Newfoundland is a wet place! This page is primarily a description of a 6 day map & compass (no trails) backpacking trip in Arctic Alpine conditions. The route is called the Long Range Traverse. We saw lots of caribou, it rained everyday, the black flies were ferocious, we had a bear one night, and the route was often blocked by extremely thick hedges call Tuckamore which necessitated numerous detours. Other than that, it was easy!
We (my wife & I) went to Gros Morne National Park in northern Newfoundland (Newfoundland is a large island province located off the east coast of Canada). The region was heavily glaciated during the ice ages, to the point that the land was pressed down by the weight of the ice, and large fiords were carved, especially in the west coast of Newfoundland where Gros Morne is located. As the ice melted, the land rose, and the fiords are now long deep finger lakes isolated from the ocean by a narrow coastal strip. Surrounding the lakes is the interior highlands.
Our trip consisted of a boat ride to the upper end of one of the finger lakes after which would climb up onto the gently rolling highlands and proceed about 35 miles south to Gros Morne peak and eventually the road. The route involved hiking up a valley beyond the lake, and then a very steep climb past a large waterfall to gain the highlands. Once on the highlands, there were almost continuous lakes and ponds, and in between it was boggy. We took a one quart canteen for the two of us, and a water filter. We were never more than 5 minutes from a water source for the entire trip. The terrain was gently rolling hills with elevation changes of a few hundred feet. The rolling terrain meant there were no real clear landmarks to steer from (and of course no trail). What the topo maps did not show very well were the patches of Tuckamore - a very thick hedge like growth of shrubbery. This would occur in patches, often requiring a 1/2 mile detour up one of the hills and back down, just to go a few hundred feet in the direction we were trying to go. This stuff was tough! When we planned this trip I was picturing open tundra, solid walking and figured this would be easy going - we ought to be able to do our planned 6 miles per day by noon, set up a nice camp, and go exploring during the afternoons. Wrong! It took all day to do the planned distance each day, at which time we were exhausted.
The first day consisted of a short hike to the sightseeing boat and the boat ride to the end of the lake. The boat dropped us off and we set up our first camp at the end of the lake under an overcast sky. After skinning dipping in the cold lake, and dinner we tied our food up in a tree away from the tent to avoid attracting bears. It rained during the night (as it did every day of the trip). The next day we set off up the valley. We were soon soaked to the skin from the moisture hanging on the vegetation from the rain the night before. A poncho did not help much, water ran down the poncho, then down my legs, and into my boots, so I got to wear two lakes on my feet for the rest of the trip. The climb up by the waterfall was arduous with a full pack and involved a minor amount of scrambling to work our way up. Once on top we had a terrific view back down the lake, with clouds handing in the valley. We proceeded about another 1/2 mile and camped by a large lake. On the way we saw our first caribou at a distance. We had a quick dinner and then it rained.
The next day we set off slogging through wet spongy terrain. We tied our bandanas around our foreheads and ears to help keep away the black flies (at the end of the trip I had a more or less continuous welt across my forehead at the bottom edge of the bandana, where the black flies ahd been enjoying "human to go"). Near the end of the day we passed a large lake and were getting ready to cross one last low pass when the clouds descended to the point we couldn't see where we were going. We set up camp in an intermittent light drizzle and during a brief break had a quick dinner. I took our food a fair distance from camp and hung it in a tree. That night we had a bear sniffing around the tent (I've often had bears around my tent in the backcountry, but so far I've never had a problem with them). The next day dawned clear and we headed on. More of the same - boggy conditions, detours for Tuckamore, lots of compass readings and head scratching trying to map low relief bumps to things on the topo map (despite the difficulties, I think we knew where we were to within 100 yards for the entire trip - it just took several readings before you had any confidence that you were interpreting what you saw correctly). It was a rather warm day and we were beginning to look forward to a dip in a lake when we set up camp. Then it started to cloud over a bit. We no sooner decided that that little spit of land over there looked like a good place to camp, than it started raining - again. Oh boy! Another day setting up camp in the rain.
Day 5 was a big caribou day. We skirted a large lake and got into a real maze area of low relief where we had to pick the right route or we would eventually be blocked by lakes or large streams (we succeeded). During the day we ran into one large caribou who seemed to study us from a distance as much as we studied him. A bit later we came across two more caribou and watched them swim across one of the numerous lakes. We finally came to the area we planned to camp, just above the cliffs down to one of the finger lakes and close to where we planned to drop down from the high country. Of course it started raining again. We watched a small herd go right past our camp in the rain. The rain never really let up, and since we didn't want to get our few dry clothes wet, we left our clothes in the tent and wolfed a few pieces of cheese in the rain with no clothes on (it was too cold to take the time to cook anything without clothes).
The next morning was our last in the backcountry and it dawned beautiful, with a clear blue sky. Looking out of our tent we saw a herd of caribou on the nearby ridge. Ah! What a perfect day, finally. We fixed a leisurely breakfast, and then a herd of caribou (maybe 20) came right by our tent - what a sight! Then clouds rolled UP out of the valley and enveloped us so we crawled back into our tent for an hour or till the clouds dissipated and we could see where we were going. Eventually the clouds lifted and we broke camp. Now came the toughest part of the whole trip. We had to work our way down the steep drop-off from the high country, almost a cliff in places, through thick tuckamore. At least the tuckamore provided things to hold on and brace with, which helped some. Once to the valley bottom we were in the middle of a large thicket of tuckamore with about 1/2 mile to go before we connected with a day hike trail going up to Gros Morne peak. This was really tough going, with a few rather hidden holes. There were a couple of times when I was in the lead, pushing through the tuckamore when I'd step in what appeared to be a small puddle and just drop abruptly about thigh deep into a hole - not a pleasant surprise!
The final several miles were on the well maintained Gros Morne Peak hiking trail. We reached the parking lot late in the day, still having quite a few miles back to the park headquarters where we'd left the car. I had planned on leaving our packs at the trailhead and thumbing a ride. Just as we were coming down the last few feet of trail, a small car with 2 couples in their early 20s pulled in and asked us if the hike (meaning up Gros Morne) was very long. We replied we had just been in for 6 days - I think I heard all 4 jaws bounce on the ground. These poor brave souls volunteered to give me a ride back to headquarters to get my car. Remember this was a small car and I'd been backpacking for 6 days.
Well, the caribou were neat, and I certainly had a feeling of accomplishment doing that trip, but next time I think I'll pass on this one. A friend at work who was going up to Baffin Island rock climbing at about the same time had recommended this as a real wilderness experience. I remember thinking black thoughts about him several times during the trip and wondering how it had been when he did it. When I got back and told him about it, he said, "Wow! I'm really impressed. That's a real tough hike - I never did it. I just heard about it when I was car camping there". I almost killed him on the spot.
On the same trip we drove to L'anse Aux Meadows at the northern tip of Newfoundland where they have found a viking settlement that lasted for a couple of years. Looking north from the bay at the tip, you are looking straight into the arctic. We woke up in the middle of the night and watched the stars - I've never seen them so bright and clear. Really incredible.