Sonya's Blog - Day 93 - Exploring Gros Morne

Sonya’s Blog - Day 93 - September 23rd - Exploring Gros Morne

We had a good sleep as the campground is very quiet, so that is a plus for the KOA here. I woke up to Blake staring at the kitchen counters and looking in all the drawers and cupboards. I asked him what he was doing and he told me “looking for the stove”! Why he was looking in the drawers and cupboards I have no idea, but anyhow. I said they have pots and pans so there must be a stove, maybe there is just a burner beside the bbq if there is nothing in the cabin. He pops his head outside and sure enough, there is a burner attached to the bbq. I rolled over and had a bit more of a snooze, since my work was done. In a little bit Blake had tea made for me so I got up since that was super nice. Blake made eggs on the outside burner as well, so he was very industrious this morning.

We decided to do the hike to Western Brook Pond and try and get on the boat for the fjord tour. I wasn’t too excited about the whole boat tour thing, but when Blake had first brought it up I thought it was on the ocean and that wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t getting on a tiny boat in the ocean if I could barely handle the massive ferry. As it turns out it was on Western Brook Pond, which Blake says he explained to me, but all I heard was boat and said “not a chance!” We called to see if we could get on the boat still and there was room available so we decided to give it a shot. It is about a 45 minute hike in from the parking lot to the boat tour, but the boat didn’t leave until 12:30 so we had loads of time. Once we got on the road we stopped in Rocky Harbour because there was a little cafe advertising specialty coffees. Blake thought he could get a latte, but it turns out it was just the packets of specialty coffees so we got teas instead. Isaac found a puzzle he wanted to get for Uncle Fred as well so we bought that as well. He can’t wait to get back to Uncle Fred’s and help him assemble it.

We headed out to Western Brook Pond so that we could do the hike. It was quite a nice day, just a bit windy. When we were at the parking lot Blake called to see if we could get on the boat tour and they said they had room. As we were getting ready to do the hike Bob and Ann (they are Blake’s parents neighbours and we had seen them last night at the restaurant) pulled into the parking lot and we hiked out to the lake. It is called Western Brook Pond, but it is really a lake and is, in fact, the largest lake in Gros Morne. The hike to the boat dock did not take very long and we were there by 11:30 which gave us an hour until the tour left. They had a little lunch counter there and we bought some lunch and some cards to wait out our hour. We started to teach the kids how to play 120’s as Natasha stated in her blog that she was a little offended that we had never taught her. We played a few rounds and then it was time to get on boat. It was quite windy on the lake and we got seats at the back of the boat, which didn’t seem so bad. Once the boat left it just got windier and windier and it wasn’t very pleasant at all. It took about 20 minutes or so to get into the fjord and then it was nice as there was no wind there. This landlocked fjord was carved by glaciers and it was pretty spectacular scenery. There was a guide on the boat that pointed out interesting rock formations, waterfalls, rock slides etc. and gave us some information about the fjord and it’s formation.

The mountain range that is in Gros Morne is called the Long Range Mountains which are the nothernmost extent of the Appalachians. They have a herd of Caribou (which are native to Newfoundland) that cross the fjord every year as part of their migration path. The lake itself is low in nutrients and doesn’t support a lot of life. There are very few fish in the lake due to the low nutrient level but it does have some Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout and Arctic Char. The lake is 16 KM long and when we reached the end there are spectacular falls there called Pissing Mare Falls, I kid you not. They drop about 1150 ft to the waters below and they were very nice, plus Isaac thought the name was funny, which it is of course. The guide assured us that they don’t make up these names. At the end of the lake there is a small boat dock and there were 4 backpackers getting off for 4 days of hiking. The boat barely stopped for them and they all jumped out on the dock to begin their journeys (I believe they were not all together, there were 2 groups of 2). Lots of people on the boat waved good-bye to them as they hiked away.

I assume that when there 4 days are up they have to be on the dock to get picked up and taken back to where the boat launched from as there doesn’t seem to be any hiking paths along the fjord (since it is just really steep cliffs). We then headed back through the fjord and returned to the boat dock. Once we were back we said good-bye to Bob and Ann and their traveling companions, they were traveling to Deer Lake and beginning their trek back to St. John’s as they were flying home from there. While we spent time with them on the hike and boat tour they told us about their travels to L’anse aux Meadows, which sounds really interesting. There was a Viking settlement there for about 10 years and they have recreated that settlement. We looked at going, but it would have been a lot of driving and would not have left us time to properly see L’anse aux Meadows or Gros Morne. Can’t do everything, that is one thing we have been learning. We thought we would have so much time, but we do not. We were going to do another hike before we headed back for supper so we grabbed another snack and then hiked back to our truck.

Blake wanted to hike the a coastal trail hike that went to Green Point, however on the way there we stopped at a shipwreck site. The SS Ethie went down in 1919 with 92 people on board. Everyone survived, including an infant who was sent ashore in a mailbag. The wreck is still on the coast and you can see the rusted out hull and the remnants from the ship strewn all over the beach. Furthermore, there are many cool, large rocks to hop across and try to avoid getting wet. We explored around the beach and took many pictures. I couldn’t believe the shipwreck was still there, I figured if it was that close to shore it would be cleaned up. What do I know?

After exploring around the SS Ethie we drove to Green Point and started on the hiking trail. It took us out to a great viewpoint and there were lovely red chairs there for us to sit in. We had read about these chairs when we were in Highlands National Park in Cape Breton. Parks Canada Staff have placed chairs in their favourite spots so that you can relax and take in nature. We think it is a great idea and we haven’t had a chance to sit in any yet. We did see some in Cape Breton, but they were at the top of a waterfall and we were at the bottom, so we couldn’t get to them. We got some pictures of us in the chairs and then realized we were at the end of the trail, so were obviously not on the right hike as it was supposed to be longer. Ah well, there were stairs that headed down to the beach and we went to check it out. This was an interesting area as the layers of rock contain important clues for interpreting geological time. In 2000 the boundary between Cambrian and Ordovician was designated at Green Point, so that was pretty cool. You can see the layers of rock very clearly (see picture) and the older layers are on the right and the younger layers on the left. We had lots of fun exploring around down there.

We decided to head back and go and look around Norris Point. We had been on the road for about 3 minutes when we saw the parking lot for the Coastal Hike, but decided it was too late. Norris Point is a cute little fishing village and we had a nice look around. We stopped in a Cafe for some hot drinks and a snack before we left. It was a nice little cafe called Justin Thyme Bean and Bistro. We thought about having supper there, but it was cash only and we didn’t have enough with us.

We headed into Rocky Harbour to find somewhere to eat and to walk around a bit. We decided on Sunset Restaurant. The restaurant was packed when we got there, but there was one table left that they were able to sit us at. We thought that it might take awhile to get our food since it was so busy, but luckily we had our cards with us and it was early enough that we weren’t really in a hurry. We all ordered and then played some cards. Natasha was working on school, so just Blake, Isaac and I played some rounds of 31. Our food came after a few rounds and it was very enjoyable. We were too full for dessert, but they had a gift store below the restaurant so we headed down there to check it out. I know this is going to be a huge surprise, but there were 2 other couples in the gift store and Blake started up a conversation with them! They were from Saskatoon and had been on the boat tour with us (there were sure a lot of people on that boat tour that were from the west). We had a nice chat with them and then headed back to our cabin.

Sonya