Long Range Traverse

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Directions

The hike begins at the Western Brook Pond trailhead 27km north of Rocky Harbour. Hike the 3km trail to Western Brook Pond, then take the boat tour 16km down the pond to the start of the traverse at the Western Brook Pond gorge. From the gorge, you will hike up into the Long Range mountains and traverse 35km as the crow flies to trailhead for Gros Morne Mountain, 7km from Rocky Harbour.

Details

The trail begins at the dock on Western Brook Pond at the bottom of the gorge. There is a wilderness campsite here. From the campsite, there is a faint trail heading into the woods. The route is along the floor of the valley, through creek beds. Once you are higher up in the gorge, stay right of the waterfall on one of two overgrown and steep paths.

From the top of the gorge, set a compass bearing for Little Island Pond where the first campsite is located. This campsite is approx. 6 hours of travel time from the dock.

From Little Island Pond, head towards Mark's Pond. There is a campsite on the west side of the Pond, but it is very open to the wind. You can choose to either pass around the west or the east sides of Mark's Pond.

The next campsite is south of Mark's Pond at Hardings Pond. There is dense tuckamore around some areas of the waterline so choose your route to the campsite carefully.

Southwest of Hardings Pond is Green Island Pond. To reach Green Island Pond you will have to climb a ridge, descend to a narrow valley, then climb another steep ridge. When descending the second ridge routefinding becomes difficult as there are many small, boggy, inter-connected ponds near the shore of Green Island Pond. Trend to the west to avoid most of the ponds. The campsite is located below a small bluff and finding the way down to the campsite can be difficult in poor visibility. Check the location of the campsite carefully on your map as it is not located on Green Island Pond proper - it is located on a small side pond at the Pond's outlet.

From Green Island Pond the route skirts the top of Ten Mile Pond gorge where there are incredible views of Ten Mile Pond and the ocean. There are also great views across to Gros Morne Mountain.

The route descends to Ferry Gulch. Finding the path down to Ferry Gulch can be difficult. There is a well worn path down, but it is extemely steep - about the same grade as a ladder and the soil/rocks are loose in places. There are alternative routes down through the bluffs, but they are not as obvious as the beaten path and will require route finding.

Once down into the gorge there are several small ponds. On the far side of the larger pond there is the Ferry Gulch wilderness campsite. From here you can make a quick trip up the backside trail (primarily the descent trail) to Gros Morne Mountain, or just follow the Gros Morne Mountain trail down to the parking lot to complete your traverse.

The 35km distance for this trip is as the crow flies - typical walking distance is closer to 50km.

GPS Waypoints

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