Gros Morne

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Gros Morne, a world heritage site in Newfoundland, has three must sees: Gros Morne Mountain, the Tablelands, and Western Brook Pond. The first can be seen easily from many viewpoints, and the approach trail is reasonably flat. The whole park is famous for its geology, with rocky coves, pond marked plateaus, deep fjords, dark, magnesium rich cliffs and the lonely mountain of Gros Morne itself, with pinkish quartzite on top. The views from the top are supposedly stunning, but it’s an all day steep hike.

The second must see above is unique and has an easy guided hike. The Tablelands is one of maybe three places in the world where you can walk on the earth’s mantle. Left over from a temporary overlap and receding of the North American and Asian tectonic plates, this mountain of mantle cooled, dried and had its crust removed by glaciers and erosion. The Table Mountains are studied by geologists—including those who developed the theory of plate tectonics—, and it is easy to see soapstone, serpentine, and other interesting rocks here. But most of the rock above is peridotite, an iron rich igneous rock from the mantle.

I took the ‘easy’ Tablelands hike with a guide who explained about the tough creatures who live up here, including the local humans. The forecast was clear all morning, so naturally it hailed and rained for much of the hike. Still, the clouds occasionally parted and revealed some of the muted yet dramatic scenery.

And the third must see also has an easy hike, but then you need to take a boat to see the rest. Western Brook Pond is actually a deep lake in the middle of a landlocked fjord, with high thin waterfalls cascading down massive cliffs. Glaciers carved many fjords, arms and valleys in the park, and this spot offers a great view of the ancient Appalachian landscape. On a good day, it is spectacular, but the weather doesn’t always cooperate.

I would recommend scheduling more time than usual for Newfoundland, as the pace is slow, weather is changeable, and delays are common. I will have to return to see a couple places that I missed due to a ferry cancelation. On the other hand, I’ve been forced to slow down my typical hectic schedule, which is good.

Yes, Carbon Emissions Are Dangerous Air Pollution

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At Drakes Well, I had a long discussion with a guy there who was very much in denial that carbon emissions were a problem. He claimed that Rockefeller invented the term ‘fossil fuel’ (false), arguing that oil still forms at a rate that it will never run out (false). He said that vehicle emissions today are so much cleaner than when he was young that they’re no longer dangerous (false). When I asked him whether it was safe now to stay in a garage with the engine running, he switched tactics.

Since February is national indoor air quality month, now is a good time to consider the consequences of carbon emissions on breathing at home. First, if you have a gas stove, then you’re releasing both fuel and combustion fumes indoors. Next, if you burn wood for heat, you’re doing the same. Smoking obviously worsens air quality. If you idle your car to warm it up, then you’re generating carbon emissions near your home, some of which will enter.

Outdoor air pollution impacts indoor air quality. Droughts and wildfires increase dust and smoke that enter buildings. Heat, smoke and vehicle emissions also increase smog, which exacerbates asthma. Changing our environment this way also increases bacteria, dust mites, fungal infections like Valley Fever, mildew, and mold.

Partly in response to the climate crisis, more homes are insulated and have air conditioning. The more insulation, the more indoor air is recirculated. When properly installed and well maintained, they can help air quality, but when not maintained, they can hurt it. In any case, installing HVAC and air filters gets expensive and consumes more energy, burning more fossil fuel.

Rising carbon in the atmosphere causes huge derechos, dust storms and haboobs to form more frequently and become more intense. Heat pulls moisture into the air, exacerbating droughts and increasing wildfires. Smoke causes lung and heart problems. (February is also American Heart Month.) Loss of forests degrades air quality. Storm surges often release industrial pollutants into the air. All of these effects can combine, health issues can accumulate, and rising carbon emissions will increase all these problems.

We may be able to maintain our indoor air quality by spending more on it, but outdoor air quality matters too, especially for wildlife. We also like to go outdoors for fresh air occasionally, but smog and smoke obscure our views and make it difficult to exercise. My kids spent far more time inside than I did growing up, and we lose something important when we can’t go outside to play. By changing the global environment with our carbon emissions, we are responsible for the impact that has on all the creatures that live outdoors.

Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve

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Between Algonquin Park in Canada and the Adirondack Mountains in New York, there’s a rocky high ground that sets the level of Lake Ontario. The St Lawrence River and glacier melt long ago scrubbed a path through the 1,000 Islands, but the Frontenac Arch is the connecting rock. Above at Halsteads Bay, near Gananoque Ontario, is a bit of the arch that’s above water, looking upstream before the seaway narrows. Several of the busiest international bridges cross these scenic islands, and there are boat trips from both sides to gawk at the views and fancy private island residences.

The Biosphere is a much larger area that extends northwest from the arch itself. The Rideau Canal and its charming villages are included, as are many parks with lakes, forests and rocky hills for recreation. Driving through and stopping frequently, I saw an otter, heron, many geese and other wildlife.

The name Frontenac is used widely, from the hotel in Québec to a provincial park lake in the Biosphere. Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau, was Governor General of New France in the late 17th century, and he fought with the Iroquois and built various forts. The natives hunted and traded along the arch for 20,000 years or so, and there are still native lands along the border and on some of the 1,000 islands.

Manicouagan Uapishka

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This UNESCO Biosphere’s most remarkable feature can be seen from space, and you may have wondered about the Eye of Quebec when looking at a map of Canada. Over 200 million years ago a meteor hit here, leaving a 70 mile crater. When the river was dammed for hydropower, the lake in the crater’s ring became permanent with an island in the middle. While it’s possible to drive an electric car up there, I didn’t have a lot of time to hike or kayak around the lake, and, while I support hydropower (with fish ladders), I don’t need to see a dam. I would like to go back to experience Innu culture, but for now I chose to visit the ecologically diverse coastal part of the biosphere.

On the drive here, I saw plenty of rivers, waterfalls, foliage and bays, but this is a particularly good place to get a sense of all of the ecosystems in close proximity, especially near the lowlands that are large enough to have subtle differentiation in plants reflecting how many days per year each part of the land is flooded. Between the Manicouagan River that powers the dam and the Outardes River, there is a delta with Outardes Nature Park on its southwest point. Here there’s a fine visitor center, campsite and good trails to see the different boreal forests, salt marshes and dunes. I saw a Cooper’s Hawk, several Black-bellied Plovers, and a Ruby crowned Kinglet, in just a few minutes. It’s a lovely spot.

Aunt Marjorie, who drove the Lincoln Highway in 1925

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While my maternal grandfather directly inspired my wanderlust, my cousin asked “what about Aunt Marjorie?” Determined that she get proper respect, he handed me a dossier about her, and another great road trip inspiration came back to life.

In 1925, my paternal great great Aunt Marjorie Scattergood went down to the corner of Broad & Market in Philadelphia, saw a sign pointing west with ‘San Francisco, 3000 miles’, and she thought, why not? Her college friend Gladys was driving a used Model T on the first transcontinental road (golden spike was 1869) and thought it would be fun. The car may have been the town car version, same year as the one above with a thin roof.

Aunt Marge was no shrinking violet. She held a world record in the hammer throw, college record in javelin, and was captain of her water polo, swim, and hockey teams.

She held degrees in History, Economics and Politics, and she had studied abroad in Edinburgh by then. She volunteered in France during WWI. And she was involved in social work connected to reformers like Jane Addams and Frances Perkins.

Her family, my father’s side, were Abolitionist Quakers, and Thomas Garrett was her great uncle and my great great great great uncle. In any case, Aunt Marjorie was not one to shy away from a challenging adventure.

The Lincoln Highway ran from Times Square NYC, past Edison’s labs, to Philadelphia, through Gettysburg, through rural Pennsylvania, through Lincoln country, joining what became Route 66 somewhere near Dixon Illinois, then switching to the old pioneer trails, through Iowa, to Salt Lake City and ending at Lincoln Park in San Francisco, about 2 1/2 blocks from where I raised my kids.

