Gros Morne National Park 2024
In September of 2024, NAC set off to visit Gros Morne National Park in the province of Newfoundland. Gros Morne is like no other National Park as it is kept extremely natural, only a few people get access per day and there are no trails. The intention was to complete both the Northern Traverse, and the Long Range Traverse. But we soon learned that it was much more difficult than we had realized. A traverse is a multiday trip on foot where we have cordinates to camp each day, but there is no established trail, you must find your own path through thick brush and over treacherous and mountainous terrain. In some areas it seemed nearly impossible to pass, and the challenging terrain meant we could only travel at an average speed of 2.2km/hr. It took all day each day to reach camp, and it left just enough daylight to get our tents set up and grab a very quick dinner before the sun was gone. On the second day, one hiker had to be air lifted out, and by day 3 we realized that we would not be able to carry on and complete the Long Range Traverse without possibly missing our flights. So we completed the Northern Traverse and called in a ferry to take us out of the mountains.
ARRIVAL DAY - SEPTEMBER 16, 2024
The journey to Newfoundland took us to a timy little airport on the Island where we picked up two rental SUVs and proceeded to strap all that we could to the roof and filled the cargo space with out gear. We then proceeded on a hour long drive to the base of Gros Morne National Park where we had arranged for a day of accomodations at a local hostel. This would serve as our base on this expedition. After settling into the hostel, we headed out to the Parks Canada offices where we had to pick up our permits and take a class on survival and orienteering in this type of terrain. The instructors were very impressed with the level of knowledge of our group and how well prepared we were, We were told that we were, in fact, the most prepared group they had ever seen. After that we headed back to town to find a local restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a hearty meal. Finally we went back to the hostel and started preparing our packs for the days long journey ahead. The next morning we had breakfast in town and drove to Gros Morne Mountain Parking area where we left our cars (as we thought this would be where we would finish our journey) and hopped into a pair of taxis that took us to the beginning of our journey.
DAY ONE - SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
Our taxi service dropped us off at Western Brook Pond where we would walk on flat land for the first day and camp on a sandy beach for the night. At first, it seemed rather easy as it was a paved path for much of the way. Then we would turn onto a narrow hiking trail and still, it seemed to be very easy. Maybe we had over prepared for this trip. Finally we came to the river crossing, being only a foot deep, it was a fairly easy crossing which we rather enjoyed. After crossing we sat and enjoyed a quick lunch, and then began our afternoon trek, and this is when we learned of what was to come. There was no more trail, and nothing but thick, sharp brush ahead. It stood 4' to 6' high and we were forced to push through. It stabbed us and tore at our gear and clothing. This was not like any brush I had been through before. The locals call it Tuckamore, I call it hell. The ground was covered with mud pits that we could barely see which made it even more trechourous. But finally we reached our camp for the night, and it was one of the most beautiful camp sites I have ever seen. Luckily for us, all the camp areas on this traverse include a food locker and a Thunderbox, so we did have that going for us.
DAY TWO - SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
We woke to incredible views and bright sunshine and headed to the beach for breakfast. The morning view at this location is indescribable, and these photos do not do it justice. Massive mountains and curtains of mist. We were lucky to have beautiful weather on this day as this would be the first day of our troubles. We trecked along following maps and GPS corrdinates to head towards our next camp, stopping regularily to plan our route as we go. In our GPS units, we had a preplanned route, but in many locations, we had to reroute and plan on the fly as the terrain was unforgiving. Near the end of our day, one hiker badly twisted an ankle, luckily we were close to camp. At camp we assessed the ankle and decided to wait till morning to make a decision. We reached camp late, and scrambled in the last moments of daylight to set up camp. We ate in the dark with headlamps and dealt with a light rain that came in just as we started cooking. We fell asleep quickly after fighting with the tuckamore all day and slept deeply through the night.
