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Cabot Trail and Maritimes
  • Matthew Juhlin
  • Matthew Juhlin

Cabot Trail and Maritimes

A 15-day adventure by Matthew Read more
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  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Gas stop

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    First stop. Quite a bit cooler. Cold on the bike because it's solid clouds and damp. Going up in elevation now, leaving an area that was pretty flat. Hilltops here are in the clouds. Had to stop to put on more layers.Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Bell site

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    This is the Alexander Graham and Mabel Bell National Park thing. He founded a team that designed and flew the first powered flight in Canada. Once that was done he helped design a hydrofoil that set a speed record. The first person to die in an airplane crash was a member of bell's aviation group. The museum was quick to point out it was in a wright bros plane in the US lol. Plus a lighthouse picture. Any good Maritimes tourist takes lots of lighthouse pictures.Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Cluckin Chicken

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Stopped for a bite at a little place... it's got no view. Darn, that's like going to the grand canyon and eating with your back to it.

    I've stalled as long as I think I safely can and it may pay off. The clouds and haze are less going N and W.

    I think I saw a bald eagle a couple days back. But this is Canada so it's just another bird, eh.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Cliff

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    That was a climb. The road went straight up the side of a mountain and the drop was sheer. I had to concentrate very hard on the road to not get vertgo.

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Halfway

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    I forgot to mark where I got gas. This view was just up the street. You can see the giant line of mountains. On a map there's a huge gouge running across this area.

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Geology

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    This line of mountains is impressive. The road goes alongside of it for several miles before reaching a place it could turn in. That turn is 2.4 mi SW of here (by Google.)

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Up top

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Wow, getting up that geological feature (just to the left of the dot on the map) was crazy. We went winding up these valley walls with several mountainsides looming all around. The trip up was slooooow and veery careful. I don't know if the other people noticed but there were skid marks everywhere, on both sides. And not car tires. Looking back as I went up I think going the other direction, coming down, must be wicked. Considered doing a yooie to experience it for myself, but that's not the way of the long-distance biker, gotta keep movin on.

    At the top the landscape was gnarled and stunted. Think it's harsh weather here?

    The previous point was an elevation of 170 feet. Here it is 1400. According to Google that was over just 1 mile.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Jam

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    There are multiple construction projects going on all at the same time along this road. One doesn't much mind being in a traffic jam.

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Whales

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    There were two sets of whales eating stuff just offshore here. One thing, the shoreline didn't have any shells. I'm guessing the waves hit the pebbles and grind everything up. Every stone on this beach was a perfect skipping stone.Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Stay a day

    June 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    I'm not so sure I should have. I paid for 2 nights in this town. It's because I'm kind of worn out and also I only took a couple of light shirts and now they're all dirty. There's a dozen whale watch places around here. Way back somewhere there were signs for a puffin watch. Never seen a puffin before. That would make a good souvenir. Anyway, the guide I saw this morning said there's lots of places to see live music and in the towns near here. So I went to a restaurant down the street. They had two guys on acoustic guitars playing Joe cocker and John Denver. So on the way back I stopped at a bar. The person was playing acoustic Janis Joplin and Beatles. The most local flavor I got was the cat joke. Oh well, that's what I get for coming on a Wednesday before August (when all the outdoor events happen up here.)Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Friendly

    June 23, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    One thing about the people up here, they're super talkative. In the bank they chat, as they're walking out of the restaurant they stop. Everyone here is bilingual. They switch back and forth from person to person. I don't think the two mix at all like Creole or "spanglish".

    This is the Belle View restaurant. The landscape around it is stupendous. However, from in here you can't see it!

    I'm trying to kill time until the whale watch at 5. I showed up promptly at 8:50 for the first boat and they said we need 5 more and it ain't gonna happen. Again, I'm here 6 weeks before tourist season. I did a search for "movie theater" and there's only one on the island, in the city 90 min from here.

    I wish I hadn't paid for 2 nights in advance. The ferry tomorrow isn't like jumping on a bus, it has a security check-in damn thing, so I have to check in at the latest 2 hours before leaving. So I need to leave good and early tomorrow. Sure wish I was a lot closer now, don't want to get lost or something stupid like that.

