Rob-n-Hild, Eastward Ho!

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Grand Falls Gorge 11.2 km, 2:37 hours - walked. 275 metres climbed

The weather didn't really oblige today as we had planned to walk from our hotel along a path following the old railway line to get into the center of Grand Falls and walk along the gorge to see the water falls (after which the town is named). However, when we went to Mary Jane to put our boots on it was drizzly and miserable and we couldn't face getting wet before we even started, so we drove into the town and parked where we could at least walk to the gorge. Once we got there and started walking, though, the rain held off so we walked through the gorge, and then along the railway track, over the river on the old railway bridge, then back to town on the other bank of the river, ate lunch at the Information Center and then picked up Mary Jane again to walk home! Pretty much the whole walk we had planned anyway. We did get rained on once, but we used our IKEA ponchos and we were actually soggier from sweating than from the rain by the time we got home. So it turned out nice in the end!

And the gorge was worth the effort! This is the view from under the main bridge in town, probably the narrowest bit of the river.

This is a deceptively smooth pool, but you can see the water boiling up and how - over time - the water has worn holes in the rocks.

And here the water is swirling around before another narrow bit.

This is the water coming over the dam. Although a lot of the flow is used for hydro power, at this time of year there is a lot of water still coming downstream and has to be allowed through and over the dam.

We could have filled a lot more of the page with pictures and videos, but I am sure you get the gist of it. Of course, this is still spring - the falls in the summer are not quite as impressive: As the picture above taken from one of the signs. We both feel that we got the best view!

Rob had forgotten to pack the mugs (again!) so our lunctime cuppa was drunk from the Trangia saucepans, but it tasted just as good. And then on the way back to Mary Jane we walked through the settting up of the the Potato Festival being held here over the Canada Day weekend (yes, tomorrow is Canada Day already!). When we saw JR's Street Kitchen we couldn't resist taking a photo - to the surprise of the poor girl who was working inside! But we had a chat to explain that we have a great neighbour called JR and found out that this JR has another place in Plaster Rock we had driven through yesterday - sorry JR, we should have stopped to eat there!

Another impromptu chat - this time with a worker clearing leaves and emptying bins along the gorge trail - informed us that one of the most famous people from the area is Ron Turcotte, Canada's greatest jockey, who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973. He won many many other races before an accident ended his career in 1978, but the most amazing thing (for us) is that he wanted to be a lumberjack growing up and learnt to handle horses working in the logging industry!

Coming up: The Gaspé Penninsula

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