Enfin me revoilà...It has been a while!!!!
Je peux toujours me trouver des excuses comme: "j'étais trop occupé ces derniers temps" (ce qui, par ailleurs, est vrai) ou encore: "j'ai rencontré des problèmes de connections" (là aussi, il y a une part de vérité). Cependant je pense que les principales raisons doivent être tout simplement mon manque récurent d'assiduité et ma fâcheuse tendance à remettre toujours tout au lendemain du lendemain...
Anyway, as you may know I was on the field for 3 weeks. Second trip on the West Newfoundland Coast, and obviously second trip in Gros Morne National Park, definitively the best place I've been in Canada so far.
From where should I start? Maybe I should tell a bit about the geology first!!!
Gros Morne National Park is designated as a UNESCO World heritage site mainly because of its amazing geology. First of all, GMNP is one of the rare places in the world where we can see the mantle of the Earth...A layer usually found more than 500 km under our feet!!!
So called "the tablelands"; this reddish unvegetated mountain contrasts so much with the surrounding green vegetated hills. Unfortunately I hadn't the time to climb it. That's not to bad, it's likely that I'll share this pleasure with my Dad in September!!!!!
Because of the chemical composition of the tablelands, no plant is able to grown on them. It's also interesting to notice the presence of snow which apparently seldom totally melt.
Je peux toujours me trouver des excuses comme: "j'étais trop occupé ces derniers temps" (ce qui, par ailleurs, est vrai) ou encore: "j'ai rencontré des problèmes de connections" (là aussi, il y a une part de vérité). Cependant je pense que les principales raisons doivent être tout simplement mon manque récurent d'assiduité et ma fâcheuse tendance à remettre toujours tout au lendemain du lendemain...
Anyway, as you may know I was on the field for 3 weeks. Second trip on the West Newfoundland Coast, and obviously second trip in Gros Morne National Park, definitively the best place I've been in Canada so far.
From where should I start? Maybe I should tell a bit about the geology first!!!
Gros Morne National Park is designated as a UNESCO World heritage site mainly because of its amazing geology. First of all, GMNP is one of the rare places in the world where we can see the mantle of the Earth...A layer usually found more than 500 km under our feet!!!
So called "the tablelands"; this reddish unvegetated mountain contrasts so much with the surrounding green vegetated hills. Unfortunately I hadn't the time to climb it. That's not to bad, it's likely that I'll share this pleasure with my Dad in September!!!!!
Because of the chemical composition of the tablelands, no plant is able to grown on them. It's also interesting to notice the presence of snow which apparently seldom totally melt.Beside the tablelands, GMNP is also characterized by some beautiful fjord such as Western Brook Pond and Bonne-Bay...
Let's talk first about WBP.
If you type GMNP in google, the first picture you will see is probably the end of WBP. Unfortunately I hadn't be able to see the end of the fjord. Indeed you can go there either by boat (48$, a bit expensive, isn't it?) or on foot (3 days hiking...). Another pleasure I booked for my Dad's visit...
Nevertheless, I did see the mouth of the fjord and it was just gorgeous to see this 600m high mountain falling straight into the water.
Let's talk first about WBP.
If you type GMNP in google, the first picture you will see is probably the end of WBP. Unfortunately I hadn't be able to see the end of the fjord. Indeed you can go there either by boat (48$, a bit expensive, isn't it?) or on foot (3 days hiking...). Another pleasure I booked for my Dad's visit...
Nevertheless, I did see the mouth of the fjord and it was just gorgeous to see this 600m high mountain falling straight into the water.
To bad the weather was cloudy
Me, trying to smile after an astonished hike...
View from the top of Western Brook. Notice the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the background...
Surprising meeting while hiking!GMNP is full of moose
And finally a relaxing naked bath...a great moment of freedom!!!
Now, let's talk about Bonne-Bay. As I told you before, Bonne-Bay is a fjord. It is not easy to compare Bonne-Bay and Western Brook Pond. Bonne-Bay looks more like a "bay" with small communities (Norris Point, Woody Point, etc) living all around it. It's such a enjoyable place to live, at least during the summer...
The bay is composed of three Arm: South Arm (on the right in the above picture), East Arm (a few is can be see on the left of the picture), and Deer Arm. East Arm and South Arm are well separated by a sill. Although East Arm is as deep as 230m and South Arm as deep as 150m, the sill is only 15-20m deep...
This topography and the presence of two major freshwater inputs confer some interesting oceanographic properties to Bonne-Bay explaining its high biological diversity...
This topography and the presence of two major freshwater inputs confer some interesting oceanographic properties to Bonne-Bay explaining its high biological diversity...
Of course there is some cod (Fr: morue)...Surprisingly, the water wasn't so cold (from 16-17°c at the surface to 1-2°c at 30m deep). So, I enjoyed snorkeling and scuba-diving in the bay.
It was awesome but a bit disappointing. In one side, I saw nice organisms like cods, salmons, skates (Fr: raie), lots of flounders (Fr: sole), crabs, starfish (Fr: étoile de mer), jellyfish (Fr: méduse), Ctenophores, sea urchins (Fr: oursins) and so on... But on the other side, since there was often a bunch of minke whales visiting the bay, I was hoping to swim close to one. That I saw, the last day, a minke at about 30-40m far from me (while I was resting on the beach), let me hope for the next summer or the next one. I still have many opportunities.
Norris Point with the Bone-Bay Marine Station and the tablelands behind
Some houses and a small wharf in Woody Point
The boat I went on to catch spawning cod
A small fall. I'm always wondering how salmon and trout can
go over that!!!
Ok, I think I described the main places I visited in GMNP. I still have a lot to do in GMNP. Fortunately, I'll be back soon!!!
But so far that's enough, the weather is great today again and I want enjoy the Jazz festival with a beer (probably more) on a terrasse...
Take care everybody...
