On January 30, IAT President Paul Wylezol and Finance Director Kevin Noseworthy headed out of Frenchman’s Cove in the outer Bay of Islands to break a snowshoe trail to the Hummock.
IAT Finance Director Kevin Noseworthy “good to go”
The route followed the Hummock Trail to the base of the Hummock, across the adjacent range, then down the worker access trail and back to Frenchman’s Cove.
North View of the Hummock
The route rises from a low elevation of 200 ft (60 m) to a high of 1,000 ft (300 m), and covers a length of 6.5 km (4 miles).
The upper section of the snowshoe trail cuts through forest and across short sections of bog until it reaches a small pond at the base of the Hummock.
Given the late start, Paul and Kevin didn’t have time to walk in the side trail to the top of the Hummock, where some of the best views of the Blow-Me-Down Mountains and Bay of Islands can be found. And with the light falling snow and low cloud cover, they were unable to get the best views of the mountains and bay from the main trail route.
However they were able to get good middle views of the nearby Hummock and pond, particularly from the adjacent Hummock Range.
View of the Hummock from nearby Hummock Range
and good near views of the snow-covered trees on the summit of the range, with boughs laden after a week of heavy snow and light wind, and snow compacting up to 18 inches.
Descending the gentle slope on the east side of the range provided nice vistas of snow-covered birches and firs
until the trail linked up to the new 2.5 km (1.5 mile) snowmobile-packed Frenchman’s Cove water supply road.
IAT President Paul Wylezol with his traditional snowshoes
Once back to the community of Frenchman’s Cove, the last leg of the trek was a .8km (.5 mile) walk along Route 450 back to their 4-wheeled snowmobile.
Stay tuned for a trail breaking trek to the Summit of the Hummock, and hopefully some great shots of the Blow-Me-Down Mountains, Bay of Islands, and Humber Arm all the way to Corner Brook.
Better yet, make the trek yourself … and send us your photos!
