A rainy start to the day as we drove to our first hiking spot.
Where it wasn’t raining!
We are back at Norris Point, where our ferry docked on our first day.
We’re doing a figure-8 around the peninsula. The Burnt Hills Trail is not a long hike, but it ascends to some viewpoints over Bonne Bay.
While we were waiting for everyone to catch up, it started drizzling, but it didn’t last long, and I put away my poncho after ten minutes.
Our guide, Ian, lives over there across the water.
We appreciated the shingles providing traction on the wet boards.
We had a lively discussion about how to tell firs (left) from spruce (right).
Firs have flat needles. Spruce needles are square, and roll easily when you twirl them.
We can see the Tablelands from this viewpoint, where we hiked on top of the earth’s mantle.
After returning to our start point, we now have time for the Maritime Museum. Ian thought it might really be raining this morning, so he planned for an indoor activity.
Road Scholar participants are always curious and ready to learn!
Captain Cook plotted Bonne Bay using a lead weight (each dot represents a place where they measured the depth). The map that Cook created is incredibly accurate, according to modern measurements.
Fragile Sea Stars are hiding out in a calcified algae.
Bus Humor
Ok, on the outside of the bus we have a large logo: “Shears’ Bus Service”
But on the inside of the bus, this is what we look at:
After lunch we have a 6-mile out-and-back to the Baker’s Brook waterfall.
The route was nearly 1/3 on boardwalks through boggy areas.
Newfoundland introduced four Moose to their island province in 1904, and now, numbering 150,000, they…eat…a….lot and have damaged the ecology of this area.
But they do fuel the hunting economy.
This is the closest we came to seeing one.
Our guide Erica goes the extra mile to catch a toad for everyone to admire.
Besides the really pretty scenery, the best part about this hike was all the interesting plants. Here’s a few:
My personal favorite!
As we got close to the waterfall, the trail deteriorated, but that’s why we have good boots!
The guide gave us permission to hike the 3 miles back to the bus at our own pace, so I enjoyed some solo hiking, photo taking, and seeing a Canada Jay (but I had put away my camera!)
Happy Hiker!
My.Bird.Walks. 