Sept 10, 2009 Day 13

Another great day. Quite cool in the morning again, but warmed up beautifully. We are taking the southern route #431 to Trout River.

This is the most scenic and mountainous drive so far.

We are driving through the tablelands. (flat top mountains)
They look more like Arizona than forested Newfoundland. This is due to the ultramafic rock - peridotite - which makes up the Tablelands. It is thought to originate in the earth's mantle and was forced up from the depths during a plate collision several hundred million years ago. Peridotite lacks the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life, hence its barren appearance. The rock is very low in calcium, very high in magnesium, and has toxic amounts of heavy metals. Peridotite is also high in iron, which accounts for its brownish colour. Underneath this weathered zone, the rock is really a dark green colour.

We just about stopped at every scenic outlook along the way.

Trout River. We had lunch in this quaint town. The owner of the restaurant had lived 21 years in Brampton, but returned to Nfld 3 yrs ago. Any questions we had, she was eager to answer. Immy and Jennie were very eager to have fresh lobster, but she told us lobster season was May to early June. Other than fish, the locals mostly eat bear and moose meat.

Breathtaking views all along the ocean shore.

The boardwalk stretched from one end of the town to the other.

Fishing docks all along the shores of Trout River.

This was the first of three hikes we did that day. "Tablelands Trail". It was 4 k long return.

This is Immy in the distance. She decided this hike was too long for her, and is going back to the van

Good thing we all had our hiking boots on. Very rugged. We love holidays this time of year. We only saw a few people here.

This was the second time we saw the pitcher plants.

All the rocks had designs in them.

If you click on any picture, you can see it in large. Some pictures are quite far away, and it's hard to see the people. "very important ones I might add".

At the end of this trail was a waterfall.

More wiggly roads.

Another picture taken through the front window. This one did not turn out too bad. We try to keep the windows bug-free, just for picture taking.

Our second hiking trail. "Southeast Brook Falls Trail".

Very colorful mushrooms.

This was the third hike we attempted. "Gros Morne Mountain Trail".

I know these are not as beautiful as the ones you posted on your blog Ed, but they come close!!

There is the mountain that was part of the third hike. We decided one pictures is worth a thousand words. (or steps in our case)

Around 5:30 we arrived in Norris Point. Still in the Park. We were pretty wiped from almost 4 hours of hiking today. Peter and Immy made bacon and tomato sandwiches for supper. A great day.

Love Alida/Mom