Labrador Tales: Still my kind of Paradise

Last time I was in Labrador, I had an amazing experience camping near Cartwright the night before the crash. So of course I was excited to return and explore more deeply. Having been all around Labrador now, Cartwright is still special.

My day started out just west of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. After getting gas and groceries in town, I headed east. Highway 510 is smooth pavement now, but the road to Cartwright is still 90 km of gravel…making it feel more remote. It’s a scenic drive, especially nearing the coast as the hills get a little higher.

My enjoyment of Cartwright isn’t really about the journey, and it’s not really about the town itself either. There’s a gas station, a small grocery store, a fishery, and a small school. The houses are worn, the streets are gravel, and it’s very quiet. There’s some very minor attempts at tourism(a few short trails), but otherwise it seems to be mostly passed by and forgotten. On this trip and 8 years ago I saw no other obvious tourists…aside from one older couple in a truck camper that came and left in short order.

I rolled through town slowly, headed for a small spot by the water. 8 years ago I had arrived, and, still being new to wild camping, stopped at the town office to ask where to camp. They looked at me like I was an alien and suggested I go to this spot. I didn’t end up camping there last time, so I thought I’d check it out.

There is a short rough road/trail that follows the shoreline. I found a nice clearing right by the water to setup camp. It was a delightful spot with amazing views of the bay. One of the more scenic places I’ve camped at!

However, it was quite windy and the temperature had dropped. I don’t remember exactly what the temperature was(10-12ish?), but that evening, typing the daily journal, my fingers were going numb from the cold. At least there were no bugs. This was to become a common trade-off: bugs or wind. I’ll be writing more on this, but for now: the elements often made camping a bit of a trial, despite the amazing scenery.

That evening I went for a walk through town and then on what seemed to be a newer boardwalk along the coast. A big part of the magic of Cartwright is the scenic bay. The golden hour was nice, although there wasn’t really much of a sunset…and it was too windy and cold to really enjoy sitting still.

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The next morning I headed out of town and up Blackhead(Black Head?) hill. Last time I was here this was the major highlight. I had camped up here with the amazing views of the bay below, and intended to do the same again.

I remember the road up being quite rough, but that was also my first trip with a Jeep and I was still getting used to rough-road driving. It didn’t seem that bad this time and I just enjoyed the ride…so much that I didn’t take a single photo of the road.

I had heard there were ruins of an old radar base up here, so I tried out a different fork in the road and found it. Everything was very overgrown and it took a bit of wandering around to find things. The one larger structure was cool. I’m guessing it was a foundation for a rotating radar dish.

This was a joint USA/Canada radar base that was part of the early warning system during the cold war. It closed down in 1968. There were scattered foundations, but many were too overgrown to see, until I took the drone up. There used to be a small tour operator that I think did tours up here, but it seems there’s less and less traffic these days and the bushes are quite successfully taking over.

Then I headed for my camp spot. I’m sure I was grinning from ear to ear as I pulled up to the amazing view of the bay. It’s just spectacular and photos don’t really do it justice. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, charging some batteries, and went for a short exploratory walk.

The photos weren’t quite as spectacular as I had hoped. There was a blue haze that I’m pretty sure was smoke from the fires on Newfoundland. Also, my photos from 8 years ago were simply spectacular, and I just couldn’t match them. Either way the actual experience was terrific.

Looking at the photos now, they are actually quite nice, it’s just that the real thing was so out-of-this-world that the photos don’t really capture it. It’s really hard to show the fact that I’m actually on a hill a couple hundred feet above the bay, with a surrounding view of water.

As the evening came, the wind picked up and it got cold again. So I ended up retreating into the Jeep, and just popped out for a bit to snap a photo of the sunset. It was quite windy that night…probably why people don’t camp up here. I remember wind being an issue last time too.

The following morning I got gas at the small gas station and moved on. 8 years ago I had left Cartwright, only to crash that afternoon. There were no catastrophes this time, but I was headed into some small trials. More on that in the next entry.

Throughout my time in Cartwright I saw maybe a dozen people. It’s very quiet and off the beaten path, and I think that’s why I like it. It’s full of spectacular views with a side feeling of remoteness. Before the road to Goose Bay was completed, there was a short period where this was an end of the road location, and I imagine some of the trails and attempts at tourism started then. But now, it’s a side trip and probably not worth it for most people. I think a lot of travelers require things to do at their destinations and there really isn’t much here…but I’m not really searching for things to do. I’m just there to breathe the air, feel the wind, hear the waves, and snap a few photos while I’m at it. This is my kind of paradise, and what a blessing it was to return.