My past week was filed with laughter, lighthouses and sunsets and no shortage of craggy coves and tiny bays. After my cousin’s wedding in Toronto, I joined my brother and his girlfriend for a wedding in St. John’s, Newfoundland, followed by a 2000km road trip across the province’s tawny and green hills to Gros Morne National Park.
turns staring out the window, we watched the rocky landscape change as we left the city and the pine trees get taller and taller until we hit the Gros Morne, with its towering fjords and barren tablelands. This was my first visit to Newfoundland and I was blown away: it’s a gorgeous, humbling place. I’ll be posting on the climb up Gros Morne peak (this year’s version of my birthday mountain) and some of the province’s history, but until then here are a few photos from the trip.
Gros Morne National Park is a UNESCO heritage site, shaped by continents that clashed and ground together, its glaciers making their slow descent from summit toward the sea. Located at the West of Newfoundland, the park was recognized because it illustrates a fairly rare occurrence of continental drift, where the earth’s mantle and crust from the ocean that usually remains covered are actually exposed.{alertSuccess}
Because of the movement of its glaciers, those fjords I spoke of earlier were formed in a spectacular fashion, towering over beaches and forest alike. We were all fascinated with the plate tectonics that created this crazy park, especially in such a small geographic radius. With a geology expert in the visitor centre and great museum that shows the continental clash, it was exactly what we wanted to learn — and then we had a chance to climb the mountain itself.
As birthday mountains go, it was a great one! Nice to finally get a climb in with my family, and thoroughly appreciated the generosity of the Button family for lending their car without a blink of an eye for us to take it across the entirety of the province and back in just a few short days.
