Hey Al,

...I'm beginning to dread the return trip, I hope the pilot charts are right, and a lesser degree of SW breezes begin to appear...(grin)

Real easy to get caught with your pants down up here, some of the katabatic wind effects can be most impressive... The other day, rounding the very bold headlands at the entrance to the Bay of Islands and Lark Harbor, I'm pretty sure I saw some gusts close to the strongest I felt while riding out Hurricane Arthur on the Vineyard... The pic below was on the approach to Bonne Bay yesterday, the forecast was for SW 15-20, but it cranked up to a solid 30 for a few hours, some pretty sporty sailing...

Today was a special day... I climbed the highest rock on The Rock - did the hike up to the summit of Gros Morne, the highest mountain on Newfoundland (it's the flat-topped peak visible just to the left of the headland in the pic below)... I'd first done it 41 years ago, while taking a 2000 mile bicycle tour of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, during the summer in between a couple of winters spent ski bumming in Jackson Hole. Needless to say, I was in a bit better shape back then... (grin)

It is a VERY challenging hike, about 16 K in total, much of it a scramble over boulders and loose scree on a very steep slope.... My knees are pretty sore tonight, but I'm still feeling pretty satisfied that I'm not quite dead yet... It was a picture-perfect day, the views from the summit are spectacular, I'm really glad I came in here...

There were quite a few hikers on the mountain today, had a chance to chat with many of them, mostly young folks, many from abroad... The opinions are unanimous, everyone agrees Newfoundland is a very special place, they all have just loved their time here...

best regards,

Jon