Reprinted from The Packet, December 18, 2015
by Jonathan Parsons
 Lots of the work that has gone on to develop the trail in the Southwest Arm area has included machinery. |
 The trail looks to provide a better and more accessible route for people who frequent the isolated area of Upper Deer Harbour. |
Southwest Arm committee looks to further develop route to Upper Deer Harbour
Through a true community effort, a group of individuals from the Southwest Arm area have already made great strides, installing and developing a trail running from Hodge’s Cove to the isolated cabin country in Upper Deer Harbour.
It takes about two hours to travel the trail now, which can be treacherous in places, and ideally they want to be able to go from Hodge’s Cove to Deer Harbour in an hour in a side-by-side off-road vehicle.
What makes the group’s commitment so remarkable is the sheer amount members have achieved with zero government funding.
Cabin owners have contributed their own money and the trail association and its chairman Max Smith have organized fundraisers and collected donations — all official with their own accountant — and used about $30,000 since they’ve begun. They have use of their own small backhoe and have excavated much of the trail, evading water and bogs and installing bridges.
The trail is more 20 kilometres in total, but they are concentrating on about 14 kilometres of the route.
And there’s plenty more work to be done. Committee members estimate their work is still only about 60 per cent complete. Areas they’ve passed over on the first go need to be revisited and patched up.
“It’s a beautiful area over there,” said Smith. “In the summertime, there’s a lot of sailboats and pleasure boats.”
One of the main reasons for the development of the trail is to give it a year-round access for emergency situations.
The Deer Harbour area, easily accessible by boat, has about 40 cabins in one area and more in separate parts of the harbour, including on the existing trail itself.
The trail is used by many different people for a variety of purposes.
“People used the trail in the last year,” said committee member Greg Peddle.
There is a licensed salmon river and hunters frequent the area. The development of the trail could see more and more people visit the region.
In the past, if someone were to fall sick, a helicopter was the only practical way out if it were too stormy for boats, trapped by wind, for example.
“You’ve got to come out and go right down Trinity Bay (in boat) and I’ve been up there waiting sometimes three and four days waiting for the wind to drop,” said Smith.
The area has plenty of history as well. Committee members’ families lived in the Deer Harbour area building schooners many years ago and the physical aesthetics of the region are great.
“The landscape is beautiful,” said Peddle. “It doesn’t compare to other parts (of the area).”
The members of the trail committee hope to garner more attention for their cause.
They’ve already put in a large amount of time and work and want to continue to improve the lifeline to Deer Harbour. They’d like to see halfway points, warm up shacks, culverts, safety signage and more bridge work.
They’re even looking into incorporating a memorial for some of the people who worked so hard on the trail, but are no longer around to see it completed 100 per cent, like Max Seaward.
They say, so far, people have really come together to begin this work. Now they need to come together to finish it.
If you would like to help the cause the committee has worked so hard towards, you can get in contact with Karen’s Convenience in Gooseberry Cove or Linda’s Gas Bar in Hodge’s Cove. Any donations can be made out to Deer Harbour Trail Association. Receipts will be issued.