necessities while travelling through more rugged terrain and dealing with the unpredictable conditions of the Atlantic coast.

 
We spent considerable time preparing for the journey. We researched trail descriptions, purchased maps, investigated camping locations, examined transportation options to get on and off the trail, and figured out how far we hoped to walk each day. By the time we arrived in St. John's, we had what seemed to be a reasonably well-developed plan for hiking the East Coast Trail.
 
Unfortunately, that plan lasted approximately one day.
 

Difficult Weather Conditions and Trail Access

 
Our first attempt to hike from Portugal Cove to Bauline along Piccos Ridge Path was considerably more difficult than we had anticipated. The combination of steep terrain, heavy backpacks, cold rain, fog, and powerful winds made for a challenging introduction to Newfoundland's coastline. After spending a cold, wet night dealing with the weather, including an unexpected snowfall, we awoke to discover that conditions along the trail ahead had deteriorated further. Warnings about the amount of rainfall and high winds made continuing along our intended route inadvisable. 

 

We had certainly expected Newfoundland's weather to be unpredictable. Indeed, almost everyone we spoke with before setting out had warned us about the possibility of sudden changes in conditions. Nevertheless, there is a considerable difference between understanding that poor weather might occur and being confronted with the consequences of it while standing in the rain with all your belongings on your back.  What surprised us most was not simply the weather itself, but how quickly it undermined the assumptions on which our itinerary depended. We had planned where we intended to walk, where we might camp, and how many kilometres we hoped to complete each day. We had given considerably less thought to what we would do if conditions prevented us from following that plan.

 
Eventually, we decided to return to St. John's, dry our equipment, dry out ourselves, and reconsider our options. Rather than attempting to resume our journey at Bauline, which would have involved another very expensive taxi ride, we returned to hike several sections from Flatrock into St. John's before continuing south along the coastline to Cappahayden. While we were disappointed not to follow the original route in its entirety, we were still able to explore the majority of the East Coast Trail and enjoy a wonderful hiking experience.
 
However, this change highlighted a practical issue that we had not fully considered when we were researching the Great Trail. Much of our planning has focused on identifying the route we intend to follow and estimating how long it will take us to travel between communities. We have spent comparatively little time considering what will happen when the route is temporarily unavailable, weather conditions prevent us from continuing, or we need to leave the trail unexpectedly.

 
The difficulty of getting on and off the East Coast Trail was particularly revealing. Arranging transportation back to St. John's after our first attempt was expensive, and returning to the same location would have added considerably to the cost of our trip. Beyond these realities, on a longer journey, particularly through remote parts of Canada, we cannot assume that transportation will always be available or affordable. Nor can we presume that leaving a trail for a day or two will be a simple matter of returning to exactly where we stopped.  This is something we will need to think about more carefully as we continue developing our route across the country. While it would be impossible to anticipate every interruption, it seems sensible to identify possible access points, nearby communities, and alternative arrangements where practical, particularly before entering more isolated regions.
 

Protecting our Gear

 
Our experiences with Newfoundland's weather have also prompted us to reconsider how we protect the equipment we carry. We had spent considerable time researching tents (purchasing a lighter-weight one), sleeping bags, clothing, water filtration systems, and other camping supplies, but the combination of heavy rainfall, cold temperatures, and snow demonstrated just how difficult it can be to keep everything dry and charged during an extended period of poor weather.

 
To that end, although wet clothing and camping equipment are uncomfortable, we are becoming particularly concerned about protecting our electronics. In addition to the usual camping supplies, we intend to carry cameras, a tablet, charging equipment, batteries, and a Garmin inReach while travelling across Canada. These devices will be important for navigation, photography, communication, and maintaining our blog throughout the journey. Having invested in this equipment, we certainly do not want to discover that it has been damaged by water after several days of hiking in heavy rain.
 
We already use waterproof bags and protective cases, but our experiences in Newfoundland suggest that we need to reconsider whether these arrangements are sufficient. Keeping equipment dry inside a backpack is one concern, but accessing it in wet conditions, managing damp clothing and camping supplies, and finding opportunities to dry everything afterward present additional complications. We are also reviewing some of our camping equipment and water purification arrangements, both of which may benefit from further testing and refinement before we begin our much longer trek.
 

Unreliable Distances

 
Another important discovery involves the distances shown on our maps. Before leaving for Newfoundland, we carefully examined the East Coast Trail maps and guidebooks, figuring out possible daily stages based on the published lengths of individual trail sections. What we had not fully appreciated was that these distances generally described the designated pathways themselves and did not necessarily include the roads and community connections required to travel between each section.   In some cases, moving between trail sections involved only a few hundred metres of additional walking. Elsewhere, the connections required several kilometres of travel through communities or along local roads. As a result, what we had planned as a relatively manageable 25-kilometre hiking day occasionally became a journey of 32 or 35 kilometres once the connecting distances were included.

 
This may not seem like a particularly important difference when examining a map at home, but after a long day navigating difficult terrain with heavy backpacks, another seven or eight kilometres can be substantial.  It also raises questions about the calculations we have been using to estimate how long it might take us to walk across Canada. At present, we are considering daily distances of approximately 25 to 35 kilometres, although we recognize that our progress will vary depending on the terrain. However, if the distances we are using do not account for all the connections between trail sections, detours around obstacles, or additional walking required to reach campsites and supplies, our estimates may be considerably less accurate than we imagine.
 

