From St. Anthony to Springdale - Sunsets, Archways and Abandoned Fishing Villages

So we now sit in our room near Springdale. The original plan was to stop near Deer Lake today, but we decided a couple of days ago to try to push a bit further – and we were lucky enough to get a room here after a phone call from Hay Cove.

Yesterday evening the sky cleared again and we decided to make a quick jaunt back up the trail from Hay Cove to catch the sunset over the ocean. There were definite signs of recent moose activity – fresh hoof prints in our direction and droppings. But no live encounters. We carried our coyote sticks too in the event of a less desired encounter – but again no meetings. The sunset was beautiful and it was well worth the extra trip. I was actually quite sure we would meet a moose as Mike’s camera batteries died as the sun finally set… it turns out that there were 6 of them at the end of the road from Hay Cove – 2 minutes from the B&B but we missed them as we were walking not driving!

Today we headed out by just past 8 am and just managed to get here by 3:30. We did have a couple of photo stops. First off we stopped at The Arches along the beach north of Gros Morne. They are remnants of the last glacial retreat. There were several hollows in the rocks and what was most interesting was that once they collapse, being primarily sedimentary rock they dissolve into sand. But all the other rocks around are large stones or rocks of granite from the glacial debris. Interesting landscape. Behind the arches was a very dramatic forest - would have made a great mood setting for a spooky film! The trees were all dead -possibly from the salt spray directed up the hill from the arches, but that was just a theory we heard. At any rate - the area directly behind the arches was not somewhere you want to journey alone in the dark!

Next we stopped by a small abandoned fishing village. In the 60s the government relocated many village folks to larger areas for ease of education, health and other servicing. So many homes were just left abandoned. The town we stopped by seems to have some new building alongside the old abandoned homes though, so perhaps it is being repopulated.

We had lunch on the road – a much needed salad we had picked up at the grocery store yesterday. Then back on for a brief gas stop and on to Springdale. We are now off to explore the town and for dinner. There is a local waterfall which the salmon jump up for spawning – so we’ll check that out as well as grab some dinner. There is also a waterfront boardwalk to a bird sanctuary – which we may or may not check out. So off we go again to burn some the wine and beer calories we have been enjoying!