Oh Canada! June 6th, Cartwright, Labrador

Day 9 Wednesday, June 6^th - Cartwright

It was so nice to have a day off the road to just exercise the legs and see some of the coastline! 

After breakfast we walked up a short hike called Flagstaff Hill which afforded a beautiful view of the bay.  We got to the top, then realized we weren’t dressed nearly warmly enough, so we went back to the hotel, put on two more layers and hiked back to the top.  It was a beautiful day for it!

Our first trip, with only pile jackets

That's the town of Cartwright in the background.  The blue and white stones lining the trail are the colors of the Labrador flag.

And at the top - after donning parkas and long underwear in addition to the pile jackets.

Above and below are views from the top of Flagstaff Hill.  You can almost feel, in this picture, how raw and cold it still was on the 6th of June - icy, damp and misty.  Yet it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for all that. 

In the seeming barrenness of the hillsides, there was an abundance of alpine flowers!

After Flagstaff Hill we ate lunch at the hotel (the first lunch we’ve had in a restaurant since we left Vermont), then walked along the shore near what they called the old cemetery. There was still ice in the neck of the bay so boats and planes were not able to leave Cartwright just yet (remember our stranded pilot who we summarily booted out of his room?).  We found it fun that there were bits of ice either floating right off shore or grounded on the shore due to low tide.  They looked for all the world like various animals and it was fun figuring out which ones.  Sort of like clouds on ice.

Here's what I see.  What do you see?

Polar bear.

Snail

The Armada

Keeping a cool head

Welcoming me with open arms

Whale tail

Puff the Magic Dragon

Barge

Here are a few other notable scenes from our day in Cartwright.

A relic of the once thriving fishing industry.

I just can't resist little critters.

Beautiful ripple marks

Hey!  Who you lookin' at, Bub?

After dinner (at the hotel again, cuz that was about the only place in town to get a meal.  Good thing for us it was darned good food.), we were tired from our day in the fresh air so hit the sack and slept pretty soundly, getting ready for our drive down the Labrador Straits the next day.