Enjoying the fall colours in the Humber Valley

by Keith and Heather Nicol 
On Sunday, October 13 we joined the Humber Valley Hikers for one of the best fall hikes in the province-The Appalachian Trail from Humber Village to Barry’s Lookout. The trail winds under a canopy of birch trees and with the bright sun and light winds we couldn’t have asked for a better day to hike this route. The trail head is at 48 59.262 N and 57 47.001 W and we usually park at the Aliant parking lot at the western edge of Humber Village. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Barry’s Lookout and below us were the golden hillsides of the Humber Valley with Deer Lake in the distance. With the ideal hiking weather our group of 19 decided to continue along the ridge to several other scenic lookouts. Another option for this hike is to start at Wild Cove Pond (48 58.262 N and 57 49.897 W) and walk to the 5 km to Humber Village but that requires a car shuttle at the end to get everyone back to the starting point to collect their cars. The fall colours should be good for another 2 weeks so check out this hike and be sure to bring your camera. For more hikes in Western Newfoundland see: http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/~knicol/NLhiking.htm

Along the Appalachian Trail near Humber Village

Looking to the east toward Deer Lake

On Monday, October 14 we decided to head out in our sea kayaks to see the fall colours along the lower part of the Humber River. We put in at the rowing club beach just off of Riverside Drive in Corner Brook and set our sights for the Prince Edward Park shoreline. From there we paddled toward the Humber River and by sticking close to the shore we could easily paddle to Ballam Bridge against the current. The northern side of the Humber River had splashes of red maples to contrast with the yellow birches and we spent an enjoyable 2 hours paddling along this colourful shoreline. Another scenic paddling trip at this time of year is to paddle from Humber Valley Resort to Humber Village. This is suited to novice canoers or sea kayakers since the Humber River has only one small section of small rapids along this route.

Paddling along the Lower Humber River