Local seniors looking for new trails to conquer

CORNER BROOK - At 81 years of age, there aren't many places that Roy Murley hasn't explored.

The Corner Brook man and his wife, Cynthia, 78, have travelled the province seeking out ideal hiking spots that can be surmounted in the better part of a day. He admits they've done the majority of the main ones, but hopes the ongoing work by the provincial International Appalachian Trail committee opens some fresh routes.

He made the trek to the top of Blow Me Down Head on the south shore of the Bay of Islands about a month ago. The jaunt to the summit, entailing about a 2,100-foot climb, sounds like quite the accomplishment for an 81-year-old.

"We had some younger people on the hike ...about four weeks ago now, we went up and I wasn't the last one to the top, I can tell you that," Murley said.

He said the trek took a little over two hours to reach the peak. While most of the trail is fairly closed in, he said there are opportunities along the way to view the Bay of Islands. It is the spectacle at the peak that makes the journey worthwhile though.

"The view is fabulous up on top," he said. "We were up there on a very windy day, but it was just absolutely beautiful. I have been up to Gros Morne and other places ...I think the views from down in the Bay of Islands can beat anything that you can get. You get that 360 degree type of look, and it's really spectacular once you get up there."

He said the trail - from the Copper Mine Brook area in York Harbour to the top of Blow Me Down Head - is not a difficult one, and shouldn't be a problem for most. There aren't many steep sections and there's no hands-on climbing required.

The Murley couple enjoy walking. He said they like leaving their vehicle home during trips to the grocery store and frequent the Corner Brook Stream Trails. Their first hike of the year is usually out to Lark Harbour Head, but they've spanned the Northern Peninsula - through places like Western Brook Pond and Trout River Hills - and conquered sections of the East Coast Trail too.

"I am looking for new trails," he said. "I don't necessarily like to go back over and over and over again. But, there's still a lot of country that I haven't seen."

The effort to connect the northern portion of the Appalachian Trail to the already more than 1,000-kilometre long system is ongoing. The provincial chapter was able to complete three new sections this year - Lewis Hills to Cabox (highest point on the island, also known as Roof of Newf), Blow Me Down Mountains, and Parsons Pond.

"What they've done is well done, but there's obviously a lot to be done if they are going to go from Port aux Basques to the end of the Northern Peninsula," Murley said. "But, I think they are doing a good job."

The Corner Brook man said the work is a good tourism tool, but should be fully utilized by local people too.

"I think people should get familiar with these things and take advantage of them because it's the taxpayers money after all that is being used," he said.