Terrain, Topography, and Trail Descriptions

 
The nature of the terrain presents another complication. During our time on the East Coast Trail, we encountered everything from relatively smooth, well-maintained pathways to steep rocky slopes, muddy forests, bogs, and marshland. Some sections allowed us to make comfortable progress, while others required considerably more time and effort than their distances might suggest.  A kilometre of walking along a level rail trail in southwestern Ontario is clearly not the same experience as a kilometre spent climbing across wet rocks or picking our way through a Newfoundland bog. Although the numerical distance remains identical, the time and physical effort involved can differ enormously.

 
This is particularly relevant to the Great Trail because the national pathway incorporates such a wide variety of routes. In some regions, we hope to follow former railway corridors and established recreational pathways. Elsewhere, our proposed journey will take us through mountainous terrain, forests, wilderness trails, and areas where the conditions may be considerably more demanding.  Our original planning has necessarily involved reducing this enormous network to a series of distances and estimated walking days. Newfoundland has reminded us that those numbers do not necessarily describe the experience of travelling through the landscape itself.

 
We also discovered that published trail descriptions did not always correspond exactly with the conditions we encountered. In some places, the route on the ground appeared very different from what we had expected based on our maps or guidebooks. Elsewhere, descriptions of a trail's difficulty seemed to bear little resemblance to our own experience of following it.  Of course, some of these differences are understandable. Trails change over time as a result of weather, erosion, maintenance, and ongoing development. Descriptions are also written by people whose experiences, abilities, and expectations may differ from our own. What one hiker considers a relatively easy pathway may feel quite different to someone carrying a heavy backpack in difficult conditions.

 
However, in places, even the distances described by local residents occasionally required some interpretation. We encountered situations where a restaurant, store, or other destination described as being just over the hill or only a short distance away proved to involve rather more walking than we had anticipated. For someone travelling by vehicle, the distance between two places may seem only like a kilometre or two – which seems insignificant. At the end of a long hiking day, the fact that a store is 5-7 km away means that it is considerably farther. None of this means that we intend to stop using maps, guidebooks, or advice from local residents. Quite the opposite. We relied upon all three throughout our time in Newfoundland and were grateful for the information people shared with us. However, we are beginning to appreciate that these resources provide a starting point for our planning rather than a guarantee of what we will encounter.

Perhaps the larger issue is that much of our preparation has been based on the assumption that the route we are researching will be available and reasonably navigable when we arrive. We have spent months examining the TCT, attempting to identify possible camping locations, investigating resupply opportunities, and calculating distances between amenities. In doing so, we have naturally concentrated on how we intend to progress along the Great Trail rather than what might prevent us from doing so.  Our experiences in Newfoundland suggest that we need to allow considerably more flexibility in these plans. A trail may be closed, a section may be affected by severe weather, or the terrain may simply require more time than expected. We may need to remain in one community longer than anticipated, change our proposed route, or reconsider how we reach the next section of pathway.
 
We cannot possibly plan for every eventuality, nor would we want to spend the next year attempting to anticipate every problem that might occur during a journey of this scale. Nevertheless, it seems increasingly apparent that we need to approach our proposed itinerary as a flexible guide rather than a fixed schedule.
 

Generosity of Canadians

 
Fortunately, not everything we discovered in Newfoundland involved difficult weather, unreliable distances, or unexpected logistical challenges. One of the most encouraging aspects of our journey was the generosity of the people we encountered along the East Coast Trail. Although we had expected to enjoy the landscapes, wildlife, and historic communities of the Avalon Peninsula, we had not anticipated how frequently local residents and others would offer assistance, advice, food, and encouragement.

 
From the kindness of people who invited us to enjoy a lobster boil-up to those at the Colony of Avalon who allowed us to extend our stay, these encounters made a considerable difference to our experience. Others helped us with information about the trail, offered suggestions about local conditions, or simply took the time to speak with us about the places we were visiting.
 
While I admit that we certainly cannot plan a journey across Canada on the assumption that strangers will always be available to help us. However, these experiences have reminded us that travelling and backpacking offer opportunities to meet people and learn about communities in ways that might otherwise be missed. As we contemplate spending several years walking across the country, that possibility is one of the aspects of the journey that we are most looking forward to.

Final Reflections

 
Looking back on our time in Newfoundland, we are glad that we chose the East Coast Trail as part of our preparations for the Great Trail. Although our original itinerary did not go as expected, we were able to test our equipment, gain experience carrying our camping supplies over successive days, and discover some of the practical difficulties associated with following an extended hiking route through unfamiliar terrain.  To this end, we have returned home with several things to reconsider, including how we protect our equipment from moisture, how we calculate daily walking distances, how we research the connections between trail sections, and how we might respond when circumstances require us to abandon or change our plans.

 
These are not necessarily questions to which we have immediate answers. Indeed, we are still in the relatively early stages of planning our proposed walk across Canada (as we attempt to get sponsorship, formalize our classroom and nature group presentation, and work full time), and there is a great deal about the Great Trail that we have yet to discover.  Nevertheless, Newfoundland has demonstrated that our preparations need to involve more than calculating distances, purchasing equipment, and identifying a route across the country. We also need to consider what happens when those arrangements do not work quite as we expect.

 
For now, we will continue researching the Great Trail, testing our equipment, exploring regional pathways, and reconsidering some of the assumptions we have made about the journey ahead. We still hope to begin walking from Cape Spear in the spring of 2019, and nothing about our experiences on the East Coast Trail has changed that ambition.  However, our original calculations and plans are beginning to look rather less straightforward than they did before we left for Newfoundland.
 
Given that we are proposing to walk across an entire country, perhaps it is better to discover that now.
 
See you on the Trail!
 
To read about our Hike on the East Coast Trail.