By Peter Armitage
"Leave no trace - take your garbage home with you, and leave nature the way you found it"
1:50,000 scale NTS maps Holyrood 1 N/6, Bay Bulls 1 N/7, and Ferryland 1 N/2
Madisons Rock is a large hill at the western end of Mobile Big Pond on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland. The hill is 1032 ft. high and is smack on the northeastern corner of the Avalon Wilderness area. A commanding 360 degree view from the top makes a visit worth while; the views west across the interior barrens and east across Mobile Big Pond to the Atlantic are great!
Map of Mobile Big Pond area (1:250,000 scale)
Linda Hruszowy, Mark Dykeman, Bill Ritchie and I began our trip at St.Michaels near Tors Cove one Sunday morning in September 1999. Riding in two four-wheel vehicles, we transported four single kayaks along a rough gravel road to the shore at the eastern end of Mobile Big Pond. Approximately 9 km in length, this road is accessed from the Southern Shore Highway about half way between Mobile and Tors Cove. The road was built to provide access to the hydroelectric facilities at Mobile First Pond and the dam at the eastern end of Mobile Big Pond. Even though cabins have been built along most of its length, the road remains pretty rough meaning that travel in a heavily loaded car with kayaks on top is ill-advised.
Linda, Bill and Mark posing at the top of Madisons Rock (photo Peter Armitage)
As you may have gathered from the above, Mobile Big Pond is a hydroelectric reservoir. Given the fact that the water level is managed for electricity consumption rather than the natural flood cycle of the pond, the shore line has the scarring (erosion along edges, boulder-strewn) that is so typical of hydro reservoirs. Personally, I don't find the shores of such reservoirs very attractive.
Arriving at Mobile Big Pond about mid-morning, we crossed the dam and parked on the gravel beach at the end of the lake. The Pond is about 7 km in length, running east-west, so that whenever a strong westerly is blowing, the fetch can be pretty large. Debutante kayakers might want to keep an eye on the weather forecast, especially wind predictions, before heading out on this stretch of water given its capacity to generate large waves.
Bill Ritchie posing by his kayak at our departure point at the east end of the Pond (photo Peter Armitage)
Linda, Mark, Bill and I had a bit of wind to contend with upon departure but nothing serious enough to deter our travel. We made good time to the west end of the Pond where we parked our kayaks in preparation for a short hike to the summit of Madisons Rock. Given the relatively low water level, we didn't explore South West Arm. When the water is higher, e.g. in the spring, one can travel deep up this arm to the mouth of a brook that drains Daltons Pond inside the Wilderness Area. Caribou are known to traverse this spot from time to time.
Having lunched on Madisons Rock, admired the view, and helped Bill find the surveyors' marks for an artistic project he's doing, we headed back down to our kayaks, and off to the east once again. We chose the northern shore of the Pond this time, paddling across Clam River Arm and North Arm. We made shore by our vehicles about 5:00 pm.
In all, this was a pretty good day trip, combining kayaking and a bit of hiking. One could easily load up the kayaks with camping gear and use this route as a way into the northeast corner of the Wilderness Area. Of course, it's the view from Madisons Rock that is the primary attraction of this trip.
Mark Dykeman visits a small rock outcrop in the lake on our way west (photo Peter Armitage)
Beached at the west end. It's a short hike to the top of Madisons Rock from here (photo Peter Armitage)
View east across Mobile Big Pond from Madisons Rock (photo Peter Armitage)
View from Madisons Rock to South West Arm, brook draining Daltons Pond (photo Peter Armitage)
Linda Hruszowy on her way home (photo Peter Armitage)
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