Newfoundland – Vikings & More

You can’t come to the Northwest peninsula of Newfoundland without noticing an abundance of things related to Vikings. That is because a Norse settlement was discovered here in the 1960’s. In the decade around 1000 A.D. Nordic expeditions from Greenland used this area as a year-round base to search for resources, calling the land Vinland. They eventually abandoned it, setting it on fire as they left.

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site and UNESCO World Heritage Site preserves this archeological property and shares this significant snippet of history with visitors.

When we first arrived we went up the hill to see what all these Norse people were looking at. Barbara thinks they were all looking for a letterbox, since there was one in that direction. HaHa.

We checked out the visitor center with its interesting displays and then took a ranger-led tour through the archaeological site.

The tour ended at a reconstructed Norse settlement with its sod houses where living history interpreters explain aspects of the settlement.

The Norse knew how to fashion iron and there is evidence that they smelted bog ore into iron nails for boat repair here at this site.

We should also mention what we saw before and afterward. On the way to L’Anse aux Meadows we spotted two icebergs. The channel here between Newfoundland and Labrador is known as Iceberg Alley.

After the tour we asked about the hiking trail. The ranger gave us the details and told us people just saw a momma moose and 2 babies. “Let’s go!” So we took the trail and looked for moose. We’ve done a lot of looking for moose while in Newfoundland. We saw some fresh moose tracks, but no moose. We did see – what we always see in Canadian National Parks – red chairs!

We got a glimpse of Labrador in the distance. And we came upon some snow. It’s July 5^th! So we made a snowman.

As we were leaving the park we noticed cars pulled off to the side of the road… Finally … Moose!

We ended the day with some partridgeberry topped carrot cake from Dark Tickle for dessert. A gal we met on the trail a few days ago highly recommended it, so we had to give it a try. Yum!

Newfoundland – Northwest Peninsula

Today we drove from Gros Morne all the way up the Northwest peninsula, breaking it up with two stops along the way. Fortunately the parking lots had enough room to accommodate a car with a trailer.

Arches Provincial Park

We first stopped at Arches Provincial Park – a park that preserves some natural arches. We walked around and took some pictures. 

Port aux Choix

Our second stop was Port aux Choix National Historic Park, which preserves an archaeological site with evidence from four ancient cultures: the Maritime Archaic people (3000+ years ago), the Grosswater & Dorset people (1000-3000 years ago), and the ancestors of what we now consider the First Nations people. We started in the visitor center where exhibits piece together the history and show some examples of artifacts found. It didn’t take long to read through all the exhibits.

A several kilometer hike or short drive brings you to the actual archeological sites. We drove down to the end of the peninsula with its lighthouse and evidence of a Dorset Village.

All that remains of the Dorset village are some depressions in the ground, but signs explain the history and wire sculptures help one imagine the scene.

Being a Canadian National Park we found some red chairs.

Probably the most fun part about stopping here was seeing a pair of caribou. They practically walked right up to us.

Then we drove to another part of the park where we hiked to Philip’s Garden along the Dorset Trail. Wire sculptures tried to help the visitor visualize the seal-fishing culture of the past since the only other evidence was slight depressions in the ground.

We walked through the unique limestone barrens and spotted some rare wildflowers.

 

Newfoundland – Gros Morne – Hikes

The weather websites predicted rain all three full days we were on the north side of Gros Morne National Park. Unexpectedly the first day turned out okay – that was the day we heard all the rangers. It rained on the second day so we mostly hunkered down in our cozy trailer. It’s good to have a rest day and, rare for us, we could get WiFi from our campsite! The third day didn’t look great, but since it wasn’t raining we chanced hikes.

Bill’s Hike

Bill tried Gros Morne Mountain, an iconic but strenuous 10-mile hike up 2600-ft. It’s the second tallest mountain in Newfoundland and on a clear day commands a great view.

The first 2.5 miles of the trail climbs steadily through the forest to a viewing platform. When you arrive at the viewing platform hikers are advised to assess conditions on whether to continue on the tough section – climbing up a steep scree slope and down a boulder-strewn path sometimes near steep drop-offs.

The mountain was foggy, but Bill could still see hundreds of feet so thought it safe, even if he wouldn’t get good views.

So he continued past the viewing platform and 1/3 of the way up the scree slope and found SNOW – melted and refrozen and slippery in the drizzle. Going up wasn’t too bad, but going down was treacherous even with trekking poles.

