Irish Loop Camping Trip

Bottom:(L-R: Ryan, Keith, and I overlooking the Cape St. Mary rookery)

Left: Ryan and I overlooking the Bay at our day hike on Day 3

Right: Our campsite on Day 2

After having been introduced to Ryan and Keith the week before, we planned to go camping that next weekend.

After many late nights spent in the Marine Sedimentology Lab (termed the "Bentley Lab" by yours truly) in preparation of the work days I would be missing, Ryan, Keith, and I rode out in their rented pickup to travel the historic Irish Loop around the lower Avalon Peninsula on the Eastern Coast of Newfoundland. The route bears its name because of the massive numbers of predominantly Irish settlers that settled Newfoundland, while other nations predominated the rest of Eastern Canada: the Scots in Nova Scotia, the English in Ontario, and the French in Quebec (which was later stolen by Britain). Before we could properly begin the trip, Keith and Ryan had another mink farmer to visit on our way to the Irish Loop. So, while they were checking out the mink coops, I looked at some rocks and realized just how rich this island is with great, great geology! Unfortunately, that means that there's not a whole lot of regolith (topsoil) for growing a lot of crops, which is why Newfoundland has historically relied so much on fishing for its economy.

We set off first for the historic Cape St. Mary, one of the largest bird rookeries along the North American East Coast. We just beat the fog to get some great pictures and views of this awesome bird rookery (see above). After that, we had some lunch and headed down the rest of the route, passing through towns like Trepassey and Argentia. In one town, we picked up a hitch-hiker who needed a lift home from school. Later that day, we headed to Cape Race in hopes of seeing Puffins, but instead meeting a very friendly old keeper of the lighthouse at Cape Race. This lighthouse received the last communication from the Titanic before it sunk on icebergs south of Newfoundland. We saw a lot of radio equipment and the like at the radio station, not to mention a few other awesome views of the cliffs and the Atlantic.

The next day, we continued on the route past other towns and parks, finally settling on this beautiful park where we heard there were a lot of moose. After another fine camping dinner, we played Rummy 500 (a game I still struggle to play successfully). The next morning, Ryan, an early-riser, was moose-watching early and apparently saw a moose in the distance. When he tried to wake me up, I was too slow getting out of the tent to see the moose, though. The next day, we returned to civilization--er--St. John's and went down to George Street (naturally). Before we headed full throttle back, we stopped on the East Coast Trail for a pretty cool day-hike.

A fun trip all in all. Plus, I would see many moose later on our next camping trip.

Ryan and Keith left St. John's a couple weeks later to continue their tour of the province to see other mink farms, stopping in Cavendish, Gander, and ultimately Corner Brook. Wanting to explore the island badly and meet up with the two hooligans once again, I headed to Corner Brook about a month later (on a grueling 11-hr bus ride).