Yet again
the weather forecast had been for a clear, bright and sunny day and
yet again we woke to grey skies and rain. It is also noticeably
colder and for the first time in the morning we put on our furnace
for a bit of morning warmth. It heats up the inside quite nicely and
it was not long before we had roasty toasty warm feet again.
Picture doesn't do this
grand place justice
We headed out to the National Park information centre to get details
of the local walks. It seems like we have spent days driving and
traveling around and not really doing much else so we are both ready
for a good walk. The only downside is the weather. It seems to have
finally stopped raining, although clouds still threaten, but the
wind has a definite cold edge to it. Our walk of choice would be the
16km hike up to Gros Morne Mountain but this is not recommended due
to the weather. Instead we opted to do a few short ones, starting
with the walk to the Western Brook Pond about half an hour's drive
away up into the park.
This walk starts by the sea and heads back inland. Dominating the
view is the mountain range that runs down to the far end of the pond
(which by the way is 16km long so a pretty big "pond"). The whole
area was carved out by glacial activity so the pond is technically a
fjord, although technically not so because it is now land locked. I
learnt something new about glaciers today. The weight of the glacier
crushes the underlying land and pushes it down. As the glacial
waters melt, the land gradually rises back up again and this is what
happened here.
There is now a strip of boggy land about 4km long from the sea to
the edge of the mountains. The water trapped between this land ridge
and the mountains was originally sea water but over the years has
been flushed out and is now fresh water. The Western Brook pond is
also now fresh water but unlike other lakes its size it has few
streams running and feeding into it and only one outlet to the sea.
As such, it takes about fifteen years for the water to be completely
cycled through, a process which happens three or four times a year
in other similarly sized lakes. Not only is it 16km long, it must be
three or four kilometres wide and at it 170, deep at it's deepest
part.
The route was board-walked for most of the way and as ever there
were information panels to explain what was going on with the
landscape as well as to tell you about the local plant life. Little
oxygen is present in the bog water so not much grows here. Plant
life has adapted and become carnivorous and I was surprised to see
pitcher plants here. I have only previously seen them in botanical
gardens and had thought they were tropical.
Brrrr...
Part of the geology of this region is (I think) limestone strata.
The limestone has risen more quickly than the surrounding land so
running parallel to the sea are three or four ridges of land that
are forested. In the dips between these ridges are the bogs. The
bogs have been formed by successive layers of plant debris
collecting and mulching together so the dips are not as evident as
they were a long time ago. With all the rain in recent days, the
water level of the bog was pretty high and in some parts came close
to running over the boardwalk.
It was a really strange landscape. Behind us we could see the Gulf
of ST Lawrence stretching out for miles to a cloudy horizon. All
around us were vast bogs stretching left and right. All of this was
set against the back drop of the Gros Morne mountain range which,
being glacial end in a steep cliff face.
When we reached Western Brook Pond we were in time to book for a
boat trip which takes you along the length of the pond along the
glacial valley. Hanging valleys, caused by smaller glaciers joining
on to the main one, really showed up the shape of the valley created
by a glacier. Steep sides join into a gradual sloping "u" shaped
valley. The boat trip was pretty cold as we were sat outside on the
top deck of the boat but it was well and truly worth it as the views
were incredible.
Its hard to paint a picture with words so I hope you enjoy the
photos. There is some life in the dark, cold waters of this pond but
not much. As you go along it you feel the temperature drop, almost
as if the spirit of the glacier is still there chilling your soul
and warning you to beware what lies below! The sides of the valley
above the water line are sheer faces of rock with here and there
evidence of rock falls. The most recent was in 1997 and they know
the exact time and date because one of their other tour boats was
out on the lake at the time and saw and heard it.
The views are stunning. The boat goes really close up to the rock
walls and at times I thought we would crash but the water is so deep
there is no bottom to scrape up against. Along the way they pointed
out different rock formations that look like a lion (or the Tin Man
from the Wizard of Oz) and an old man. There are also "chimney
stacks" of different rock that look like seams of charcoal. From the
end of the pond it is hard to believe that a boat could go all the
way through the valley because of the twists and turns of the
glacier. When you are at the other end it is hard to believe that
the sea is just 2km away.
Where plant life has taken hold it is forest. At points where the
slopes are more gentle there is a migratory trail for caribou. They
come down the north side of the pond, swim across to the other side
and then climb up the southern side to a plateau which they use as
their mating ground. Looking up you cannot see a trail that they can
follow but they obviously know the route. They must get pretty
hacked off if they climb up at the wrong spot and have to go down
and back up again!
After the boat ride we drove down to Norris Point to look across the
bay at another geological marvel, a piece of the earth's mantle
(inner crust?) which was pushed up by tectonic plate movement
millions of years ago. It is in this area that geologists confirmed
that the earths plates do move.
This whole National Park is full of stunning scenery. The best views
can only be got on four to five day hikes that you need to be an
experienced hiker/climber to do, well beyond us. We also really
needed to spend more time here. We are moving on tomorrow up to the
north of this peninsula but have really only scratched the surface.
The boat ride was unplanned so we did not have time to do the other
walk to Berry Hill which also sounded spectacular. We will just have
to come back again another day.
Back at the campsite we got set for a night in with better weather
(it has not rained for a while at least, but still a cold night).
Bob from work bought me an inflatable globe before we left. We now
have this blown up and hanging up inside Mortimer. At night, it
hangs down by the dashboard so its an easy point of reference. By
day, its relegated to the back as it would make seeing out the front
a bit tricky. Looking at this, where we are now is further south
than London. I meant to check the BBC weather site to see what the
temperatures are back home but I am pretty sure it is much cooler
here than in London. To me that is odd and I have now added it onto
my "check on the internet" list.
