Gros Morne National Park (August 2012)

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Stan

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We spent nearly a month touring the Canadian Maritimes, including a week on that “rock out in the Atlantic”, Newfoundland. Rock it was with outcroppings of some of the oldest rock on the planet in Gros Morne where we spent much of our time, aside from waiting for the infamous ferry which had its regularly scheduled unscheduled equipment failure combined with the inevitable foul weather to delay an 11 AM sailing ‘til about 4 AM the next morning for the six hour crossing back to Nova Scotia.

Don’t get me wrong, the ferry was delightful and everyone from reservations to bartenders and in between was most pleasant and professional. It’s just that at that strange hour there is not much to do but sleep and without reservations for a cabin (who needs one during the day?) it is not the most comfortable siesta … except for Erik who found a couch in “funland”, a quiet place at that hour, and comfortably sprawled out … ‘til about 6 AM when a cheerful 5 year old girl and her younger brother stared into his bewildered eyes to inquire, “Would you like to play dress up?” Now, Erik is a cooperative victim for these things but at 6 AM and less than two hours sleep he mumbled, “Later … zzzzz.” At about 8 AM when things began to stir, he woke up to find himself decorated in a boa, an Easter bonnet and other assorted “funland” haberdashery … and a stuffed rabbit tucked under his arms.

Back to hiking.

Gros Morne has terrific opportunities for hiking and paddling but beware on the latter, the prevailing south and southwesterly winds get powerful coming through the mountains and into the “ponds”, the nomenclature for large bodies of water that millennia ago were fiords open to the ocean but, with falling ocean levels, now set tens of meters above sea level.

Our first hike was at the Discovery Center to the Lookout, a 5 km (3.1 mi), 1000 feet loop. The center and the hike are great introductions to the park and a must stop for an understanding of the unique geology and an overview.

Bonne Bay from the Lookout, the bump on the horizon is Gros Morne Mountain:

Gros Morne Bonne Bay from Lookout #2.jpg

The hike up, clockwise for us, included a few hundred yards of boardwalk across a verdant meadow of wildflowers. There is a very steep stretch just below the summit and those with delicate knees might wish to come up that way instead.

Tablelands from the Lookout, note the color … that rock is among the oldest rock on the earth’s surface:

Gros Morne Tablelands from Lookout.jpg

Our next “hike” is really an easy walk mostly along boardwalks and wide gravel paths to Western Brook Pond, the poster child of the Park. Paddlers might be tempted to wheel a kayak 3 km (1.9 mi) into the Pond and explore it before the wind came up, then paddle through the outlet and what appeared to be class I or maybe II for a short distance to flat water and the Gulf of St. Lawrence about three miles away. There is a campsite on the northern shore of the pond but crossing Western Brook on foot could be cold and tricky, even with the rope hold across.

We were fortunate to book a last minute ride on the boat that cruises to the head of this fiord, some of the most striking scenery in the Park, and in North America for that matter.

Trail into Western Brook Pond:

Gros Morne trail to Western Brook Pond.jpg

Western Brook Pond, these cliffs rise 650 meters above the Pond and sink 165 meters below it with waterfalls nearly 1000 feet:

Gros Morne Western Brook Pond.jpg

We took a rainy day trip to the far northern tip of Newfoundland, a 1000 AD Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. Erik described it as “to the back of beyond.” There is nothing like being there to appreciate the hardships and challenges those explorers faced in open boats and little in navigation equipment beyond their considerable wits. The climate was a bit friendlier then and they used this settlement for a staging area for further North American exploration … until the natives, failing to obtain weapons, tired of the barter and drove them away ... which may have been part of their motive for acquiring them.
 
Gros Morne National Park (August 2012) part II

The next hike, aside from an assortment of nature trails and other minor explorations of our own, was the Tablelands. Here and on Gros Morne Mountain is found some of the oldest rock on the planet, peridotite, which rose from the earth’s mantle, some 8-12 miles below the surface, when the continents collided millions of years ago. This rock is aged at 4 billion years and the sight underfoot is as impressive as that on the horizon.

Peridotite is chemically unsuitable for most plants and the contrast between Tablelands and the forested hills across the road is fascinating. The trail is only about 1 mile to Winterbrook Canyon with little elevation gain. To ascend to the expansive plateau at the top you are on your own with no shelter or landmarks, other than an occasional small cairn, easily mistaken for any other pile of rocks, which might help guide the descent.

