Hiking the Gros Morne Mountain Trail – Going up a hill and coming down a mountain

We, the group of 4 that included my younger brother Owais, my nephew Ammar, and my son Rayyan, were painfully hiking towards the end point of our hike – the parking lot, which was our start point also, 8 hours earlier. Encouraging each other, taking respites every now and then, and venting our frustration on our lack of hiking experience, we trudged on.

We had run out of water and food a long time ago and our knees and ankles were hurting after taking the impact of 13 km of scaling the Gros Morne Mountain at the National Park made to honour it in the Canadian province of Newfoundland from its almost straight south face and then descending it from the northeast and southwest sides, making a balloon shaped path.

The following photo taken at the National Park’s Discovery Centre depicts the entire path of the trail.

the initial approach trail

The initial trail to the base of the Mountain, 4 km long, offered beautiful scenery, waterfalls, and opportunities to see some arctic-alpine flora and fauna. Captivated by a river flowing in dulcet tones at a distance along the trail and oblivious of the challenges ahead, we enjoyed this section looking forward to a rewarding hiking experience to the base of Gros Morne Mountain.

As I took my sweet time to do a little photography, I constantly heard Owais exchanging good-natured banter with his two nephews – Ammar and Rayyan.

the ascent

We looked at the gargantuan section of the talus of the mountain in front of us and then at each other.

“There is still time we gave up the idea of scaling this monster”, quipped Owais.

Ammar responded, “let us not chicken out now or be ready to be slaughtered by our women back home”.

Responding to more by the ridicule than by adrenaline, we instantly decided to go ahead.

The ascent was steep and reached almost 60 degrees where we had to resort to scrambling up on the talus on all fours. We took several breaks from climbing to regain our breath, often finding time to look back and take photos of the ineffable beauty of the landscape below.

the mountain top

We reached the mountain top after a strenuous 2 hours of climb. My tee-shirt was drenched with sweat.

Here, broken rocks, reminding us of the under sea activities of million of years ago, greeted us far into the horizon. This was in total contrast to the verdant valleys below.

Like several other parties reaching the mountaintop, we took a long break here drinking water and eating energy bars. While Ammar made a video with his cell phone, Owais and Rayyan took power naps to recuperate.

Then, stepping carefully on the rocks, we explored the northern side of the mountain top.

There was a deep narrow valley separating the barren Gros Morne Mountain from the green top mountains on the other side of the valley.

the descent

After our 1 hour siesta at the top, we decided to start our hike for the descent thinking that it would be a piece of cake compared to the climb.

Initially, the descent, which started from the northwest side of the mountaintop, was easy and offered a good view of the fragile arctic-alpine habitat.

The panoramic jaw dropping scenery all around the mountain seemed ethereal.

Far into the distance we saw what is known as ‘Suspended Lake’ nestled in a pristine setting, looked appealing to explore, but never accessible.

We descended a long stairs to reach a pond set in an idyllic setting, hoping that a moose would show up. 30 minutes of waiting and feet dipping in the waters, we moved on.

Our state of euphoria was short lived, however. We entered a trail marred by the undergrowth. The scenery was over and a rigorous and gruelling hike started over a narrow trail made up of loose flat rocks that eked out every bit of our energy.

Negotiating the loose flat rocks and knee pounding descent, all of us were struck by a moment of epiphany. This was not going to be as easy as we had anticipated.

The hike was so taxing that during the last 11 km, I was only able to take the following two photos. The first photo shows the river that we ultimately descended to in order to reach the bridge that connected us with the 4 km long trail back to the parking lot.

All four of us concurred that we climbed a hill but came down a mountain. This may be an oxymoron, but reflects reality.

The following two photos demonstrate the two feelings that we all had during the hike – first photo shows the ecstatic feeling on the face of Ammar at the beginning of the trail.

The second (below) shows Owais finding the best spot he could to change his hiking sandals with his hiking boots at the midpoint of our descent.

Just to let everybody know, Owais had put on his sandals after dipping his feet in the pond thinking that the rest of the hike would be like a walk in the mall. That was a big mistake as he soon realised. Taking the benefit of his misery, I also rested my bruised and battered knees, ankles, feet and spirit.

We are glad that my (and of course Owais’) nephew Ammar chose Gros Morne National Park for our exploration. This hike did turn out to be a tad challenging, with my son Rayyan faring better. The truth is that no matter how difficult the hike was, the four of us will always cherish the memories of it. Indeed, it was a beautiful nightmare.

final words

Until our next blog, au revoir! Be outdoorsy, embrace diversity, and support causes for the conservation of nature!