Brigus Head Path | Hiking The East Coast Trail (& Beyond)

Hi folks! It’s been a while. I’ve had a busier summer than I anticipated and there always seemed to be some excuse to not hike. Not good, but that’s the situation. So this won’t be a summer of big accomplishments on the trail, but I figure I’ll go hard for the rest of the month and see a few of my favorites, at least. Starting with Brigus Head Path, a nice little 8km loop!

There wasn’t much of a crowd on the trail, and the weather was great for hiking, cool and cloudy, with a bit of a breeze. I made my way pretty quickly around Brigus Head and came back over the old Southern Shore Highway. Because it was a grey day, it wasn’t a great day for my regular scenery/landscape pics, but the beauty on the ECT trail isn’t just in the cliffs and shoreline; the flora and fauna along the length of the ECT is truly beautiful. Without my zoom lens (note to self: gotta take the zoom lens on day hikes), I couldn’t capture the birds I saw, but I did see a cormorant in Timber Cove (same location as last year, if I recall correctly), a couple of loons at Bill’s Tar Cove, and nuthatches and other little birds aplenty along the old track back. So today’s focus was on flora. And by flora I mean the berries that are just starting to ripen and were delicious. Though I suppose if you count the dogs who were waiting at the trailhead when I got back, there was some fauna. That said, I did snap a couple of my favorites, ie. good old Hare’s Ears and the aforementioned Bill’s Tar Cove… I don’t know who Bill is but his cove is one of the best little spots along the trail.

For the blueberry hunters, BTW, the hill on the south end of the Southern Shore highway, ie. closest to Admiral’s Cove, is covered, and they’re riper up there than elsewhere on the trail for sure! Berries as far as the eye can see!

Check out the pics below!

Such an awesome time of year to hike the trail: everything is so lush.

Good old Hare’s Ears.

Some of the blueberries I ate today weren’t the sweetest things on the bush, but some were like candy 🙂

What are these things? There was a big patch by Hare’s Ears. I feel like I should know. Partridgeberries?

A few ripe raspberries around as well. Yum.

“Indian Pipe” which probably has a more racially sensitive real name.

The sun almost gave me enough for a landscape shot from time to time. Got a bit of shimmering at a viewpoint and had to snap.

Good old Bill’s Tar Cove beach. What a spot.

I feel like I always forget to take this pic for the sake of blog visitors who might be confused by the intersection of the trail and the old Southern Shore Highway. Lots of berries just up over the hill!

Some more of the aforementioned blueberries!

The greeting committee in Brigus South.

This cute little greeter was lying in front of my car when I reached the trailhead 🙂

Hi folks, after last weekend’s defeat on the Mickeleen’s Path, I vowed I’d redeem myself on the Brigus Head Path loop. A 6.5 km moderately challenging hike with a bit of climbing and descending, and a much shorter couple of kilometers straight back over land, this trail is spectacularly beautiful in the summer months, and given our warm weather for the last week, I thought the snow would have likely taken a cutting. I was… partially right at best.

The snow had softened to be sure. That was not a good thing, however, as this trail is a bit of a wet one and the wet parts had undercut the snow, leading me to plunge to my knees on more than one occasion. In places the majority of last week’s snow remained untouched, which made for some treetop views and drift climbing. The soft snow gave me a workout, at least!

The first half of the trail from the north, up to the approach to Brigus Head, was very challenging. Lots of deep snow and more than once where I was unsure how to continue on the trail. After Brigus Head, the going got a little easier, the places where deep snow needed to be traversed were sporadic instead of constant. At the point where the trail meets with community trails, a quad or two had gone over the trail making the going a little easier, though they had messed up the muddy parts pretty good.

I turned around at the loop trail, not venturing all the way to the trailhead in Admirals Cove. The loop trail (the old road between Admirals Cove and Brigus South) followed the same pattern: easily passable for the first, uphill km or so, and then more challenging, essentially becoming a river interspersed with deep snow. Luckily, this is a short path and I was at the wharf next to the trailhead where I had parked in Brigus South before sundown.

If you’re in the mood for a challenge, this is one to consider. It’s hard to capture in pictures how deep the snow is and how tough it is to showshoe, but trust me, the rain has been a double-edged sword: clearing the trail in spots, it has simply softened things up in others. You might be better off waiting for a bit more of the snow to melt, but if you are willing to take it on, it’s certainly a unique experience at this time of year. Not for the faint of heart, let’s put it that way! Check out the pics of the exhausting but spectacular hike below!

The trailhead in Brigus South.

From the trailhead, the patchy melting and soft snow is visible.

The first river on the trail is just past the Timber Cove signpost.

Timber Cove is looking spectacular.

The trailmarkers were welcome sights and made good gauges of the depth of snow.

…as in this picture.

The old road is pretty much just a river even at the ECT section.

Leaving the old road, the trail is immaculate, unhiked for the last while.

Deep snow alongside Herring Cove.

Untouched by human feet.

Drift climbing around gulches where the snow gathered.

A look back at Brigus South from above Herring Cove.

Approaching Brigus Head, things started to clear out a bit.

I didn’t want to get too close to viewpoints such as this one at Hare’s Ears.

A look back toward Tors Cove.

A look forward to Cape Broyle Head.

The sign is down at Brigus Head. Just keep going straight at this 4-way junction, hikers.

I tried to capture both the location and magnitude of the deadfall above Black Cove. Hikers have to leave the trail at multiple points along this stretch avoiding deadfall. Hats off to the volunteers who have some work ahead of them.

Another shot of deadfall on the trail.

Some damage near Deep Cove.

More deadfall.

Looking back at Deep Cove.

River crossings were challenging. At least once I was just following the moose.

…of which there were the evidence of many. From about Brigus Head on, the trail showed evidence of constant use throughout the winter.

The view at Cross Cove.

After a long time with my camera packed: a shower passed overhead and I put it away until the sun was obviously sticking around again. A look back at Bills Tar Cove.