Tablelands Winterbrook Canyon:

Gros Morne Tablelands #2.jpg

Peridotite rock with serpentinite face, the unique color and design formed by ancient water penetration reacting chemically:

Gros Morne Tablelands serpentinite.jpg

There are at least three major approaches for climbing to the tableland, Winterbrook Canyon, a route across the highway near the trailhead to Green Garden and the route we took following a small stream about halfway between the parking area and Winterbrook. Our route led us to this waterfall:

Gros Morne Tablelands waterfall.jpg

As we ascended the cirque, but not the color, became reminiscent of Mt. Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine or Katahdin’s Chimney Pond but the stream was reduced to a trickle:

Gros Morne Tablelands #3.jpg

Bonne Bay from the Tablelands, Gros Morne Mountain the bump on the horizon:

Gros Morne Tablelands Bonne Bay.jpg

Other notable hikes in Gros Morne include Green Gardens, a loop to the Gulf of St. Lawrence with a shoreline of unusual rock formations, Gros Morne Mountain and the multi-day Long Range traverse.

We brought our kayak but, regrettably, timing and weather conditions conflicted so we never used it though we noted a few places, under the right conditions, we’d like to do, especially a launch in the Trout River to explore Green Gardens by sea. You might say we left a few hikes and paddles on the table … but it is a worth a return trip.

We found Rocky Harbor to be central to our activities and would stay there again. Java Jack’s was our favorite restaurant for breakfast and dinner; they boast no deep fryer and with all the fresh seafood, who needs it?!

Our favorite map is Gros Morne National Park Trail Guide by the Gros Morne Co-operative Association. Here is a link to the park: http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/index.aspx and to IAT: http://www.iatnl.ca/
 
I think I found the last of the Aug 2012 reports from your trip. Great you made it there!!
I think you did more in that trip, than all the various years we've been at it.
We were so close to making it to L'Anse aux Meadow...but not quite. Glad you made it.

Nice report and pictures you've done a really nice job of giving a feel for the area. I remember cold July days, shrouded in mist.

The people, while not the 1st to start a conversation, were exceedingly friendly and helpful.

next year (2014) a paddling friend and I hope to paddle Belle Straight....expecting it to be a pretty wild trip we are giving ourselves a year to prepare.

This year Chicoutimi or bust...

Your ideas/plans for the year ?
 
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spider, If you're planning to paddle the Straights of Belle Isle, consider this. When I was on a Coast Guard icebreaker many years ago plying Arctic waters (to 82N with 6-10 ft. of ice ... not like today when you could just about paddle to the North Pole ... arghhhh) ... we would intentionally avoid the Straights because they can be such turbulent waters. We went around! It is fascinating to study the Vikings who explored that area 1000 years ago ... without GPS.

Our next trip later in February is "Winter in Wyoming", including Yellowstone. We'll also spend time in Jackson and the Tetons and some exploring in Red Desert Basin. I've always wanted to go to Yellowstone in winter but as I find myself drawn more and more to the estuaries of Florida, I figure we better go to Yellowstone before I get over the urge completely! I think we may time this trip to coincide with the great Crane migration along the Platte River in Nebraska.
 
Yellowstone in winter trip sounds great and mighty adventurous as well.
Timing things for the Crane migration, a stroke of genius !

It's nice to see others have such fond memories of Newfoundland and the people. It's a tough life up there and they have a way to bring smiles to strangers they have never met. Very nice.

the Belle Straight trip, I believe one fellow who recently paddled it was to celebrate his 70th birthday.
however we will tweak it to a section we think we can handle or move the trip closer to the eastern Mingans...the land 'east of east" I think is how they call it. I think we will be happy with most anything in the Blanc Sablon region.
 
Three of us hiked the Long Range Traverse last July. Quite a nice backpacking trip what with routefinding through the "Tuckamore" with only Caribou trails to follow. Pretty expensive four days we spent. About $150 each for permits and the boatride to the drop off point at the east end of the Great Eastern Pond.
LRT.jpg

The link below is a very nice trip report for the LRT

http://www.perceptivetravel.com/issues/1011/newfoundland.html
 
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Great story.
I remember deciding our navigation skills were not good enough at the time when we were there. I see now it was one of my better decisions.
I had often heard about the testing and all.
That was a tough thing to undertake with the compass skills it put it to the ultimate test right from the start.
 
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