Ridges and Trails

Thursday was cloudy with some blue sky showing and the sun shining when I arose. It was not a stellar day for photography, so I decided to hike the always beautiful Celtic Shores Coastal Trail (also known as the Railway Trail, the Trans-Canada Trail, and, in the Mabou area, the Two Rivers Trail). But first, I drove up and over Alpine Ridge and Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge), where I stopped for photos before arriving in Mabou. Unfortunately, I lost the sun somewhere along the trail and was lucky not to get rained on much by the time I got back to the car. The photos on this page are from this day.

Changing tamarack on Alpine Ridge
[#1] Photo 453 of 479: Changing tamarack on Alpine Ridge
ISO 500   24 mm   ƒ⁄9   1⁄320 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Alpine Ridge from the Alpine Ridge Road
240 m (⅙ mi) west of its junction with the Whycocomagh Port Hood Road
GPS 46°00.239′N 61°22.791′W

Photo #1 shows a tamarack tree near the junction of the Alpine Ridge and Whycocomagh Port Hood Roads that is in the process of changing colours: the upper portion and a branch on the lower part are showing the yellow-orange-gold colour they display in Cape Breton upon turning; the remainder of the tree still shows the usual summer light green. Tamaracks are deciduous conifers, i.e., they bear cones and have needle-like “leaves” that they shed over winter (rather earlier in Cape Breton than in the Adirondacks and southern New York State). In my experience in Cape Breton, they rarely turn until after the peak of fall colours, so seeing them is strong evidence that the peak is past.

From the Alpine Ridge, I drove up the south side of Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge) and over the top. On my way down into Mabou, I stopped several times for photos. I discovered at one stop that I had the full and undivided attention of a herd of six young cattle, seen in photo #2, who clearly were unused to such strange activity as having one stop and climb down and across the ditch to get under utility wires for photos. As can also be seen here, many of the deciduous trees were bare with only a few remaining ones showing signs of fall colours.

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Wary cattle on Mabou Ridge
[#2] Photo 454 of 479: Wary cattle on Mabou Ridge
ISO 500   80 mm   ƒ⁄7.1   1⁄800 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Southwest Ridge from the Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge) Road
2.8 km (1¾ mi) south of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°02.692′N 61°23.633′W
Some colour remains on Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge) with Mabou Mountain and the Cape Mabou Highlands as a backdrop
[#3] Photo 455 of 479: Some colour remains on Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge)
with Mabou Mountain and the Cape Mabou Highlands as a backdrop
ISO 500   45 mm   ƒ⁄13   1⁄640 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Southwest Ridge from the Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge) Road
2.8 km (1¾ mi) south of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°02.693′N 61°23.633′W

Photo #3 shows what I stopped at this point to try to capture—it wasn’t the cattle! First of all, there is a red maple here at the lower right, one of the few remaining, accompanied by green trees beginning to turn and some showing fall colours. This is all gloriously set against the Cape Mabou Highlands across the Mabou River valley at the far left and the bulk of Mabou Mountain that crosses most of the rest of the photo. The village of Mabou is spread out at the foot of Mabou Mountain, with the steeple of St Marys left of centre. No matter the season, there are always glorious views from the Southwest Ridge Road.

Photo #4 is a close-up of the red maple seen at the right of photo #3, together with its neighbours on the right, birches in fine yellows, though with still some residual greens showing. Another red maple at the upper centre right is still changing. The trees at the left of the red maple have lost their leaves already; the remaining ones are welcome laggards.

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Colourful trees on Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge)
[#4] Photo 456 of 479: Colourful trees on Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge)
ISO 500   105 mm   ƒ⁄8   1⁄1000 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Southwest Ridge from the Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge) Road
2.8 km (1¾ mi) south of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°02.693′N 61°23.638′W
The Cape Mabou Highlands from the Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge)
[#5] Photo 457 of 479: The Cape Mabou Highlands from the Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge)
ISO 500   35 mm   ƒ⁄13   1⁄640 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Mabou Station from the Southwest Ridge (Mabou Ridge) Road
2 km (1¼ mi) south of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°03.123′N 61°23.760′W

Photo #5 is from a bit further down the Southwest Ridge Road, where one has a fine view of the southern edge of the Cape Mabou Highlands on the far side of the Mabou River. They stretch from the mouth of the Mabou River inland to Northeast Mabou, bounded by the river. The ones seen here are along Mabou Harbour Road, with the eastern flank of the Highlands behind Northeast Mabou showing at the right. At this somewhat lower elevation, the trees, birches primarily, are still in fairly good colours, with some still showing greens while others are mostly bare. The white decorating the field at the right is mostly Queen Anns Lace.

