These are the Adventures of Lew Coty, an avid Appalachian hiker, explorer, backcountry skier and maple syrup farmer from Stowe, Vermont, who has been traveling to Western Newfoundland each August for over a decade to hike sections of the IATNL and explore the Long Range Mountains, including all four of the Bay of Islands Ophiolite Massifs and Long Range Inlier from Burridges Gulch to Portland Creek Inner Pond.
In a 2009 interview with Vermont Community Newspaper, Lew was asked, “If you could travel to one place in the world, where would it be?” Lew replied, “Newfoundland, which has some of the best hiking in North America, if not the world.” Lew came shortly after, and has come every year since! … with the exception of Covid summers 2020 and 2021.
Lew and his wife Audrey have owned and operated Nebraska Knoll Sugar Farm in Nebraska Valley, Vermont since 1980. They have nearly 10,000 taps on 240 acres of land located six miles from the village of Stowe, where in winter Lew leads backcountry ski tours along ridges and around mountains in remote areas where most people never go.
Below in reverse chronological order are many of the backcountry hiking adventures that Lew has had in Western Newfoundland. Stay tuned for more!
Scouting the Virgin Mary Hills
It was near the end of my Newfoundland vacation when I spend over a month hiking into the backcountry every year. Paul Wylezol who heads the IATNL was eager to do some exploring and suggested hiking into the hills south of Little Port not far from the community of Lark Harbour, on the northwest side of Bay of Islands. There is an intriguing loop onto one coastal ridgeline near Little Port called Little Port Head Lighthouse Trail. It involves an invigorating climb and descent with dramatic views of the shoreline cliffs on top. Unfortunately, the southern end of this trail has seen serious erosion in recent years. Paul’s intent was to explore the ridgelines south of that trail.
Posted February 17, 2024
Lew Coty Hikes Mount St Gregory Highlands
The great expanse of highland barrens between Trout River and the Bay of Islands has always intrigued me and I never tire of exploring its remote areas. In past treks I have only skirted what shows on my topo map as Mount St Gregory Highlands, which I would describe as a ridgeline of highland mounds centrally located in this wilderness. My goal in August 2022 was to trek through this area, hiking from Stowbridge Head at the mouth of Bay of Island’s North Arm on the south end, to Trout River Campground on the north end.
Posted December 2, 2022
Lew Coty’s West Tablelands Trek
Unable to travel to Newfoundland during the summers of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19, Lew Coty recently reminisced about his many adventures in Western Newfoundland while browsing his e-photo albums, and shared the following story about his West Tablelands Trek with us. Lew hopes to return again in August 2022 when he takes a break from his Vermont maple syrup grove.
Posted February 19, 2022
Coty Explores Hills between Trout River & Chimney Cove
For many years now, Vermont maple syrup farmer and Appalachian hiker Lew Coty has travelled to Western Newfoundland in August to spend a month exploring the Long Range Mountains, the most northerly of the Appalachian Mountain range. In 2019, in addition to making a Gregory Mountain trek with IATNL/CABOX director Paul Wylezol and a number of other shorter hikes, Lew set his sights on this hike of the West Hills between Trout River and Chimney Cove.
Posted September 23, 2019
Lew Coty in Search of St Gregory’s Arc
August 6-8, Appalachian explorer Lew Coty from Vermont, USA undertook a 3-day trek across the Bay of Islands north uplands in search of a St Gregory’s Arc hiking route from the southern end of the Gregory Mountains across the North Arm Hills to the IATNL basecamp at Stowbridges. He was joined during the first half of the trek by IATNL Chairperson Paul Wylezol who broke off midway to explore Lower Crabbs Brook.
August 17, 2019
Lew Coty Circumnavigates Baker’s Brook Pond
Appalachian Hiker Lew Coty from Vermont is one of the most experienced explorers of Western Newfoundland’s backcountry wilderness, having hiked most of the Bay of Islands Ophiolites and Long Range Inlier. One area that stands out for Lew is Bakers Brook Pond, the most inaccessible of Gros Morne National Park’s inland fiords. He recently recounted his most memorable trek into the watershed, a circumnativation that included many of its pristine views. This is his story in his own words.
