A View from the Top

Saturday was another wonderful hike with my group when we hiked South Head Lighthouse, a 7 km return hike which ascends 330 meters into the mountain range behind Lark Harbour. 

We started the hike at the parking lot by the beach and began a gradual climb through the forest. It was cool and fragrant in the shade of the trees; we stopped for pictures at the waterfall. But shortly after that, we came to the real killer ...

... this meadow!

By the time we reached the meadow, the sun was directly overhead and at it's hottest; and there was nowhere to hide for the rest of the climb. We followed a zig zag line up between the 2 mountains with occasional stops to rest our weary legs and lungs and to let other hikers pass.

Here's the view looking down. You can see the parking lot and the beach in the far, far distance. Wow! And luckily, I found a great walking stick to help me. 

The dogberry trees were once again heavily laden with berries. And once we reached the top of the meadow and began the last leg of our journey over the mountain top, there were blueberries everwhere! They were small and a little tart. (Kind of like me as a teenager!)





What a spectacular view at the top! We sat and ate lunch together and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and the ocean/island(s) view. 

Corner Brook is at the end of a very long bay known as the Bay of Islands. Wee Ball (which you see here) is one of the largest islands therein.

Here's a panoramic view of where we all dined:

On my left is a slightly different way to meet up with the return path. And directly in front of me was, of course, WeeBall and the Atlantic.

If I turned my head to the right, I follow this mountain top to the valley below where we spotted 3 moose also eating lunch. Everyone was hungry, I guess! 

This has been my favorite hike to date. The view at the top is just so magnificant! The area around Lark Harbour has 6+ trails of all sizes and range of difficulty. I hope we do more before the cold temperatures set in. 

Into the vehicles and just a short jaunt down the road to our next hiking stop, Marlene's Tidewater Cafe and Crafts. What a joy it was to sit outside with a coffee and lemon square, resting my feet in front of this view.

I live in a beautiful province. 

(And when I'm buried in snow and ice from December to May, I shall repeat this mantra!)