My cousin’s records revealed clues about Marjorie’s route, and they chose the longer Colorado Loop. She went to explore the west, picked apples for two months in Utah to pay for 3 tires, looked through the Keyhole on Longs Peak—a ‘high commitment/ considerable rockfall trail around 14,250 feet’ in Rocky—, and spent a month on a sheep dude ranch up in Granby Colorado. She must have passed by the Colorado NM on her way to Utah. Most of the roads out there still follow the old Spanish trails, really Native American trails for centuries.

Our country is still starkly and dramatically beautiful, the high mountains, the prairies, and the salt flats. In an interview, she showed photos of prairie schooners that were still traveling by wagon in 1925. Much of her trip followed the route my maternal grandfather had taken just a few years earlier. And my route too, 100 years later in an EV, to historic sites, heritage areas and scenic spots has crisscrossed theirs.

History is a funny riddle, too often forgotten or ignored. My dad didn’t tell me enough about his side of the family, so I’m grateful to learn this chapter of Aunt Marjorie’s story. If it weren’t for my cousin, I might never have realized that we traveled the same road a century apart, exactly how my family is related to Harriett Tubman’s close friend and partner in crime you may know as Simeon Halliday, why a building at the CIA is named after Aunt Marjorie and her partner Florence Thorne (they met in 1926), how she wrote Dr Martin Luther King Jr, how she protested wars, hosted refugees and fought for workers’ rights. If we only try to remember, then once again, we will realize that we walk in the footsteps of giants.

“Hi there, neighbor. Going my way? East or west on the Lincoln Highway.”

— From God’s Country starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney

“I’ve been walking that Lincoln Highway, I thought you knowed. I’ve been hittin’ that 66, way down the road.”

— From Hard Travelin’ by Woody Guthrie

Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve

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A couple hours drive northeast of Quebec City, up in the mountains is the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie park, the core of this pristine UNESCO Biosphere. The landscape is dramatic with high cliff multi-level waterfalls in spring and lovely maple foliage in fall, and above a low dam, there’s a boat (above) that takes sightseers up the lake in summer. Canadians are more fit than Americans, so 5 1/2 hour trails that would be labeled “strenuous” in the US are called “moderate” here. They also bring canoes and bicycles to get around, but I think the best views are found by hiking part way up one of the many trails to get a view of the water from above, such as from the Acropole des Draveurs—the rafter’s Acropolis—that looms over the scene above.

The Biosphere includes a big chunk of land from the mountains to the seaway, and there’s a tourist train in the summer that brings folks up to some of the dozen interesting little towns where they can catch buses to a half dozen parks and reserves. Up here the St Lawrence is less lakes & rivers and more ocean bay, and there are whale watching tours from Saguenay. While the peaks are around 3,000 feet—only a fraction of Colorado’s 14ers—, they’re beautiful with plenty of skiing in the winter.

National Parks to Visit in February

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On the first Saturday of every month, I recommend 3-5 parks to visit in the contiguous US, matching each of 51 parks with a great month to visit, as I did in January.

There are a few parks in the US which are dangerously hot to visit in the summer, but they’re perfect in February. In the west, especially at elevation, the coldest day of the year is often in December, and by February the southwest deserts are just beginning to bloom with wildflowers.

Big Bend, Death Valley, Saguaro and White Sands are my February favorites. These are beautiful parks, and you’re going to want to get out, hike around and take fabulous photos, without risk of heatstroke.

Big Bend is huge and takes time to explore, so you need to schedule several days there. Unlike most other parks, the full range of activities are open in February, including rafting and horseback riding. In February, the park’s daily temperature variations still stay in a range that allows you to explore the varied terrain. When I was hot, I spent time along the river and enjoyed sunset in the mountains. On cool days, you could go on a more challenging scenic hike. If camping, prepare for beautiful cold nights under clear dark skies. It’s a great park, and February is a great month to see it.

Death Valley daytime highs are around 70-75° F in February. Wildflowers bloom and even super-bloom when the rains have been good. The high Panamint mountains in the background of your photos will have snow-capped peaks as they cast a rain-shadow over the valley, keeping it extremely dry. Every February the park holds stargazing festivals, as the skies are exceptionally clear.

