Panorama from above Malcolms Brook
north of Polletts Cove

The amazing view in photo #1 just blows me away with its long view of the northwestern Cape Breton coast, most of the lands of which I have never seen from closer than MacKenzies Mountain or an hour down the Polletts Cove trail, neither of which offer anything like the clarity and the close-up views of this photo!

Just right of the centre of the photo in the far distance is the bulk of MacKenzies Mountain with the much lower Wreck Cove Point to its right; the cleft in MacKenzies Mountain formed by the MacKenzies River is not visible in this view. Pleasant Bay, both the water and the community, lie at the left of MacKenzies Mountain behind Kerrs Point, the point to the left of MacKenzies Mountain in the nearer far distance. Gampo Abbey lies on this side of Kerrs Point and the gravel road leading to the Polletts Cove trail head ends 1.5 km (0.9 mi) beyond the abbey. The Polletts Cove Trail runs from the trail head up Heartbreak Hill and across the mountains along the Black Cliffs, over Black Brook Mountain, to Otter Brook and continues on to Polletts Cove, the beach at which can be seen at the left about halfway up the photo; this is a demanding 4 hour trek one-way for hikers in excellent physical condition — scroll down this web page to the Polletts Cove section for further information about this hike. The slopes of what I am told is locally called Polletts Cove Mountain are at the left in the middle foreground this side of Polletts Cove Beach; below it can be seen in the water the rock stack the topographical map labels as The Chimney at Fort Cove. The snowy ridge in the immediate foreground rises above the ravine carved by Malcolms Brook and is 3.3 km (2 mi) south of the High Capes and about 0.6 km (0.4 mi) south of Delaneys Point.

Photo #2 was taken a year earlier further to the south from the slopes of Polletts Cove Mountain and shows much the same view as the photo above, but with the Gulf of St Lawrence under its more normal iced-over conditions, liberally decorated with blown snow as far out into the gulf as the eye can see. In the summer time, these slopes of Polletts Cove Mountain are grassed over and horses, cows, and moose are said to often be present taking advantage of them.

[continued below]

Photo #3 was taken the same day as photo #1 and shows Polletts Cove Beach from Polletts Cove Mountain. Two streams, the Blair River and the Polletts Cove River, both of which have carved deep valleys in the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau behind Pollets Cove Beach, the former to the northeast and the latter to the southeast, join forces inland of the beach and enter into the Gulf of St Lawrence in the middle of the beach. The photo shows a pool of water just behind the beach where the joint outflow has iced over. The rocky triangle further off the point appears as a shoal on the topographical map; the smaller one very close to the point does not — perhaps it has eroded off the point and fallen into the water in recent years.