From April 20-24 four students from Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley completed a 5 day/4 night winter trek of the Indian Lookout Trail. The students (Piers Evans, Jessica Ryan, Kevin Johnston, and Rene Gendron) were fulfilling an important requirement of their 2-year outdoor adventure program. The expedition was sponsored in part by the IATNL, who provided logistical support and accommodations.
The trek began on Five Mile Road just south of Arches Provincial Park between Parsons Pond and Portland Creek. After a 3.5km (2mile) walk to the end of the road and an icy cold river crossing – twice, the group began their ascent of the 620m (2,000ft) mountains on the north side of Portland Creek’s Southwest Feeder Inner Pond.
For most of the 5-day adventure the weather was cool and overcast, with the clouds lifting occasionally to provide panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, valleys and coastline. Though Days 1 and 5 provided easy trekking across snowless terrain at lower elevations, the group were happy they brought along snowshoes and poles (provided courtesy of the College of the North Atlantic in Corner Brook) on their Day 3-5 mountaintop traverse.
On Day 3 the fearless four crossed onto the Flat Hills, where they were on guard against sliding over the steep cliffs of the west branch of the Southwest Feeder and being gobbled up by the ferocious jaws of the Newfoundland polar caribou.
After four days of mistical cloud cover, crossing arctic-like terrain and thawing streams, the group finally got to see ………………………………………….. the sun!
The IATNL hopes the Algonquin students enjoyed the first winter trek of the Indian Lookout Trail.
Now of course they have to come back and do it in summer!