    Lunch was a meat pie. I've seen that on signs so maybe a cultural thing. It was primarily tuna fish, but was a light fish flavor and the cranberry sauce adds a loud zap of flavor on top.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Minke whales

    June 23, 2016, Gulf of Saint Lawrence ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Haha, this program records any GPS location you give it so here's where we saw some minke whales. The guide said they had record-breaking snowfall in newfoundland last year and spring was so long and cold that the whales are delayed in coming. I like the action shot with people pointing so I'll post that. We were out longer than I thought (based on no evidence or experience) so I'm getting a late dinner, then still have to gas up the bike and shower (get up early tomorrow.) To think I spent 90 min this afternoon watching Simpsons episodes. I think I was hard on myself earlier for thinking I was throwing away time today but now I feel I did fall short. But I've got my ferry ticket and my hotel reservation (ferry will arrive around 8 pm) so big stuff is covered.Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    ferry

    June 24, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I'll be checking in with the ferry shortly. Then a 2 hr wait where we load and board, then a 6-10 hr crossing. I have to remember to bring my bag with the tablet and plugs!

    I'm eating at Robena's Family Restaurant. It's a little place on the road near the wharfs.Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Waiting

    June 24, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Here are some pictures of the waiting area. I see several asain families, which is a surprise after being among Scots and Frenchman.

    After driving on I got the impression we were supposed to tie down our bikes ourselves.

    The ferries are very large. I think I read they are icebreakers. There are levels for trucks, one for cars, one for passengers with a restaurant, bar, TVs, etc, a level with reserved seating (think airplane 1st class, big chairs you can recline), and a level of cabins.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Hotel

    June 24, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    This is the Hotel Port aux Basques. The town is called Channel-Port aux Basques - two towns merged some decades ago.

    On the menu was cod tongue. I plan to try it but not today. Was seasick for the whole 6+ hr trip. Had moose soup which is made just like beef and veg and was very good.

    This area feels super remote. It reminds me a lot of stuff you see on TV of remote Alaskan fishing towns. I'm eating in the hotel's dining room and there's like 6 other people - plus 12 construction workers at one table, many still wearing reflective vests. The hotel served their food by name. And took their orders for breakfast tomorrow. And lunch! When there's so few options and resources are not plentiful you need to pull together.

    On a gossipy note one of the construction workers ate a soup in a funny way. He emptied two or three crackers into it. Then another. Then another so now there was a hill of cracker. Then two more like a cartoon.

    It appears the construction workers all got here by ATV. So maybe they were an ATV club.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    St Stephen

    June 25, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    This is a regular town. It's got a McDonald's and Walmart.

    The air around seaside towns is very cold, 50s. It took an hour of riding north out of that last place before I was high enough or inland enough to get milder air. As usual the sun is super intense and its nice to sit in this parking lot.

    I'm getting tired of adventuring. It feels pretty far away up here. Plus there's not enough time to go all the way around and out. Going north a bit more then turn back home.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Corner Brook

    June 25, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This seems like a great town. It's on a fjord (so a big bay surrounded by mountains) and the landscape is magnificent. It's got a nice looking downtown area and big box stores and hotels outside near the highway. You can see from picture 3 how many houses are around.

    Picture 1 shows one of the big views around here. There are these areas where there is acres of inch - high scrub. Sometimes it's obvious, like at Port aux Basques the extreme winter weather stops anything from growing. Up here I don't know, but there are lots of meandering pools that look an inch deep.

    This is Aroma restaurant. It is cafeteria style where someone behind a counter gives you food on a tray. Lots of good food cheap.    Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    East Arm lake

    June 25, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Here is the lake in Gros Morne National Park. There were several places they were simultaneously rebuilding roads and bridges, like the Cabot Trail. At the 3rd construction I turned back because I was going to come back on this road and I had reached the shore and it was much colder.Read more

  • Matthew JuhlinCabot Trail and MaritimesTraveler

    Ferry back

    June 26, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Returning to Channel-Port aux Basques I got 10 minutes outside town and could see the fog bank. 5 minutes later the temperature plummeted. App says it's 51 here. Pic 3 is the town I started from at 5 AM.Read more

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