Mistaken Point

Mr. Spock got so excited by yesterday's outing to the Manuels River Ecological Center we decided to find something similar for today.  Studying the Newfoundland Labrader Traveller's Guide we discovered the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve in Portugal Cove South.The surrounding waters was once a sea floor during the late Precambrian age, some 575 million years ago. The site preserves an assemblage of fossils from this time including the imprints of more than 20 species of ancient soft-bodied organisms. Some of these fossils are similar to specimens found in Australia and Russia, lending credence to the once supercontinent Pangaea. 

Visitor access to the reserve's fossils is permitted only by official Newfoundland Parks and Natural Areas guided tours originating at the Edge of Avalon Interpretive Centre in Portugal Cove South. This is about 80 miles south of St. John's but since the road is along the coast and is winding and passes through the small costal villages, it took us about 2 hours to drive.  We just made it to the Interpretive Center in time to begin the tour at 1 pm. There was another couple and a family of four that joined the two staff members.  We all got in our cars and followed the Center's van out a rough and rugged gravel road leading to the reserve. At the end of the gravel road we left our cars and hiked the remaining 2 miles to the fossil site. 

We were warned that the route taken on the guided tours is slippery and muddy in places and there is a small stream that must be crossed via stepping stones. At various places along the trail, our two guides, Julie and Edwina, would stop and talk about the environment we were traversing. 

Julie talking about the barrens that we were walking across.  I have been calling it a moor but Julie said that is a British Isle term and in Newfoundland they call them the barrens. They both have a similar kind of climate and soil (peat) that is shallow and rests on glacial till. The Labrador current keeps the coast warmer in the winter, but there are arctic alpine plants growing on the barrens. 

If you notice in the picture above there are no tall trees and Julie said that people often ask her, "Where are the trees?" But, there are trees all around on the ground. Balsam fir is spread along the ground and in places rises to the height of the shelter it finds.  In the picture above, we are walking down into a little depression and the trees are ten to twelve feet high; this is called a tuckamore forest.  It is great habitat for the fauna on the barrens: mink, weasels, foxes, snowshoe hares, etc.

Meet Edwina and...

Julie, our two guides.

Almost to the site we came to this example of plate tectonics in action.  This rock has been tilted until it is almost vertical.

The small stream that we had to cross by way of hopping from stone to stone.

A slippery, muddy slope. Notice the rope hand-hold on the side.

Edwina has scrambled down to the "beach" and was pointing out the various fossils on the exposed rock.

The fossils are revealed on the rock slab in the center of the picture.

The fossils are just to the left, outside this picture.  This is the view just to the right of the fossil site. Notice the fog beginning to come in.  

Frederick coming back across the small stream.

About 20 feet from the stream Julie led us to the site of one of the largest fossils. This is about 12 inches in length.

Back in the Interpretation Center, Mr. Spock, who did not go on the hike with us, got to see the fossils on the cast of the fossil rock.

Julie showing Mr. Spock just what and where the fossils appear on the rock. As Julie said, "This is just what Darwin was looking for," the oldest and richest fossil bed of the pre-cambrian period. These fossils are believed to be soft sided animals that lived on the ocean floor. At some point volcanic ash settled on these creatures and killed and froze them in time. The ash filled in around the bodies and heat and pressure from plate tectonics created the rock that was then folded up on the shore where these were found. This site has about 6,000 found fossils representing more than 30 different species.

On the way back to St. John's we stopped at Ferryland, one of the oldest fishing villages in the province. From this area pirate Peter Easton and his crews plundered Spanish treasure fleets and accumulated a fortune during the early 17th century. In 1621 Sir George Calvert, later the first Lord Baltimore, attempted a settlement in Ferryland, but because of the harsh climate and frequent attacks by the Dutch and French, the venture failed. Lord Baltimore and his family abandoned the site in 1629 and founded a colony in what is now Maryland. 

It was just before 6 pm, when the Interpretation Center closes, when we arrived.  We were able to take a picture of an example of the kind of herb garden that early colonists would have planted. 

This stone church was built just above the site.