Day 4 - North Rim Traverse (Gros Morne National Park)

We are a campsite behind but with Scott's advice, we felt confident that we may be able to play some catch up this day. We are supposed to hike through minimal tuckamore but elevation gain and loss was supposed to be quite dramatic. Also, we are expecting some rain on-and-off for the next 3 days.

As usual, we got up, had some warm oatmeal with dried prunes, packed our tent, and set to go. I was more confident with the map and the compass at this point and the terrain was not as difficult to navigate through. For the first several hours, there were many ponds to take reference points from. We just had to match the ponds we see in our surroundings with those on the map. Scott was right. We were able to walk around tuckamore with ease and it was just a never ending hike through the rolling hills. Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down... the hills were not high but it was very repetitive. As advised by Scott, you always want to go against the "grooves" of the hills. 

The ground was very damp and rain started drizzling down on us on-and-off. It was difficult to take photos because of this but our rain gear was decent. Except for my boots. My boots are nearly (perhaps over?) 10 years old. It is a pair of North Face suede boots that used to be water resistant. Within 30mins of walking, my socks were entirely soaked and the boots had no support for my ankles. There was not much I could do and after several hours, it didn't bother me too much.

Pond after pond after pond after pond after pond.

Since early morning, fogs came in an out of our path. Sometimes visibility was limited to the point where we would just sit at the top of the hill waiting for the fog to blow over. Visibility is key when you are navigating by compass and map. I think it's a big drawback from a handheld GPS units, but we managed without too much difficulty.

By late afternoon, the ponds became too small to accurately identify on the map, fog was getting worse at many points, and the path was nothing but rolling hills. With my limited orienteering skills, I could not locate myself on the map any longer so we just kept going "against the groove." Once we reach the top of a hill, we could see endless hills ahead of us in the far distance. As long as we continued to go up and down, we were supposed to see a big lake. This first big lake that we run into was supposed to be the campsite for the third night in the park.

The plan in the morning was to go past this lake campsite and try to make it to the next campsite that would be only several hours more into (finally) the Long Range Traverse. For hours and hours we walked through the hills hoping and hoping that we would see the lake. Every hill that I climbed I kept saying that, "once we're on top, I think we would see the lake!" 3 hills in, nobody believed me. We were fed up and daylight was dimming slowly. 

One thing about wilderness orienteering is that your mood is rarely medium. You are always either extremely happy and mountain high or you are feeling insecure and feeling endangered of being lost and killed by a bear. We climbed a particularly steep and high hill hoping that it would be the last hill before the lake. We got up and looked ahead and I was wrong. Our mood was starting to crash. Then suddenly, at that moment, it started pouring rain. We stood on top of the rocky hill looking at each other in silence for a good 15 seconds listening to the rain drops hit the rocky surfaces surrounding us. Ji-Won suggested that we should take a break by "that rock over there." We walked about 5 meters towards the rock and right under the hill, there was a huge lake! I took out my map and in 10 seconds the three of us were yelling and dancing in the rain in joy. The lake was only about 1.5-2km away from where we were and it was a down-hill route.

I guesstimated about 15-20minutes to get down to the lake. Another 3 hours and we could arrive at our planned destination by 19:00. We were walking down the hill feeling extremely happy and confident. It turns out, the hill is a very rocky jagged one. We walked around in circles and back-tracking whenever we hit dead end (usually a cliff drop). It took us over 2 hours to get down and we were pissed as we got closer to the lake. The route down was a very dangerous steep rock face. Walking on wet rock with a 30-40lb pack is mentally stressful. One slip can set you back a long way in the mountains.

Finally we arrived at the site. We found the toilet, the bearbox and and ideal place for our tent. We decided that we should not go on much longer because we won't be able to make it to the next campsite before sunset. We were still very happy to be able to have a warm dinner and get inside our warm cozy tent. I was especially happy to take my wet boots off. Then...as it got cooler and the sun was setting, bugs started acting up. There were these small flies that would swarm on my bare knees and just sit there. I observed their behaviour and assured the ladies that "it's okay, they don't bite!" I was never more wrong. In 15 minutes, my legs were dotted with purple bite marks. In hours, they were starting to swell a lot: they were black flies. I didn't bring any long pants so I expected to suffer for the next 3 days.

