A peaceful stroll

Off we go

Can't paddle all the time, even if its good weather to paddle. To do so just narrows the perspective as blinkers do on a horse. On Friday, my sister and I had a stroll down Manuals River located just outside St. John's in the community of Conception Bay South. The river flows through a gorge on its way to the sea some 1.5 kms away. The Manuals River Natural Heritage Society is charged with maintenance and preservation of the site. The Society has upgraded a path along the river that makes the river accessible.

Here the river flows in a series of falls over Cambrian conglomerate which rests unconformably on Late Proterozoic granite and volcanic rocks. The conglomerate contains well rounded cobbles up to fist size suggesting this site was once a beach approximately 542 million years ago.

Below the falls

The river loses some of its fury and continues its flow to the sea.

A path follows the river on both sides. Strolling down the path is soothing as the water bubbles and gurgles over rocks.

Black shales

Walking down the path you actually walk up in time. That's because the beds dip more steeply than the pathway. Here the rocks are black shales that contain trilobite fossils also from the Cambrian geologic period.

Bluebird bridge

The Manuals River Natural Heritage Society has built two bridges to span the river and connect the path on each side.

The water loses its force

The water becomes a spent force and becomes flat calm.

Peaceful, easy feeling

Early spring, the leaves have yet to break out so there was a lot of brown and red shades.

End of the line

At the bottom of the trail the river flows into a lagoon, separated from the sea by a cobble and sand bar. A couple of ducks swam up to greet us. We couldn't go further because the path became too wet.

A stroll down Manuals River is a nice change from paddling. I like to take my time and stroll, stop, look, drink it in. A chance to connect with nature that's removed from the shoreline I so often visit.