What a demoralizing day.

It started off well enough. I was awake at 4:30 and by 5:00 I could see mountains of Newfoundland peeking above the fog. The ferry docked around 7:00. The fog at this point was really heavy, and I wasted some time in Port-aux-Basques looking for a place to have breakfast. I stopped at a tourist info booth to ask about restaurants only to be told that nothing really opened in town until 10:00 am.

I had breakfast at a greasy spoon and left the town shortly after ten. There was a short climb out of town, but after that I was on the flat again with a bit of tailwind. I decided to leave the highway to check out some secondary roads and wasted two hours. Back on the Trans-Canada, the hills started to increase in grade, length, and frequency.

I foolishly passed by a convenience store just off the road at South Branch River. The next store, as it turned out, was not for another 50 km. Those place names on Newfoundland road maps are just that -- placenames. There is no guarantee that anyone actually lives there!

Crabb Provincial Park was closed - it was damaged by spring floods. I camped in the scrub near the convenience store/gas station. A lady cyclist from Holland was camped nearby. A cigarette-smoking doctor with hiking boots. She too is going to Gros Morne. It's good knowing I'm not the only one crazy enough to attempt this.

The mosquitos are fierce and hungry.

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