Gros Morne

It's been raining for days but even the fog covered mountains here on the west coast of Newfoundland is stunning.



We made it to Gros Morne National Park, a place that I had only seen in advertisements and in dreams.This is one of the jewels of the trips promised to me by so many others and in the end, it didn't disappoint.




After a long, cold, and soggy ride on the moto from Bonavista, West and I caught up with Team Honda at Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne.Over the next several days, we hiked and marveled at the sheer cliffs and fjords and mountains from Woody Point, Western Brook Pond, and the Tablelands.After driving for endless hours across Newfoundland, encountering the fog-shrouded flanks of the Long Range Mountains for the first time stood as a stunning surprise.Here, glacial carved valleys, snow capped mountains, and deep forgotten lakes dot the landscape as we drove into the western winds that were laced with ocean fog.



There is little wonder that Gros Morne has been designated a World Unesco site for both its beauty and its geological significance.Recent talk about oil and gas exploration here is troubling news and if it ever comes to fruition, it will be such a shame.This is, afterall, a treasured place in our world.Where else can you pose on the top of a mountain but know that you are really standingon the bottom of an ancient and long forgotten ocean?The Tablelands at Gros Morne, afterall, was the place that provided the meat behind the theory of tetonic plate movements and the idea of how our current world is the way that it is from a geological perspective.Standing at the bottom of the valley of rock-strewn ocean-bed rock and seeing evidence that the earth at one point in time heaved itself towards the sky and turn itself inside out is a humbling experience.The mountains here were once larger and higher than the Himalayas.It is ancient here and you can sense its presence in the shillouettes of the mountains and the shattered rock on the ground.



As we parted ways with Team Honda and West and I headed north towards the last leg of our Maritime adventure, I couldn't stop stealing glances to the east at the looming cliffs and dark shadows of the Long Range Mountains.Fracking or no fracking, we are small and fresh as we stand alongside the rocks of ancient Newfoundland.I can only hope that they will still be here long after we're all gone.



With the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other, we rode across glacial formed flanks deep into the rain and fog.It was stunning and surreal and it reminded me of...the Canadian West Coast and the drive down Howe Sound towards Squamish and Vancouver.Sigh.I live in the wrong part of our country.



Walking up Cemetery Road from Woody Point through the rain and the fog.



Akin to the mountains, Newfoundland's weather-beatened tuckamore trees stand bent against the harsh North Atlantic.



Beach combing at Lobster Head Cove.



A forest retreat, Lobster Head Cove, Gros Morne National Park.



Dante and Levi, contemplating baths at the Tablelands.



Walking off the beaten path at the Tablelands, Gros Morne.



Rock hopping down from the mountain.



Flowers amongst the rocks.



Making dinner at Shallow Bay.



Testing out s'mores from the fire.



Still no front teeth.Maybe by Christmas....



Bob Dylan in pokadot socks andLuke Skywalker in pajamas and flip-flops, chugging something, anything, alcoholic.This is what happens when you've been stuck in a car with two crazy monsters in the back seat for three weeks straight while your husbands are out on the road, living the dream on their motorcycles.



Crazy monster #1 and Crazy monster #2.



Mountains and water at Western Brook Pond.



It was a good thing that Dante and Levi weren't competitive with each other throughout the trip...
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