Views to the West from the North Summit
of Meat Cove Mountain

The photos on this page were taken from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain; they look to the west and some of them look down at Meat Cove Brook and at the sides of the western Highlands. As one can imagine, there are many other views from here in a panorama of 360°. I have not repeated the southern views of the Meat Cove Brook Valley, which are as good from the northern summit as from the col, since they have already been covered on a previous page.

View across the Meat Cove Brook Valley to the Western Highlands
[#1] Photo 86 of 479: View across the Meat Cove Brook Valley to the Western Highlands
ISO 200   21 mm   ƒ⁄22   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.862′N 60°33.668′W

Photo #1 is a wide-angled view looking across the Meat Cove Brook Valley to the western Highlands. The area in the centre is the site of the Meat Cove Look-Off, which offers stunning views of Meat Cove Mountain, the Meat Cove Brook Valley, and Meat Cove. Because they are blocked to a degree by Meat Cove Mountain, I tend to prefer those on Meat Cove Mountain, but, while a longer hike up from the village, it is also an easier one.

Significant amounts of fall colour can be seen on the slopes of the Highlands, which here are covered by a mixed forest, majority deciduous but with numerous evergreen interlopers, though most of the hardwoods are yet unchanged. Most of the colours seen here are oranges with some yellows and red/green mixes, though the occasional flaming red tree can be made out under magnification,

Photo #2 is a close-up of the rocks below the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain, seen in the lower left of photo #1. These are not part of the rock face seen in this photo, but are instead found on the southwestern side of the mountain, though they are of the same kind of rock seen in the rock face and lie at the same 45° tilt.

[continued below]

Close-up of the rocks below the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
[#2] Photo 87 of 479: Close-up of the rocks below the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
ISO 200   105 mm   ƒ⁄25   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.866′N 60°33.674′W
A more detailed view of the area at the Meat Cove Look-Off
[#3] Photo 88 of 479: A more detailed view of the area at the Meat Cove Look-Off
ISO 200   52 mm   ƒ⁄22   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.863′N 60°33.668′W

Photo #3 takes a closer look at the area at the Meat Cove Look-Off. The several lines through the trees one can see descending the hillside are intermittent run-off brooks, dry after this very dry summer. Although they do not stand out well in this view, under magnification, one can see several flaming reds amidst the oranges and yellows on the hillside, a harbinger of the bright colours this slope will assume later. I have seen them at or close to their peak on dull days, but haven’t yet been able to capture them on a day as beautiful and sunny as this one. Perhaps next year…

Photo #4 is a telephoto view of the lower centre of photo #3 that better brings out some of the early blazing reds in this area of the mountainside. The greens are still clearly in the majority, but they too will soon be turning.

[continued below]

A close-up of the brighter trees on the mountainside below the Meat Cove Look-Off
[#4] Photo 89 of 479: A close-up of the brighter trees on the mountainside below the Meat Cove Look-Off
ISO 200   105 mm   ƒ⁄20   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.864′N 60°33.669′W
A close-up of another portion of the western Highlands above Meat Cove Brook
[#5] Photo 90 of 479: A close-up of another portion of the western Highlands above Meat Cove Brook
ISO 200   105 mm   ƒ⁄20   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.861′N 60°33.670′W

Photo #5 is well to the south (left) of photo #3, where the forest is considerably more mixed, with a sizeable contingent of evergreens on the slopes. Considerably fewer flaming reds are on offer here, though there is an occasional specimen here and there if one looks closely.

Photo #6 looks at my feet on the north summit. Here, the blueberries are interspersed with other plants, grasses and flowers. The asters are actually light lavender in colour, though, in the day’s bright sunlight, they appear nearly white.

[continued below]

The flora on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
[#6] Photo 91 of 479: The flora on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
ISO 200   105 mm   ƒ⁄5.6   1⁄500 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.802′N 60°33.593′W
Looking down at the edge of Meat Cove Brook from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
[#7] Photo 92 of 479: Looking down at the edge of Meat Cove Brook from the north summit of Meat Cove
Mountain
ISO 200   105 mm   ƒ⁄18   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.867′N 60°33.672′W

Photo #7 looks down from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain at the edge of Meat Cove Brook, where the tree trunks are piled like matchsticks, a very visible reminder of the 2010 flash flood that so altered the landscape of the Meat Cove Brook Valley, both here to the south of the village and in the village itself.

Photo #8 is another telephoto view of the Meat Cove Brook as it winds around Meat Cove Mountain far below. Here, the evidence of the ravages of the 2010 flash flood are seen in the widened brook valley, where the trees that used to crowd the brook’s course have still not come back.

[continued below]

Looking down at Meat Cove Brook from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
[#8] Photo 93 of 479: Looking down at Meat Cove Brook from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
ISO 200   105 mm   ƒ⁄18   1⁄60 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.868′N 60°33.672′W
On the slopes of the Cape Breton Highlands
[#9] Photo 94 of 479: On the slopes of the Cape Breton Highlands
ISO 200   300 mm   ƒ⁄5.6   1⁄640 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.834′N 60°33.643′W

Photo #9, taken with “Big Bertha”, focusses on a stand of brightly coloured trees on the slopes to the south of the south summit. The tree right of centre is a blaze of red-orange; the darker tree at the left will be even redder when its residual chlorophyll disappears.

Photo #10, also taken with “Big Bertha”, looks down at a stand of trees near the Meat Cove Brook in the valley below Meat Cove Mountain. These are maples of various hues, most still in the process of changing, with only a few reds as yet amongst all the oranges.

Maples in the valley below Meat Cove Mountain
[#10] Photo 95 of 479: Maples in the valley below Meat Cove Mountain
ISO 200   300 mm   ƒ⁄5.6   1⁄320 sec
Taken 2014 October 7 in Meat Cove from the Meat Cove Mountain Trail
on the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain
GPS 47°00.834′N 60°33.644′W