Gros Morne National Park is located on the west coast of Newfoundland. The photo below is of the mountains seen entering the Park. We arrived late and the visitor's center was closed. We were planning to go into Western Brook Pond, a freshwater fiord. Since we were going to be at the park for only one day the decision was to go to the south side of Bonne Bay rather than undertake the hike into the pond.
We drove 50 miles to the south side of the Park to get around Bonne Bay. On the way we stopped to view a known site for the showy lady slipper (below). The plants were blooming early this year due to the warmer weather early on.
Bonne Bay (below) is an long inland bay which splits the park in half. In the summer when the caplin (small smelt-like fish) arrive, whales are often spotted. A ferry previously crossed the bay saving the long ride, but today only a passenger ferry operates. The mountain in the distance which I say looks like a loaf of bread is Gros Morne Mt. It is the second highest mountain in the island portion of Newfoundland & Labrador at around 2900 ft.
The highlight on the south side of Bonne Bay is the rugged Tableland. This huge land mass seen below as the brown-colored mountain is actually geologically called serpentine. The brown-color is due to peridotite an ultramafic rock low in silica and high in magnesium. The rock is from the mantle of the earth and has been lifted to the surface. Often the minerals show a green, shiny surface. The area is almost devoid of trees, but contains many plants specific to serpentine. Newfoundland contains one of the largest outcrops of serpentine in North America.
Another view of the serpentine tableland can be seen on south side of Trout Lake (below). We enjoyed a nice fish dinner at a restaurant on the beach in the Town of Trout River.
While on the north side the fog began to creep into Bonne Bay. The view below is from just north of Rocky Harbor. That night we went to the pub in the Ocean View Hotel to hear the performance of the singing group "Anchors Aweigh".. It consisted of the lead singer (guitar), bass guitar player, accordian and harmonica player, guitar and banjo player, and drummer. They entertained us for 3.5 hours of Newfoundland and Irish music.
The next morning we headed north in the park past the site of Western Brook Pond. We stopped for the view below. Western Brook Pond is a freshwater fiord with mountains dropping 2000ft. to the pond shore. The pond is 1.9 miles in across a large expanse of peatlands. The "pond" is 9.9 miles long and up to 541 feet deep. We hoped to see moose or caribou on the peatlands, but we had no success.
We were now headed to our last adventure in Newfoundland the far northern end of the northern peninsula. (next installment).
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