This didn't stop Helena and I from going for a dip in the cold lake. It was freezing cold but we had to do what we had to do. I prefer the cold over going into my sleeping bag with all my sweat from the day. A quick dip, a nice warm dinner and we were once again safely in our sleeping bags wondering what we will have to face the the day after.

Sleeping in a tent in the wild is something I recommend everyone to try out. It's an unusual feeling. Lying in the tent in pitch darkness can give you a different perspective of our selves.

Oh. Also, I got a black fly bite right in my butt crack from going to the toilet.

Day 3 - North Rim Traverse (Gros Morne National Park)

Our second night was loud and windy. We all didn't sleep very well but when morning came, we were recharged and ready to start hiking again. In the morning, I could not have been more thankful for the awesome tent that we had. It withstood the strong wind and held together fine through the rough night. Again, we had some Clif Bars for breakfast, took down our tent, and packed our bags. With the daylight, we were confident that we were at the lake that we thought we were at. Our direction for our next campsite was clear but the terrain looked rough. A few more hours of harsh uphill tuckamore and we made it to the top of a hill by early afternoon. From this spot we were able to make out the direction for the next few hours.

Why else would I bring her?

We planned to sleep at the campsite 2. Even though we would be a day behind, we did not want to risk another night where there would be no bear box. At the time, we thought that it would be better to play catchup for the day we lost in the Long Range Traverse section of the park. It was an easy day until I twisted my ankle and fell. I just sat there on the ground and wondered what was to happen if I couldn't walk anymore. The pain was getting worse and worse by the second and it felt pretty shitty to think about the possibility of not being able to finish the hike because of me. By this time, the three layers of my boots were starting to separate (the rubber sole, the spongy cushion, and the main leather wrap); the boots really took a beating from the hike and it had less and less support by the hour. Helena had an injured ankle from the beginning so she had some bandages and tenser for her ankle. She took them off and put it on my ankle. After a 10min break and 2 ibuprofen, I was back on my feet.

Even when they are close to tears, they never fail to smile so brightly when you point a camera at them. Camera therapy.

After another 2 more hours of hiking, we found ourselves on top of another hill overlooking the our destination lake. It was a beautiful scene. We were on a big plateau with amazing weather. Since we were only about an hour away from our destination, we took a long break. Ji-Won and Helena took out their sleeping mats and took a short nap while I played with my ukulele. It was a great feeling lying down in the middle of nowhere under the sun letting the wind play the ukulele. If you hold up the ukulele at certain angles against the wind, it would ring random tones! It was a bit freaky at first but lying there in the sun listening to it was very soothing.

Our new campsite

We arrived at the campsite right by the lake. Even though we only spent 1 night at an "un"designated designated campsite, the bear box, the toilet, and the tent pads felt like 5-star luxury amenities. We were a day behind but we were in such good moods. We had instant ramyun for lunch and Japanese curry for dinner. By 16:00, I was walking to the edge of the lake and saw a couple arrive! They were setting up their tents and filtering water. It felt so great to find a fellow human being in the wilderness. I spoke with the lady and she said they lived in Rocky Harbour and that they do sections of the hike often. They promised to come by our tent after dinner and give us some tips.

This is where we met Scott Taylor. Scott works as a geographical information systems (GIS) specialist for Parks Canada at the Gros Morne National Park. He knew the geographical features of the park like no other. He had the latest satellite images and a lot of different tools to survey the land. For any first-timers at the park who wanted some advice, he was the man to see. He came over to our site after dinner to give us some useful advices. The most welcome information from him was that you can eat the berries that we kept seeing them on the ground during our hikes. They were called cloud berries and they were not poisonous despite what I thought. The colour and the way it grew so low to the ground off of 1 stem looked fatally poisoning to me but I guess I was wrong. He said that we're not allowed to pick them...(?)... I cannot put into words the gratification we felt for him during the days to come; we benefited so much from the valuable information that he was so generous to provide us with. He even gave us his phone number just in case we needed a ride out from the trailhead on our last day. Scott, if you're ever seeing this, leave me a comment!

