The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part lX

The Sunrise at Berry Hill Campground,
Gros Morne, Western Newfoundland

Our Camp, complete with tarps for the
morning rain

 Well, this day started off in a massive windstorm that woke me up early and allowed me to see the most spectacular sunrise I have seen in some time.  I mean, it rivaled desert sunrises, and mountain sunrises and more!   See for yourself, but it was unbelievable!    The wind shook the trees and the sky changed several times in the fifteen minutes or so that I watched, standing in the cold wind at about five thirty in the morning.

Japhy gets ready for breakfast

I got pretty cold, so I finished up my photos and video taking, and went back to sleep in the tent.   Abigail was snoring away, (she had complained about a sore throat for some time) and was out cold, and Ben got up and took a few pictures, but went back to sleep, and Nicole was asleep too.  

It didn't take long for the rain storm to start.   It was amazing.   The rain and the wind combined to pound the tent and lift the tarp up as high as it would go, like a sail, and then it would slam down as hard as it could, flattening the fiberglass tent poles and tent rain fly as far as it would go.   Then it would rain hard, and water would start to collect on the flattened tarp, and as it rose again, it would fly off and splash out by Ben's side of the tent, with about a half a gallon of water poured instantly on the soft ground near his corner.

Ben searches for a cup of tea

Abigail crashes out in the tent

Reading through the storm

I woke up at one point and checked the tarp, which had broken through one of the grommets by Ben's corner, and went out and tied it back up in my bare feet.   It was refreshing and cold, but I got it tied up and went back to sleep again.   I know a lot of you morning people will hate me for being able to do that, but it is something I have been able to do all of my life, so deal with it!   (Trista, on the other hand, is the opposite.  If she is up, she's up, for good, all day.)

Ben loads the woodstove in the
Berry Hill Campground Kitchen Shelter

Anyway, it got light but it was hard to tell through the thick clouds and driving rain.   The entire campground pretty much cleared out by ten o'clock, and Abigail and I read on and off as we lay and listened to the rain and the wind crashing around.   It was a great storm.

When we did get up, we went out to the kitchen shelter to make breakfast.   Ben got the stove going there, to warm up, dry our wet things and we made pancakes, I think, with Hawk Circle Maple Syrup, which turned out really good.   We also made some eggs, and a few other things.   Hot chocolate, tea and even a little oatmeal too, I think, if I remember right.   We took some showers, and chatted with Ranger Harold while we lounged, as we were in no hurry to rush out and see the sights in the rain.

The "After Breakfast, Wait out the Storm"
Card Game!

We also at this point, made a plan about our next few days.   Seeing as we didn't have much time left, we wanted to get out into the backcountry, but the Long Range Traverse still seemed daunting for Abigail and her sore throat, and so we decided to inquire about the Gros Morne Mountain hike and overnight.   However, we needed to check in at the Visitor's Center, to check email, and see what the weather was going to be for the next day or so.

The weather turned out to look good for the next day or so, and the hike seemed like a go, if we could get Abigail healthy.   So we left the Visitor Center and went a few miles away to the Bonne Bay Health Centre in Norris Point.  

I had heard a few things about the Canadian Health Care system, so I was kind of excited to see it up close and personal.  First of all, it was in a beautiful building, very accessible and state of the art, and not really "hospitally', if you know what I mean.   Lots of yellows, oranges and reds in various pastels, maybe even a little purple or violet, if I remember right!

At the Bonne Bay Health Center
in Norris Point

The Hallway to Intensive Care

Gros Morne Mountain in the Distance:
Yeah, we're goin' there!

So, we went in, and signed in, and Abigail got seen by a nurse, and the we had to wait for about twenty minutes (Oh, yeah, that Socialist Healthcare sucks!   You have to wait, and wait and wait!), which was about the same amount of time we usually wait for Javi's appointments back in New York.  During that time, I walked around, popped into the cafeteria and got a sandwich and chatted with the nurses and staff about their hospital, and how they liked it in western Newfoundland.   My mom is a nurse, so I just talked for a bit and everyone was really friendly and sharing about their stories, and asking about our adventures.  During that time, Abigail was seen by a doctor, prescribed some meds and was ready to roll.  So we headed to a pharmacy, got some stuff and headed back to the campground....

