Cape Mabou from the Smithville Road—Part Two

After walking back to the car, I continued north on the Smithville Road and stopped after it ascends a hill from which one has excellent views of Cape Mabou. The photos on this page were all taken from there.

Photo #1 is a wide-angled shot of the area looking out across a ploughed field at the Cape Mabou Highlands in the distance. This view is from Northeast Mabou on the far left to Riverville on the far right, a bigger area that that seen on the previous page. The photos which follow are with a longer focal length, though not in the telephoto range, and again form a panorama from left to right. The view from this vantage point continues past the right edge of the photo, reaching to the communications tower in Glenville, but the photos I took in that direction were telephoto views and would skew this panorama, so I have omitted them here.

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Photo #2 shows the far left portion of photo #1; it runs from Northeast Mabou to Glenora Falls. The “knob” seen at Glenora Falls on the previous page is just a bit left of centre, but is here mostly hidden by the ridge above the Glendyer Brook valley.

Photo #3, which unfortunately has no overlap with photo #2, shows the area from Glenora Falls north towards Riverville that I call “Campbells Mile”. The northern end of the ridge that blocked the view in photo #2 runs out at the left end of this photo, exposing the utility poles and wires which mark the path of the Cèilidh Trail (Highway 19) at the base of the Highlands. Travelling on the Cèilidh Trail in this area, one is really too close to the highlands to get a very good view of them—it’s mainly the nearer and lower hillsides beside the road one sees—in the few glimpses one can catch along the way on this often busy road (one certainly has to keep one’s eyes peeled on the road, as I was memorably reminded on 28 July this summer, when, near dusk, a huge buck, easily taller than I am, stood frozen at the other side of the road in the middle of “Campbells Mile”; he wasn't spooked and didn't move until after I was safely past, fortunately, as I very much doubt I'd have been able to stop in time).

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Photo #4, which does overlap with photo #3, continues the panorama to the right. The green field on the slope right of centre marks the end of MacLennan Road, which leaves the Cèilidh Trail near where the dark red tree is at the right.

Photo #5, which overlaps with photo #4, ends the panorama. The green fields seen here on both sides of the Cèilidh Trail mark Riverville; the Blackstone Road ends on the Cèilidh Trail at the right of the photo behind the trees.

What a lovely scene this is! The Smithville Road is the best vantage point I know of for seeing the eastern edge of Cape Mabou; while the views of the Cape are best from the two spots where I stopped, the scenery is great along most of this road: the Melrose Hill and Mount Young ridges rise to the east on the other side of the road and, while not so spectacular nor as high as the Cape, add to the beauty of the scenery. This road is well worth a drive in any season, but an autumnal drive when the colours are at or near their peak gives it, in Michelin’s scenery classifications, the top honour of vaut le voyage (worth making a special trip just to see it).