The Viking Trail - Gros Morne to Cape Onion

We awoke this morning to the sound of a hundred birdsongs. Unfortunately, I cannot distinguish which birds are singing which songs; but with the sun shining, a solid blue sky, and the birdsongs, it felt like paradise. We left Trout River about 10:00 a.m., took one last look at Woody Point, picked up our “hiker’s pak” for lunch from the Granite Café (what a great idea, I don’t know why more of the B & Bs don’t do this), and set off on our drive for Cape Onion. We passed along side the ocean most of the way, but the land was pretty desolate. The Long Range Mountains were off in the distance, but the flat land by the side of the ocean was windy ocean barrens. As in other parts the coast is dotted with small fishing communities where all the white rectangular homes are within view of the ocean, the fishing boats fill the harbours, and the fish houses line the wharves.
On the way we stopped at Port aux Choix (population about 1000) to see the national historic site which preserves a Maritime Archaic Indian site and a Dorset and Groswater Eskimo community. This is all housed on a wind swept peninsula which we traveled to the end to see the Riche Point lighthouses. I must count up the number of lighthouses we have seen – must have been 15 to 20 – and each one is different in colouring and style as well as sounding a different sequence of blasts on the fog horn, all in an effort to identify their location to the ships in the treacherous seas around them.

On the way up the northern peninsula we also noted the huge piles of firewood lying by the side of the road. Apparently the people are given a licence by the government to cut firewood which they drag out of the boreal forests in the winter time on sleds drawn by snowmobiles and which lies at the side of the road with a prominent number on the pile to let everyone know who it belongs to. Another roadside anomaly, are the allotments, or vegetable plots. When the roads where made in the 1970s, the peat was piled by the side of the roads. Consequently, the road sides are some of the most badly needed fertile land and the people established their gardens there. You don’t see many gardens around the houses. Mainly just grass and trees. Oh, and one other thing. Along certain parts of the road are high poles – we couldn’t figure them out – but, they are to mark the roads in the winter snow falls. They must be at least 6 – 8 feet tall – so you can imagine the depth of the snow!

Around 6:00 p.m we rounded the corner on route 427 and the road came to an abrupt end – at the ocean. The Tickle Inn sits on the ocean shore to the left of the road. It is an idyllic setting. The house has been in the Adams family since it was built around 1890. It has been added on to, and restored over the years, but it is quite magnificent. The owners, David and Barbara run the B & B. They are a delightful couple and make all their guests feel as if they are truly guests as opposed to patrons. They cooked a marvelous meal and when all that was over, and after we had an evening walk, sang the “Ode to Newfoundland”, and then retired to bed to the sound of the ocean waves.

Climbing Gros Morne

I am trying to figure out what is the attraction of spending the night in a tent. I think part of it is just being outdoors. Of waking up in the morning and taking your first steps through the wet grass with the fresh smell of the dew, of listening to the birds singing, of just seeing the beauty and simplicity of nature around you.

