Teehee! Other funny Newfoundland city names include Goobies, Come by Chance, and Savage Cove.Our first stop was Gros Morne National Park. This is an incredible area on the West Coast of Newfoundland with many hiking possibilities. Our main objective was the Long Range Traverse, a 40km map and compass traverse through Arctic Tundra in a section of the Long Range Mountains. We also spent time near Trout River, hiking in a place called the Green Gardens.
Trout River Pond in Gros Morne National Park. The Tablelands on the left are a portion of the Earth's mantle which was pushed up when two continents collided. It is major evidence of continental shifting and colliding ... and is the reason why Gros Morne is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hiking in Green Gardens.Before embarking on the Long Range Traverse we needed to complete a parks test on compass use and get an OK from the park ranger. We were expecting to be interrogated, but she just looked us over and answered our questions about the hike. The next day we caught a lift down Western Brook Pond with a tourist boat tour and started the hike. Unfortunately we were a bit of a tourist attraction on the boat. When we waved goodbye to two of our friends as the boat was pulling away, 50 tourists waved back! But after we were dropped off, there was no doubt that we were alone.
The boat trip into the fjord along Western Brook Pond. The weather wasn't looking so great at this point ... fortunately it cleared up and was great for our entire hike!The first evening we managed to thrash all the way out of the fjord and cover a bit of distance on the plateau. This was a pretty good effort considering we were dropped off at 2:30pm!
Jenn impersonating a moose!
Looking back down the fjord. If you've ever seen a tourist poster for Newfoundland, it probably included a view very similar to this one.This section of the Long Range Mountains is the furthest place South where you can find Arctic Tundra. It was very boggy and covered with all sorts of berries and dense stands of tuckamore trees. The only berries that we could safely identify were blueberries and raspberries, but some of the other berries present were crowberries, partridgeberries, poisonberries (which are in fact edible), and bakeapple. Gros Morne has a moose population of 6 per square kilometer. It's so bad that they are starting to destroy particular trees. During the hike we saw at least 15 moose! Earlier in the year woodland caribou live in this region, but unfortunately we didn't see any.
Can you spot the three moose in this picture?There were many animal trails through the tundra, and a few well trodden sections which we followed as part of the hike. We had heard many stories of people getting lost on the traverse due to a lack of defined landmarks and lots of fog, but for the most part we did fairly well. We got disoriented once but were never far from the recommended route. The trip took four incredible days, including a little sidetrip to Gros Morne Summit.
Looking towards Little Island Pond.
Routefinding on this trip is notoriously difficult due to a lack of recognizable landmarks.
Our tribute to the wildlife on the summit of Gros Morne. Due to the high winds and harsh winters, nothing grows on this large and flat summit, even though it's only 800m above sea level!After finishing the hike we headed up the North Penninsula to St. Anthony. We visited L'Anse aux Meadows, the remains of a Norse settlement from approximately 1000AD! This was the first European settlement in North America (and as a result was the first site inscribed on the UNESCO list of world historic sites). It was inhabited for only a few years before the vikings were chased out by the local natives. Parks Canada did a wonderful job of recreating several of the buildings which stood over 1000 years ago. We also took the time to visit St. Anthony (near iceberg alley), and Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve. It was really cold here, almost freezing at night!
Remains of Norse peat buildings at L'Anse aux Meadows.
Jenn going back to her Danish roots!
Jenn in a sea cave at Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve. Labrador in the distance.
I'm not sure if these are called Hoodoos outside of the praries, but they're cool nonetheless.
The Arches on the West Coast. Jenn pulled off the incredible feat of timing her jump with a 10 second camera timer (twice) while I settled for making it to my position over all the rocks.Then we made our way back to the St. John's area for a few days of climbing. There are incredible sea cliffs all around Newfoundland, but unfortunately the best ones require several days to get to (you have to take ferries and then hire local fisherman to bring you the rest of the way!).
Jenn climbing Scarlet Fever at Flatrock, near St. John's.
The cliffs at Flatrock. The next day the sea was a little angrier and the waves would send bursts of spray high over these rocks. The locals told us that they sometimes shoot 70ft into the air above the rocks! Don't worry though, we were safely away from the ocean.Now we are in St. John's packing our things for the flight back to Vancouver. It's going to be weird coming home, but I'm excited to see friends and family, eat sushi, dry myself with a big cotton towel, and cook over medium heat!
After the pledges are collected we'll have raised $2400 for the MS Society of BC! I'm very proud of the awareness raised during the ride, and this money will definitely help the fight against MS.
Thanks for following the blog and for all your support!
PS: I've updated the my original equipment list with all the things that changed along the way.