Posted January 11, 2019
Lew Coty Treks Long Range South
On August 1, 2016, Appalachian hiker and explorer Lew Coty from Vermont, U.S.A. set out from Route 430 (Viking Trail) at Southeast Hill in Gros Morne National Park on a two-day trek to Gros Morne Mountain. Follow Lew in his own words as he hikes up Burridge’s Gulch and heads north across the Long Range Mountains on one of his many perennial solo treks of Newfoundland’s Appalachian Mountains.
Posted November 10, 2016
Lew Coty Completes Second Circumtrek
In 2014 Appalachian Mountain Explorer Lew Coty from Vermont, U.S.A. returned to Western Newfoundland to hike the Long Range Appalachians, including his first circumtrek of Western Brook Pond in Gros Morne National Park. Having found the terrain “so varied and exciting”, he returned again in 2015 to do it all over again!
Posted February 3, 2016
Lew Coty’s Western Brook Pond Circumtrek
During summer 2014, Appalachian Mountain explorer Lew Coty from Vermont, U.S.A. returned to Newfoundland for another great backcountry adventure, this time circumtrekking Western Brook Pond in Gros Morne National Park. Lew began his 5-day trek in Sally’s Cove on Route 430 (Viking Trail) and followed a clockwise course from the western end of the “pond”.
Posted January 6, 2015
Lew Coty Hikes Mount St Gregory
In August 2013, Appalachian Explorer Lew Coty of Vermont, U.S.A. returned to Western Newfoundland to continue his exploration of Mount St. Gregory, overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence just north of the outer Bay of Islands. It was the follow-up to his first trek of the mountain in August 2012. In his own words, this is the account of his two adventures.
Posted January 12, 2014
Lew Coty Climbs Pyramid Peak
On August 20, 2013, IAT Chairperson Paul Wylezol and Appalachian explorer Lew Coty from Vermont climbed Pyramid Peak on the north side of Lewis Hills between the entrances of Wheeler’s Gulch and Red Rocky Gulch. The 9-hour day trek started at the IATNL Lewis Hills Trail Serpentine trailhead and after 45 minutes the two were at the base of the mountain.
Posted August 27, 2013
Lew Coty Circumtreks Trout River
From August 22-23, Long Range Adventurer Lew Coty from Vermont made a circumtrek of Gros Morne National Park’s Trout River Pond, beginning at the trailhead to Trout River Pond Trail. The two day trek brought him across the top of the Tablelands, down around the back end of the pond near Overfalls Trail, and up and across the south side hills, with a final descent down the head of the Elephant. In his own words and photos, below is another chapter in Lew Coty’s Long Range Adventures.
Posted January 22, 2013
Explorer Lew Coty & The Devil’s Bite at Last
Vermont Explorer Lew Coty recently put fingers to keyboard to recount his 2011 Western Newfoundland adventures. To follow – in his own words – is the first of two memorable treks.
Posted March 2, 2012
Explorer Lew Coty & North Arm Hills Trek
Vermont Explorer Lew Coty’s account of his 2-day circular trek of the North Arm Hills, from Goose Arm Road to “Grassy Valley”, “Delta Canyon”, “Cluster of Waterfalls”, “Sue Waterfalls”, then Overfalls waterfalls.
Posted March 1, 2012
First Solo Trek of Devil’s Bite and Indian Lookout Trails
Looking back on the IATNL highlights of 2010, no list would be complete without the solo trek by American hiker Lew Coty from Vermont. In August, Lew completed the first solo trek of the combined Devil’s Bite and Indian Lookout Trails. The feat was especially impressive given that the former trail is still largely incomplete and both are generally unmarked, and he did it in 4 days instead of the recommended 6. In his own words, here is Lew’s story.
Posted December 5, 2010
