As all good things must, my June stay at Meat Cove came to an end on Friday, the first day of summer. After breakfast at the Meat Cove Welcome Centre, where I said my good-byes and thanked my hosts and friends for another wonderful stay, I drove back out along the Meat Cove Road to St Margaret Village. I stopped first at Black Point for the photos of Meat Cove and Cape St Lawrence seen on this page.
ISO 200 32 mm ƒ⁄10 1⁄400 sec
Taken 2013 June 21 in Black Point from the Meat Cove Road
8.7 km (5⅜ mi) from its junction with the Bay St Lawrence Road in St Margaret Village
GPS 47°01.580′N 60°32.177′W
Photo #1 is one of my favourite Cape Breton views, ranking right at the top of the list with so many other incredible sights on the island. The beautiful Highlands, with Meat Cove snuggled below overlooking the waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence, and the fantastic views out to Cape St Lawrence at the far right just can’t be beat!
Photo #2 is a telephoto view looking past Blackrock Point in the foreground out along the coast to Cape St Lawrence. At the time, I did not have “Big Bertha”, my 300 mm telephoto lens, which I am looking forward to using here this year, but the 105 mm lens still did a terrific job in picking out most of the features of this beautiful coast; I will refer you to the first ten pages of my earlier essay for details and close-up views of these fantastic shores. Two lobstering boats complete this beautiful June morning.
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ISO 200 105 mm ƒ⁄7.1 1⁄800 sec
Taken 2013 June 21 in Black Point from the Meat Cove Road
8.7 km (5⅜ mi) from its junction with the Bay St Lawrence Road in St Margaret Village
GPS 47°01.583′N 60°32.177′W
ISO 200 58 mm ƒ⁄7.1 1⁄800 sec
Taken 2013 June 21 in Black Point from the Meat Cove Road
8.7 km (5⅜ mi) from its junction with the Bay St Lawrence Road in St Margaret Village
GPS 47°01.582′N 60°30.979′W
Photo #3 looks to the left of photo #2 and is a wider angled view in order to take in the entire mountain that rises above Blackrock Point. This is not Bear Hill, a portion of which is visible beyond this mountain in the middle distance, but an unnamed mountain at the northern end of which Little Grassy can be seen descending. The large number of evergreens killed by the spruce bark beetle along the northern portion of this mountain’s slopes exhibit the kind of destruction that, sadly, is visited on too many stands of spruce all over Cape Breton Island, causing immense damage to trails and scenery.
Photo #4 is again a telephoto view, this time looking directly at the hamlet of Meat Cove, its beach, and campground on the cliffs. The Meat Cove Road comes to an end near the centre of the photo and the Lowland Cove Trail continues on up the mountainside from there; about a third of the way in from the left you can see the opening in the trees that makes possible the beautiful views seen earlier in this essay when descending the trail. How calm and lovely a place on this beautiful morning!
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ISO 200 105 mm ƒ⁄6.3 1⁄640 sec
Taken 2013 June 21 in Black Point from the Meat Cove Road
8.7 km (5⅜ mi) from its junction with the Bay St Lawrence Road in St Margaret Village
GPS 47°01.580′N 60°32.175′W
ISO 200 105 mm ƒ⁄5.6 1⁄500 sec
Taken 2013 June 21 in Black Point from the Meat Cove Road
8.7 km (5⅜ mi) from its junction with the Bay St Lawrence Road in St Margaret Village
GPS 47°01.580′N 60°32.178′W
Photo #5 looks at the waters directly below Black Point, sprinkled with floats marking lobster traps. On this beautiful day, scarcely a ripple troubled the water as there was no breeze and the sun truly made it feel like summer had arrived. What a wonderfully memorable stay it had been!