Lots more photos again this week, plus some videos you may enjoy. So if you wish to skip the banter and jump straight to the photos, please go here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crisp_travels/albums/72157697326938142
As we were finishing up last week's adventure on the eastern coast of Newfoundland, we were hit with some rain. Like … a lot of rain. And it seemed to be hitting all of Newfoundland. So we had two options, head north to St. John’s (the provincial capital), and find some indoor things to do, or pack it in and head west (basically backtracking on the TransCanadian Highway). We chose door #2 — because we did St. John’s pretty thoroughly on our previous visit (albeit, that was 12 years ago in a car), but also we are just not really keen on cities, especially with an RV. It is certainly doable, but, as they say about ships in a harbor, that’s not what RV’s are for. ;-)
So it took us about a day and a half of driving to get into some new territory, which is Gros Morne National Park. And once we got there, we decided to slow down the travel, and spend a couple of nights in each campground, especially if they had some good trails within walking or running distance (for Steve’s early morning outings). And we are still here! (It’s a big National Park.)
The first part of Gros Morne is the southern arm, which we had never done before. So we stopped at their Discovery Center, and found they had what sounded like a great hike right there. The Lookout Trail sign says it's not too long but a little strenuous, with great views. Well, little did we know (or did they tell us), after all that rain, and in conjunction with repairs that were being made to the trail, this was a mud-fest in sections, many of them steep. Carol was none-too-happy about that development ;-) But she was a trooper and made it to the top and back down again! The weather was not great, but the views from the top were still really nice.
After that we headed down to the tip of the southern arm to the Trout River Campground, and spent a couple days exploring the town and hiking more trails. First though, I went out for only my second run while on this trip, and explored a service road and ATV trail near the campground. It was great. Then we walked around their little fishing village, and I got tired just thinking of what these guys had to do to survive back in the day. Next we headed to the Tablelands trail, which went out to a nice little waterfall. And finally, I decided to tackle the long, but interesting, Green Gardens trail, which also includes lots of elevation change and stairs. No need for the gym on that day! The weather was perfect and the scenery really great, especially down at the sea cliffs and beach. You will also get to see just how friendly the Newfoundland red squirrels are!
We stopped at two more trails on the southern arm, only to find they were both closed due to the heavy rain that had washed out a bridge! Crazy. So we decided to head north a bit and check out the rest of Gros Morne. We made reservations at Berry Hill and Green Point Campgrounds since we were told they will be sold out each day. Berry Hill has three hikes right at the campground, so that worked out well. First up was the Berry Hill Pond, which was quite scenic (albeit a bit muddy too), and Carol and I did that once, and then I did it a couple more times, as there are little nooks and crannies to check out if you have the time (and we have the time ;-)
I also took the somewhat long but flat Baker’s Brook Falls hike, and was amazed how much of the 4+ km trail was boardwalk. I cannot imagine the maintenance. It went through some really varied landscape, apparently due in large part to the moose population which really wreaks havoc with their boreal forests. In the area where this trail is, there are supposedly more than 4000 moose. And how many did I see, up early, first one on the trail? Nada, zippo, zilch. But the trail did not disappoint with the waterfalls. Those were spectacular. Then we completed the trifecta with Berry Hill trail (and another loop around Berry Hill Pond for good measure).
On the way to our next campsite, we stopped briefly at Lobster Cove Head, and what did we see there, but another Lazy Daze (from Texas). We briefly met the owners, Martha and Barry Barnes, who we knew of from their posts on the Lazy Daze Owners forum. And that is coupled with a report of another Lazy Daze spotted from Florida (we have not seen that one ourselves). So these family-built Lazy Daze RVs do get around! At Green Point Campground, I took the Coastal Trail in what started out as stormy conditions, but it soon cleared and later Carol and I took the trail together. Some interesting nooks and crannies (sort of Tolkeinesque in places, with the short, squatty tuckamore trees).
Finally, we are currently camping in the northern most point of the Gros Morne National Park, called Shallow Bay. This one has the first sandy beach I have seen in Newfoundland. Pretty, but oh my is it windy. If I can get the videos downloaded (a challenge with campground WiFi, you’ll see better what I mean. But you should be able to tell by some of the photos as well. We may stay here another day, or head out; we are not sure yet. Our target is the tip of the Northern Peninsula, where a Viking settlement has been unearthed. And then, if we can stand the black flies that we keep hearing about, we’ll venture into Labrador via ferry. But depending on our pace of travel, that could be another week or two.
So that does it for the Week #5 summary. Again, here is the link to our Week #5 photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crisp_travels/albums/72157697326938142
If you ever want to see previous albums, you can go to my album page here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crisp_travels/albums
