BMDE Trek 1D is a 4-5 hour 15.5km hike that begins 4kms into Webcon logging road where it intersects with the gated Benoit’s Cove water supply road. After a 1.5km walk down the road, hikers must cross shin-to-knee-deep Clark’s Brook (ideally wearing aqua slippers) then hike 1.2kms up a gravel excavator track
before turning off onto a not-so-wet wetland at the base of the Blow Me Down Mountains.
After crossing the grass and shrubs, hikers climb 230 meters up a rocky gully to the top of a headland plateau, occasionally crossing a crystal-clear stream that in late spring and early summer is composed largely of meltwater from winter’s snowpack.
The spectacular view from here – including the eastern slopes of the Blow Me Down Mountains, Humber Arm and Outer Bay of Islands – is reason enough to stop for a little break before continuing on up another 80 meters (to a height of 570 meters) across a Martian-like peridotite landscape for a distance of one kilometer to a series of small mountaintop ponds.
From here the route continues on across the top of the Blow Me Down Mountains for another 1.5kms to the back end of Charlie’s Bottom, a broad two-tier cirque just east of Blow Me Down Gulch.
The descent into the valley is gradual and leads to a picturesque flat basin approximately halfway down
followed by a 100 meter drop to Charlie’s cascading waterfalls, which is a pleasant spot for a short break or refreshing dip!
Turning east, the last leg of the trek is an essentially level 6.5km walk across the base of the mountains to Clark’s Brook and Webcon Road.
