Sunday, July 17, 2011 I found myself at the Deer Lake airport with all my camping gear in tow. I picked up my rental car, which was upgraded to a nice little SUV, and headed to my first Gros Morne National Park campsite at Shallow Bay, where I was to spend one night before moving on to spend three nights at Berry Hill and a final three nights at Trout River. I quickly discovered that one of the park’s best features is the tremendous hiking trails. There are more than 100 km of different trails in Gros Morne, with everything from half-hour strolls to strenuous multi-day hikes. I tackled these trails with a passion, covering as many as possible. Some days I could do several of the smaller ones; other days it would take all day just to complete one trail. As it turned out, the best sites and scenery seemed to always be on the longest hikes. The ten-hour, 16km hike to the summit of Gros Morne Mountain was definitely the one I struggled with the most, and there were times I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get back to the car. However, the sights along the way, which included a breathtaking view from the summit and a moose, who came out of the shrubs to greet me as I was taking a break on a large rock, made the hardships of this and all the other hikes well worth it.