St. Jones Without

Loading gear

Peter concocted a kayak camping trip to St Jones Without this past weekend, the Thanksgiving Day long weekend in Canada. Four signed up for the adventure and drove to Gooseberry Cove where we prepared to leave for our paddle south into Trinity Bay.

St Jones Without, named "Without" to distinguish is from the nearby St. Jones (Within) in Southwest Arm. St. Jones Without was settled in 1870 by the Greens of Greens Harbour on the east side of Trinity Bay, 20 kms distant. In 1884 it had 33 residents, peaking in 1935 at 140 residents. In 1951 when it was abandoned there were 81 residents.

Waiting

A bit of wind was blowing down Hearts Ease Tickle so Pete and I sheltered behind some rocks while Brian waited in the Tickle for Hazen.

Ready to go

Hazen put in and he and Brian joined us and we were ready to go.

Down the coast

St. Jones Without is located down an exposed coast accessible only by boat in summer or skidoo in winter.

Into the wind

We were promised showers and some wind but it was a bit more than I expected. We were undeterred, simply digging in a bit in the gusts.

Ducking behind

Occasionally rocks provided a little bit of shelter and respite.

Rugged coastline

The rocks along the coast here are part of the Bull Arm Formation consisting of mainly andesitic volcanic flows, breccias and tuffs with sedimentary rocks. In other words, this land was formed by volcanoes shedding sediment into the surrounding seas. Probably not unlike parts southeast Asia today.

Round Harbour

We left Gooseberry Cove at 11:00. An hour and a half later we were ready for lunch and the very sheltered Round Harbour provided the ideal place to stop.

Lunch stop

The only decent place to take out was occupied by a cabin. A table and chairs was provided on the veranda so we took advantage of that but not for long. It didn't take long to cool down and we were soon back in our boats and on our way south.

Seal Island shelter

Passing by St. Jones Head, again in a bit of blustery wind, we paddled inside of Seal Island were it was peacefully calm.

Outside of St. Jones Without

At just after 2:00, under grey skies, we reached the entrance to St. Jones Harbour, a fjord like arm of the sea reaching 5 kilometers inland. The narrow entrance beckons right in front of my bow.