It had been some years since I last hiked the section of the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail from Mabou Station to West Mabou, which I judged to be among the least scenic at that time. I found many and very welcome changes along the trail this day. For starters, I left the car in the new parking area beside the Cèilidh Trail where the Railway Trail crosses the highway. I found open views of the Mabou River and the Cape Mabou Highlands that I don’t recall from my previous hikes: some very welcome clearing has since occurred, making the tree-shrouded views I remember into fine vistas, such as that seen in photo #6, another look at the southern edge of the Cape Mabou Highlands above the Mabou River, where the skies were becoming ever more overcast, so the normally bright blue waters of the Mabou River are here a grey-blue. At the kiosk, I found a new business directory sign. Not far south of West Mabou Road, I found a new bench in a cleared area overlooking the Southwest Mabou River just above its mouth along with a fine new interpretive panel. And that doesn’t include the new park bench and interpretive panel I discovered this summer on the east side of the Cèilidh Trail! My thanks to the volunteers who maintain and enhance it for all these many continued improvements to the trail: your dedication is greatly appreciated.

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The Cape Mabou Highlands from the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
[#6] Photo 458 of 479: The Cape Mabou Highlands from the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
ISO 500   28 mm   ƒ⁄13   1⁄640 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Mabou Station from the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
330 m (⅕ mi) west of its crossing over the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°04.124′N 61°24.101′W
The Cèilidh Coastal Trail
[#7] Photo 459 of 479: The Cèilidh Coastal Trail
ISO 500   48 mm   ƒ⁄9   1⁄320 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Mabou Station from the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
330 m (⅕ mi) west of its crossing over the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°04.023′N 61°24.212′W

Photo #7 looks south along the trail as it nears the Fire Station on the edge of Mabou. The white birches line the trail, giving it almost the impression of a tunnel. As you can see, I was not the only person out on this afternoon: another lady, who was proceeding at a much brisker pace than I was, was getting some exercise this early afternoon as well.

By the time this photo was taken from along West Mabou Road, the skies had darkened considerably and the blues now were all greys; a significant amount of haze/mist hung in the air, and, although it was not yet raining, it felt damp and humid. Photo #8 looks across Big Cove at the Cape Mabou Highlands on the far side of the Mabou River. The lines of black in the waters of Big Cove are part of an aquaculture operation. The bottom left corner of the photo shows that the Queen Anns lace is out in force here, too.

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The Cape Mabou Highlands across Big Cove and the Mabou River from West Mabou
[#8] Photo 460 of 479: The Cape Mabou Highlands across Big Cove and the Mabou River from West Mabou
ISO 500   21 mm   ƒ⁄11   1⁄500 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in West Mabou from the West Mabou Road
75 m (250 ft) northwest of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°03.588′N 61°24.952′W
Stand of birches across the Mabou River
[#9] Photo 461 of 479: Stand of birches across the Mabou River
ISO 500   66 mm   ƒ⁄5.3   1⁄500 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Mabou Station from the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
510 m (⅓ mi) southeast of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°04.070′N 61°23.478′W

I made it out to kilometre marker 61 south of West Mabou Road, but decided not to continue on further on one of the most gorgeous sections of this trail, that along the Southwest Mabou River, as it could start raining at any point and it was a fair piece back to the car for one moving as slowly as I was. When I got back to the car, however, the rain hadn’t yet started, though it felt imminent, so I continued on across the highway to the aforementioned park bench I discovered this summer. I sat there enjoying the lovely view of the birches seen in photo #9 and of Mabou Mountain rising above them; while I was there, an eagle made two passes upstream fishing, but my camera wasn’t out on either pass, and some other large bird, perhaps a hawk, was circling over the trees across the river (but does not appear in this photo).

When it began spitting rain, I turned around and noticed another straggler, a red maple I somehow missed on the way to the park bench. Photo #10 shows its portrait, the last I took that day; I then made haste back to the car, arriving before it started raining for fair.

Red maple along the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
[#10] Photo 462 of 479: Red maple along the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
ISO 500   66 mm   ƒ⁄5.3   1⁄500 sec
Taken 2014 October 23 in Mabou Station from the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail
510 m (⅓ mi) southeast of its junction with the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19)
GPS 46°04.070′N 61°23.477′W