gros morne to lark harbour: west coast blues

We seemed to have picked the only two clear, warm days to hike around Gros Morne. Monday was even warmer than Sunday, and we actually got to leave our toques and mitts in the car this time!

We started with a hike partway up the Gros Morne Mountain trail to a nice view (first pic below). Then we started heading farther up the road, but had to stop when we caught a glimpse of Western Brook Pond, a crazy fjord scooped out by a glacier at the end of the last ice age. It was another blustery walk, but we made it to the boat launch and got to see the opening in the mountains that led to the lake beyond.

We left the park and headed up the Northern Peninsula, with a quick stop at the famed Arches Provincial Park and a detour to the tip of Port au Choix where more high winds blew across the grey limestone barrens. We also stopped to visit the Thrombolites of Flower's Cove: 600-million-year-old accretions (technically not fossils, B insists) leftover by communities of single-celled algae and bacteria. (I'm standing funny in the photo because the wind was even stronger by this point.)

We stayed at a motel way up near the northern tip of the peninsula, then visited L'Anse aux Meadows in the morning — a landing site for Viking explorers 1000 years ago. There were some ruins, but the best part was the replica sod hut and the costumed interpreters who kinda talked like Vikings. The area is all-in on the Viking theme, and almost every business nearby had a shield or a boat or the word "Viking" in its name.

The rest of yesterday was a very rainy drive back down towards Corner Brook. We pulled over when we saw a huge and majestic moose right by the side of the road (his name is King Moose and he's bigger than he looks in the photo).

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