Today was the day of our climb up Gros Morne….and it was raining, and the mountain tops were buried in cloud. Knowing that the weather can change very quickly, we kept up a positive spirit, went to a small restaurant in Woody Point for breakfast, and drove up to the start of the hike. By now, it had stopped raining, and things looked positive. So, we set off for the base camp – the “decision” point 4km into the trail. We reached that point in an hour, and although the top of the mountain looked a little cloudy, we decided to tackle it. The next 3 hours were quite grueling. We climbed straight up for 400 metres over large boulders and rock for about an hour and a quarter before reaching the summit at 806 metres. About ¾ of the way up, we met a couple coming down because the fog, or cloud, had started to move in on the top of the mountain and they got concerned. Now, I thought to myself, it will have to be extremely foggy before I will ever consider climbing down over all this rock! We were lucky, when we got to the top it was beautifully clear. So we kept going. Then we met another person who was a little ahead of us but once again the cloud started to come down and she got concerned about being on the top of the mountain alone. So we three kept trekking. The cloud disappeared, the sun came out, and the view was magnificent. The fiord on the back side of the mountain was breathtaking! The pictures don’t show it justice but I hope you can stretch your imagination and imagine the beauty we saw. Part of the beauty is the peacefulness and the tranquility, and the feeling that you are such a small part of nature. The first part of the route down was pretty nasty – very rocky and difficult walking; but we saw a moose and her calf and ptarmigan and her chick. We also met 5 military guys who had just done a 5 day hike through the mountains. We watched them come straight down the mountainside through the forest, in a stream bed that led down into the lake. What a descent!!! They told us some of the stories of their trek. They started out in a heavy rainstorm; one of them fell in a pond (lake) and head-butted a rock; one of the others just about fell down the cliff, but managed to break his walking stick which apparently saved his fall; all were dirty, but still smiling and in good spirits. On our way up, we met a young teacher from St. John’s who had bad blisters and decided that she was not going any further. She was separated from her group, and asked us to tell them, if we met them, that she was walking back to Corner Brook and they should pick her up on their way back! Now Corner Brook is a few hours drive. Well we did meet her group who were looking for her, and assured them that she was safe and they were to continue. They were just ahead of us most of the way and we kept meeting them when they stopped for a rest. At the end, they left just behind us. All of us were very concerned that she was walking and truly wondered if they would meet up. We were so happy when we found her a considerable distance along the road and watched to make sure that her group did in fact pick her up. She was very courageous to have trekked so far on her own, along the side of the road, and with blisters!

We seemed to make good time on the trail. The advertised time is 6 to 8 hours and we made the trek in about 5 ½ hours with about 15 minutes for lunch. Although the scenery is simply breathtaking you don’t want to hang about too much because the weather is so changeable and the clouds/fog roll in very quickly.

We crawled to the car, drove back to the camp site to clean up, and then into Woody Point where we went to the Old Loft Restaurant for dinner. The food was good and it was a really nice place to chill out in after an amazing day at the top of the mountain. The beer was good too – and well deserved.

Western Brook Pond, Gros Morne

It was “hot” when we woke up. Marvellous! Today we were doing a 2 ½ hr boat trip in Western Brook Pond – and we had prayed for good weather! The boat trip started at 1:00 p.m so we had some time to go and see the remains of the SS Effie just past Sally’s Cove. Next we went to Broom Point and saw a restored fishing camp. Fascinating. We chatted with the Parks Canada guide who at the age of 16 was the first women in the fisheries. A women on the boats was considered bad luck. The men thought that if they didn’t speak to her, she would go away. But of course she didn’t, and in the end they accepted her and she continued to fish with her husband whom she married at the age of 16. She was out fishing when she went into labour with her first child – managed to make it back to land! Quite a women and is hoping that she can put some of the stories from her past into writing. It will make an interesting story!

We did the 3 km hike to the boat at Western Book Pond and along with a ton of other “tourists” set off on the boat trip down the fiord. It was huge; the sides were about 700 feet high, and you literally felt the power of the rock rising straight up out of the water beside you. We kept going deeper and deeper into the fiord and when you thought it had come to the end, we went even further. The water is quite devoid of minerals so there were not many fish or plant life in the 500 foot deep, dark-brown watered, pond. It was awe-inspiring and we really lucked out on the weather. Dry and sunny!

After the boat trip, we drove back to Woody Point and went for fish and chips and a beer in The Lighthouse Restaurant. When we got back to the camp site, we had a lovely wood fire, reviewed our pictures on the laptop, and marveled at how lucky we are to be able to do all these things and see so much.

