Bench of the Week (9)

This different sort of bench, but well suited to its purpose, is located at Grose Morne Provincial Park in Newfoundland.

RuneE of Visual Norway began an informal meme for posting benches on Friday. He has another spectacular bench this week.
Phoenix of Sylvan Muse has her bench up in a lovely garden.
Gerald from Ackworth Born, Gone West has a perfect bench to catch the action.
PERBS has a cute bench today.
Pacey from Today's Blah... has a unique bench with a perfect seat.

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Photo Credit: mooste CC=nc-nd-flickr.

Tuesdays for Travis - Barachois Brook

Barachois Brook is three miles south of Stephenville Crossing, Newfoundland. Click photo to enlarge.

Photo Credit: appaloosa CC=nc-nd-flickr.

Canada's First Visitors

[1-Map of Vikings Voyages]


L'Anse aux Meadows (from the French L'Anse-aux-Méduses or "Jellyfish Cove") is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Discovered in 1960, it is the site of a Norse village, the only known one in North America outside of Greenland. As of 2008, the site remains the only widely-accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact among those hotly debated by human migration theorists, and is notable for possible connections with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Ericson in around 1003, or more broadly with the Norse colonization of the Americas.

[2]

Archaeologists determined the site is of Norse origin due to definitive similarities between the characteristics of structures and artifacts found at the site and those of Greenlandic and Icelandic sites from around AD 1000.

[3-Authentic Viking Recreation]

L'Anse aux Meadows is the only known Norse site in North America outside of Greenland and it represents the farthest known extent of European exploration and settlement of the New World before the voyages of Christopher Columbus almost 500 years later. It was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1978.

[4]

Archaeological excavation at the site was conducted in the 1960s by an international team led by Anne Stine Ingstad and later, in the 1970s, under the direction of Parks Canada. Following each period of excavation, the site was reburied, in an effort to protect and conserve the cultural resources.

[5-Sod huts inside]

The settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows has been dated to approximately 1,000 years ago, an assessment that agrees with the relative dating of artifact and structure types. The remains of eight buildings were located. They are believed to have been constructed of sod (turf) placed over a wooden frame. Based on associated artifacts, the buildings were variously identified as dwellings or workshops. The largest dwelling measured 28.8 by 15.6 m (94.5 by 51 ft) and consisted of several rooms. Workshops were identified as an iron smithy containing a forge and iron slag, a carpentry workshop which generated wood debris, and a specialized boat repair area containing worn rivets. Besides those related to iron working, carpentry, and boat repair, many artifacts found at the site consisted of common everyday Norse items, such as a whetstone, a bronze fastening pin, a bone knitting needle, and a stone oil lamp. Food remains included butternuts, which are significant, since these do not grow naturally north of New Brunswick and their presence probably indicates that the Norse inhabitants travelled farther south where they obtained the nuts. Archaeologists concluded that the site was inhabited by the Norse for a relatively short period of time.

[6-Rune Stones]

In addition to the European settlement, evidence of at least five or six separate native occupations has been identified at L'Anse aux Meadows, the oldest dated at roughly 6,000 years ago, although none was contemporaneous to the Norse occupation. The most prominent of these earlier occupations were by the Dorset people, a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America, who predated the Norse by about 200 years.

Research: ParksCanada, Wikipedia.
Photo Credits: [1][2][3][4]-wikipedia, [5]-DragonWoman CC=nc-nd-flickr. [6]-Tonto & TLL CC=nc-flickr.

Tuesdays For Travis - Gros Morne National Park

Gros Morne National Park is a World Heritage Site located on the island of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.



[1- Lomond River Valley]


Trout River, Lomond River, the East Branch of the Lomond River, and Deer Arm Brook are scheduled rivers and restricted to fly-fishing. A provincial inland fishing license is required for non-residents to fish in Gros Morne National Park. Retail outlets such as service stations, hardware stores, etc. sell licenses. A salmon license is required on scheduled waters.

Native species of fish include: Atlantic salmon, Brook trout, arctic char, Rainbow smelt, American eel, Atlantic tomcod, Alewife, Fourspine stickleback, Threespine stickleback, Blackspotted stickleback and Ninespine stickleback. Rainbow trout are considered an exotic species that have been introduced.



[2-Trout River Pond]

From June to September there are two 2.5 hour boat tours: one on Trout River Pond, a 15 km long former fjord, lying in a glaciated valley between the golden Tablelands and the massive cliffs of the Gregory Plateau; and the second tour on Western Brook Pond between massive billion year old cliffs.



[3– Western Brook Pond]


The Western Brook Pond fjord in Gros Morne National Park provides a dramatic setting for a boat tour. The Long Range Mountains, the northernmost extent of the Appalachians, contain numerous glacially-carved fjords. One of the most spectacular is the Park's largest lake, Western Brook Pond. This 16 km lake with a depth of 165m is home to Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout and Arctic Char, as well as an unusual colony of cliff nesting gulls.



[4– Western Brook Gorge 8 - click to enlarge]




[5-Western Brook Pond]


The coast along the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Trout River to Bonne Bay includes the Green Gardens and three primitive campsites for hikers: picnic tables and pit toilets. Campfires are only permitted on the beach. Permits for these campsites can be purchased from the Park Warden.


[6 - Sea stack]















This coast has a wonderful array of sea stacks, coves and beaches topped by lush cliff-top meadows. Residents of Trout River graze their sheep in the summer on these meadows.


The animals that are now considered native to the Island made their way over in the past 15,000 years, came from the mainland by swimming, flying or walking across the pack ice. This isolation has created subspecies, 9 of the Island’s 14 native land mammals are distinct from their mainland relatives. Native animals are: the little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, the Arctic hare (rare—lowest reproductive rate of any hare or rabbit in the word—one litter per year with only three young),
American beaver, meadow vole, muskrat (rare), wolf (extinct), red fox, black bear (larger than its counterparts in North America – 90 kg to 270 kg), ermine weasels, marten (endangered), otter (uncommon), lynx, and caribou.


[7- Bull Moose]

Animals that have been introduced are: common shrew, snowshoe hare, chipmunk (rare), red squirrel, deer mouse, house mouse, bank vole (rare), red-backed vole (rare), Norway rat (uncommon), Arctic fox (accidental), Polar bears (accidental), mink and moose (from two introduced in 1874 and four others in 1904 resulting in the highest density population of moose for the park).

There is no legal hunting in Gros Morne National Park.

For bird watchers there are 239 species of which 105 have nested on the Island.

Other activities of the park include kayaking, swimming, hiking, wilderness hiking, picnics, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

To enter this wilderness park for the activities you plan to undertake, you must be aware of the park’s natural hazards, be properly equipped and prepared for emergencies. Two fundamental areas that are required: survival, and hypothermia. For more information on these topics refer to the St. John Ambulance “Official Wilderness First Aid Guide”.


Research: Parks Canada, wikipedia.

Photo Credits: [1]-mdmarkus66 CC=nc-nd-flickr, [2]-JohnW CC=nc-nd-flickr, [3][5]-dragonwoman CC=nc-flickr, [4]-aconcagua GFDL, Cc-by-sa-2.5, [6]-Calypso Orchid CC=nc-nd-flickr, [7]-kasey kasey CC=nc-sa-flickr.
A few previous photos were removed and replaced due to status change on the flickr commons.