Views along the Pleasant Bay Road

As I was returning from Red River, I made two more stops along the road in Pleasant Bay, the first below Roberts Mountain and the second at the bridge over the Grande-Anse River. In each case, it was the trees that I stopped to capture. The photos on this page are from those I took at those stops.

Photo #1 looks at the trees in a yard along the road below the flanks of Roberts Mountain, which can be seen in the upper right. It was, of course, the lovely red tree which first took my eye, but the yellows and greens are also quite pretty. The tree beyond the yard at the far left is mostly unchanged, while that by its side at the edge of the grass is nearly bare. Lots of variety in the state of the foliage here!

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Photo #2 looks above the yard at the trees on a ridge higher up. Here, the changes in the foliage appear to be very recent, with rarely more than hints of red/orange colours seen in many of the trees, the bulk of which still have their green leaves. A nice admixture of yellow trees is in the middle ground left of and at centre. And plenty of summer greens are present as well.

Photo #3 looks at another section of the ridge and, above it, to the lower portion of Roberts Mountain behind. A steep and challenging trail up Roberts Mountain that I have not yet hiked, much of which crosses private property, begins near the school. Haynes says, “At the summit, you are on a treeless peak with expansive vistas in every direction.” [p. 105] and “I do not think there are many views in Nova Scotia to equal this one, so do not be in a hurry to leave Roberts Mountain.” [p. 108] The photos I have seen of those who have made it there show fantastic views of the inland Cape Breton Highlands Plateau as well as of the coastal areas, truly a unique panorama.

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The Pleasant Bay Road crosses the Grande-Anse River on a bridge at a sharp 90° turn; the next two photos were taken from there. Photo #4 shows a lovely tree on the banks of the river that has been caught in a half-finished state of change, with lovely reds and many green leaves.

Photo #5 looks downstream at the trees on both sides of the Grande-Anse River. In this very protected spot, about 800 m (0.5 mi) upstream of The Pond, the tree at the left is unchanged, others are entirely bare, one has its orange colours nearly complete, and others are just changing, half yellow and half green. The skies overhead were blue, as reflected in the river by the bridge, while white clouds colour the sky at the upper left.