Views from Simon Point–Part 2

This page presents a selection of the views from Simon Point of the coast to the east to the entrance of Louisbourg Harbour.

Photo #1 is a wide-angled view of the Atlantic coast east of Simon Point. I am not familiar with this stretch of beautiful coast, having seen it only from Simon Point and from the coast at the entrance to Louisbourg Harbour. After studying the topographical map, Google Maps, and Google Earth, I had hoped to have some positive identifications, but unfortunately, none of them match up very well what I see here; I am therefore very reluctant to identify the features seen here, so take any tentative identifications with a large grain of salt.

Photo #2, just inland of Simon Point, shows a tiny barachois, too small to appear on the topographical map, though visible in Google Maps. Barachois (often spelt with two r’s, especially in place names) are found all along the eastern coast of Cape Breton; Google Maps shows eight more, some considerably larger, along this coast from Simon Point to the entrance to Louisbourg Harbour. Originally an inlet of the ocean and connected to it by an open tidal passage, over a long passage of time, the action of the waves has thrown up a barrier of rocks and sand, closing off its access to the sea and making it into a lagoon; with no continual admixture of salt water (unless blown over the barrier on the wind), it tends to become fresh water, replenished by rain water and run-off.

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Photo #3 is a larger scale version of the left half of photo #1, looking at the coast immediately to the east of Simon Point. The rocks make walking along this coast a very tedious affair, requiring excellent balance and some athleticism. The black rocks seen here and elsewhere along the Atlantic coast around Louisbourg contrast sharply with the generally white rocks thrown up by the waves. The coastal cliff at the centre and centre left are typical structures also seen along the coast; this one is very similar to the one up which one has to climb to reach the end of the Simon Point Trail.

Photo #4 is a larger scale version of the right half of photo #1, looking at the coast further east; it has a very small amount of overlap with photo #3. My gut feeling, completely contradicted by the maps, is that the islands seen in the centre and in the centre right behind the lower-lying rocks, are the islands at the entrance to Louisbourg Harbour, which would make the headland just left of centre in the far distance Lorraine Head (8.2 km (5⅛ mi) from Simon Point in a straight line distance). The distance from Simon Point to Green Island at the entrance to Louisbourg Harbour is only 4.7 km (2.9 mi), so it should be easily visible here, except that the map shows it lying inland of this coast. If anyone can definitively identify the features seen here, please contact me using the address in the footer below.

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Photo #5 is a telephoto view of a portion of photo #3 that brings out the nature of the rocky coast in some detail. Notice the black-hued rocks that have been broken off and thrown well inland; the outcropping of black-coloured rock at right is likely a much smaller version of a much larger rocky formation that has been worn down over the æons.

Photo #6 is a telephoto view of the cliff also seen in photo #3. Grass-covered, but sandwiched between two rocky sections, it was likely left by a long-since-disappeared glacier. Its like is seen all along Cape Breton’s coasts.