Glamping Days

The main event today was supposed to be a boat tour on Western Brook Pond. After hiking a windy rainy 3K in to the boat dock, the tour was cancelled due to the high winds. It's rescheduled for tomorrow, so I'll report on all things Western Brook Pond then.  Gros Morne is "The National Park" in NL. There are a couple of stunning national parks in Labrador, but they are extremely remote, so rarely visited. And there is Terra Nova here in Newfoundland, which I'll visit in a few weeks. But, Gros Morne is the one folks know, & most folks who make it to NL, come to Gros Morne. I'll visit & report on the famous spots soon, but today I just explored a bit of the northern coastal areas. In the second pic is the top of one of the red chairs that i mentioned in a previous post. Some folks keep a record of all of the red chairs they find, similar to a lifetime bird list kept by serious birders.  It was real Newfie weather today with both high winds & drizzle m...

While packing up this morning, I got to watch the fox family play & scout around the campground.  Then I stopped by the village of Bide Arm.  The resettlement of outport families has been promoted by the government so that they can realistically provide services. I love the pic of the house being floated across the bay to its new location.  These folks are so proud of their heritage that they have a post in the middle of town with a list of the surname of the early families.                I 'm now in Gros Morne National Park. The 3 pics below are a panorama showing the view from my campsite - I may never leave!

When leaving the campground this morning, the dad of the fox family turned up. A bit of sunshine warmed up this picnic table, & he was taking advantage of it. It's very quiet here as I'm the only one staying right now; this spot is pretty far off the beaten track, even by Newfoundland standards. 165 steps took me up to a platform overlooking the town of Conche & the 2 bays around it.              Okay, they are WAY off in the distance, but it was a 2 iceberg day. According to icebergfinder.com, yes, it's a real thing, these are medium-sized icebergs.  A few shots from around the town of Conche...             A locally famous plane crash... I took a short but steep walk up to lookout over the ocean, but everything up there was fogged in. I did find this info board at the trailhead interesting.  Some small local history museums are underwhelming, some are wonderful little treasures, & then there's this ...

In the past, the French fished all along the north & west coast of Newfoundland, & all these stretches of coast were once referred to as The French Coast; today, this term usually refers to just the east coast of the Great Northern Peninsula. I walked up about 200 steps to an overlook over the town of Englee on one side & a stretch of coast on the other side. A small iceberg floated by in the last pic.              In nearby Roddickton-Bide Arm, known as The Moose Capitol of the world, is a small museum about logging & moose; the extensive logging in the area creates a patchwork of old growth forests, recently logged meadows, & new growth forests - perfect habitat for moose.                         In my campground is a mama fox with 3 babies; two babies look like her, & one is orange all over except for the white tip of his tail. 

My outing today was to the 2 capes at the very northern tip of Newfoundland. The walk to Burnt Cape started in a barren rocky landscape, but soon turned greener. When the trail became close to the edge of a big drop off, I got a bit nervous. When I came to a section where the trail was literally on the edge of a big drop-off, I said, "Nope!", & turned right around. The first short section was lovely. Others who went all the way saw whales today. :-(             The view overlooking the town of Raleigh from Burnt Cape is great, & the 2 chairs by the sign going in to the town are too cute.      Cape Onion is a lovely windswept spot.