I arrived in Newfoundland in good weather and enjoyed my drive north to my first destination, the tablelands in Gros Morne National Park. Climbing those rocky barrens is always a temptation but easily discarded due to the hazards of hiking through fields of broken rock. The haze and fog of the early morning quickly gave way to a splendid day.

Courtesy Wikipedia

The Tablelands, found between the towns of Trout River and Woody Point in south west of Gros Morne National Park, look more like a barren desert than traditional Newfoundland. This is due to the ultramafic rock – peridotite – which makes up the Tablelands. It is thought to originate in the Earth's mantle and was forced up from the depths during a plate collision several hundred million years ago. Peridotite lacks some of the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life and has a toxic quality, hence its barren appearance.^[5] Peridotite is also high in iron, which accounts for its brownish colour (rusted colour). Underneath the weathered surface zone, the unweathered rock is a dark green colour.

Tablelands

Table Mountains 100 Table Mountains 101 Table Mountains 102 Table Mountains 103 Table Mountains 104 Table Mountains 105 Table Mountains 106 Table Mountains 107 Table Mountains 108 Table Mountains 109 Table Mountains 110 Table Mountains 111 Table Mountains 112 Table Mountains 113 Table Mountains 114 Table Mountains 115 Table Mountains 116 Table Mountains 117 Table Mountains 118 Table Mountains 119 Table Mountains 120 Table Mountains 121 Table Mountains 122 Table Mountains 123 Table Mountains 124 Table Mountains 125 Table Mountains 126 copy Table Mountains 127 Table Mountains 128 Table Mountains 129 copy Table Mountains 130 Table Mountains 131 Table Mountains 132 Table Mountains 133 Table Mountains 134 Table Mountains 135 Table Mountains 136 Table Mountains 137 Table Mountains 138