What is the Long Range Traverse?
The Long Range Traverse is an unmarked back-country route over the Long Range Mountains in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador. The hike starts at the end of Western Brook Pond - it is necessary to take a boat to the beginning of the route- and ends at the Gros Morne Mountain Trail on highway 430. The hike is supposedly 35 kilometers and usually takes three to five days to complete. Hiking season in the Long Range Mountains is from mid-June to early October.
Parks Canada repeatedly warns hikers of the dangers of this trek as it is a rugged, unmarked back-country route over difficult terrain, and many rescues occur each hiking season. The following is my experience on the Long Range Traverse!
How It All Started
Many people told me I was crazy when they heard I was hiking one of the most difficult back-country hikes in Atlantic Canada with four strangers from the internet. One day in March while scrolling through Instagram, I saw a story from someone I did not know but followed, saying that he booked the Long Range Traverse and was looking for 3-5 more people to join his party. Without much thought, I replied that I was interested. Honestly, I did not know much about the Traverse at the time other than the famous photos overlooking Western Brook Pond. Later that week, Thomas and I discussed my previous hiking experience (Mainly overnight hikes on the East Coast Trail). We decided that my hiking experience was sufficient, and he felt comfortable with me joining the group! Although it felt very far away at the time, I was so excited to have something to look forward to.
Leading Up to The Hike
In preparation for the traverse, I *tried* to hike more and do other forms of exercise. However, it was all while graduating from university and starting a new job, so fitting in time to train was challenging. I started running after work and hiking if I could on the weekends. The most significant hike I did while training was Spurwink Island Path on the East Coast Trail. This trail is around 20km, and I did it with almost my entire pack weight.
Shortly after this, however, I sprained my ankle while playing soccer. This really discouraged me because I could hardly walk for weeks let alone train for the Long Range Traverse. In the weeks leading up to the hike, I had dreams that I could not complete the trek because of my sprained ankle.
Hiking the Long Range Traverse
I was both nervous and excited to meet my new hiking crew. These three strangers from the internet would be the people I spent the entirety of the next four days with. But once we met I had no worries, because we all got along great!
The day before the trek, we headed to the mandatory Parks Canada orientation held in the visitor center in Rocky Harbour. The orientation used to include a navigation test that each group needed to pass before starting the hike. I was unsure if the orientation still required hikers to pass the test so I continued practicing my map and compass skills just in case. Although the test is no longer required, I recommend keeping up with your navigation skills. We did not plan to use a map and compass on the trek. Instead, we used apps such as Maps.Me for navigation and had maps and compasses as a backup in case the technology failed.
The orientation consists of general knowledge of the route, what kind of wildlife, and weather conditions to expect. Before the orientation, I was actually very intimidated by Parks Canada’s marketing about the Long Range Traverse. A lot of the messaging consists of warnings and suggestions for different routes instead of the Long Range. Each season there are many rescue missions for hikers on the trail. To limit these rescues, Parks Canada wants to deter unprepared hikers from hiking the Long Range. The thing about this route is that there are limited ways to self-rescue if you become injured. There are no trails that will lead you back to safety except for carrying on on the recommended route. Basically, if you need to be rescued, your best bet is by helicopter. We also learned the ridiculous reasons that people have called a helicopter in the past; I am tired and my feet are wet, I saw a moose, I am going to miss my flight home. All that to be said, I left the orientation feeling a lot less intimidated about the trip ahead.
At the orientation, we met the other party embarking on the Long Range the same day as us, a solo hiker named Paul. Paul had just flown into Newfoundland but the airline lost ALL of his luggage which was EVERYTHING he needed for the hike. In true Newfoundland fashion, people legitimately gave him the shirts off their backs. He borrowed, rented, and bought everything he needed and was determined to get on that trail.
After the orientation, we headed to Berry Hill campground in Gros Morne. The four of us stayed in a rustic cabin overlooking Gros Morne mountain. The morning of the hike, I woke up to Thomas telling me that the sunrise was gorgeous. With that, I hopped out of bed, I was not missing that! The sunrise was a stunning display of orange and pink over the Long Range mountains. We were so excited about the hike however, in the back of our minds we had the old saying, “red sky in morning, sailors are warning.”
Walking down to Bon Tours at Western Brook Pond we were elated, and nothing seemed to stand in our way between us and the trek … until we reached the pond and the white caps looked ominous. Unfortunately, it was too windy and the tour was a no-go. But that did not discourage our small group, it was more time to get to know one another. We took Paul under our wing, as he did not have a vehicle, and went on a brewery tour. That night we brought a bottle of whisky to the beach and drank as the sun went down. All in all, we were okay with not leaving for the hike that day because it poured rain most of the day. It would have been miserable hiking conditions.
