Trinity East to Bonavista

After my Earhart detour, I drove to Trinity East along quiet highways where traffic was at a minimum. It was the six-kilometre Sherwink Trail I was headed to where I hiked through forest, past cliffs, and up, down, and around to a beach. Stacks stood offshore. At one point, a sign explained how capelin came to spawn on the beach below where the females layed up to 5 000 eggs. Fog rolled in and the sound of a warning horn reverberated through the grey mist. During the entire hike, I never saw another person as if the trail was mine.

Prince Edward Island National Park

This national park on the northern side of the island was established in 1937 to protect the beaches and sand dunes as well as the region’s wetlands and marshes. The twenty-seven square kilometre park faced the Gulf of St Lawrence and consisted of mostly access to its many sandy beaches. But there were some trails away from the dunes.

Dawson City’s Dome

The Midnight Dome was a metamorphic rock that rose almost nine hundred metres above its surroundings. From as far back as the late 1900s, people gathered on The Dome to watch the sunset close to midnight, then rise a couple of hours later. It was a destination I was keen to explore, so I set out from Dawson City hiking by the built-up dyke and passed the swirling Yukon as far as the tailings at the junction with the Klondike River. These piles of stones left by gold seekers remained even close to town. Journeying on foot, I trudged up to The Dome—a hill that overlooked Dawson City, the Klondike Valley, and the Yukon River.

Bogor and a muddy mountain trail

We didn’t stay long in Indonesia’s capital. We reached Bogor, sixty kilometres south, and relief at being away from Jakarta’s congestion washed over us in more ways than one. A guide approached as we left the markets and soon convinced us to visit Mt Salak the following day.

Burnaby Mountain hike

Some time back, a friend and I climbed the five hundred steps up Burnaby Mountain to the park perched above. A view of Burrard Inlet, Belcarra’s Admiralty Point and North Vancouver’s Deep Cove peeked through the trees. 

pulau ubin’s chek jawa wetlands

The few tourists on the island rented bikes. But when I biked around Taiwan’s Taitung, I had to watch the road, and missed some of the sights. So I hiked to Chex Jawa Wetlands’ boardwalk, and was rewarded with spotting butterflies, but not so lucky to discover a wild boar glaring at me through the forest.

Qingshui cliffs

I expected the seven kilometre hike from Chongde Station to be an up hill battle, but the train had already gently risen before reaching the village and the hike was relatively flat. What made it difficult, was the final tunnel. It was a hair-raising hike through a one and a half kilometre dark tunnel with no sidewalk where trucks roared past and their noisy engines echoed off the tunnel ceiling.

First stop in Taroko National Park

Just north of Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast was a mountainous region with fast flowing rivers, waterfalls, steep gorges and lush forests.

High above Taipei City

On the edge of Taipei City I sailed up Maokong Mountain on the Maokong Gondola. As soon as I got to the top I heard a passenger in the cabin before mine go straight to the ticket counter and ask for a ticket to head back down again. I shook my head. Were they only interested in the ride? There was an entire mountain to explore.

An en-chanting trail

One hundred metres from Chunwangsa Temple within Hallasan National Park was Seokgulam Trail leading to a hermitage. Situated in the Aheumanhopgol Valley, this was only a 1.5 kilometre hike one way, but it was steep and the steps were often amongst tree roots.