Saguaro also has many wildflowers in February, and the comfortable daytime temperatures mean the coyotes, javelina and roadrunners are more likely to be roaming around. Some say May is when to go in order to see the Saguaro cacti bloom, but there are many other great parks to visit in May, without any risk of over 100° F days. If you’re really interested in seeing the small Saguaro flowers, you can probably find a botanical garden to visit close to home.

White Sands, to me, is about stepping out on the other worldly landscape, so the solitude of February is best. It’s cold at night, but there’s no camping currently in the park anyway. As it’s quiet, there aren’t a lot of ranger-led hikes in February, but White Sands is best appreciated in silence. Many visit a bit later in order to see some wildflowers, but the gypsum desert does not allow much life. I’d happily trade the crowds of spring for easier parking and fewer footprints in February.

We visit national parks to be out in nature exploring, so good temperatures are very important. February is the perfect time to visit these southwestern parks which are dangerously hot for much of the year.

Lac Saint-Pierre Biosphere Reserve

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Between Montreal and Quebec City is the beginning of the St Lawrence Estuary, near the city of Trois-Rivières. (One of the dozen tributaries here has islands at its mouth, making it look like three rivers). The UNESCO Biosphere includes this large wetland lake and many islands in the seaway and tributaries, making it an excellent site for birds. Its great blue heron rookery is quite famous, but may be difficult to access. I chose to visit the Ecological Park of Anse du Port, because it has a very long boardwalk out through the wetland all the way to the lake, with a three story viewing platform to view container ships passing in the main channel. From the boardwalk, I saw several great blue heron, two beaver, a raccoon, a woodpecker, ducks (above), bittern, and a half dozen other types of birds. Binoculars or a telephoto lens camera would be helpful, but sometimes the birds come quite close.

Mont Saint-Hilaire Biosphere Reserve

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Between Lake Champlain New York and Lac Saint-Pierre Quebec is tiny Lac Hertel (above) in the Gault Nature Reserve of McGill University in this UNESCO Biosphere. The hills are covered in Sugar Maple, Beech and Hemlock, some of which are hundreds of years old, plus some other species that have become quite rare recently. Being close to Montreal, the hiking trails were busy, so I didn’t see much wildlife besides ducks and geese. But there are bats, beavers, red foxes, grass snakes and turtles, among others. Advance, timed entry tickets are required, and there are well developed trails, boardwalks, picnic areas and camp sites. Very pretty nature reserve in the middle of a rural farming river valley.

All UN Sites in Canadian Maritimes

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New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the three provinces known as the Maritimes, have three world heritage sites and three biospheres recognized by UNESCO. Well, almost all the sites are in Nova Scotia, but I enjoyed driving around all three provinces.

With plenty of great seafood, hiking, Celtic & Acadian culture, wildlife, history and miles of picturesque coastline, this region is highly rewarding for travelers, especially an electric road tripper. With a CCS adapter and the ChargeHub app, it’s not difficult to explore the entire region and well worth the drive.

World Heritage Sites

Grand Pré conveys the tragic history of the British expulsion of the Acadians. The landscape is lovely, and be sure to try the Tidal Bay local wine in a coastal town like Wolfville home to Acadia University.

Joggins Fossil Cliffs reveals an impressive geologic record of the coal age. Take a hard hat tour at low tide and find fossils.

Lunenburg is a beautiful, well-preserved seafaring and fishing port. Spend the night and eat all the local seafood you can.

Biospheres

Bras d’Or Lake is open to the sea through small channels making it an important fish and bird habitat. Try a local restaurant and maybe listen to some Cape Breton fiddle at a céilidh (kay-lee).

Fundy has the world’s largest tides with dramatic coastline, shorebirds and forests. The biosphere is on the New Brunswick side of the bay around the eponymous national park.

Southwest Nova protects many species, including the piping plover and blanding’s turtle. The biosphere has both a coastal and a forest component with plenty of hiking.

Bonus: Green Gables is home to LM Montgomery and her beloved characters. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province but very charming.

New Brunswick also has Kouchibouguac and Fundy National Parks, plus Campobello. Nova Scotia has Kejimkujik and Cape Breton Highlands National Parks. And Prince Edward Island has the new Pituamkek and Prince Edward Island National Parks.