Corner Brook - Trout River

We set off from Corner Brook in the rain and cool temperatures, but throughout the day the rain stopped and the temperature went up to about 21C. We stopped at Humber Valley Resort, the million dollar plus development close to Marble Mountain where Oprah Winfrey is said to have a home. Then we continued our journey up to Gros Morne. We camped at Trout River at the south end of the park. Our first view of the Tablelands was quite spectacular. We drove past sweet little towns such as Glenburnie, Birchy Head, and Shoal Brook and the scenery was amazing. We did a couple of hikes - Lookout Trail just behind the Woody Point Interpretation Centre and had a wonderful view over the land below. Then we did a hike around the base of the Tablelands. We had dinner in a small restaurant on the beach in Trout River after which we went for a fabulous walk along the boardwalk, watched the people fishing for cod, took some pictures of the fish huts which all came out blurred because it was too dark. Then back to the camp site, and cuddled up in my thermal underwear as pyjamas and slept a long, calm sleep.

Thursday, July 3

Off again on a 4 hr drive to Corner Brook. This drive was straight along the TCH (Trans Canada Highway). We experienced some horrendous rain storms, but no thunder or lightening. We stopped to see Marble Mountain before arriving in Corner Brook around 1:30 p.m. Once in Corner Brook we had lunch in the mall, then went to the Newfoundland Railway Society’s display. Apparently the last passenger train to run on the narrow gauge railway was in 1969 and the last freight train was in 1988. The railway was first built in the late 1800s. The narrow gauge was used to permit sharper turns and for cost effectiveness. However, the height of the trains caused many accidents and slow speeds. The “Newfie Bullet” reached speeds of only 30 miles an hour while other trains on normal railways were hitting speeds of 80 and above. The railway closed down because it became unprofitable to run. We then had dinner at Jungle Jim’s. Don’t know if this is just a “Newfie” restaurant but we have not encountered it in Ontario; anyway, the food was reasonable.

Corner Brook seems like a nice town. The drive into the city was quite spectacular. We drove down the valley alongside the Humber River from which steep mountain slopes rise straight up. At the end, the river opens out into the Humber Arm and Corner Brook (population 23000) spreads up the slopes from the water. There is a large pulp and paper mill that dominates the town. The town is built up from the shores of the river and is accessible up steep hills that you can’t imagine negotiating in the middle of winter.

We are staying at Bell’s Inn, a small B & B about 15 minutes from downtown ….. and desperately trying to catch up on emails, blog, and civilization!

Twillingate

I think a heat wave has hit Newfoundand. Our car’s thermometer registered 29.5C today! It was marvelous, and we had a great day. We traveled the “Road to the Isles”. We drove to Gander and took the 330 up to Twillingate. Once again, I had totally miscalculated the mileage, and we had to miss some really pretty towns such as Savage, Deadman’s Cove, etc. However Twillingate made up for it. It is stunningly beautiful. We went out to Long Point Lighthouse and into Durrell and loved all the scenery. We also had a great walk to French Beach, and Spiller’s Cove.

At night we drove to Notre Dame Park and camped by the side of the pond. It was all quite beautiful.

Being Canadian

Today was a “chill” day. We decided to stay in the Terra Nova Park and do the things that make us “Canadian”. We woke up in our little tent and had a leisurely breakfast at our campsite. Then we headed over to the Memorial Day and Canada Day service at the Visitor Centre. There was a famous battle in which many Newfoundlanders lost their lives in WWII on July 1, and therefore Newfoundlanders recognize Memorial Day on July 1 as well as Canada Day. We had our Canadian flags and attended the wreath laying ceremony in the rain in the park, then sang O’Canada and ate cup cakes. We also sang “God Save the Queen”. Newfoundlanders are true Canadians. Their show of support for Canada and the Queen is commendable and it was fun to be a part of it. After lunch back at the campsite, we went for a 2 ½ hour hike along the shore of Newnam Sound. The rain came and went, but I am glad to say the temperature warmed up. In the evening, we went to the camp-site’s entertainment “Ocean Idol”, a take of of Canadian Idol based on the various animals in the park. The park staff dressed up like the animal and sang a song and told the animal’s story. The crowd had to select a winner. It was all good fun!