Eric Praetzel - 1999/2000 East Cost trip comments

Pictures taken

Gros Morne National Park

Baker's Brook Falls

Pictures were taken with 100 or 200 ASA negative film.

Comments (1999 cycling trip)

This is an excellent park. Unfortunately when I arrived it turned cold and the wind was unreal. It took everything I had to cycle downhill at 10km/h!!
I had put plastic bags in my pants and jacket and put on every stitch of clothing I had and I was only warm if I was exercising hard. Foxes had eaten my hung food and the park is quite hilly. Then it started drizzling and I decided to go back to NovaScotia and spend my time at other parks on the mainland. During my entire trip I was also unable to find fuel for my campstove!

You will understand why they call Newfoundland The Rock when you get there. It is quite impressive. Much of the land is unpopulated and rugged. It is quite beautiful; but next time I go back with a car!

Comments on the Hikes (August 2000 hiking trip)

These are the trails that you should hike, from the shortest to the longest:

Lookout Trail hike at the Visitors Center. It has excellent views of much of the park.
Green Gardens hike If you have limited time only do the shortest hike out to the ocean and along the beach for a bit. I found the scenery far superior to the Cape Breton Highlands.
Gros Morne Mtn hike part 1 and Gros Morne Mtn hike part 2 They're not kidding; this will take you 6+ hours. The return leg goes around the backside of the mountain and gives an exceptional view of 10 Mile Pond and more.
Trout River hike This hike is a bit too short and you'll spend the first 2 hours getting wet and not seeing much. Beyond that it gets much better. There is an unoffical hike to the top of the peak just past the narrows; do it. The trail really needs to go on for a few more km to where the pond is held by the cliff walls.
Tablelands hike Don't bother with the hike along the bottom; hike to the top! Warning, the top of the tablelands is not flat and so you can continue to climb up and up and get views that are worse. The climb is over rocks and so it is slow. Fog can cover you at any time. There are no trails.
Gros Morne Mtn. Traverse hike Warning, there is no trail and dense vegetation. You will be happy if you manage to do about 1 km/h going thru the easier parts!! They will not let you up there unless you can demonstrate compentancy orientering. The fog can be bad, the winds worse; but the scenery is like nothing else in the park.

Camp sites

Pippy Park was a nice place to stay in St. Johns.

The best part of this trip was the scenery.
The worst part was:

Blackflies - tons in Gros Morne and they leave bleeding bites.
Deerflies / Horseflies - they'll drive you insane - esp. in the swampy hiking trails at Terra Nova
Fog in the St. Johns area - it could last for days.

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