The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part X

Heading for the summit!

 This post is going to have a lot of pictures.  However, I won't make them all full sized, since you can click on the pictures and go to a full sized slide show of each of them in massive detail, so I will let you check most of them out that way.   So click away and enjoy!

Saying goodbye to Ranger Harold!

Okay, on with the show!

Today we started with breakfast, and packing up our backpacks for the climb and overnight on Gros Morne mountain.   Abigail was feeling a lot better, getting good sleep, and the trip was a go for her too, which had been a concern and factor as to whether we all went up or some stayed and some went.   We were doing our dishes and packing the truck when the green park services pickup truck rolled into the kitchen shelter parking area and Ranger Harold Snow hopped out.   He was the ranger that took us on the hike to Bakers Brook Falls, to see the big moose up close, and told us stories about living around the park that we loved.   He told us where to go to take some good pictures up on the mountain, and to bring warm clothes, his final pieces of advice. We said our goodbyes and then we headed out.

The map at the trailhead.

Gros Morne Mountain, from the trail.

We stopped by the Visitor's Center and picked up our backcountry passes.  The ranger there told us that we have to be on the lookout for a bull moose that was hanging around the pond near the camping area and to give him a wide berth and not bother him.   The reports were indicating that the rut was starting a bit early and he seemed aggressive, and they didn't want to have to interfere with him due to a bad interaction between the moose and people.  Which we understood and agreed with, of course.

We have to ascend the steepest
part of the mountain in "The Gully"
which is viewed behind me.

The boardwalks were great
in some sections along the way.

At the same time, some of us where checking our email and Facebook accounts and found out there was an earthquake in the DC/Baltimore area, so that was pretty unique too!   We didn't feel it up in Newfoundland, though.

The rangers also told us that if the top of the mountain was shrouded in fog or clouds, or the wind picked up too much, that we should not try to ascend because of the dangers of low visibility, cold, hyperthermia and injury.   The weather looked sunny and great, so we were excited, but she explained that it could turn very quickly, and that at night the clouds descend as well and that we should make sure we were at the campsites before dark.  

A small pond at the base of the
mountain.  We are about to leave
most of the trees behind at this point.

Eventually, we headed out and up to the trailhead, shouldered our packs and headed up.   It was fairly evident in the first fifteen minutes that most of the group was going to be moving a lot faster than I was, so I stayed at the end of the line and they sprinted off ahead of me.   My pack wasn't really that heavy, since we were just going for one night, and it wasn't anywhere near as heavy as it was just a few weeks ago when I led the Adirondack Expedition back in New York!  Still, it seemed to get heavier in proportion to the climb.

At the last stop before
heading up, up up!

Looking at this view, I can only say
'This is why we came all this way!'

The trail up was good, with lots of wooden stairs and wooden boardwalks at times, as well as fairly clear  paths heading up through the woodlands to get to the base of the mountain.   There were a few places to stop and rest, and I caught up with the group at those times, and took some pictures and checked in with everyone.   There were a lot of people heading back down the mountain, who had already been up early and hiked it up and back already.   Most of them looked very sore and tired.

The lichens that grow on
the rocky scree on the
mountaintop.

One kid who was about thirteen or so looked like he had been crying on the way down, and gave me a baleful glare like I was the one who had tricked him into going up the mountain.   His mom looked pretty guilty and didn't even look me in the eyes.   Others were in great shape and all, but were still pretty happy when I told them they were pretty close to the trailhead.

Stopping to admire the view in the
Gully.

I stopped along the way and took pictures and a little video of blueberries, partridgeberries, snowberries and bunchberries.   I thought it was a good way to stop for a very brief break and take videos of the trail, the view, etc.   However, when I got home and then downloaded the video, I could hear how out of breath I actually was!   Anyway, I am not sure how much of it I will use, but we'll see!

A good sized cow moose, browsing
near the Gully trail.