DAY THREE - SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
We woke early and checked on our injured hiker. We made breakfast and relaxed and then had a very difficult decision to make. Considering the terrain and the slow speed at which we were already travelling, it was decided that I would use the satelitte communicator to call in an evacuation. The group needed to continue forward to make the next camp, so I enlisted the help of our two strongest hikers to lead the group to the next camp while Lauren and I stayed behind with the injured hiker and waited for instructions from Parks Canada on the communicator. Luckily it was only about 75 minutes before a helicopter was sent in and Lauren and I quickly departed to try and catch our group. It was a very grueling hike, luckily we had a few clearings to allow us to make up time and on two occassions we came within view and walki-talkie range to our group. Unfortunagtely, on the second occurence of spotting them, we were trapped at the top of a ridge and it took time for us to find our way down. The sun was going down fast, so we radioed to them to head to the next camp while Lauren and I would find a way down and make a make shift camp for the night at the bottom of the ridge where we could see a water source. We instructed them to wait in the morning at camp and we would rendevous there. It was a difficult and uncertain night, not having proper food storage, we ran the risk of loosing our food to wildlife. We woke up often to check on it, and my sleeping pad was acting up, deflating slowly all night. It was pretty much a sleepless night with a very early rise.
DAY FOUR - SEPTEMBER 20, 2024
Lauren and I woke up very early and had breakfast. We decided that without an established trail, we would need to wait until there was some light to begin our trek as trying to plan a route without being able to see the terrain past our headlamps would be difficult and very dangerous. We had breakfast and packed camp. The moment the sunlight reached the valley we began trekking hard to catch up with our fellow hikers. Finally after about 2 hours of hard trekking up and out of the valley and over another ridge, we could see them ahead at camp and proceeded down to them. At this point, they were ready to go and we began again with another steep climb. Unfortunately a bit of disaster struck again just after noon, another hiker had a fall and cut open her knee badly. After bandaging her up, we pushed hard and finally we reached the end of the Nothern Traverse and the start of the Long Range Traverse. It was hear that we had a very dificult decidion to make, do we continue on or do we head down into the valley and arrange to be picked up and taken back to land. After much debate, and many heavy hearts, we decided to end our journey here. After some amazing photos we began our 5 hour decent into the valley to the edge of Western Brook Pond where we would camp for the night and contact Canada Parks to arrange for a ferry pick up. We finally reached camp in the dark and set up. We filtered water and made dinner in the dark and headed off to bed.
THE FERRY RIDE - SEPTEMBER 21, 2024
We woke early and had breakfast on the dock. While some went for a swim the rest of us did our best to stay warm and enjoyed the scenery. We packed up and waited for our rescue to come. We grabbed one last group shot as our Ferry (a tourist boat loaded with tourists) circled around. We could hear the announcement on the boat telling the tourists that they had to do a quick drive by the dock and rescue some hikers. The boat slowed and we quickly jumped on before it was past the dock. They found an area for us to store our backpacks and gear and then we went above deck to join our previously rescued hiker and enjoy the ride back to the mainland. At the mainland, we had a short trek to the main parking area where we grabbed a bite to eat then headed out to a taxi service that would bring us back to the cars. All this was arranged by our first injured hiker, and it wasn't easy for her. There are not many businesses in the area so we had very few resources to fall on. There were some additional costs, but it was all worth it for our safe return. Many many thanks to Parks Canada and our incredible hiker for helping to arrange all this through a satelitte communicator. Not the easiest way to communicate while trying to make fast plans.
POST TRAVERSE - SEPTEMBER 22, 23 & 24, 2024
As we had left the trek early, we had to find a place to stay. Luckily our Travel Agent, Michelle Lucy Travels, was able to arrange for us to get into our Hostel a day early. The next morning after breakfast, the group split up into a few different groups and each headed off to do something different. Some went for a hike up to Gros Morne Mountain, which is where the Long Range Traverse would have finished. Others just relaxed at the hostel, and Lauren and I went to explore some of the local hikes and check out the few small towns in the area. Each group thoroughly enjoyed their dfays off trail, and on the final day, we all packed up into the vehicles to make our way back to the airport and the end of our incredible expedition. We had an incredible adventure, it was difficult and at times scary, but it was more than worth it!
