Views from West Alba and Alba

After finishing up the photos in Wilburn, I took my next right onto MacIver Road (Google Maps spells it as MacIvor Road, but the road signage has it with an ‘e’, not an ‘o’). This was my first time on that road, which crosses the isthmus to the Orangedale–Iona Road; I had previously driven this latter, which follows the southern and eastern sides of the isthmus along the River Denys Basin from Orangedale back to Portage Road. I stopped for photos at several points along this scenic road, from which those on this page are selected.

One of my first stops was in West Alba at the north side of a passage known as “The Boom”, for reasons I have been unable to ascertain. The trees at the far right of photo #1 lie on Boom Island across this passage, a part of the River Denys Basin. Boom Island is connected by a sandbar to Big Harbour Island north of Malagawatch (not visible here) and both lie athwart the outflow of the River Denys, leaving The Boom as the only way for water to flow from the river into the Bras d’Or Lake. I am not certain what the land is across from the point on Boom Island; it is likely the end of the isthmus itself further east, though it might possibly be one of the islands found off the eastern end of the isthmus. The Bras d’Or Lake is the water beyond and between these two points, running to the Washabuck Peninsula, whose contours are seen in the far distance. The sun was again capricious here, lighting up some areas (the grass and trees in the foreground and the Washabuck Peninsula in the background) and leaving others (Boom Island and The Boom) in the shade. The trees at the left of the photo are no longer bearing their summer greens, but they have only barely begun to change colours; I did, however, find trees along the way which were considerably more advanced than those seen here, but they were usually isolated individuals, with their companions still similar to those seen here.

Shortly beyond its closest access to “The Boom”, the Orangedale–Iona Road turns to the northeast, well before reaching the southeast end of the isthmus. The next visible water is Cassells Cove, seen in photo #2 from the road. Cassells Cove is an inlet of an arm of the Bras d’Or Lake, which can be seen at the far end of the cove beside the dark area capriciously bereft of the sun; this arm gets progressively narrower as it proceeds north and changes its name to Portage Creek north of the railway crossing. The marsh grasses in Cassells Cove have their fall colours, but there is precious little colour in any of the deciduous trees on the shores, although other photos I took there do show a lovely red tree at the side of the road behind where I stood for this photo and another tree further down the shore, but out of the scope of photo #2.

[continued below]

Photo #3 is of Pipers Cove, another inlet of the arm of the Bras d’Or Lake and the last before that arm changes into Portage Creek. This is a lovely spot for sure, but again the trees show very few fall colours: except for the reddish tinged trees at the left of the photo, one would really think this a late summer view, rather than one near the middle of October!

Photo #4 is of an unnamed cove off Portage Creek, which is visible in the centre of the photo. The mouth of MacLeans Brook is on the other side Portage Creek from here, hidden behind the trees in the middle ground at the far left. The mountain in the distance is Cains Mountain on the Washabuck Peninsula. The lack of fall colours, other than in the marsh grasses, is again noticeable here.

[continued below]

The last vantage point on the Orangedale–Iona Road with a view of the water is from along Portage Creek, just south of its junction with Portage Road. The fast-moving waters of the creek seen in this photo are proof this is no cove. Given all the lack of fall colours further south, the reds and oranges seen in this photo are a welcome, if inexplicable, change.