Traveling to the Tablelands

Tuesday, August 4, 2013

Tuesday was a traveling day. We picked up and left Green Point Campground in order to travel to the southern end of Gros Morne National Park. Bonne Bay cuts in from the sea in the center of the park, so a trip to the southern coast requires an hour and a half drive, or a ten minute water taxi. Top to bottom of the park is a several hour drive.



We stopped to find another campground to dump tanks since there is no facility at Green Point. Then we went looking for diesel and found the only gas station in the park. We made a quick stop at the visitors center for wifi. Theirs was spotty as well (they had to reset their wifi router three times while we were there), but at least it stayed on long enough to check e-mail. They were quite excited about the thunderstorm the night before, and thought that had affected the internet service in the entire park. We sort of remembered a flash of lightening and one rumble of thunder and rolled over and went back to sleep. It's all relative I guess!

Typical weather selection - sun, rain, lightening - Pick any three for every day

Visitors Center Mural

After driving south through the park and the mountains around Bonne Bay, we took the road west to the coast and the village of Trout River and the Trout River Campground. When the park was formed there were already villages in the area, so they continue to exist autonomously within the park boundaries. We wanted to stay at Trout River so that we would be close to the Tablelands and take a guided tour there. The road we drove to get there is the dividing line between the verdant tree covered mountains on the north side, and the ochre colored, bare, toxic mountains on the other side. This area is hugely important worldwide for its geology, besides being a beautiful and fascinating place to look at. The Tablelands are a piece of the earth's mantle rock that was stuck onto the bottom of the African Plate when it collided with North America. At this place is found the best spot in the world to prove plate tectonics. In the world of geology, it was like finding the holy grail. I'll let Greg post about it in the Tablelands walk posting.

Heading south on the Viking Trail

First glimpse of the Tablelands

A drive through the village of Trout River brought us to a quaint beach side town with a boardwalk and a pretty crescent beach. We drove on through to the campground and passed the mouth of Trout Creek Pond which is another landlocked fjord. Just like Western Brook Pond, you wonder who ever thought something so immense should be called a pond! We found the only spot where we could get wifi from the rig. The trade-off meant we had to be in front of the kitchen and bathroom, but it was worth it to put up with the activity and use the internet and stream Netflix! Yay! We've used up most of the DVD's we borrowed from family.

Bonne Bay

Tablelands

Plenty of water, the Tablelands are barren due to the high levels of toxic metals

Trout River

The Town of Trout River. The 100-foot high terrace immediately behind is the shoreline of 12,000 years ago.

Oceanic crust - basalt cliffs next to town

Typical Newfoundland home- Pick-up truck, ATV and boat

The road to the campground

Wednesday morning the forecast was calling for rain. The tour of the Tablelands was at 10 AM. I turned into an Alaskan sled dog. During the Iditarod, once the dog team lead dog decides it is tired and has had enough, it just sits down and the rest of the team follows. They have been known to do so in sight of the finish line in Nome. When that happens, nothing can convince those dogs to move. A musher knows that, and has to resign themselves to losing the race. I decided that I needed a day to catch up on writing and chores, and just “veg” a bit after a month of non-stop Newfoundland adventures. Greg was going to take a hike on his own, but then the rain started and so Wednesday became a day to stay inside. The Tablelands hike could wait another day!