Week 1 started briefly on foot to set the pace and connecting with the earth’s heart beat. Then transitioned to the mountain bike. Both slow on the on the soft red sharp-edged rail rock.

500 Days PJ imageFor the first week I had my cousin Shelley looking after production management. Still in phone range I sent off requests for chain oil and duct tape. She was able to track and find me with the GPS system. Filmmaker Ann Verrall also traveled in a rented car looking for side roads the intercepted the trail to do some filming.

On the trail for the first few days I mostly encountered ATVs with passing waves and the odd strange look. But things warmed up on Day 5 as I rode into Placentia Junction. There I was warmly greeted by 11-year old Cole Reid on his dirt bike. He pulled up at where I was sitting on the ground looking at a map for a good place to camp. “Why don’t you camp behind my Nanne’s house?” he said.

His twinkling eyes and warm smile led me just a few hundred feet away to a nice grassy back yard where he helped me set up camp for the night. His buddies, his father Shane and his Nanne also wandered over, opened their homes, kitchens and bathroom to us.

 

Blind trust and open hearts – the trail leads to the Canada I remember – to the land that I love.

 

As I embark on to week #2, I bid farewell to my good friend Ann Verrall and go now alone into the move desolate parts of Newfoundland.