Day 10 - Gros Morne National Park

Today I would be touring Gros Morne National Park and would then continue north to the town of St. Barbe, which was where the ferry to Labrador would be leaving the following morning.

I had planned to participate in a guided hike this morning in the “Tablelands” section of the park. This section of the park features exposed rock from the earth's mantle, which is apparently not commonly found. Unfortunately, I under-estimated how much time it would take me to travel from my campground to the hiking trail where the guided walk was taking place. I arrived just as they were heading out, so I quickly parked the car, grabbed my camera, and ran to catch up.

It was interesting to hear a park guide describe what we were seeing, from a geological perspective. Unfortunately, bad weather starting moving in, and since I hadn't had time to grab my rain gear, or my pack to keep my camera dry, I “bailed” on the hike and got back to the car before the rain starting come down heavily.

I then started heading North along the coast, stopping at several of the view points along the way. With the weather being a bit uncooperative, I was trying to “stay ahead” of it as best I could. One of the more interesting stops was at a point called “Greenpoint”. This is apparently a section of the coastline that was once the sea bed floor, but due to some geological force, probably plate tectonics, it was forced upwards and then “toppled over” so that you can now see all the layers of the sea bed floor over time as a cross-section. It was really cool to see all of the different layers and types of rock. This would definitely have been a great opportunity for a guided hike to hear a geological explanation of it all.

From there, I continued North arriving at Western Brook Pond, one of the most well known areas of the park. It's an inland fjord, surrounded by a glacial valley. Unfortunately, at this point, the weather had “caught up” with me, and the views weren't very good.

I continued my drive North, stopping at several other viewpoints along the way. Eventually, it was time to simply stay on the road to St. Barbe.

I arrived in St. Barbe at around 8:00 local time and searched for a place to park for my first night of “car camping”. I found a spot right alongside the ferry terminal and parked there. I then made the arrangements to convert the car into my “camp” for the night. I made myself a simple dinner and then went to sleep. I had to wake up early the next morning for the ferry ride to Labrador, and the start of the real “adventure” portion of this journey.