37.   After many years of should have, could have, would have, I decided this would be the year I’d finally get away on an ATV camping trip. Myself and the crew from Southern Harbour began making plans in late spring and decided that a 3 day trip in July would work well for everyone.

36.   Our trip would take us from Southern Harbour (near Arnold’s Cove) west along the Trail-way Provincial Park to the Terra Nova area, no particular destination in mind.

 

35.   We awoke early Saturday morning to a beautiful clear, sunny skies which was rare this time of year in Southern Harbour, the community where fog is born.

34.   We got up and started getting gear, grub, and tools gathered the previous evening packed onto the racks of our four ATVs. I was riding Project Foreman, Captain H his 2006 Grizzly 660, young Joe & Terry on a Honda Fourtrax 300 and Tyson his 2001 Foreman 450. With 5 riders, and 4 bikes with two racks each we had plenty of room for all the gear.

33.   Even though we started loading up early in the morning it was still 10am before we actually left Southern Harbour.
 

32.   Not two minutes out the road we experienced our first mechanical breakdown. Tyson’s ‘01 Honda Foreman was seriously lacking power and was unable to climb any of the hills. We figured a lack of maintenance and contaminated fuel was the culprit.

31.   Already behind schedule we decided to leave his bike in Southern Harbour as time was getting short to diagnose and fix the fuel system. Tyson and I rode back to the house while the rest of crew went on to Megan’s Gas Bar to fuel up.

30.   We dropped off the troublesome bike and loaded all Tyson's gear and the gear off my back rack into a steel ATV trailer, (the bush buggy) installed my rear rack cushion, and departed for the second time.

29.   My Foreman could certainly feel the extra weight of 2 riders, additional gear and the heavy trailer, but these bikes were meant to work and it handled the task well.

28.   We took our time heading to Megan’s, but half way along our 2 kilometre journey Tyson tapped me on the shoulder just as the bush buggy passed us!

27.   It proceeded to cross the road, skid along the shoulder until the tongue dug in, pitching the trailer end over end before coming to a rest right side up in the ditch among the spilled contents of the trailer! My bike was equipped with a 1-7/8" trailer ball and the bush buggy required the 2" ball already installed on another crew members bike who was waiting for us at the Gas Bar.

26.   Luckily everything was packed water tight for just such an adventure and we quickly reloaded the trailer, hooked it back to my Foreman, made a safety chain from rope and proceeded to Megan’s for gas and a trailer ball swap.

 

25.   We left Megan’s headed west through Put and Paddle camp ground to Arnold’s Cove Junction where we picked up the old railway track.

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21.   Since none of us had ventured much past Clarenville we didn’t know exactly where we would end up camping, but we’d figure that as the day wore on. The track from Arnold’s Cove to Goobies is pretty rough so travelling with full loads was relatively slow going.

20.   Only recently an official snowmobile club has finally been formed here on the east coast, the East Coast Trail Riders. The Provincial Trail-way is generally in rougher shape here compared to all areas west of Goobies. Years of regular winter trail grooming and maintenance by longstanding clubs across the island has kept the trail-way in much better condition and lends a noticeably smoother ride even in summer.

19.   Hopefully in the future as the East Coast Trail Riders becomes more established and more trail passes are sold, the funding will be there to better maintain the track Goobies-East.

 

18.   About 30 kilometres East of Clarenville the next surprise occurred when Captain H's Yamaha Grizzly decided to spit the core of the muffler right out on the ground! Unable to travel with no exhaust, I took out my fairly well stocked tool kit and we managed to patch the pipe together well enough to make it to Clarenville.

17.   Luckily the boys at OMB Supply in Clarenville were very helpful in loaning us some tools and self tapping screws to make a decent repair to the exhaust. With the Grizzly fixed we grabbed a quick bite to eat, picked up a few last minute groceries and continued on our way.
 

16.   The track winds its way through the heart of Clarenville and Shoal Harbour which was slow going, but we weren’t in a rush and the scenery was beautiful. West of Clarenville the track wound its way through gorgeous hills and valleys criss-crossing the Trans Canada Highway under bridges and culverts along the way.

15.   The topography flattens out as you get closer to and eventually pass Thorburn Lake. By now it was nearly 5:30 pm we were getting tired and hungry so we started looking for a camp site. More importantly the bush buggy was also starting to cause trouble.

14.   Since we were in a rush leaving (for the 2nd time) that morning we didn’t properly inspect the trailer. If we had we would have found that the lugs on the Left side tire were loose. The long journey caused the lug holes to wear and expand to the point that the wheel could come off the trailer out over the lugs! We managed to limp the trailer to a n area just east of Port Blandford where we found a beautiful clearing to camp.

13.   It was a rather large clearing partially grown in with alders but was secluded from the track, had lots of dry sandy ground for tenting, and was close to a large river. We quickly unloaded the bikes, then some of us set up camp while the rest gathered fire wood before getting supper ready.

 

12.   To say we ate well on this trip would be an understatement, we brought lots of food for our 3 day excursion and we planned on eating all of it! For supper we  barbequed hamburgers on a grate over an open fire we let burn down to coals.

11.   This certainly cured our hunger as we finished setting up camp. Later that evening while enjoying a few beverages and entertainment provided by crew member Terry, we barbequed lovely thick Pork Chops again over an open fire burned down to coals supplemented by a bag of charcoal.

10.   The pork chops were paired with pan fried fresh mushrooms and onions which made for a midnight snack fit for a king!

 

9.   The next morning we woke early to beautiful sunny skies and the smell of bacon and eggs in the pan cooked by the early riser of the crew.

8.   With the bush buggy unfit to continue we decided to run it back to Clarenville unloaded and drop it off at Tyson’s house in Milton.  It was slow going back to Clarenville with a bum wheel which had to constantly be reset onto the Hub, but we made it and before long we were back at the campsite.

 

7.   We spent the rest of the day trail riding and trouting headed west past Terra Nova Golf Course and later the community of Terra Nova. We explored many side trails with most of them leading to dead ends and cut-overs, and stopped for a rest at Pitt’s Pond where we waded in the warm, shallow, sandy bottomed pond.

 

6.   We returned to our camp site later that evening to enjoy some time relaxing by the fire, cooking a delicious supper and unwind. On the menu that evening was Moose Steak which had been cubed and soaked in a home made marinade since we left home the previous day.

5.   This was cooked in the pan and paired with a selection of string beans, chopped peppers, onions an mushrooms for an awesome back woods stir fry. Our midnight snack consisted of Cheese filled juicy jumbo hot dogs and regular hot dogs roasted over the open fire.

4.   This was the last night of our trip and we celebrated with more cold beverages and a lovely bonfire down by the river.

3.   Life certainly doesn't get much better and it really makes me realise how lucky we are as Newfoundlanders to be able to enjoy this sort of activity right at our doorstep.

 

2.   Monday was a beautiful clear morning with a touch of morning dew having settled across the land overnight. With one of our crew due at work today mid-morning we had a very early rise, rapidly broke camp and packed our gear aboard the bikes. Although we didn’t have the bush buggy and we were still down one machine, all of our food had been consumed so we had significantly less cargo on the return trip.

1.   This time I loaded both racks of my foreman quite high with gear secured with ratchet straps and Tyson got on with one of the other boys for the return trip. With the work deadline pressing we were thankful that the return trip was uneventful.  We made it back to Southern Harbour in plenty of time for Young Joe to leave for work while the rest of us had lots of time to relax, unpack and clean up. All in all an epic adventure that had been talked about forever, finally came to fruition and thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith