Spout Path & Cape Spear Lighthouse
I didn’t sleep well last night. Around 10:45 pm a dog in the site beside me started to bark. He barked nonstop for an hour. I called the campsite entrance and they told me they’d send someone to check it out. They told me the dog was a pit bull. I knew there was a younger woman staying there and her car was gone. I’m assuming she had been gone for a while and the dog needed something. About five minutes after I called, the dog stopped for a few minutes and then started up again. She returned around midnight and the dog stopped. The woman had been camping there all summer.
It also rained most of the night which was soothing in some ways until the wind started shaking the entire tent.
I was out of the campsite by 8:30 and headed to a new Starbucks in the Avalon mall a few kilometers away.
Spout Path
I decided to do Spout Path and Heretic Hill trails. AllTrails said this was a moderate trail and almost all the 143 ratings were five-stars. This is a stunning trail with beautiful views of the Bay Bulls cove, ocean, and surrounding hills. There were cliffs a long the route, so you had to be careful in a few places.
I met Teresa and Ron on the path. Teresa was wearing a Buffalo Bill’s cap. She’s a big Bill’s fan and let me know their opening game is this weekend. They live in Canada on the other side from Buffalo. They were flying back home in a couple of days. They told me the Puffin boat tour was worth it. They had seen hundreds of Puffins.
I’ve learned that puffins home in Newfoundland and then fly out to the ocean and live on the water for three years. After there offspring are on their own they fly home to the same exact hole where they left from. That’s pretty extraordinary.
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:
Spout Path: Trail is well maintained
Spout Path: high above - This would be a nice kayaking area
Spout Path: Abandoned Lighthouse - It can be climbed at your own risk
Spout Path: Beautiful blue waters when the sun is shinning.
Spout Path: Waterfalls and stream running down the hill towards the ocean
Heretic Hill: At the end of this portion of the trail is a hill covered in wild blueberries
The lighthouse on the trail has seen better days. It can be climbed but there is broken glass at the top and the steps are well attached. Be very careful.
At the end of the trail was another treat behind my car. A picked blackberries and filled a quart container. I plan to have them for breakfast tomorrow.
Cape Spear Lighthouse
The Cape Spear area has been a strategic area to help guide ships towards the St. John’s port as well as directing ships south. During WWII the anti-submarine fortress was created to protect St. John’s from German U-Boats. One of the large guns can still be seen. I arrived too late for the military post and lighthouse tour.
This is also the Easternmost point in North America.
I was there late in the afternoon and there were high gusting winds and changing cloud patterns. This created some dramatic lighting at times.
Spear Lighthouse: Sunset
Spear Lighthouse: View East
Spear Lighthouse: View Looking back to quarters along the coast
Spear Lighthouse: Sun came out and lit up the steps
Spear Lighthouse: View to St. John’s Newfoundland harbor
Piatto Pizzeria Restaurant
I was exhausted from the day and decided I needed pizza and a beer. Piatto Pizzeria was a few kilometers from the campground. I drove over, not expecting much and found a packed restaurant, usually a good sign and a 45 minute wait ahead of me. I pulled out my computer and decided to catchup on emails.
The wait was about 10 minutes and they gave me a seat at a large table in the back. It was perfect. Looking at the menu it said they had “House-Made Spaghetti”. I confirmed that this meant the noodles and not the sauce. It had been years since I had house-made spaghetti and sauce. The noodles had six large spicy beef and pork meatballs and tomato sauce. I order a small Beet and Walnut salad to go with it.
The beer selection is nothing to write home about.
Satiated, I headed back to the campground and my tent. It was getting cooler and I decided to pull out the second layer of my sleeping back. Hopefully, the dog wouldn’t be barking tonight.