Five Gonzos & one Canine joined up at Tim's @ 7am. for the long drive to Spry Bay. Included were, Bruce Sundog Duffy, Bruce Dipper Murphy, Ross Scrounger Mitchell, Mark I'm Selling Halifax Stein, Fozzie, (Alaskan Malamute) & myself. After over an hour of driving, we parked our cars, put on our backpacks, and ventured off, for an hour's long hike on the road heading to the trail head entrance. The snow covered road gave us a little taste of what lied ahead. Upon arriving at the trail head, we made a quick stop, for a hot drink, & a little snack. Taylor Head is situated on the rugged eastern shore, jots out into the Atlantic like a twisted arm.

Dipper was the first to break trail. There were more than enough falling trees lying across our path like falling soldiers. Tossed here & there by the raging easterly winds. They once had stood tall, guarding the evergreen forest, in its rear, from the high winter winds blowing off the Atlantic. The evergreens drooped from the heavy snow, that still clung to their branches from snows in early January.

We examined evidence from animal kills as the trail was marked with blood & fur in frequent areas. The areas of knee deep snow had slowed our pace to a turtle's crawl. The terrain was rough & rugged, developed from extreme conditions & high winds that marched off the Atlantic, whenever it seem fit.

We decided along the way to make lunch, where the trail worked it's way down toward the beach. The only thing obstructing our way was a 6ft. drift between us and the salt water. After climbing up & over it, we picked up some driftwood, & drug it up and onto a small bluff, where we lit our fire out of the wind. With the fire blazing, we sat around and munched on peanut butter sandwiches, hop soup, salami, the Sungod's magnesium meal.

A half hour later we packed up, and were on our way. Mark and Bruce Murphy were fortunate enough to catch the sight of a seal, that popped its head up through it's breathing hole from under the ice. Soon we were back breaking through new snow on the Spry Bay trail, that completed the loop back to the entrance.

This part of the trail takes you back down to the beach, and you hike along the icy shore for awhile. It was at the end of this area that we strayed from the trail. This open area was covered with a blanket of whiteness, and it was very easy to get mixed up, fifteen minutes later, we found the red trail markings pointing us in the right direction. We encountered the deepest snow for the day in this area of the trail, even Fozzie stopped for a breather.. On an on we trudged through this winter wonderland of snow laden trees, through a barren, across a bog, and down the steep steps to the beach again. Traveling back into the woods and out to the summer parking lot, where we stopped under a covered picnic table, for an afternoon snack & hot drinks. We still had an hour's hike back to the cars, at the park entrance. We were able to pick up our pace on the sparsely covered road, leading back to our vehicles. Upon reaching the cars, I stopped my watch at 5 hours & 50 minutes.

Ross mentioned, that we had bettered our time from last year by at least 20 minutes (of course, we shorted the course by 2 km...Dipper), under much more rugged conditions. What a great way to spend a day, enjoying gorgeous scenery, quiet, peaceful surroundings of wilderness hiking.

THE END.