Blue Hills Lunch

On Saturday, April 18th., Clayt and I went to Eastport to spend a couple of days at his cabin, more to relax than anything in the way of major hikes. Hikes are a bit difficult this time of the year, as you have to contend with melting snow, strong Northerly winds, and just not what we like when we go out into the country. However, on this Saturday the sun was out and quite warm, with only a light breeze. So, we (I should say Clayt) decided we would go for a short hike. "Where are we going Clayt" says I. "Oh maybe Louis Hills in Terra Nova National Park". I thought, here we go again, another strenuous hike, up to our knees in wet snow, he sure likes to put me to the test. Anyway, I got a lunch together, and off we go. We passed the parking lot at Louis Hills and continued to the Trans Canada Highway and turned East. Ah, I thought, it will be an easy hike after all as I figured we would be going to Southwest Brook. We passed South West Brook, and now I was getting anxious to know where we were headed. "Clayt, where are we going" I asked. He replied "to the Blue Hills". I just about fainted, Louis Hills is only a child's hike compared to the Blue Hills. In the early years of Terra Nova National Park, there was a forest fire lookout tower at the top of Blue Hills. As a matter of fact, several years ago, Clayt and I hiked to the top and then climbed the ladder to the top of the tower. The view was spectacular. We had lunch there and was a most memorable one. We arrived at the entrance road to Blue Hills and the gate was across, so we had to hike. There was snow on the road, which didn't interfere with walking too bad, but you had to pick your way. As we started up, I knew that I was not dressed for such a hike, too much clothes. About a quarter of the way, Clayt, who somehow loves to be on a hill, spotted a small hill off to our left, and indicated it would be a good place to stop and have lunch. After travelling through some brush and bog, we climbed the hill and found a nice spot to have lunch. Lunch is always an important part of our hikes. There we sat, boiled the kettle for tea, and admired the beauty of nature, such as it was, around us. After lunch we returned to the cabin in Eastport. The picture below shows Clayt enjoying the moment with the Blue Hills in the background.