Cloudberry

Scott's satellite image map

It was a great day. Even though we were a day behind, we were well fed, we had another day of amazing swim, and we were back on track! We had a few days of rain ahead of us, but we were prepared and confident.

Feel the music

Day 2 - North Rim Traverse (Gros Morne National Park)

Day 2 of our trip started where we left off at Snug Harbour. Our plan was the hike up roughly 4KM to the top of the northern gorge by early afternoon and hike another 5KM to the North Long Pond.

We woke up late because the only timepiece we had was my Casio Databank watch. We set our alarm for 6:00AM but it turns out that the alarm is very quiet and it would only ring for less than 30 seconds. Nobody woke up to the alarm and we ended up leaving our campsite at 11:00AM. We had 2 Clif Bars for breakfast and substituted brushing our teeth with gums. The first stretch of hike was a rough hike with steep elevation gain on unclear paths. We kept losing the main trail and within 2hours, I had to take out my compass and tried to triangulate our location on the map. It was a difficult task and we were all panicking a bit. In 3H51M, we reached the top of the gorge. We had no more water, had our bug nets on, and the sun was stronger than ever right over our heads. Looking at the map, it was clear to me that the hardest part is over. I was most definitely wrong. I thought that we fought our way through our share of tuckamore for the trip. Wrong again. Tuckamore is a thick cluster of evergreen trees that are very difficult and painful to go through. We were told by the ranger to go around, not through, tuckamore no matter how tempting the B-line seems to be.

From here on, according to the topographical map, there was minimal elevation gain. Naturally, I underestimated the terrain ahead of us. It turned out, we had to walk through hours and hours more of tuckamore with no end in sight. We had no time or the mental capacity to take photos while we were walking from here on. It was mentally and physically straining us to our limits. I felt lost 90% of the time and tuckamore would just not end.

With no more water we started panicking even more. We managed to locate some marked trails but with so many caribou and moose trails in the park, it was difficult to know if we could trust it. As I was walking ahead of the group trying to find our way, I heard a stream trickling in the distance. We walked a few hundred meters north and I found a small stream running through a mini-valley. We took a 15minute break filtering and treating our water and had some Clif Bars. 
By 19:30, we found a clearing from hours of tuckamore that we fought through. The sun was setting and the view was amazing. Nobody knew the troubles that Helena has seen and she looked like she was about to cry. At the center of the small patch of clearing was a big boulder. We sat on the boulder and discussed our options. The sun was setting, we need more water, and we had to find a place to stay overnight. Finding water is not a big problem but there were some risks that we had to consider when camping in a non-designated area. Our biggest fear is wildlife getting to our food. We in the end, decided that we should tent right by the closest pond that we could see. After another few hours of fighting tuckamore, we managed to arrive at the end of a random lake/pond a few kilometers off the cliff.

Despite my complaint, the two ladies insisted that we shouldn't cook a warm meal; it might attract bears. We tried to scout the place out around the lake to find an ideal place to tent. Unfortunately, the thick tuckamore came right up to the edge of the lake. As we were trying to decide where we were going to tent, it got very dark and dangerous to keep walking around. Helena touched a "poisonous" mushroom and almost "died." In the end, we tented on top of the tuckamore. The trees were so thick that we managed to tent right on it; we were about 3 feet off the ground and right on the edge of the lake. The night was rough. Because we were so close to the cliff, the wind was very strong. The tent was slanting the entire night and the flapping tent fabric was extremely loud. Nobody really slept well that night.

This was by far the most difficult hike and our morale was rock bottom. Yes, Ji-won was at a constant alert for a fatal bear attack. Yes, Helena felt that her life was endangered throughout the night. But in the end, we kept it together and helped one another stay calm and positive. The information center was not wrong about this day being the most difficult hike. 

North Rim Traverse - Day 1 (Gros Morne National Park)

Gros Morne National Park has two major wilderness hiking areas: the North Rim Traverse and the Long Range Traverse. Our plan was to finish crossing both areas in 7 days.

