Top 10 paddles of 2011 - #7

Leaving Gooseberry Cove

On Thanksgiving weekend, 8 - 10 October Brian, Hazen, Pete and I did a 3-day kayak camp trip to the abandoned community of St. Jones Without. Its located on the west side of Trinity Bay and a good part of the coast provides very few bailouts.

The paddle down to St. Jones Without was scenic but the area beyond towards Deer Harbour is not so much. Still, it was an excellent weekend with fine company and Irish coffee. That lands it at #7 on my list of top paddles.

The first day, original post, part 1 and part 2 (links provided to the original posts), we paddled down to St. Jones Without.

Rest stop

We left Gooseberry Cove in a bit of rain and wind but as we went on it stopped raining. Still paddling along in a light wind we'd stop for a break where we could.

St. Jones Without harbour

We arrived at the entrance to St. Jones Without harbour that's a 5 km fjord-like finger of the sea poking into the proterozoic rocks of the Musgravetown Group.

"Campsite", first night

We had little choice but to camp on the front lawn of this cabin at the bottom of the fjord. There was very little flat, dry ground in the harbour.

Entering Deer Harbour

Day 2 we paddle back up the 5 kms to go to Deer Harbour. We packed all the gear into the kayaks with the intention of campinng there but there was no suitable ground. So, we did a sweep of the harbour and returned to a fine camp spot at the entrance to St. Jones Without.

A better campsite

This is the place to camp at St. Jones Without. We didn't the first night because it was too late to make our way out of the bottom of the harbour.

Sweet paddling

Day three in the kayaks was a return to Gooseberry Cove and the end of the trip. The return paddle was very pleasant under interesting skies in a bit of a following sea.

Pete

As we approached the end of our trip the skies brightened as the sun came out.

Return to Gooseberry Cove

This was an excellent trip and I have to confess, putting it at #7 is a bit arbitrary. I very much enjoyed the whole weekend but I have to slot it in somewhere to make room for other experiences.