Big Lone Mountain

July 2, 2009

Neddy Harbour

Achy feet? We’ve endured our share of scrapes, cuts and some slightly sore arm muscles but achy feet is not a usual side effect of sailing. Hiking up the second highest peak in Newfoundland, Gros Morne Mountain (big lone mountain) does!

Gros Morne National Park, encompasses an area as pivotal to understanding geologic process as the Galapagos are to understanding evolution and we were ready to do some serious hiking. Did we want to hike over the remnants of an ancient ocean formed around 540 million years ago or a section of the earth’s mantle that is toxic to life?

The ancient ocean in the form of Gros Morne Mountain was closer so we picked that. The kindness of Newfoundlanders continues to bring a special warmth to our cruise. We went to the little local grocery to see if we could pay someone for a lift to the trailhead. The owner himself gave us a lift, first to the visitors center to get our trail pass and then to the trailhead. He wouldn’t take a dime.

The hike was strenuous and stunning. We kept hopscotching with several groups, the mother/daughter from Colorado who had made their own skin-on frame kayaks, a group of young nurses at one point walking along talking about bed sores, a couple and their lab struggling up the scree filled slopes, a young Russian family from Toronto with a 13 yr. old boy and a 9 year old girl. They reminded us so much of Carolyn & Josh as they left their parents in the dust!

The hike begins in the coolness of woods and then you, and a baking sun, face The Gully, a long scree filled scramble. Perspiration streamed down our faces and our unused leg muscles were talking to us. I was hoping to see a ptarmigan but one could’ve been 3 feet off that trail and I wouldn’t have seen it.

Pausing to gaze across that spectacular scenery was as refreshing as a dip in a cool mountain lake. After the plate tectonics had done their thing here, the glaciers came along to put icing on the geologic cake. Hanging valleys, land locked fiords, and ocean stretching as far as you could see . . . not a bad breather.

A refreshing snow field, swimming in a mountain lake and more boulder scrambling highlighted the way down. We hitchhiked back to Neddy Harbour meeting two young guys who fished for lobster and a young family who’d recently returned from a trip to Florida. They’d driven the whole way!

Lots more to do here but we’ll have to save it for next time.

P.S. – The Highest peak in Newfoundland? It’s in the Lewis Hills between Stephenville and Lark Harbour, The Cabox at 816 meters is 10 meters higher than Gros Morne Mountain.