The coast to Otter Brook and beyond

On this final page of this long essay, I will present a few views of the coast to the south of Polletts Cove; they are all fairly poor, with haze and shadows figuring prominently, for which I again apologize, but they will, at least, serve to identify some of the major features along this incredibly beautiful coast.

Photo #1, a moderately wide-angled view from off Fort Cove taken on the return trip, shows the “ramp” at Polletts Cove at the far left and the coast to the south. Much of that coast is in the shadows of the still very thick clouds, but the sun, capriciously and fortunately, has chosen to also illuminate the area at Otter Brook, below the peak of Black Brook Mountain at the centre right of the photo. Beyond Otter Brook are the Black Cliffs below Black Brook Mountain. This is most of the terrain through which the Polletts Cove Trail passes on its way from the trailhead at Archies Brook to Polletts Cove.

Photo #2, like all of the remaining photos on this page, except the last, is a telephoto view; taken from north of Fort Cove on the return trip when the sun was somewhat more generous, it shows the “ramp” at Polletts Cove and the coast to the south, the first part of which was explored on the previous web page. In this photo, a distinct cleft can be seen in the middle of the photo, though the topographical map shows no brook running through it. Haynes’ second edition shows the Polletts Cove Trail as parallel to the coast undulating between the 100 m and 200 m (325 to 650 ft) contour lines as mandated by the terrain once it leaves Polletts Cove, i.e., midway up, as the plateau here is above 320 m (1050 ft) in elevation.

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Photo #3, from much closer at hand than photo #2, shows the continuation of the coast to the south. The cleft at the centre of photo #2 is here at the far left. The peak of Black Brook Mountain, which is well inland of the coast, is at the far right in the distance; it lies on the south side of Otter Brook. The forest here covers everything except the lower portion of the cliffs, which remain sand/dirt/rubble with occasional rock outcroppings as they reach the waters of the Gulf. This photo shows a considerable collection of shoals and rocks in the waters off and close to shore, attesting perhaps to a previous state where the cliffs were further out than they are now.

Photo #4, from the same location as photo #3, looks at the area at the mouth of Otter Brook. That mouth is not visible here, being hidden by the point of land sticking out at the southern end of the mountain which takes up the left side of the photo. The profile of Black Brook Mountain, a two-peaked summit with the inland peak rising to 382 m (1250 ft) , runs across the centre of the photo. The coastal plain at the right is on the south side of Otter Brook, which Haynes describes as forming “a lovely small valley”.

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Photo #5 looks at the coast from the mouth of Otter Brook at the far left across the Black Cliffs left of centre and on south to Kerrs Point at the far right. Alas, much of this coast in shadow, except for the coastal plain at Otter Brook and, by the sun’s happy caprice, the site of the Gampo Abbey on the near side of Kerrs Point, whose red-roofed buildings can be glimpsed in the original. The community of Red River lies on the far side of Kerrs Point and the village of Pleasant Bay is beyond Kerrs Point on the far shore. The Polletts Cove Trail head is about a third of the way in from the right edge of the photo; a small dot in the original marks the camp there.

Photo #6 shows Kerrs Point in the centre of the photo and Pleasant Bay (the water) and MacKenzies Mountain at the far right. Right of centre, a small portion of the Cabot Trail can be seen climbing up MacKenzies Mountain. The village of Pleasant Bay is hidden from view behind Kerrs Point. The small point at the far right is Wreck Cove Point; although it appears to sit on the northern shore at the base of MacKenzies Mountain, it actually is about a kilometre (⅗ mi) south along the western shore. In the shadowed area at the left of Kerrs Point, the gravel road leading from Red River past the Gampo Abbey to the trail head at Archies Brook can be seen descending the mountainside, named Baldy according to the topographical map, even though it is forested. In the shadows about a sixth of the way in from the left edge, you may be able to make out the buildings at the end of the Red River Road that mark the location of the Pollets Cove Trail head at Archies Brook.

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Photo #7, a moderately wide-angled view, was a final backwards glimpse at the coast to the south of Delaneys Point. The blue skies were returning, though many of the land areas are still in the shadow of the clouds. But the “ramp” at Polletts Cove and the coastal plain at Otter Brook are getting at least a little bit of sun and the other features of this coast, Black Brook Mountain, the well-named Black Cliffs, Kerrs Point, and Mackenzies Mountain are all readily distinguishable, if not clearly depicted.

If you have made it here this far, dear reader, you have seen a wild and beautiful coast with incredible and memorable features you can observe nowhere else. I hope you have enjoyed the photos, in spite of their defects, as much as I did while seeing this marvellously varied coast. I was immensely privileged to have been taken on this trip and I will be ever grateful to Hector for arranging it for me and to the captain for being so patient as I attempted to capture as much of it as I could with my camera. I know that I will be enjoying these scenes that I could only have guessed at for as long as I live.