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Justin Barbour completes 700-kilometre solo trek across Newfoundland
Justin Barbour was greeted by Heather Oakley, his girlfriend of more than five years, and dozens of friends and family members after finishing his 700-kilometre trip across Newfoundland.
As Justin Barbour paddled his last few strokes toward a small dock on Cape Broyle Pond late Sunday evening, fuelled by the cheers of support from dozens of family and friends, he remarked, “We’re going to the Atlantic.”
On shore with his travelling companion, Saku, an 11-monthold Cape Shore water dog, the 29-year-old who just completed a nearly 700-kilometre trek across Newfoundland over 70 days wasn’t exactly eager to get back in the repeatedly patched and slowly deflating Alpacka Raft.
“I’m OK if I don’t paddle that raft again for another six months, to be honest with you, because I’ve done a lot of going in that,” he says with a laugh.
Barbour’s cross-province trek started April 19 in Robinsons on the province’s west coast. His route took him across snow-covered barrens, Long Range mountains, vast and sprawling bodies of water and rugged country.
“It’s been probably the greatest personal experience of my life, hands down,” he says. “It took a lot of hard work and patience and some lucky bounces along the way, but everything we experienced was definitely well worth it.”
That’s not to say there weren’t challenges. In fact, as one would expect for an endeavor as daunting and dangerous as this, there were many.
The transition from winter to spring was one of the first he experienced.
As snow melted, it became difficult to find areas of hardpacked snow to be able to keep his snowshoes on and continue using an old plastic sled to pull his 80-plus pounds of gear and supplies behind him.
“If we go walking on the marshes that are soft and full of water, that’s a very difficult go.”
Distance and the awareness of how much was left to cover each day was another challenge, more mental than physical.
While Barbour has done a lot of one- and two-night trips on his own in the past, and some longer treks such as a 120-kilometre solo adventure through the Avalon Wilderness Reserve two years ago, this was a different beast altogether.
“When you wake up and you know home is 450 kilometres away and you’re committed to doing this trip, the distance is a big thing,” says Barbour. “Once you get going, the day starts off and you get that steam, you’re fine.”
While he didn’t deal with any real food shortages along the way — he had four supply drops and ate 61 trout once fishing season opened — not succumbing to temptation and burning through his reserves was a lesson in self-control.
Barbour figures he was burning up to 6,000 calories a day while consuming only 2,000, putting him in a significant deficit.
“If I don’t get trout with my rice, I’m only eating a bowl of rice. I might have a granola bar, or a protein bar, but I could eat 100 protein bars at the end of the day,” he says.
Even with fish, it was never truly enough to sate his hunger.
“You’d think half a dozen trout and a bowl of pasta, you’re going to be good, but no man, still hungry,” says Barbour, who thinks he dropped 15 pounds on his voyage.
“I was around 183 when I left and if I’m 170 now I’d be surprised.” There were a few other delays, like waiting six days for Meelpaeg to thaw and an unplanned two-night stopover at a bed and breakfast in Piper’s Hole to recharge camera gear after experiencing problems with his solar charger, but nothing that pushed him to “pull the chute.”
Thanks to Saku, not even loneliness.
“Yeah, it’s a dog, but it’s like having someone there. I talked the ear off him and he’s a good listener.”
Barbour, a teacher by trade, will have the summer to recuperate from his voyage and start picking through the footage he shot and information he recorded along the way.
As for his next adventure, Barbour’s not sure where or when it’ll be, but there will be another.
“I do it all for the love, but if I can find a way to promote adventure and promote people following their dreams, not only go outdoors, but do anything they want to do, do that they’ve thought about, I hope I kind of inspired people to go and do that, but for me I’d like another big adventure down the road.”
If you had come across him in the middle of Newfoundland and asked him if he’d attempt this crossing again in the future, he’d probably say no.
“But now that I’m done and I know the excitement and I’ve been rewarded with family and friends and the personal accomplishment, I’d do it all over again.”