The Tablelands formed when the continents collided several hundred million years ago. (If I've got it right, part of Newfoundland was carelessly left behind by Africa -- although the similarity is scarcely noticeable after all this time). Anyway, normally the earth's mantle is modestly covered by crust, but those were not normal times, and the mantle was thrust up to the surface by the slow-motion collision. Because the mantle has a high concentration of various minerals including nickel, it is practically toxic to most forms of vegetation. Thus the Tablelands are almost barren, and coloured an interesting shade of orange. There are only a few similar places in the world.

A member of the National Park staff conducts an interesting tour each morning, more talking than walking, on geology and botany. There were about sixty of us the day we were there, but she was informative and entertaining. On your own you can walk up the slope, but there is no trail and the surface is stony and loose. A few people struggled up to the "Bowl", where snowmelt flows into a cirque, creating slightly better growing conditions. The snow will just about last through the summer until it is replenished in the fall. We got most of the way to the top, but decided to save ourselves for the next project.