Cowhead, Newfoundland–part 3

One day, I hiked the Western Pond Trail to the pond and went on a boat tour.  It is a bit different from most boat trips as you had to hike 2.7 km to get to the boat dock.  But it was a nice hike.   

I had heard about a wild fruit called a Bake-Apple that is found in Newfoundland and below is my first view of one.

Below is a Fox Sparrow (I think) -

More interesting flowers and plants --

A view of where I am headed --

The Western Brook Pond was at one time a fjord.  But on this ever-changing earth it is now considered a pond because there is some land that now blocks it from the ocean and it is now fresh water.  It is surrounded by steep rock cliffs (some 2000 feet high) and was carved by glaciers a long time ago.

Many people consider the Western Pond Trail and boat trip the highlight to their Newfoundland trip.  While I enjoyed it, it was not as exciting as I had thought it would be. Maybe just too much hype about it made me think it would be so much more.  A very crowded boat did not help much either!

From Cowhead, I headed South to Boone Bay, which is on the southern side of Gros Morne National Park.

Cowhead, Newfoundland–part 2

I stayed at the Seabreeze B&B and RV park while in Cowhead.  The location is great, it is on a bay and about 1/2 mile down the street is the Cowhead Lighthouse trail.  I hiked the trail when I was here in early June, but since it is a nice hike I did it again.  Once again, I really enjoyed the scenic Spring Beach which is a side trail from the lighthouse trail. This time I scrambled over the rocks and went further down the beach than before.

Below is a shot of me taking a rest after a nice morning walk.  What a way to start the day!

Several mornings it was foggy, but this particular morning it was eerily foggy.  The next 2 pictures were taken from across the road from my RV. 

Another interesting morning shot -

One day, I went back to Port Aux Choix National Historic Site.  I was here in early June, but I  didn’t hike as much as I wanted to.  So, I started with the Dorset Trail.  It was a great trail, it went over limestone barrens, over boggy areas, through the forest and then down to the ocean and then back!

One of the signs mentioned to look for fossils, I saw several including the one below --

Once again, the plants in the limestone barrens intrigue me – Tiny little white flowers on this very interesting little plant.

While hiking, I saw several caribou.  In the picture below you can see one on the trail and several on the hill in the background.  The one on the trail led me down the trail (as I like to think) before he got tired of me following and left the trail. 

This is a historical park because the Dorset Paleo-eskimos lived here from 2100 to 1200 years ago.  They were people who occupied artic Canada and Greenland and extended their range to Northern Newfoundland.  They were seal hunters and below is a wire sculpture just outside of the Philips Garden area which is where the remains of  2 large settlements have been found and explored. 

I figured this was a great place to stop, relax and have a snack!

This plant was not on the trail, but near the lighthouse (which I blogged about on my June visit). 

After a couple of hikes, I was ready for lunch.  I had already decided that I would go back to the same restaurant I went to earlier and get some more shrimp.  Shrimp is a big business in this area and a large shrimp plant is just across the street from The Anchor Café.  I had a salad with shrimp and house dressing – so good!!!

Cowhead, Newfoundland–part 1

In early August, I made my way back to Cowhead.  I had stopped here for a couple of days in June on  my way up to St Anthony’s, but now I had time to do more exploring.  Cowhead is just to the north of Gros Morne National Park, so many of my activities are in the northern part of that park. 

The S.S. Ethie was shipwrecked in December of 1919 and is in an area that I enjoyed!  I enjoyed it so much that I visited twice that’s why in some pictures it is overcast and cloudy and others it is a nice sunny day.

I enjoyed the rocks more than the wreckage.  The rock below was very interesting, it was green, with beige and rust colored stripes.  It was about 1.5 feet long otherwise it might have made it’s way into my pocket!  I know it’s a national park and you are not supposed to take anything, luckily it was too big for me to carry!!

I did a bit of tide pooling and came across something I had not noticed before.  At first it looked like some type of plant, but then I realized it seems to be growing out of snail shells.  I saw quite a few of them and would like to find out what it is. 

I went on a geology walk/talk at Green Point in Gros Morne.  This area is a very well known geological area as the rocks here have folded, so as you walk in front of the cliffs you go back in time.  These cliffs date back from about 492 – 546 million years ago. 

To get to the fossils we had to climb over some sharp rocks, but it was well worth it. When leaving, I found this rock (about a foot long) and thought this was some type of fossil.  The ranger (or naturalist) said no, it was made when the rock was formed.  I thought he called it a limestone burst, but I can’t find that on the internet so I may be mistaken.  Interesting anyway!

Gander, Newfoundland

I usually don’t post anything on my overnight stops.  But there was an interesting sign in my campground in Gander, the Country Inn and RV Park.

I guess if you have pot holes in your roads you might as well take advantage of them and use them as speed breakers!!