We reached the last trail resting point and saw our way up the Gully, which was a long, rocky gorge that goes straight up the mountain.   It looked intense and I felt a certain sense of foreboding and excitement at the same time.   Everyone else looked well rested and ready.  We took a few pictures and then shouldered our packs and headed up.  

At times, the Gully trail seemed to
go pretty much straight up!

When we got to the bottom of the gully, there was yet another sign warning us to not attempt the climb unless we could see clearly and the weather was good.  We went up, since we had fairly clear skies and a nice breeze.    By the time I got a quarter of the way up, I could see Ben and Abigail moving through the narrows, where the trail was partially obscured by brush and small trees.

On the summit, it was surprisingly
flat and very cold.

The trail started to close in on the sides as I approached the narrows, and I stopped to take a little video of the 'trail'.  It was basically laughable, as it was virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the rock shards all along the gully and mountaintop.   This kind of rock mix is created when the surface rock is frozen and refrozen until it breaks into smaller and smaller, sharp edged rocks called 'scree'.   They were jagged and sharp, and many were large and tilted and shifted on almost every step.   You had to really pick your way along and head up, up up, and I wanted to try to record what it was like to hike this trail, the views and everything.  

Abigail, Rick (me), Japhy, Nicole and Ben.  
We made it, and after celebrating for about three minutes
we had to quickly change our wet clothes and put on
wool sweaters, hats and layers!

I finished recording and then I heard a noise of something moving through the brush.   I turned and looked behind me and there was a moose, browsing on alders and spruce saplings, seemingly oblivious of my presence.  I was a little closer than I would have liked, because I couldn't really run away very easily on the sharp rocks, should she charge me, but I sensed that she was fine with me being there.   In any event, she didn't seem to indicate that she saw me except by the motion of her ears moving backwards from time to time, listening to my slight and quiet movements.   She moved into thicker brush and I began climbing again.

The view to the north on the northern edge of Gros Morne mountain!

When I started walking down this
wooden stairway down the mountain,
I felt a lot like Po on Kung Fu Panda!
My knees and ankles were saying
'My Arch Nemesis: Stairs!'

I guess I will skip ahead to the part where we made it to the top, and we were all on the summit and took a picture!   When I got there, Ben had already taken a video of some Arctic Ptarmigans, and Japhy had gotten some good pictures of an Arctic Hare, and they were bundled up with wool sweaters, hats, and lots of warm layers and jackets.   I was so hot I didn't know if I would do that just yet, but three minutes later, the wind was so steady and strong and cold, I broke out my sweater!  

The mountaintop trail!

The top of the summit was covered with broken rocks, lichen, tiny windswept willows, alders and native berry shrubs.   It was flat and looked like it was just about to snow.  The cloud ceiling was literally a hundred feet above us, and the cold air was filled with moisture from the massive oceanic bay of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to the west.   The sun was beginning to set, and the light was thick with every color of the spectrum.   The warm, wet air pushed up the mountain and fjords, and we could see the air turn into clouds right before our eyes, as it condensed.   It was awesome!

Where the mountain air turned to
clouds before our eyes!

The top of the mountain had long stretches of rocky paths through the barrens, and also some boardwalks, which were mercy on my sore ankles and knees!   I was wearing some hiking boots that I used for hunting last year, and they really didn't feel that great.   We went along the path to the edge of mountain on the far side, and saw a view that there was just no words to express how amazing and beautiful it was.   We loved it, despite the cold wind.  

This was a great, great moment, standing here!

We took a lot of pictures, and just stood there, seeing a landscape that was virtually unchanged for centuries.   It took my breath away.   I saw waterfalls coming off of the distant cliffs, and inaccessible ponds and rivers and streams that beckoned my imagination for probably the next three weeks at least.

There were a lot of photos taken
at this spot!

