Friday, 16 June — Chéticamp to Lower South River¹

I got of bed just before 8h on another delightful clear blue sky day with a few white clouds and a warm-feeling +12 (54). I headed south and enjoyed the nearly hazeless views of the Gulf’s waters to Margaree Island and Sight Point and the very clear views inland of the Cape Breton Highlands and the Margaree Highlands. The Belle View in Belle-Côte is not yet open for breakfast (though it is for lunch and dinner) so I continued on the East Margaree Road to the Cabot Trail and on to the Dancing Goat in Northeast Margaree, where I worked some on yesterday’s post as I finished my tea after breakfast (sadly, none of their wonderful fruit salad is on offer again this year).

I headed back to Margaree Forks; along the way I saw a single clump of lupins out beside the Cabot Trail, but the fields along the edges of the Margaree River (and earlier those along the Northeast Margaree River in Ford View) where they are usually present in profusion at the end of June are empty as yet—perhaps it is still too early to expect them. I drove on through Upper Margaree and turned onto the Kiltarlity Road, which is in fine shape up to the last house on the road; beyond, it was passable, but with a couple of very soft spots that caused me some concern, more on the way out than in, though I navigated them successfully. At the junction with Mountain Road, which I had driven up quite a long time ago, discovering it led to some communications towers before turning into a snowmobile trail near Masons Mountain, I parked the car and “saddled up”.

The Bealach Brèagha (Beautiful Mountain Pass) Lake Ainslie Trail, like the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail a part of the Trans-Canada Trail, now being called the “Great Trail” and which connects all three of Canada’s coasts, was opened this spring following a route from Strathlorne, where it branches off the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail north of the Kenloch church, to Whycocomagh, where it ends on the recently built Whycocomagh Trail that comes out by the fire hall. Unlike the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, this is no level trail, but passes with many ups and downs through the highlands north of Lake Ainslie (Shaw Mountain) to Kiltarlity and follows Kiltarlity Road (a “K-class” road that has been incorporated into the Great Trail) to Scotsville and then heads off into the highlands (“Great Central Interior Plateau”) that run from the Margarees to Whycocomagh, bypassing the Trout Brook Wilderness Area. If you don’t have it, check out the Great Trail app for your smartphone, which allows you to download offline maps you can use while hiking where there is no cell service, as there was not where I parked, though it kicked in once on the Scotsville side of the mountain. I know I am very unlikely to be able to complete this arduous (for me) trail, some of which is too far from an access point for me to make at my slow pace in a day hike, but I am eager to see what I can and this was my first crack at it.

It was a lovely morning with more clouds than earlier but a very strong sun and a perfect +17 (63) for hiking as I set off from Mountain Road. No black flies were out, but the deer flies were a-buzzin’, so I applied a good dose of insect repellent to both sides of my “coolie hat”, face, ears, and hands and headed up the hill. The initial 1.3 km (⅘ mi)² is a slow steady climb through the forest to the top of the hillside, where it levels off and then starts down towards Scotsville (and the cell service begins); this section had several puddles, two spanning the road and one with gluey clay, but both easily bypassed on foot. Somewhat disappointingly, there were only two views, both tree shrouded, one of Kiltarlity Road and one of Highway 395—some strategic tree cutting would open up fine views of the highlands and the river valley below. The drop off next to left hand side of the road is nearly vertical here. From this point on, the only distant views descending are tree-shrouded glimpses of the highlands across the valley. In the next 700 m (⅖ mi), the trail drops 55 m (180 ft) and has protruding rocks and deep ruts caused by erosion from water running down the road. At this point, one reaches the bridge over Little Camerons Brook,³ which today was very pretty but quiet. From the bridge on, the descent is much more gentle and the road is easily driveable by car. 400 m (¼ mi) past the bridge, one arrives at the first views of the Southwest Margaree River and the road levels out. Another 400 m brings one to even wider views of the river and highlands across the way. Here I saw my first wildflowers, buttercups in bloom (later I saw a dandelion in bloom, most of which I hadn’t noticed because they were already in seed, and several others, wee yellow five-pointed flowers and some blue and purplish coloured ones, both tiny and somewhat larger). Another 1 km (⅝ mi), with some very gentle climbing, brings one to a superb trail sign illustrating the route the trail takes through Scotsville into the highlands on the other side of Highway 395; this section runs along the Southwest Margaree River with good views and then turns inland towards Lakeview Drive, with Gillis Brook at the side near the trail sign. At Lakeview Drive, one turns left, follows it across Gillis Brook, and immediately turns left again, following a snowmobile trail to the bridge over the Southwest Margaree River on the Strathlorne Scotsville Road, from which there are fine views of the river and the highlands in both directions, a distance of 800 m (½ mi). The first part of this section is very stony/rocky and hard walking and the last part was a bit muddy; there is one small bridge crossing a narrow unnamed brook. I stopped for photos along the road and from the bridge and then headed back as I had come. It was a lovely walk, nearly all downhill, which, of course, meant a good climb back to the car at Mountain Road. After passing a lovely tree in bloom, an apple tree I’d guess, I had lunch of a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice at the widest of the river views; I could have sat here all afternoon enjoying the beauty, but, I had a drive to Antigonish ahead of me and a stiff climb (for me) back to the car, so I set off reluctantly. An hour and a half later, with many stops to catch my breath, I was back at the car, having successfully and happily completed my first hike on the Bealach Brèagha Trail. The Trails app reported a distance of 11.3 km (7 mi), but I know at least 1.6 km (1 mi) of that was wiggle,⁴ so with the 15% “discount”, the actual distance was more likely 8.25 km (5¼ mi). My sincerest thanks to all those whose vision and hard work has brought this trail into being! I surely look forward to exploring more of it in the coming weeks.

