Today was our last full day in Labrador and we woke up in the gorgeous Pinware River Provincial Park, which was especially pleasant this morning as it was September and the black flies were non-existent.

We didn't have much distance to cover today as we were only 40km (25mi) from the Labrador-Quebec border, but excited to get on with the day, we didn't stick around the provincial park's beach for very long.

Even though I'd driven the tiny nub of Quebec highway up here a handful of times now, I find it a fascinating, isolated place that I wanted Isy to see.

The village of Blanc-Sablon is interesting enough, followed by more sandy and lengthy beaches, and then there's the impressive Brador Falls almost spilling into the road while simultaneously being tucked away. Parking the car, we climbed the 30-odd steps to the outlook over the rocky falls.

In double-checking the name of these falls just now, I discovered there's actually a 2.4km trail which leads to the upper falls and the waterfall source at Ruisseau Billy-Bone. Something for the todo list for next time!

The QC-138 up here cuts through rugged land with a handful of tucked-in coves and mysterious gravel roads. With such hills and winding roads, almost all of the gravel roads give no indication of where they lead, and later looking at a map, you see all of these fun place names like Anse de l'Isthme (Isthmus Cove), Havre des Belle Amours (Harbour of Beautiful Loves), and Anse de New York. There's stuff to get around and find.

The one offshoot road we went down split up the drive almost perfectly as it was just outside of Middle Bay. It lead to a whole separate fishing area, while the actual village of Middle Bay doesn't have much for fishing stages or boats. There's another trail here apparently, but just like the Upper Brador Falls trail, it isn't signed, so it's also now on the future todo list.

After driving to the end of the QC-138 in Vieux Fort, we returned to Labrador and I figured Isy should see the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada at Point L'Amour. She was much more enthralled with a nearby burial mound.

Approaching the lighthouse, I spotted this Northern Harrier floating in the updrafts perfectly in place, hunting for a meal in the grasses below. The harrier couldn't have cared less about us either, as we sat there beside it, observing and appreciating the scene.

Continuing on past the lighthouse, there was a burnt-out building and then the five houses at Fox Point. Finding a small parking spot and considering our light itinerary today, I thought it would be nice to walk some of the always enjoyable Labrador Pioneer Footpath.

Isy and Kingsley were also finding this scenic and grassy footpath enjoyable.

In fact, it led Isy to saying that she'd love to hike its 68km (42mi) of trail one day, and while I always take people's "we should do that someday"s with the utmost urgency, the Labrador Pioneer Footpath is always going to be hard since you'd want to do it during the short September window that avoids the horrific Labrador black flies, while still having warm enough nights.

In addition to a new portion of the Labrador Pioneer Footpath, I figured I would finally take a look inside this big steel structure that I'd seen for years during various visits to the Point L'Amour Lighthouse.

Almost 10 years prior, I saw some poor sap cycletouring out here on an absolutely abysmal day of wind and rain, as he set up camp in a tiny tent out in the elements, while this building laid wide open mere feet away.

It was one of those times you want to go explain to someone that it's okay to pop into random, wide-open abandoned buildings. That no one's going to care.

In recent years this building looked secure, until this visit where I discovered that it had caught fire back in May and now sat wide open following the firefighters' best efforts.

News articles about the fire informed me that this building used to be the arena for the area, which makes sense as a lot of small town arenas in Newfoundland and Labrador look just like this building.

The building had recently been used as storage for people's cars, boats, trailers, and motorhomes. None of this was salvageable, which was especially frustrating for some of those who paid for storage, thinking their belongings here had an extra layer of safety due to the fact that the electricity wasn't hooked up.

One poor bastard in the news article was actually driving over from Labrador City and spending the night in Goose Bay when this building caught fire. His plans were to come get his motorhome the next day until he heard the unfortunate news.

In the years that've passed since this update, I've been back to Point Amour and this building has been flattened.

Although I'm not obsessed with these cookie-cutter rural Newfoundland arenas like other arenas, there would have been some sadness if I hadn't stopped in on this day.

Grabbing dinner and figuring that we didn't need to wait right until sunset to start camping, we made our way back down to Blanc-Sablon and their municipal campground.

I chose this spot simply for convenience and its picnic table, but quickly discovered that Blanc-Sablon put their campsite in a spectacular location beneath the tabular rocks stacked upward behind town.

Isy could tell I was excited about the golden light as we set up the tent, so after helping with the unwieldy tent poles, she told me to run off and that she'd take care of everything else.

Kingsley was whining at us and providing extra annoyance for the tent setup - plus I thought he'd enjoy the walk - so I brought him along initially, but the way up the hill featured a lot of separate, bathtub-sized rocks with crevasses all over the place. It was so dangerous for a long-legged dog, that quickly enough I brought him back down and retied him to the Patriot.

And oh yeah, this campsite was completely free. I guess it's Blanc-Sablon's way of encouraging tourism at any of their approximately 15 businesses.

It worked on us.

We caught the early morning ferry back to the Island of Newfoundland the next day, and feeling like we hadn't done enough and that there was no need to rush home, I was ready to stop at just about whatever abandoned house presented itself.

We didn't even get back on the Northern Peninsula's NL-430 before spotting this crumbling home in Forresters Point. Isy and Kingsley laid in the grass as I fought through the grasses to check the front door.

It turned out to not be the craziest abandoned house ever, but there were some hockey cards to pick through and clothes must've been stored in the attic, as tiles had fallen away, leaving sleeves and pant legs to hang like vines.

Anyway, overall a fruitful and relaxing trip up to Southern Labrador and the Quebec North Shore.