Taken 2006 October 9 in Eskasoni from Highway 216 (4102 Shore Road) beside the Natural Resources building
GPS 45°57.4??'N 60°35.0??'W
This photo shows a portion of a heavily forested island in East Bay opposite the Natural Resources building in Eskasoni. This island, unnamed in The Nova Scotia Atlas, had more blazing red trees the day I passed by it than any other location I had seen previously this fall. Unfortunately, my camera does not seem to have coped very well with the very bright sunlight and the blazing reds have been rendered darker than they actually were, but they nevertheless were scattered all over the island.
I unfortunately do not often get over this way, as it lies a fair distance from my usual haunts along the Cèilidh Trail. The Bras d’Or Lakes Scenic Drive is described in the provincial Doers’ and Dreamers’ Guide and is available as a download in PDF form from this web site. It is a very long drive, better done over at least two days, offering gorgeous vistas along most of its route. The portion of that route from Little Narrows to Iona to Grand Narrows to Eskasoni to East Bay to Big Pond to Johnstown to Chapel Island to St Peters along Highways 223, 216, and 4, which I drove the day this photo was taken, is especially generous in stunning panoramas involving the Bras d’Or Lake, including the arm known as East Bay, and can be easily done in a single day. There are not very many official look-offs along this route, but Highways 223 and 216 are not usually very heavily travelled, so it is relatively easy to pull over to the side of the road and have a leisurely look—or to take photos, which I find irresitable all along this route; Highway 4, on the other hand, is often very busy and it can sometimes be a challenge to find safe places to pull off from which to take in the views.