Sailor Brook and its Valley

Photo #1 is a wide-angled view that is the best I have showing the valley Sailor Brook has carved into the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau. Like Lowland Brook, it rises well inland, issuing forth from bogs on the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau. On the far (east) side of the prominence in the distance at the left (actually, a ridge that runs back to the ridge seen in the last photo of the previous page), a tributary of Sailor Brook curves to the north and rises not far from Lowland Brook; the main course of Sailor Brook, however, is south and then east for a much longer course than either Lowland Brook or the Sailor Brook tributary.

For convenience, I will dub the unnamed mountain at the right of this photo “Sailor Brook Mountain South”, since its north face rises on the south side of Sailor Brook. It will figure prominently on the next page of this essay.

Photo #2 is another view, taken with a middling focal length, into the Sailor Brook valley from a bit further north, again showing the ridges of the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau above the brook far below. In this view, the trees below the ridge at the centre of the photo in the distance are mainly deciduous, though there are evergreens all along the summit and occasional evergreens on the slopes. Perhaps the winds whip through this canyon enough to cause a problem for deciduous trees on the north side of the brook?

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Photo #3, which was also taken with a middling focal length and pays more attention to the coast just north of Sailor Brook, also peers into the beautiful Sailor Brook valley inland of the coast. What draws my eye, however, is the curious colouration of the rocks near the shore with what appears to be a thin red coating that has worn off exposing the dark grey base underneath. It seems to me to be the wrong colour for a lichen or moss and the ground at the edge of the grass above is of the same reddish colour and (mostly) without any grey beneath, so I suspect it’s nothing growing there; the two materials, however, are quite distinct, not mottled as seen in the slope at the west end of Frasers Beach. Another mystery among many!

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Photo #4 is a telephoto view of Sailor Brook as it cascades over the curiously coloured rocks to end its journey from the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau well inland. Not a great amount of water is flowing here, but that is not surprising for a summer as dry as that of 2012. There is certainly enough flow to keep any vegetation off the rocks beyond the wave zone and the pile of boulders left of centre below the grass suggests a very strong flow at certain times of the year. This spot would likely have a quite different aura to it during the spring run-off.

Photo #5 is a wide-angled view of the mouth of Sailor Brook which puts it in context with its surroundings. The bizarrely coloured grey cliffs at the left just above the water again emerge from a coating of reddish stone on top and are surrounded by reddish rocks on either side. “Sailor Brook Mountain North” fills the upper portion of this photo, where the cliffs, especially at the right, have the aspect of a castle wall over which one would not be surprised to see soldiers peering. A gorgeous spot indeed!