Day 1 - Western Brook Pond to Marks Pond
Take two of our hike began and we started out skeptical. The weather did not look much better than the day before - actually, it looked worse. But again, spirits were high. I was so impressed with the determination and flexibility of our little group. We decided that if the boat was canceled again today, we would do a different back-country hike in Gros Morne. At Western Brook Pond, you have to walk the trail from the parking lot to the boat which is 3km long. I would suggest arriving up to an hour before your tour to give you ample time to walk down and board.
The tour itself was unbelievable. The land-locked fjord was carved out by glaciers during the ice age 25,000 to 10,000 years ago. The clouds that were impeding the view earlier in the morning began to lift and we could see glimpses of sun and blue sky. After about 40 minutes the boat docked at the end of the pond and all hikers hop off to start their journey up the gorge. Since we were delayed starting by a day, there was a larger number of hikers embarking at once. We recognized that there would not be enough campsites for everyone at the first camp Little Island Pond.
After getting our gear in order, we were one of the last groups to leave the dock. The first few kilometers are fairly simple and it is easy to know where to go because you just head in the direction of the gorge and follow your route on the compass. Once you get to the waterfall at waypoint LR-2 it becomes more challenging. You stay to the right of the waterfall and here the ascent requires some actual climbing using your hands often to pull yourself up. That being said, up to this point, you are essentially following a path bet down from previous hikers and it is not hard to navigate. This part of the trail ascends 600 meters in 4 kilometers
As we neared the top of the gorge, we noticed the low clouds coming back in the gorge so we snapped a few pictures before we got to the top in case they impeded our view. And boy were we lucky we did. When we got to the top we could not see ANYTHING. We could only laugh about it and move on quickly because we were exposed up there and it got cold in those clouds!
The hike towards Little Island Pond was still easy to navigate due to a beaten path from prior hikers. Once we got there, however, all campsites were full and we had to continue on towards Marks Pond an extra 3.5 kilometers. After Little Island Pond, the navigation becomes a little more challenging. It is easy to get caught up looking for a trail that lines up with your GPS route but you have to remind yourself that oftentimes there won’t be a trail. It is also easy to get too comfortable on a game trail and forget to look at your GPS until it's too late and the game trail has taken you off course.
We were all very tired when we arrived at Marks Pond at around 7:30 and we were just able to set up our tents before the sun went down. We tracked our hike that day and although the map said it would only be roughly 9.5 km, we tracked around 13km.
After eating supper together we did a debrief of our day. This was one of my favourite things each day and I recommend that any group adventuring together for a prolonged period do this. We would go around the circle and say what we thought of the day, how we felt about decisions that were made, and also what our high and low points were of each day. Luckily, our low points were hard to come up with. Finally, we all went to bed very tired and very happy after a successful first day on the Long Range Traverse.
Each site on the Long Range has a toilet and bear lockers. Most have various tent pads, however, Marks Pond, as far as we could see, only had tent clearings.
Day Two - Marks Pond to Hardings Pond
When we woke up in the morning we were surprised and very happy to see a blue sky and a very calm day with not even a ripple on the pond. The weather before we went to bed said that there was a chance of rain in the morning. There is no service along the entirety of the trail, but one of the folks in our group had a satellite Inreach (or something of the sort lol) that allowed us to check the weather.
We had two plans in the works for day two; we could either stop at Hardings Pond around 5km away or Green Island Pond which was about 13 km away. The reasoning for pushing to Green Island Pond was so that we could then stay at the Ferry Gulch camp area nearer to Gros Morne on our last night making it easier to hike the summit on the last day. Once we started hiking though it was clear we were still tired from the previous day. We made the decision that we needed a more chill day of hiking and we opted to stop at Hardings Pond.
When we got to Hardings Pond around 1:00 pm it was around 27 degrees out. We decided to put up our tents and go for a swim in the pond. The pond was so refreshing and a little chilly but it was just what we needed. We went to one of the higher tent pads and lay in the sun for the rest of the afternoon, just chatting and hanging out. I am so glad we opted for a more chill day and I am also so glad that everyone in our group was so flexible! After supper, I learned to play chess on a very small chess board that one of the folks in our group brought. That night we were blessed again with another gorgeous sunset. Sitting there overlooking Hardings Pond surrounded by the green rolling hills on the Long Range and the vast pink clouds, I felt so far away from my real life, and it felt so good. We made sure to stretch each night before bed and again when we woke up so that we didn’t feel it in our muscles when hiking the next day.
