2016/08 Newf'land trip - La Manche |
|||||
We drove further south to camp at La Manche provincial park and only had time for a short walk before dinner. The park’s entrance and road system is very odd, but we found what we thought was the trail to the village of La Manche.
Thursday August 18th
It was a cold, drizzly morning, with little incentive for us to get up. The rain stopped after a late breakfast and we set off to hike to the abandoned village of La Manche. It began on an old road, climbing steeply up and over a forested hill, not a good sign as a fishing village would be down at sea level. Sure enough it took us to a parking lot and the beginning of the real trail. This, of course went steeply downhill, ending with sections of steep rock to clamber down.
La Manche was an isolated fishing village and dated from the 1840s, when it had a small church and a school. A suspension bridge and a rocky coastal trail was their only land access. The population declined and the village was abandoned in 1966 after a storm destroyed its jetties and the bridge.
Only the foundations and steps and fireplaces of the houses remain, sad places looking out over the inlet for boats that will never come. There are very few flat spots so a visit to the neighbours might have involved a climb. The parks service has installed cleats on the rock
faces to make them safer for hikers, but what did the locals do? Today, the East Coast Trail runs through here and a new suspension bridge spans the river.
It was a long walk back up. Along the way we saw gaggles of Indian pipes, thriving under the trees.