Can you tell us a little about yourself? A resume that includes work both as a field geologist and an RCMP officer seems unusual.
I am originally from Musquodoboit Harbour, NS, and grew up there before going to Halifax to university where I graduated from Dalhousie University with a geology degree. My first bit of field work was in NL, where I really enjoyed exploring the northern peninsula area. But geology work was spotty so I eventually returned to school and got into the environmental side of things, doing some work on water quality before eventually making a big switch over to the RCMP, in which I worked for over 22 years, roughly half in Nova Scotia and half in Newfoundland. My objective when I went to NL was to hopefully work a post in the east, west, and middle areas of the province, allowing me to explore most of the island. As a bonus, I also ended up spending two years in Labrador.

How did you get the idea for the book? I don’t think I’ve heard of a guide dedicated specifically to waterfalls before.
The idea for the book wasn’t really my idea. Benoit Lalonde sent out a request to see if anyone was interested in putting together something on NL waterfalls. He is the author of the NS and Cape Breton waterfall books. There is also a New Brunswick guide book as well. It just so happens that I kept track of all my hikes, bikes, ski trails, and kayaking routes etc … many of which included waterfalls. I told him I had the information and he or his publisher were welcome to have it. Goose Lane actually wanted the publication to mimic the NS and New Brunswick guides. This meant I had to revisit essentially all of the falls over again and get the required information. As I enjoy waterfall hikes, it was not too big of an issue, despite the huge size of NL compared to NS and NB.

How did you compose the elements of the guide’s design? The details for each of the 100 sites are so thorough – type of waterfall, elevation, even if there’s cell phone coverage – how could you ensure you thought of everything?
I had my own design essentially for a book if anyone ever needed it but it did not really fit that of Goose Lane’s so I had to alter a lot of my categories, etc to fit what they were requesting. So initially I had about 75% of what they were looking for and had to go out and revisit, with essentially their template, to complete their request.

It must be difficult to assess conditions for hikers of varying levels and abilities. You seem to be able to keep a lot of information in mind, and present it in a nice, personal tone. I guess that’s more of a comment than a question.
Yes, I really appreciate this comment. And you are right, it is very difficult to give an accurate assessment of conditions. Different seasons pose various challenges. Especially with waterfall hikes, there may be stream crossings which are very easy in low water and very difficult after significant rain. Many people often have different abilities. So many factors come in to play but essentially when you have hiked hundreds of trails, you can kinda average things out based on an overall assessment. Much of these assessments are based on my experience as a hiker and hopefully the reader can get a sense of what I would consider to be easy or difficult based on a few of the hikes once completed.

Do you have a favourite waterfall?
I don’t have a favourite. So many factors can come into play. Sometimes, for example, I can hike to a beautiful falls on a crappy day and it just doesn’t seem like a fabulous experience. Other times, I can walk to a tiny little fall on a great day and have a swim and have the best experience. Sometimes you have a beautiful trail that brings you to a so-so falls or a really hard and miserable bushwhack that brings you to an amazing fall. But the overall experience kinda balances out. I think perhaps if I was to name a favourite, I would surely forget or leave out a few others that should be mentioned. But mostly, my favourite falls seem to be those that exceed expectations. IE: I don’t know much about them and when I get there they are much more spectacular then I would have thought. Some examples of these would be perhaps: Flat Rock, which actually was several beautiful falls; the falls on the Alexander Murray Trail, which are not well documented but amazing; and Gull Island, which was hard to find but an easy walk to a very impressive fall which I thought was very much underrated.

Waterfalls of Newfoundland and Labrador: A Guide is published by Goose Lane.

This interview was conducted via email and has been lightly edited for clarity.

Waterfall artworks above by Arshile Gorky and  Kawamura  Manshu.