0517 Corner Brook to Gros Mornes

20^th May 2016

Stuck in a snow drift in the wilds !

And what a perfect day for the start of a long weekend – Blue sky, and so warm Robbie was wearing shorts and a T shirt !  Hardy people, these Newfoundlanders !   This weekend in Norris Point is called Trails, Tales, and Tunes, and is a 10 day festival of local musicians and artists that come together annually to celebrate the start of summer.  I didn’t quite know what to expect !  Robbie came with me in Troopie, and we were going to take a dirt logging road cross country up to Norris Point, Kristen and Clare were going to drive up the highway – Either way, it should only take us 2 or 3 hours, and when we left at about 2 pm we expected to be there in plenty of time for the first concert and a few beers in the evening. We had also heard from Gavin (on the yacht), and he was sailing up and expected to be there by early evening.

Not far outside Corner Brook we turned onto the dirt logging trail, and it wasn’t too bad at all – a few major pot holes marked with tree branches stuck in there, but no real problem at all.  Superb country, with forests, lakes, and cabins hidden away on the lakes – We stopped in at Gavin and his brother’s cabin at  Early Pond on the way past – Great family spot, with a hot tub on the verandah overlooking the lake. 

Lots of good moose habitat, and it wasn’t long before we found our first ones, a mother and her year old calf – Came round a corner and I don’t know who was the more surprised – Them or us !   We had a few moments with them before they disappeared up into the trees.  We carried on down the road, seeing a little bit of snow, and climbing up to about 1000 ft, but it still wasn’t anything we even needed 4 WD to get through.  Then, when we were only about 12 kms from our destination in Norris Point, we came round a corner and there was a snow bank covering the road, and about 100 metres long – It remained because it was largely in the shade during the day.  We stopped and checked it out, and there were some ATV tracks across it, and it seemed pretty firm, so we decided to try it. 

Into 4 WD, low ratio, and Robbie went up onto the snow to watch me, and I went for it.   Well, we got about 5 metres into it, and the front of Troopie hit a slight bump and went into the air, and then she just belly flopped into the snow and stopped dead !!  Aha !!  Going to need a bit of digging here, but it can’t be that bad – we are still right on the edge !  So I got my (rather small) shovel out and we went to work.  I dropped the tire pressures and we tried again – Nothing – The wheels just spun.   Looking more

carefully under the car we realized that the snow had compacted underneath and there was hardly any weight on the wheels – We were going to have to dig out all underneath the car and suspension in order to try to get weight on the wheels again.  It was at about this point that I think Robbie wished he hadn’t worn shorts !  It was still warm, but not when you are kneeling or lying in the snow and ice for a while !

We tried a few times more with no luck, but finally, about 2 hours after we had got stuck, Robbie managed to dig enough out from under the front of the car that the suspension regained some play, and there was weight on the wheels, and finally we were free.  It was now 5.30 pm, and we had no choice but to head all the way 2 hours back to Corner Brook and come back on the highway !!  We did try a few other logging trails but they turned out to be dead ends – So we trekked all the way back, with the heater on high to try to dry ourselves out and warm up !  The saving grace was that it really was a stunning drive through the wilds just south of Gros Morne National Park, and we saw several more moose, beavers, grouse, rabbits – Enough to cheer us up after our two hours of digging.  Thanks goodness Robbie was with me because he is a lot fitter (and younger !) than me, and was able to dig a lot faster !

We finally got back to the highway right outside Corner Brook at about 7.30pm, and arrived at Norris Point in the evening light at right on 9 pm !  It had all taken slightly longer than we had expected, and we had missed the first evening’s concert – But we were there.  Robbie’s parents, Ben and Marie, welcomed us and we joined many other members of their family who had all come up for the weekend, and were all most welcoming and made me feel completely at home.  One couple had a caravan parked

outside, I parked Troopie out there, and I think every room in the house had someone sleeping in it – It was truly a “full house” !  After a while we dropped down to the Cat Stop just 30 metres down the road where a live band was playing, and had a couple of beers to celebrate our arrival before heading back to our various beds for some well earned sleep.  I was absolutely exhausted, and sore, but at least Robbie was also feeling it too, so I didn’t feel so decrepit !!

To say I slept like a log would be an understatement.

Pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/6287889004454930689?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXHw8vAgebK7AE