¹ Posted on Sunday, 18 June, for Friday, 16 June. Except for the last photo on this page, which was not posted to Facebook, but has been added here, the other photos were posted on Saturday, 17 June, but have been placed here where they belong in chronological order.↩

² Distances in this account are as measured by the Trails app on my iPhone, which tends to overreport distances by about 15% as compared with Google Earth.↩

³ The name is that given in the The Nova Scotia Atlas.↩

⁴ Recording the distance when I arrive and when I leave the same spot usually shows an increase of 100-300 m even though I’m not moving! I refer to this phenomenon as wiggle. I was later to discover that the Gaia app is much less prone to wiggle than the Trails app, as well as agreeing much more closely with the Google Earth distances. I consequently switched to it.↩

I then drove to Whycocomagh and picked up the Trans-Canada Highway, crossed the Canso Causeway Bridge at 17h04, and checked into my motel at Lower South River, where it was overcast when I arrived.

After cleaning up from the hike, I drove into town and had dinner (maple spinach salad and a seafood platter (mussels, shrimp, scallops, and pan-fried haddock) with rice pilaf and veggies, all excellent) at the Main Street Café, eschewing a maple blueberry bread pudding my mouth was watering for (no sweets, alas, to keep my blood sugar levels in check).

I then drove to Maryvale for the dance and worked in the car on yesterday’s post until folks started to arrive. There is no cell service beside the hall in Maryvale, so I couldn’t post any photos. It was +15 (59) and threatening to rain when I went into the hall. I knew more than half of the people there, as a large contingent of Cape Bretoners and many of my friends from the Antigonish area attend these very fine dances, and I chatted briefly with many who said hello and welcomed me back “home”.

Tonight’s music was by Glenn Graham on fiddle and Jackie Dunn-MacIsaac on keyboard. Both were there early, but technical difficulties (a power surge in the amp, Glenn said) precluded them from starting on time. The hall was nearly full when the first set of jigs was played at 21h07, but, surprisingly for Maryvale, there were no takers. Thereafter, however, the five square sets were quick to form, the floor was full (21 couples in the largest set), and the dancers avid and stepping ’er off in great style. Collie Rankin, who with his wife Cathy (a near double of my youngest nephew’s wife, both in looks and mannerisms), runs the dances, ably relieved Glenn on the second set. Two waltzes were also danced and the step dance sequence, following the customary fine “tea”, brought out two young ladies I don’t know, Mary Graham, John Robert Gillis, and Burton MacIntyre. The music was, of course, fabulous all night long and I greatly enjoyed myself.

It had rained during the dance, as I discovered when reaching the car after thanking my hosts. I drove back to Lower South River on wet roads and, once in my motel room, completed and posted yesterday’s account. I made it to bed at 1h40 and was instantly asleep after a very full and happy day.