Finally a good weather day, and it couldn't have been better timed. We had reservations for a boat tour of a fjord lake in Gros Morne National Park. To reach the lake we had a 2 km walk on an improved trail through a bog, which was interesting in itself. Western Brook Pond is a lake formed by a glacier which carved a valley to the ocean. It was an actual salt water fjord until the sea level dropped below the shallow mouth of the fjord and it was cut off from the ocean. Now it's a fresh water lake. (Technical note: In addition to sea level dropping, the land rose because the weight of the glaciers had squeezed magma out under the ocean. When the glaciers melted, the magma flowed back, raising the level of the land. This isostatic rebound is still going on, especially at high latitudes, and complicates the calculation of rising sea level). Anyway, by this point in the trip we are hard to impress with scenery, but the valley goes back for several miles into the mountains, with sheer 1000-2000' cliffs on both sides. Absolutely astounding and beautiful. And to think that on our previous visit to the area many years ago the lake was inaccessible and barely known to exist. How did they get the 80' tour boat to the lake? They pulled partial assemblies on giant sledges over the frozen bog in winter, and built the boat at the lake. We sat outside on the top deck for the whole trip, and with a temp of about 58 F it was chilly and windy, but we were bundled and ready for that. A wonderful experience. We went out to dinner at the town of Rocky Harbour. S had good pan fried shrimp. D had moose pie, and for dessert bakeapple pie. When in Rome.
Walking in to the lake at the same time we were was a man with his wife and teenaged daughter who spent his career as a teacher at Resolution Bay, way up north. An Inuit town of 120 people; second closest town in the world to the north pole. 3 months of winter darkness and 3 months of summer perpetual light. They loved it there. Retired now, they live in Labrador City. Wow.
Saturday, Aug 8: Not much to report. A travel day; headed S out of Gros Morne Park, scored a propane refill, and camped near Stephentown, on an isthmus connecting the island to a peninsula with people of mainly French descent. What was special about today was bright sun and temperature in the 60's all day. A welcome relief for us, and for the Newfies, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment