Enjoying the East Coast : Gros Morne

One our second day in Gros Morne National Park we enjoyed the cozy warmth of the cabin as long as we could before heading out into the cold, wet morning. As we made our way across the flat grassy area of the group campsite we had to weave our way between plentiful American Toads, which was quite entertaining. At least they seem to be enjoying the weather!

There is also quite a large population of Arctic Hares inhabiting the campground, and we enjoyed watching them hopping along with their absolutely huge, furry hind feet, and scrunching up their noses as they munched on grasses and wildflowers.

We relocated to a very clean, flat, sheltered campsite in the Berry Hill campground. The rain stopped while we were setting up our tent, letting us keep our things dry. When we arrived at the site we found a small rock sitting on the table which almost perfectly resembled a pilgrim's clam shell from the Camino. We think it was a not too subtle sign from St. Roch that someone is looking out for us!

We were also delighted to discover that the campsite is home to a pair of Swainson's Thrush, a pair of Robins, and a pair of White-crowned Sparrows. None avian occupants included a very bold red squirrel, a chipmunk (the first one we've seen in Newfoundland), and an Arctic Hare.

For most of the rest of the day it rained very hard, and the temperature was low enough (5°C) where we were missing our down jackets - hastily sent home to lighten our loads amid 20 degree weather a week ago. We did laundry, recharged our battery packs in the kitchen, and otherwise spent most f the day huddled in the tent working on our presentation.

In the late afternoon we received a very kind invitation to join a group of Park's Canada staff for dinner. We were picked up and given a wonderful tour of Rocky Harbour and Norris Point. These are both charming seaside communities that wrap around a bay. We then proceeded to warm up over a lovely dinner. Interesting conversation, great company, and good food was something we enjoyed enormously.

After dinner we returned for a few more hours work on tomorrow's presentation. We fell asleep listening to the gentle hooting of a Great Horned Owl, which continued into the wee hours of the morning.
 

 

See you on the trail!

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