Day 3 - Hardings Pond to Green Island Pond
We started off so much stronger on the third day due to our previous “rest day”. We also had a better routine set in place for navigating. We would look at our GPS every five minutes or so to make sure we were headed in the right direction and we would choose a route that pointed us in that direction.
It was about halfway to Green Island Pond that we stopped. We heard from the lovely folks at Gros Morne Adventures of a side route that takes you for a look out over Bakers Brook Pond. I don’t have the exact details as to where we went to get to this lookout but I would definitely say that is an advantage of having guides, it allows you to focus more so on the beauty of the trail and less on the navigation aspect.
We dropped our packs on the original route and had a vague idea of how to get to Bakers Brook Pond lookout, however, one thing we underestimated was the tuckamore. If you have never heard of tuckamore before, it is an evergreen tree that bends low and grows deformed in areas that are exposed. These growths are impossible to get through unless you find a game path through, even then you will emerge on the other side scratched. Each time we got to where we expected the lookout to be, we emerged to find no view. We were about to give up and go back to our packs when we decided to just go to the next point over as our last attempt. We really wanted to see this view since we had no view at the top of Western Brook Pond. Thankfully, as we guessed -or hoped- the beautiful view we were waiting for was at the next point.
We marveled at these views for about a half hour before we head back, through the tuckamore, to our packs. We pushed on towards Green Island Pond and got there around 8:00 pm. It was colder that night and more windy so after supper and a quick game of chess, we all head to bed.
Day 4 - Green Island Pond to Gros Morne Trail Parking Lot
I woke up to a commotion outside my tent so I quickly got up to see what it was. The sun was just rising but you could just see a big bull moose on the hill above our campsite. It was the perfect start to our last day on the trail.
We were given the advice to stay at Upper Green Island Pond camp so that way you do the main river crossing of the trip in the evening instead of starting out and risking getting your feet wet right away. We never listened to this, however, lol. The last three days there was not any significant rain on the Long Range and the river was not that high. We were able to hop across the rocks and make it over to the other side dry. In case of a raging river, you might want to bring closed-toed water shoes so that you can cross through the river without risking cutting your toes on any rocks. I brought mine just in case but I did not need them during the hike.
If you are hiking the Long Range you MUST stop at Bakeapple Pond lookout. It is at waypoint LR-13 and it is between Green Island Pond and Ferry Gulch. The lookout provides stunning views of Ten Mile Pond and Gros Morne Mountain on the left, shown below. The lookout is also off the route a little so it could be easy to miss.
The rest of the hike to Ferry Gulch went smoothly. It is necessary to take your time on the descent especially when the rock is slippery it can be a bit tricky. We decided that some of us who wanted to summit Gros Morne (Newfoundland’s tallest free-standing mountain at 807 meters) were going to leave our packs at Ferry Gulch and head up, while the rest of our party carried on out the last 7km to the parking lot.
The hike from Ferry Gulch to the top of Gros Morne was not too difficult since we were already part ways up the mountain. When we got to the part of the trail that had stairs we felt like we were already back in civilization LOL.
But of course, with our funny luck and Newfoundland’s unpredictable weather, by the time we reached the summit, it was rain and low clouds and you could not see ANYTHING. But that was nothing compared to the weather we encountered on the way down. On the descent from the top of the tallest mountain in Newfoundland, we were hit with sideways wind and rain, harder than I have ever felt before (and that's saying something coming from a Newfoundlander). Thank god one of our group members brought jolly ranchers because I swear that's what kept me going. It didn’t last too long and before long we were back by our packs again. We had to change our socks one last time before doing the last 7km out to the parking lot.
In all honesty, the last 7km were the worst of the whole trail. Not because of difficulty but because the trail was much easier, there was not much of a view, and because the rain was pouring down on us for 40 minutes straight. Our newly changed socks became drenched again, our feet were becoming blistered, and we just had one thought in mind: get to the parking lot. It didn’t help that around every corner we thought we would see it, and this went on for 40 minutes LOL. But of course, we were annoyingly optimistic even still.
Finally, we saw it, and what a feeling it was to have finished the Long Range Traverse. We were tired and sore but over the moon happy at what we had accomplished. Although it was advertised that the route is 35km we did closer to 50km. We finished off our adventure with a great meal at the Fisherman’s Landing restaurant in Rocky Harbour where we did our final debrief of the trip! I am so thankful that a random group from the internet turned out to be just the best little ragtag group and friends! Although we have all parted ways, I hope our paths cross again in the future!
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