The sun began to sink down lower and lower, and we still had three or four kilometers to get to our campsite, so we reluctantly pulled ourselves away and began to move down the trail down the back side of the mountain.   I saw what I think were caribou tracks and moose tracks and moose droppings, too.  I found a ptarmigan feather that was so white and pure, it startled me.  It was a wing feather, one of the primaries, and it had a black stripe on it and some grey speckling close to the quill.  It was almost exactly like a ruffed grouse primary, except it was so white!   I felt so good just to see it and hold it in my hand!   There were a few other feathers around, breast feathers and such, so I thought maybe a falcon or an eagle had a snack on this bird, but maybe it got away....

Abigail captured me lumbering
along the trail.  She was slow
because she was taking lots of pics.
I was slow because I was slow!

The view looking East...

Abigail poses in front of the pond
near our campsite.

Then came the stairs.   It was like a temple, only it was going down, down down.   Seriously, it was amazing and scary, all at the same time.   And I will tell you one thing about stairs after climbing the Gully:   Going down hurts!   I guess I am going to sound like I am too old to be hiking the mountains, but I am just keepin' it real, people!   The stairs were just a little too tall, so each step dropped you down far enough that your thighs got an amazing workout, or just about killed you, depending on your age, I guess!

Can anyone guess what this is?   

The bottom line is, I made it.  But the next thing we saw on the trail was moose droppings.   A big, whopping pile of it, and it was fresh.   Remember the warnings from the Rangers?   Despite the pain, my memory was still alive and kicking, and I knew we had to be careful and aware.   I caught up with Abigail, and then we saw it.  A huge black shape in the brush at the northern edge of the pond.   It was big.   It looked like two moose!   I could hear it move and it sounded like ten large trees were breaking under it's massive hooves.   We both froze, and then we tried to get a picture, but it was too dark.  There was no way to get a good shot, but we tried.   And I was hoping my zoom would let me get a glimpse of it's rack of antlers.

No deal.   We moved very quietly, stealthily down the trail to the other side of the lake and met up with the rest of the group.   We set up our tents, and started our dinner.   I think it was burritos, with refried beans that were dehydrated, and lots of cheese and salsa.   It cooked quickly, but with four ravenous hikers staring at it, the pot took forever to boil.   Then we had cookies, and it was good!

Our small camp on the
edge of the pond, behind
the Eastern edge of Gros
Morne Mountain.

However, the wind began to howl, and it was freezing.   I had changed my clothes as soon as we stopped hiking, but that cold was cutting in deep.   We cleaned up and I dove for the tent and my warm sleeping bag.   I loved that thing, seriously!   It felt so good to be curled up and feel my own body heat radiate around me, relaxing my muscles.   I was sleeping in my little tent, nestled in the ancient mountains of Newfoundland, dreaming in this ancient land, surrounded by wildlife that seemed to have no fear of us, and the strength of the mighty stones!  

It was a long, good day.   I thought for a moment or two about the sharp hooves of a bull moose taking a disliking to finding a tent near the shore of his pond at the beginning of the rut, but maybe the burritos were a good call?   We didn't have any problems, and I was too tired to care!

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part lV

Abigail and Japhy enjoy a sunny, windy day at the Tablelands!

Our next adventure in Newfoundland was one of the longest, too.  Not in hours but in activity and movement.   We got up early and ate, then headed out to the Tablelands, a rocky, barren area that is the real reason that Gros Morne was chosen and designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, with surface rocks from the earth's mantle, that closely resemble the geology of Mars.  NASA is even doing research there for their eventual trip to the Red Planet.

Peridotite, from the Earth's Mantle

The Amazing, Delicious, 'Trista Bars'

Nicole is a serious geology student and enthusiast, and she loves rocks almost as much as mushrooms and farming!    She was in heaven, and we all were amazed by the ways the landscape looked like the desert Southwest.   It was awesome!   We had a wonderful Ranger to showed us all kinds of things about the rocks, calcium deposits, all kinds of ways plants and trees were adapting to the harsh winds, poor soils and difficult terrain.  He was great, funny and had a wonderful presentation that was warm and friendly.

The Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Western Newfoundland, Canada

We walked up the end of the trail, and seriously contemplated climbing the ridge to the top and traveling along the crest to descend into the basin where the waterfalls were flowing, but the wind was intense and we had other places to go.