Day 1: Western Brook Pond --> Snug Harbour
We camped out on the day of our arrival at the Berry Hill Campsite; just 5 minutes (taxi) from Rocky Harbour, there is a nice little campsite with sufficient facilities. We checked-in at the campsite very late (around 21:00) so we were placed in the over-flow section. This turned out to be better for us because there was much more privacy and we got to use the washroom and the shared "kitchen" all to ourselves. For just $25.50 a night, it was a far better option than some of the hotels in town that all charged over $150. Another option in town are bed and breakfasts; apparently they are cheap and well maintained at prices below $100.

This was the first time we got to use the new tent Helena bought for this trip. It is the Tarptent Cloudburst 3, single wall, dual arch tent with two entrances. At merely 52oz./1.48kg., the high price is well worth it for backpackers. We also had an extra pole for high wind and an inner condensation liner. On the first night at Berry Hill, we woke up with slightly wet sleeping bags. Without the inner liner, we didn't expect so much condensation to fall from the tent ceiling. Single wall tents absolutely require this inner condensation liner if you have down bags.

After a quick breakfast (oatmeal, coffee, apple), we packed up, and the taxi came right to our campsite on time as promised. We started late because we were told that it would be an easy hike with  a clearly defined path. Also, the Wildlife Museum in Rocky Harbour opened at 09:00. On our way to Western Brook Pond, we made a quick stop to buy the bug nets. From there, it was a 30minute ride up to the Western Brook Pond trail-head ($60 taxi).

It's quite a scenic ride along the coast; as we were passing by small coastal communities, the taxi driver was kind enough to explain the history and the life in these areas. The Western Brook Pond trail start right off the highway by the coast. There is a boat that takes you all the way into the fjord. Most hikers would just take that boat and start at the end of the fjord and hike the Long Range Traverse south.

The hike is just 7KM long and it only took us 5 hours and 25 minutes (10:28 - 15:06). We had to take off our packs and our boots to cross a river that had water that came up to just below my crotch, we got lost once trying to find a short cut, and we stopped for lunch for about 30 minutes around 14:00. We ate pepperoni with tortilla for lunch. I'm not much of a fan of peperoni sticks but it was a good fill with enough fat, protein, sodium, and carbs. With so much granola bars and oatmeal, fiber is not much of an issue on the trail. 

After arrival, we quickly tented and jumped into the pond. It was the most amazing swim. It was a perfect prevening (bazinga!), and the water was nice and warm. We didn't get to swim everyday on the West Coast Trail because I don't like swimming in saltwater before going to sleep; it gets gritty everywhere after. Also, the cliff section of the fjord in the backdrop is amazing to swim with.

Dinner was pasta with peanut butter, chilli pepper can tuna, and onions. I enjoyed it very much probably because I was so hungry. The campsite has 4 basic features: a "bear-post," a wooden tent-pad, a picnic table, and a toilet. Literally just a toilet. I mean literally just a toilet with a lid: No walls, no toilet papers, no wood chips, nothing. It was a toilet surrounded by bushes at the end of a path that started with a toilet sign. Literally just a toilet. 

This didn't bother me as much as the "bear-post." I have never seen these before but it was very intuitive to use. It was basically a long wooden post (around 30 feet) erected a fair bit away from the tent area with 4 hooks on all sides at the top. On the ground you are given a long metal rod with a hook on its tip. The trick is to hook your food bag on to the rod and hang the bag on the hooks on top of the post. It looked and sounded easy enough that I decided to put this task aside until later. It turns out, it's not easy at all. Since this was our first of 7 days of backpacking, we had a lot of food. The bag was too heavy to lift with the long rod and it took us over 45 minutes to try and figure out how we can protect ourselves throughout the night from bears. It was not only bear bears but I saw several mice running around the bushes. In the end, we managed to only get the necessary food (food with most scent) hung up on the top and the rest were put into Ji-Won's bag that we hung on the lower section of the post on the sign.

We were energized, hyper, and excited for the next few days to unfold. None of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into but every one of us were there to make the most of what will be handed to us on the trail. I said this throughout the trip again and again: this first day is my favourite day during the entire trip. We had beautiful weather, a breathtaking scenery, and a perfect swimming spot. Perhaps it may not be the most memorable; in the end, the most miserable moments in any adventure makes up the best stories.