Views from Goose Cove

Goose Cove is formed by the outflow of the Goose Cove Brook, augmented by Quarry Brook, which joins it just west of the Cabot Trail, to flow into St Anns Harbour. An unnamed brook also enters the Harbour before one reaches Goose Cove Brook, just east of the pull-off (on the left side of the road proceeding north), which was added when the Cabot Trail was resurfaced, at a place the topographical map labels as Mud Cove (it would be at the far right in photo #1). A sand bar sits off shore along this part of the highway. The first two photos on the previous page were taken from above the bluff seen at the far right of photo #1.

The gorgeous rolling terrain across St Anns Harbour, with its ridges and hollows and knolls and glens, is Kellys Mountain, as this part of the Great Bras d’Or Massif is known. As photo #1 shows, considerably less colour is visible on Kellys Mountain than either on Murray Mountain or in the Highlands along the western shores of St Anns Bay; indeed, Kellys Mountain would remain mostly in the state seen here for the rest of the week, as it was noticeably behind other areas when I saw it again on the following Saturday when I returned for the Pipers’ Cèilidh at the Gaelic College.

St Anns Look-Off on the Trans-Canada Highway is below the hump just right of centre in photo #1; it provides fine views to the west of St Anns Harbour and to the north of the Cape Breton Highlands along St Anns Bay all the way to Cape Smokey. The slash in the terrain the highway makes along the massif as it descends towards Exit 11 after crossing Kellys Mountain is easily seen to the right of the look-off. The buildings at the far left along the shore are in Englishtown; the Englishtown ferry is outside the scope of all the photos on this page, hidden by Murray Point.

Photo #2 looks across Goose Cove to the shore on the other side, where a few red trees are showing. The mouth of the Goose Cove Brook is at the far left, outside the scope of this photo; the Cabot Trail makes a hairpin turn there and continues inland along this shore (the house at the far left sits beside the Cabot Trail). Seymour Point, at the far right of the photo, marks the end of Goose Cove and the start of the North River Outflow. On the other side of the North River outflow, Murray Mountain rises majestically, again showing a fair amount of colour, as seen on the previous page. I have often tried to imagine the views from its summit, were there any open area up there that allowed one to see the panorama: with the harbour below, the Highlands to the west and north; St Anns Bay, the Bird Islands, and the Atlantic to the north and northeast; the Great Bras d’Or Massif, from Cape Dauphin to Beinn Bhreagh, to the east and south; they would have to be incredible!

Photo #3 is a wider-angled view of the panorama seen in the two earlier photos. As all the photos on this page demonstrate, the views from the pull-off are well worth the stop!