The After Dinner Scrabble
Game Board

That night, we made some awesome fish and veggies, with rice.  Oh, man, it was good!   And we played Scrabble, and had tea and just had a good time.   And slept like kings!   And I was thinking about the stuff I needed to pack in my backpack for our food for the trip, and clothing, and gear and all that.

 I have to admit, I heard all the talk about the steep ascent, and I was a little nervous.  But I told my body, I am going anyway, so deal with it, and get me up there!   It is going to be a trip!

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part Vlll

Sunrise on the Shores of Ten Mile Lake

Well, in the last post, I described how we pulled off the main road, and onto a dirt road and found a small patch of lawn by a quiet dark house in the middle of the night.   We were huddled in our tent, in the light drizzle, and fell fast asleep.

Fireweed

Raven Tracks in the Sand

When I woke I was the only person up, so I put on a sweatshirt and went for a look around.   We were camped in the front yard of a small house, overlooking a dirt ramp that led down to the shore of a long lake.  The sun was just starting to rise, and it lit up the farthest shore, making it glow on on the horizon.   Where we were, however, was socked in with fog, clouds and mist, so every once in while it would clear up a little and I could see all the way down the lake.

Ben enjoys the warmth of the sun after a swim

I ventured carefully onto the rickety dock, where native wood had been nailed together many years ago, and looked into the clear water all the way down to the sandy bottom.   Up high in the hills above me ravens croaked and called, and the water lapped the shore so softly it was like a caress.   I felt a powerful sense of peace and tranquility radiate through me as I sat looking around at my surroundings.

Down the shore, a much newer dock lay near the stairs going up to a much larger, more expensive house, and I could see houses in other directions along the shore, tucked away in the woods.   The fireweed was in full bloom, and there were lots of eastern plants and shrubbery to be seen:  plantain, burdock, wild parsnip, timothy grass, red clover and lupine.   It kind of looked like roadsides I have walked in Maine.

The clear waters of Newfoundland.   It tastes sweet tasting, too!

I ventured along the road for a while, enjoying the trees, the plants and the tracks, and noticed that the road seemed well traveled for a rough dirt road.   There were lots of evidence of people loading or unloading boats, and bootmarks and footprints around, but there was surprisingly little trash or litter around.  I realized that I really didn't remember seeing a lot of trash anywhere on the island.  (Maybe a little, in the cities, but just around the fast food places!)

Nicole and Abigail talk about life

When Ben, Abigail, Nicole and Japhy woke up and got moving around, they each spent some time doing the same as I, namely, wandering and exploring the shores of this lake and got a little breakfast.  It was a warm morning, so quiet and still.   The sun broke out and the sky was deep blue.   We just weren't in a hurry to do anything, because it seemed like we all were enjoying the lake and the land and the morning so very much!

These docks have seen some harsh weather.

I feel a very profound feeling of tranquility as I think back to that day, even now, months later, that is still very alive inside of me.   It is such a sweet memory, and the land and water, sky and forest gave us a true gift.   I can't speak for my companions, really but in some ways, that morning was my favorite of trip.   Of course, it is hard to compare, because every morning held something profound and compelling!   But the magic of that morning may not come through in my pictures.

Abigail and Nicole sat for a long time on a dock near us, and Ben, Japhy and I went for a swim in the lake.  I loved the sandy bottom and my skin felt so good and clean afterward.   It was awesome!

I really want one of these signs in the worst way!

