Views at the Big Intervale Fishing Lodge

I continued south to the driveable end of the northern portion of the West Big Intervale Road at the Big Intervale Fishing Lodge, open year round, though not every day in the winter. It is a popular spot for both winter and summer sports enthusiasts and offers fine food, adding to the pleasure of a drive through stunningly beautiful country. I arrived shortly after noon and was dismayed to discover that the restaurant did not open in October until 17h, as I hadn’t enjoyed a meal there in some time and was beginning to feel a few hunger pangs. The views on this page were taken from the Lodge’s scenic grounds.

Photo #1 was taken from the banks of the Northeast Margaree River looking upstream at the river and Sugarloaf Mountain on its far side. This stretch of the river is shallow and fast-flowing; Wards Pool is to the north and the Old Bridge Pool is to the south, doubtless where a bridge once stood on the now abandoned section of the West Big Intervale Road.

Photo #2 brings the trees on Sugarloaf Mountain into closer view, where one can see in the shadows a rainbow of fall colours, including a few vivid reds in the mix. Had the sun been able to reach them, they would have been colourful indeed!

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Photo #3 shows the majestic setting of the Big Intervale Fishing Lodge below the Highlands. Considerably more green is visible on these slopes, though red-oranges are ubiquitous, with even a tinge of bright red if one looks closely. Unfortunately, the clouds were often hiding the sun, as here, a condition that was to worsen as the afternoon progressed.

Photo #4 shows the Highland at the centre of photo #3, during a brief spell when the sun was partially back out. What a difference it makes to the colours! The greens still have it, but only barely. Apologies for the wires, to which I was oblivious when I took the photo.

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Sun also blessed photo #5, a close-up of the centre left of photo #4, with some very lovely reds amongst the greens and oranges in the sunlit portion of the slope. Here, fortunately, I managed to avoid the utility wires.

Photo #6 looks at another portion of the slope, where the evergreens and deciduous trees are mixed; the lovely yellows and limes amongst the very red oranges and the dark greens make this a most attractive scene. And notice that lovely red tree in the upper centre!

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The direct sun, alas, was short-lived and disappeared as I took photo #7, though the light was bright enough to reflect the clouds in the water, turning them a very reflective silver. Sugarloaf Mountain is at the left, where the colours were considerably brighter than the camera rendered, doubtless due to the tricky lighting it had to contend with.