The incredibly tough and resourceful pitcher plant

Still, it was hard to go to Trout Brook and pull Ben and Abigail from this adventure.   I still feel guilty about it!   Seriously!   (Ben, if you are reading this, I promise we will make that hike/climb next summer!)

We snacked on sandwiches, fruit, some chips, and the awesome chocolate chip, coconut, and walnut bars that Trista made for us for our trip.  We called these 'Trista Bars' and one of them, heck, even half of one, would keep you from feeling hungry for a few hours.   And they really tasted great.  Very homey and warm and we loved them during our long drives and hikes.

We traveled to the end of the road, and saw another fishing community and valleys wide and vast that just begged to be explored and experienced...

Serpentine?  Nicole probably knows
what it is for sure!

We ended up stopping at the Park's Visitors Center in Woody Point.  It is fantastic.  It is modern, and beautiful, and the art!   The Art!   There are Artist's in Residence whose work covered the walls, and the children's art of the park wildlife was so sweet and insightful that it touched us!  Well, I am pretty sure that it did for me and Nicole, but I can't say for sure for the rest of our group.

The Tablelands Boardwalk Trail

The large relief map of Gros Morne was especially insightful.   We didn't realize how tall Berry Hill was, or how massive Gros Morne Mountain was either, or how deep the fjiords were in Western Brook Pond.   We talked to some of the rangers about fishing, and hiking the Long Range Traverse, which we were still debating hiking at some point on our trip.

Peas Pudding, Salt Beef (Corned Beef),
Potatoes, Beets, Carrots, Turnips, Stuffing,
Blueberry Cake Pudding, Pickled Peppers
and lots of Gravies!

 After we left the Visitor's Center, we drove back through the forests and waterfalls and mountains and meadows, seeing moose again and rivers that looked like they were loaded with fish.   We stopped at the Gros Morne Mountain trailhead, and hiked up to the first lookout, over a rushing stream.   We saw moose antler rubs, on huge saplings.   We found bunchberries everywhere, and birch trees, spruces, balsam firs and lots of birch and alders.

Abigail enjoys the Jigg's Dinner

It was starting to get late, so we headed down to explore Rocky Harbor, and get some money exchanged at the bank and do some shopping.   Louise Decker had shown us a flyer for a community fundraiser at a local church called a "Jigg's Dinner", and we wanted to check it out.

We went through a couple of stores and craft shops, and I got some Cloudberry Jelly and Partridge Berry preserves, too, as well as some postcards to send home.    There were sweaters, and mittens and socks, all hand made, and there were a lot of polar fleece jackets and rain gear items that looked like tourist travelers would grab them up when it got cold and foggy outside in all seasons.   Luckily, it was sunny and warm, so we were all set.

Ben chows down!

We headed up to the church, where we saw the signs and the cars!  It was filling up fast, so we went inside and got tickets!   Then we sat down, and saw that Harold Snow, our park ranger friend, was there, with his wife, and lots of other local folks.   Ben sat next to an older woman whose accent was so strong I doubt he understood a quarter of what she was saying!   But she was so kind and sweet and they had a good time!

I sat next to a guy from Nova Scotia who told me stories of the "black flies in Labrador that were so intense that they covered your arm if you rolled down your window to adjust your mirror... your arm would look black and then when you wiped them off, it would be bloody!"

Yeah, really makes me want to go there...  (Maybe after it gets cold?)

When they called my number, we got to go up as a group for plates of home made food that was hearty and flavorful, with all kinds of vegetables, meats, 'puddings' and sauces that really hit the spot after a long day of hiking and driving.   Local preserves, pickles, gravies, everything...   We were all so glad we went!  I was so full I didn't even go up for desert.   The hardest thing was that it was difficult to hear in the large room with so many people having good conversations.  I wanted to hear everything about what these people were saying, and share some time with them.   It was a great feeling.

