The valley between
“Wreck Brook Mountain” and Polletts Cove Mountain

Photo #1 is a fine overview of the area at Polletts Cove. A wide-angled view taken from somewhat south of Polletts Cove and well off shore, it shows the arrangement of the various prominences at and near Polletts Cove. At the far left, is “Malcolms Brook Mountain”; next comes the long ridge of “Wreck Brook Mountain”, with its northern and southern arms; in the centre is Polletts Coive Mountain, rising above the two lesser foothills that lie closer to the coast. I will refer to the leftmost foothill as “North Foothill” and the rightmost one as “South Foothill”, though both are just the lower portion of Polletts Cove Mountain. I will leave the features at the right of this photo for subsequent discussion. The rest of this page will concentrate on the valley between the southern arm of “Wreck Brook Mountain” and Polletts Cove Mountain and its “North Foothill”; subsequent pages will present the coast to the south.

Photo #2 is a wide-angled view taken directly off the mouth of the unnamed brook that that the topographical map shows descending from a pond or small lake on the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau inland of the col between “Wreck Brook Mountain” and Polletts Cove Mountain”. That mouth is at the south (right) end of the beach in the centre of the photo; so far as I’m able to tell, it was dry this day. The course of the nameless brook can be made out by following the line it makes through the trees. About a third of the way in from the left is the point at the end of the southern arm of “Wreck Brook Mountain” seen in photo #5 on the previous page; from there, the coast turns inland to the beach which has apparently been carved by the waters from the brook. The right half of the photo shows the heavily etched cliffs of the north end of “North Foothill”. A meadow lines the nearer course of the brook on its southern shore, extending a fair distance inland before it is cut off by the forest, which otherwise covers this valley. An open meadow on the side of Polletts Cove Mountain can be seen about a third of the way in from the right. From this perspective, Pollets Cove Mountain looks significantly different than it appears in photo #1, where its southern end is seen in its full glory.

Photo #3 shows the cliffs at the base of “North Foothill” south of the mouth of the unnamed brook. Pretty as they are (and note the striking red hues of the rock at the north (left) end of the central beach), it is the slopes of the northern and southern arms of “Wreck Brook Mountain” that take my eye. Just right of centre, above the yellow of the meadows, dark vegetation can be seen; this is not on the ridge itself, but further inland, where the plateau rises to its full height. Although the lighting blends the ridge on the northern arm into a pinkish colour barely distinct from the yellow of the meadows closer to the col between the arms, the change in colour reflects the lack of grass in these areas, where the sides are barren gravel/dirt/rubble bands interspersed with islands of vegetation, leading down the ridge to eventually join the larger areas below on the side of the mountain.

Photo #4 is a telephoto view of the central portion of the cliffs at the base of the northern end of “North Foothill”. The many run-off channels leading down the face of the cliffs seems to be responsible in part for the gullies and crevices visible here, but other fractures seem to be mainly caused by wind, blown water, and freeze/thaw cycles. The erosion is an on-going process, attested to by the piles of gravel all along the narrow beach at the shore.

Photo #5 is the best view I have of the col between “Wreck Brook Mountain” and Polletts Cove Mountain, on the far side of which lies the small lake or pond which is the source of the unnamed brook. Again, the darker vegetation at the left of the photo behind the ridge of the northern arm reflects its distance further inland up on the plateau, whose height is above 400 m (1310 ft).

Photo #6 is the best view I have of the mouth of the unnamed brook, which can be seen hiding here behind the point at the northern end of the cliffs below “Northern Foothill”; no water is visible as it descends to the beach below and its bed is quite dry. Waters running off the southern flanks of “Wreck Brook Mountain” on the north side of the brook have also contributed to this beach, as the several deep fissures attest.