Not knowing the trail or the conditions ahead, Bill turned around and headed back to the parking lot. Sometimes the mountain wins.

Barbara’s Hike

Since Bill had the car, Barbara chose a trail fairly close to our campsite – doing a 6.5-mile hike that went to Bakers Brook Falls. Lots of long boardwalk stretches along this easy path which went through boreal forest, meadow and marsh.

Wildflowers lined the path,

including more pitcher plants.

Barbara made it to the falls.

It rained substantially at the end of the day. Glad we were off the trail by then and in our comfy trailer.

Newfoundland – Learning about Gros Morne

Visiting many US and Canadian parks and volunteering in one US National Park has given us a great appreciation for how the parks convey what they are all about. Signs, brochures, videos, and exhibits tell the story of each park. We also like to listen to interpretive rangers and go on ranger-led tours when we get the chance. Today we had the chance.

Lobster Cove Head

Our first stop was Lobster Cove Head to see the lighthouse and get a letterbox. 

A ranger was just opening up the building, so we got a chance to see the displays and listen to her as she shared about the lighthouse’s history. She also shared a brief tidbit on her background – the youngest of 9 children in a fisherman’s family from the town just to the north. She said the lighthouse keeper was wealthier because with his government income he could afford coal – while her family used wood to heat their home.

Green Point

Then we headed to Green Point to catch a ranger-led tour. Well it happened to be Canada Day. So Cedric, our ranger, started us off singing O Canada.

 He taught us about the geography of the park in a fun, engaging, and interactive way.

We got a good look at the layers of sedimentary rock in the cliff and the story behind them. Mud formed the flaky shale layers and shellfish formed the thicker limestone layers. Tectonic plates colliding buckled the layers, turning them vertical.

After the tour, we found some red chairs on the top for a picnic lunch.

Broom Point

We followed that up by going to Broom Point with its preserved fisherman’s house and exhibit. Three brothers and their families (ten people!) lived in the little house during the summer in the mid 1900’s.

The ranger gave helpful explanations on the life of fishermen and how they fished for lobster, cod and salmon. Barbara learned that the lobster trap was developed in Swampscott, Massachusetts – a town she lived in briefly.

We also took a trail to a coastal viewpoint with a far off glimpse of the cliffs at Western Brook Pond and more red chairs. :-)

Cow Head

We ended our day with a hike to the end of Cow Head. We passed a tiny lighthouse that is no longer operational and now surrounded by woods.

Most of the trail was in the woods, but we got water views at the point of the head.

Newfoundland – Gros Morne – Western Brook Pond

We hoped to get to Western Brook Pond on one of our three full days in the northern part of Gros Morne National Park, but the forecast predicted rain all three days. The best day to go would be the previous day – the day we moved from the south to north side of Gros Morne. That ended up a little tricky – purchasing tickets at a little harbor inn (would we be able to park the trailer?), getting into the campground before noon (would they let us check-in early?), and then getting to the boat parking lot which we heard could fill up (so didn’t want to bring our trailer with us). All this worked out except the previous campers in our site were still there after their checkout time, but they were apologetic and quickly packed up. So we made it!

Western Brook Pond looks like a fjord with its steep cliffs and in fact used to be a fjord millions of years ago, but now, cut off from the ocean, it is technically a lake. It is one of the last wild, ultra-oligotrophic lakes in the world – having no plant nutrients. Scientists probably love the place and certainly the tourists do too, with its sheer cliffs going down to the water.

The way most people experience the pond is by boat and the way to get to the boat is a 2-mile flat walk. 

We got there early enough for Bill to check out a side trail heading toward Snug Harbour, but getting to the harbor required fording a river that is currently chest deep. Not today!

Barbara poked around by the boat dock and found (you guessed it) red Adirondack chairs.

 Here is our boat as it came in to pick us up.

We stood on the windy bow for the entire 2-hour ride feeling like a dog sticking his head out the window of a moving car.

And we just loved the scenery as the boat passed between the cliffs to the other end of the pond.

Just to give you an idea of scale, you can click to enlarge this image and see the other boat in the distance.

 Waterfalls flowed over and between cliffs.

We chatted with the guy standing next to us, a professional photographer from Ontario. He was quite personable and gave Bill some good suggestions for gear and technique. He’s got some pretty cool photography.

All in all we had a wonderful day.