The boardwalk trail to Baker's Brook Falls

Ranger Harold heard that Nicole and Abigail wanted to go up to Baker's Brook Falls, so he invited us to hike out there with him, to work off the meal.   We met in the parking lot and started off down the trail.   It was a long series of wooden boardwalks, passing over bogs and wetlands, to protect the roots of the trees and plants.   Ranger Harold is tall and has a stride like an elk, moving swiftly and easily in a subtle, kilometer eating gait that left us in the dust a few times.   We passed through areas where the moose had been eating and scraping their antlers, and I was grateful for the momentary breaks where Harold told us stories about the trees and different park issues to catch my breath for the next section of trail.  

The clearings in the northern forests

The trail passed through open areas and was fairly level, across a lightly sloping plain that led us towards the river.   The sunlight was soft and hazy in the evening light, and I stopped for a few pictures every chance I got.   When we got to the river, we took pictures at some of the overlooks, and the water was high and loud.   It was tannic, like most of the waters of Newfoundland, with that deep brown tea color that looked almost black in the fading light.

It is hard to describe what it feels like to actually be standing in this place, with air fresh and moist...

Ranger Harold Snow, Nicole, Abigail, me and Ben
at Baker's Brook Falls

Harold headed us back as quickly as we came, knowing we had many kilometers still to go on our return trip.   As we moved down through the meadows, the clearings of fallen trees, we saw the clear, huge outline of a bull moose, it's antlers jutting upwards against the western sky.  It's shoulders were huge, and it looked ten feet tall.   Everyone was hushed as it moved in our direction, feeding and fearless of our presence.   It was our first close encounter with a moose, and we tried to take pictures but it was too dark to capture the dark haired beast.   We moved on, letting him feed in peace, and saw another, and then another, each in their own clearing, crashing along, smashing small branches with their large hooves and strong legs.

The walk back seemed longer in the deepening gloom, but inside, our hearts were full of an amazing day of great food, great learnings, powerful encounters with stone and animals and waters of this place.   It felt really, really good to head back to camp and crawl into my sleeping bag and slip into a deep, restful sleep.

To Be Continued...

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part lll

A hand made lobster trap made with spruce boughs

Okay, so, in Part lll of our Expedition blog, I have to explain a few things.   First of all, I have to say that our trip was not just a sight seeing adventure.   We were seeking something else, something deeper and powerful, a connection to the land where huge beasts roam, through thick, primordial green forests and crystal waters and ancient ice giants.   

We wanted to be affected by these places, and feel something, and see if something deep and ancient would awaken inside of us.   

At least, that was the feeling I had when we would all be packed in our car.   Everyone would be quiet and looking outside the windows, absorbing everything.  We would stop someplace amazing and fall out of the car and just gaze in every direction, each in our own way soaking it all in...

The rocks at Broom Point

Japhy, Ben, Abigail and myself are all Waldorf School graduates.   Japhy had attended the Aurora Waldorf School in East Aurora, NY (near Buffalo), Ben and Abigail had attended the Waldorf School of Baltimore, and I attended the Sacramento Waldorf School in California and Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School in the Hudson Valley of NY.   So that shared background helped provide fun stories, jokes and we had a lot of creativity in our adventures.   

And Nicole, well, she is pretty creative and expressive too.   In the past summer, she helped start a Farm/Garden Camp in the city of Atlanta, which is incredible, and has been involved in a lot of different initiatives and interests like mushrooms, plants, geology and gardening.   We had some interesting conversations!

The ropes are hung to dry in the barn

Hand carved native
 spruce net floats!

Louise gifts us with Newfoundland Tartan

There is something about a road trip that magnifies or compresses time.   On this trip, we never knew what was around the corner, or down the road, or where we were going next except in the most general sense, and each day, each hour seemed to bring us to a wonderful new world.    

