Onto Gros Morne
It was a short day today. I only had around 350km to cover between Gander and Gros Morne. The weather today stood in contrast to the day before, sunny blue skies with a few puffy white clouds to add variety. I had nothing to hurry to and the amazingly good weather made for one of the most leisurely days of the trip.
I stopped to get a pint of fresh-picked raspberries along the way. (delicious by the way) In an atypical way, any time I saw something picture-worthy (and can safely do so) I pulled off to the side of road to get the picture. It’s a welcome relief from the previous “gotta get there” mentality.
As I got to the park I stopped at the information booth to get a general idea of where I should camp if I only had one day in the park.
The ranger-lady paused at the strangeness of the request… one day in the park? How can you even do that?
After it sunk in for a bit she pulled out a park brochure and started pitching various ideas. She settled on camping at Trout River since you go through the tabletop mountains and then the next day ride through the rest of the park on my way to St. Barbe. Walking back to my bike I noticed that next to the Canadian flag the United Nations flag was flying as well. So back I went to ask. Gros Morne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! Coolness!
The ride through the park simply took my breath away. The natural beauty of the landscape unfolding after every turn made to pause to consider how lucky I was that I was here on an abnormally perfect day. The fjords to the right, some mountains with a bit of snow clinging to them in the background, hills covered in trees to the left. I couldn’t ask for more.
As I took a left to to to Trout River the landscape changes as dramatically as well. The lush greens gave way to a eerie moonscape of cliffs and boulders that is the Tabletop Mountains. The ranger said that the geology of this area is some of the most fascinating of all. Checking into it I read that the rocks that I was seeing were some of the best examples of mantle rocks in the world. I picked up a couple to go with the ones from Cape Spear. :-)
On one of the stops I made as I got into the park itself I ran into some folks I saw a few days before on the mainland! It was Geb and Marie from Whycocomagh! They are both retired and can afford the time to go al slowly as they want. They were budgeting around two months for almost the same trip. That is something to aspire to!
Eventually I arrived at my destination camp site. I rode around to pick a suitable spot and settled on #8. As I was setting up another group pulled up and started setting up next door in #6. Loud people. I know we are all outside, but you really shouldn’t use your outside voice when the target of your conversation is two feet away.
I bit the bullet and moved to luck #13. As I’m writing this I can still hear them off to my left. I pity the people that are even nearer. It was a worthwhile half hour spent moving all my crap 100 meters down the road.
A few injuries to report as well. I got stung mightily by some flying insect. I don’t think it was a bee since I’ve had those before. It was an instant searing pain that felt like someone shoved a super-heated needle into me. Even after 4 hours I can still feel it like something is pulling on my skin. Lastly, a tent stake came and bit me on my knee while I was getting the tent set up. I think it was just feeling a bit ornery at the time, so I’ll give it a pass for now.
Another interesting person I met was Dave. I think I mentioned that the ship I came over on caught fire a few weeks ago. I heard all sorts of explanations about what happened, but now I know from someone who was on the boat when it happened! Some heat exchanger on the seventh level was the culprit. There were even flames coming out of the side of the ship! It’s a metal boat so nothing really bad happened and their voyage continued as planned. Dave and his wife, who are on their 30th wedding anniversary (if I recall) started it off with a bang! At least they got comped a lunch and their “Deluxe Cabin” (just like mine) was free after the fact as well.
Finally, looking up at the sky this cold late-summer night, I see the Milky Way. It’s been years since I’ve seen it last. Even with a camp fire going, the sky is dark enough that the galaxy overpowers even the light the fire that’s keeping me a bit warm.
This is a park that I definitely have to come back to with some more time. And more Ennie too.