I apparently headed in the wrong weather direction this morning. It was dry when I pulled out, heading to the north to find a very small provincial park called The Arches, just past the northern edge of Gros Morne. Dry, and then wet, rain, trucks flying past me on a two lane road. I guess my speed limit ride was much too slow for the truckers. Their vehicles kicked up an amazing amount of water as they flew by me.
As I turned into The Arches Provincial Park it was almost as if a spigot turned off. The only moving water was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, lapping the bottom of a triple arch sitting just past the edge of land. I watched in fascination as a young boy (who appeared to me to be a teenager) climbed on top of the arch, scaling the almost vertical rock face and giving his mother what appeared to be an unpleasant surprise. Even more interesting was his path down from the top of this rather large rock formation.
After playing with my camera for a bit, I headed to the south. Still dry... I pulled into the parking area for Western Brook Pond, the starting point for the hike to a fresh-water lake living in a fiord. Even though I wasn't planning to take the boat tour, I followed the 3-kilometer trail in, hoping for a good glimpse of the glacial feature. I could barely make out the vertical sides of the fiord from the parking lot, and as I moved closer the clouds dropped. Given the low-lying clouds and the lack of visibility, I was surprised at the lines of people waiting for the 1PM departure. Ah, perhaps the boat travels close enough to the walls to see the beauty.
As I walked toward the lake the air felt more and more water-laden. By the time I reached the end, I had the feeling that I was walking through solid mist. My camera was protected, stashed in my pack. As I got closer to the car, some irregular ponds sitting on a very green background caught my eye, time for some camera play. I really should have left the camera where it was... Even looking at the small images visible on the back of my camera, I saw images flecked with water droplets. Funny...Yes, this boat tour originally was on my list of things to do this week. My lack of interest in sitting still on a boat for 2 hours steered me away, as did the reports I heard that passengers were expected to stay seated. My camera expects me to be able to jump up whenever an interesting image appears...
It was wet, but it was still beautiful.
At that point I was thinking about skipping my next planned walk, a coastal walk near Green Point. My car automatically turned into the parking lot though. I headed out once more, still wearng my rain jacket, and with my camera hidden away from the mist. Within 5 minutes the air was dry, and there was blue in the sky. Oh! Time for some camera play. It was a beautful walk along a narrow path above the rounded tumbling rocks of the beach. There was green growth to the east, sparkling with small ponds. Between me and the big water to the west there were white remnants of trees, big branches. I walked the path, occasionally jumping down to the rocks to get closer to the water. As I turned to return to the path, I saw a mountain biker heading south along the trail. I watched him rolling, and then he stopped to chat, asking me what camera I was using. Ah, another photographer! We stood and talked for a while, then he continued rolling and I finished my walk.
Just a bit further down the road, I turned into Lobster Cove Light. PJ – my new mountain-biking-photographer acquaintaince – was standing there gazing at the water. We talked some more, then it was time for me to walk just a bit more, time to wander closer to the water, to look at the bright green seaweed under a bright blue and cloud-painted sky.
Dinner tonight was at Java Jack's, just a short distance down the road. Pan-fried cod accompanied by potatoes and vegetables from the restaurant's garden was a good choice, yum!
Conversations with my fellow guests at the B&B provided good end-of-day relaxation.
Tomorrow? The forecast is for a good weather day. All I need to decide now is which hike will pull me in.