On this day, our first in Gros Morne, we woke to rain.   Our tent was a little leaky but we were doing well.  One thing that we discovered was the Berryhill Campground Kitchen Shelter.   It was amazing!   There are two big sinks with hot and cold water, and a large modern lean to with lights and two woodstoves, where we could warm up, dry out our clothes, even cook on the top of the stove.   Some of the park rangers dropped off some wood for us, as we made breakfast of bagels, toast, eggs and cereal.  It was awesome!   We spent some time chatting with the rangers, who were happy to talk seeing as most of the rest of the campers had cleared out due to the rain.   

On the wall of the lean to was a calendar with the Gros Morne Park Interpretive Programs schedule, and their descriptions looked good, so we headed up the coast to Broom Point to see the cultural and historical interpretive presentation about fishing and the history of the coastal towns in the park.

Louise's fish cutting knife,
simple but highly effective!

This peg board helped her
keep track of the lobster traps

Louise Decker was just a young woman when she started fishing, and we learned all about how she built her first dory with her new husband and took to the seas to catch cod and lobster.   We learned about the newly built roads that connected these small communities by land for the first time in over three hundred years.   Her accent took a bit to get used to, but it was wonderful.   Her stories were full of emotion, with lots of humor, toughness, and grief from the loss of the fishery crash and friends lost at sea.   

We learned about lobsters, about how she cut and cleaned the fish, preparing it for salting and drying.   It was wonderful and she made small nets expertly and gave them to people in the audience.   She had small, handmade tools for just about every job, all hand crafted from native woods, and things found or salvaged from other items, demonstrating creativity and practicality.   

Louise Decker's
Fishcakes and Cod Nuggets!

Because she was one of the first women to fish, she had to make her own tools to fit her smaller hands and size, but you can tell that she pulled her own weight every day.   Each item was well worn, with years of use.   They reminded me of certain knives I have used for years at Hawk Circle, or hatchets, with handles worn smooth from strong hands, weather, and long hours of carving or chopping...   

After her stories, demonstrations, questions and answer period and showing us the boats, nets, tools and buildings, she invited us inside for tea, molasses cookies, home made cod cakes and cod nuggets that she had prepared and cooked for us earlier in the wood fired cookstove.   Her stories never stopped and she never stood still for a moment, passing out food and strips of cloth Newfoundland Tartan for us to take home. 

Lobster Cove Lighthouse

All of this was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated, and we had many warm conversations and good feelings with Louise as well as the other park visitors.   Then the sun came out and turned the water from a gray black to a brilliant blue, and we could even begin to see the shapes of the massive Long Range Mountains, (northern most tip of the Appalachian Mountains) behind the clouds.   We sat in the warmth, enjoying the fresh sea air, the scent of balsam fir and salt and took it all in.

Eventually we headed back, to explore other parts of the park.   It wasn't long before we saw our first group of moose in the daylight!   They were massive and strong, crushing small trees with their feet and their long legs easily stepping over logs and seedlings as they browsed along the lush plants near the roadway.   We watched them for a long time, taking pictures and talking in low whispers about everything we were seeing.

When the moose had gone into the deeper brush, we went further, stopping just before the campsite to check out the Lighthouse at Lobster Cove.   We hung out there for a while, enjoying the calls of a raven who sat upon the tower and croaked to us throughout the late afternoon.   We had a great view of Rocky Harbor, whose local pronunciation was something like "Roque 'arbor", with the H being silent and the whole name spoken as one word.   It never felt natural for me to say it like that, so I am glad there wasn't a test!   Rocky Harbor is a small town that had craft stores, food, supplies and a few restaurants, so we drove through it and then headed back to the camp to make dinner.

Looking South from the Lighthouse

If I didn't say our dinner of Burritos with Black Beans and Pinto Beans, cheese and all kinds of toppings, was awesome and delicious, I know our group would kill me!  We ate and then headed up to the top of Berry Hill to see if we could see any moose coming out in the meadows and bogs to feed in the growing dusk.   The trail winds around this little nub of a hill like a corkscrew, and at the top, continues around in a circle for views in every direction.  The sunset was orange and red and we did see several moose in the far distance, which was cool.   The sky had cleared and it was looking like a nice night with a nice day to follow.

To Be Continued...