According to the Flat Earth Society, Brimstone Head on Fogo Island is one of the Four Corners of the World. Really.

What is the Flat Earth Society? “The mission of the Flat Earth Society is to promote and initiate discussion of Flat Earth theory as well as archive Flat Earth literature.”

Alright, so that doesn’t tell us much. But here’s what Wikipedia has to say: “The Flat Earth model is an archaic belief that the Earth’s shape is a plane or disk. Most ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD) and China until the 17th century.”

I still have barely an inkling of what the Flat Earth Society or the theory really is. I just can’t be arsed. Even Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism pokes fun at it.

In all seriousness, though, the designation is pretty cool. Papa New Guinea, the Bermuda Triangle, Fogo, and Hydra (Greece). I love how I keep finding all these Greece/Newfoundland links.

Riley, Corbin and I went in search of the trail that would take us to Brimstone Head. But as things are in rural Newfoundland, the signage was a bit off. We ended up in the wrong end of town, at Fogo Head.

The view was intimidating. A straight staircase into the sky. But dammit, the view from the top was too irresistible…and so we began our climb.

It was windy. Windy and steep and exhausting. Our thighs burned and our ears ached with the wind whistling between them. We passed overturned benches and broken stairs, and yet we kept climbing.

The view at the top, as you can see, was definitely worth it. I’m amazed by the colours of Central Newfoundland…the electric yellow and neon green flora is a shock to the system.

BUT we still had to conquer Brimstone Head. We couldn’t come all the way to Fogo and NOT do it, even if we had to catch our ferry in an hour.

We arrived at the base of the trail, and groaned. I don’t know why we were expecting flat trails in Newfoundland. Maybe because of the whole “Flat Earth Society” thing.

That big, bulbous lump is the Head. Photo courtesy of Janice Goudie.

Up, up, up we went! Until we passed this ominous sign.

I love that the zero is in quotation marks. Are they lying?

This trail is a bit rougher, rockier, and less trodden. We watched our step carefully. The wind was even more fierce here than at Fogo Head, but again, worth the view at the top.

We did it!

Now I’ll have to conquer the other three, including the Bermuda Triangle. Who’s in?