Afterwards, we came back to our camp, and cooked up some french fries and made a batter with our pancake mix and fried up the shrimp that our friend in St Carol's Cove.   Man, that was good!  So sweet and tender, and we spiced it with paprika and some chipotle pepper.  We just kept cooking and making food, and we ran out of potatoes so we ended up cooking some carrot fries too.   I am sure we had a few other things that we ate that meal, but I only remember how good the shrimp was!

The next task was to break camp, pack everything up, clean our dishes, load the car and head down the highway back to Berry Hill campground in Gros Morne Park.   We were in high spirits, listening to Neil Young, and we stopped at a small store for ice cream too!  It was actually pretty hot that day as the afternoon went on.

Nicole gathers seaweed at
Arches Provincial Park

We drove on and on, and for the first time, we could see the Long Range mountains on our left, and the wide open Gulf of the St Lawrence sea to our right, with the sun moving towards the western edge of the horizon.   The forest stretched out all the way to the base of the mountains, that previously were shrouded in clouds at their tops on our way up the coast just a few short days ago.   There were large stretches of plants along the highway that was loaded with fireweed in full bloom, giving us a blast of color against the coniferous deep greens.   I am red green colorblind so anytime I can see colors like that, I really enjoy it.

A small Inukshuk!

We were rolling down the road and saw a small provincial park called Arches that looked interesting, and since we needed to take a leg stretch break, we pulled over.   I think we stayed for almost an hour and a half, too!   It turned out to be an amazing place, with huge rocks carved from the waves, stones polished and worn round and egg-shaped.   The light from the sun slanted through the water, turning it a pale green color, (I think, anyway.  I'm colorblind, remember?) that was just like an artist's dream.   The sound of the soft waves, the vast blue of the Gulf, and everything fresh and happy for the sun....  we loved it.   Abigail and Nicole climbed the rocks and sat in the grass up on top, and Ben went for a swim, and Japhy and I took pictures and explored the coast line.

Someone had made a small 'inukshuk', which is an Inuit rock sculpture that was used to mark the often shallow, flat barrens in Labrador and points north.  I still want to see a real one, in the far north you know, the true Arctic, so one of these days, I am hoping to head that way.   If so, I am sure you are going to see pictures and hear the stories!

The polished stones of the Newfoundland Coast!

We made it back to Berry Hill, and saw our buddy Ranger Harold and got our camp set up.   We put up some tarps because we heard there was some rain coming our way, and we went to one of the kitchen shelters and cooked up some fish!   We had veggies, played some scrabble, took showers and settled in for the night.

Abigail had a sore throat and wasn't feeling that well, so she turned in early, and I went out to get some food supplies and check email at the Gros Morne Welcome Center.   I was missing my family, so far away to the south, and sent some pictures and emails out to them to let them know we were doing okay.

The Arches at Arches!

We made plans to get backcountry passes for the hike up Gros Morne Mountain, as we wanted to get into the deeper wilderness, and it seemed like going on the Long Range Traverse was going to be a little too physically demanding for what we were ready for.  This seemed like just the thing to get us high and back into places where you can see everything, but it was a little risky, because it could get to be bad weather in a matter of minutes, with thick fog or rain that would mean visibility shut down to almost nothing and an invisible trail across treacherous terrain.   However, we were willing to go for it, so it became the start of a good plan as our trip began winding down.

I remember sitting at the kitchen shelter and talking with a couple who was washing their dishes, who were from St Johns on the Eastern Coast of the island, and it was nice to exchange stories, and hear about their travels around their home as well.   I would say that about a quarter of the people who we met traveling around were actually from Newfoundland, and were spending time exploring and enjoying their home.  It was a great feeling to see this, and families would pour out of their campers and RV's and marvel at the sights just like us Yankees!

Anyway, we got to discuss some of the politics and policies of Canada a bit, and I learned a lot from these people who were living it first hand.   It deepened my knowledge of this place, and the struggles and history of the people I had come to call my friends.

I could feel the storm coming in the air as I lay in the tent and smelled the balsam firs and moss and fell asleep.   It was a good day!