Day 49 - Saturday, July 19. - The Cabot Trail

Another beautiful morning in Cape Breton!  Okay so load up the cooler bag with water and snack supplies - doggie treats too and away we go.  

Driving along the Cabot Trail we find it is very rural and mostly uninhabited.  When all of a sudden as we round a corner there is a line up of vehicles in a field - wait, no it is a Dodge dealer in the middle of nowhere,   Seems this is the norm here.  Businesses popping up along the route in front of peoples homes.  Hmm, good way to increase revenues and reduce expenses.

We come across a picnic area with a lake.  It is on Lake O'Law, weird name but pretty lake.  

And on the  bank this morning is quite a large family of Canada Geese sunning themselves.  I hope you can see them in the picture.  

The scenery is amazing and we are not even at the start of the trail yet.

We are almost to Cheticamp - the beginning of the Cabot Trail National Park and there is a look off.  Beautiful view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence with grassy cliffs, that look so soft, and jagged rock cliffs falling into the sea.  

 And what a most beautiful view the residents have.

Ah, here is Cheticamp - it is an Acadian settlement.  You can tell this by the sign - red, white and blue with a yellow star.  Most Acadian homes or businesses proudly display these colors.  

Cheticamp is little fishing village with a church of course.  So here Is the church, a beauty I might add.

We were told by some of our camp neighbours that we should stop at the bakery in Cheticamp.  So we did - coffee and a cinnamon bun.  Dan says it was okay but too heavy.  So far not one cinnamon bun has met Dan's standards!  

Now we are at the entrance to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  All visitors to the park must purchase a permit.  We paid, used their facilities and were on the road again.

It is a beautiful drive.  As we meander along we see a beach down below us so we stop for a short walk and of course a photo opp.  There is a large outcrop of rock rising out of the water.  I think this is called Pillar Rock.  

So relaxing to listen to the waves rushing into shore.  The beach is lovely.

Up, up we climb and we are on top of French Mountain at 455 m and just as we reach the summit we see  French Lake.  The vegetation is a bit sparse here compared to what we have come through.  Dan says the vegetation for most part is so thick in places nothing else is growing.  But the higher we got the thinner the vegetation got.

We stop at the next look off but there is no signage.  Gidget wants to see too!

The look off with no name. 

This highland plateau, the largest tract of wild land left in Nova Scotia, has been protected by the park since 1936.  There will be no more wilderness, what we have now is all that we will ever have.  

The McKenzie River Valley flows 16.3 m through this rugged canyon to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence.  

Erosion takes it's toll on the vegetation and a large fire in 1947 accelerated the erosion burning the vegetation on the valley slopes.  Amazing what devastation weather and man can have on the earth.

Oh my gosh we are heading down, down, down to the ocean.  Long windy switchbacks - so glad we have the Geo and not the Moho!   This road is hard on brakes, that's for sure.  Must be time for lunch as we see a restaurant just past the midway point.  Cute looking place overlooking the Gulf called the Rusty Anchor. 

Aw, seafood for lunch? Of course! We decide to share 3 appies with a refreshment.  Crab dip with tortilla chips (red, white and blue of course - we are in Acadian country), fresh mussels and a half dozen oysters in the shell.  A feast fit for royalty!  Delicious, the most awesome oysters we have ever had.  

Back on the road to finish our trip with our bellies full!

Moose signs again but no sign of moose.  We are travelling along to North Mountain, an inland portion of the trail.   Just as I say that to Dan we round a corner and all these vehicles are stopped and people are gazing into the bush.  Dan wouldn't stop for a picture though -  he said we have moose at home - "I know I said but we need to prove we actually saw one"!  Then lo and behold we see another one a bit down the road and here's my proof!  A yearling cow moose standing in the forest - she must be used to people and vehicles as she stands so unconcerned that we are invading her space! 

We continue along the trail, going up and down and in and out of the trail as we enter the few communities that are within the park area.  The signs let us know when we enter and leave the park.  The road itself is not too bad, but it is not a road for hauling big units - although we did see some motor homes  and truck trailer combinations throughout.  I wonder if they had any brakes left after the trip.  

Once again we dropped down to sea level and there is a beuatiful little village - Neil's Harbour.  Very quaint and peaceful. 

Along the coast we travel until the next look off - Mackinnon's Cove.  Beautiful polished boulders line the inlet.  A small island juts out from the cove with a group of Puffins enjoying the sun.  

At the end of the trail is Igonish.  We come upon a small church along the way - it is 101 years old and is still serving the area.  

Success!  We have now completed the Cabot Trail and what a wonderful trip it was!  We are now safely back at Baddeck and as it is such a beautiful day we stop at the harbour.

I purchased some crab legs to make a little crab dip and we will have some veggies and dip and we will call it supper!  

We got back and ate fairly early - so I asked Dan if he wanted to go to the Ceididh tonight in Baddeck - but he said he would rather not.  So I decided to go it alone.  The musicians were Buddy McDonald and Doug Lamey.  They were awesome, Buddy on guitar and singing and Doug on the fiddle.  A great night.  I even got up and partnered with another woman to dance a jig!  What fun!