Inland views—
the plateau south of the Polletts Cove River

This web page presents some inland views of the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau on the south side of the Polletts Cove River, as seen from off shore. The haze, clouds, and capricious lighting that was present while we were off Polletts Cove persists in these photos, but they do show the terrain and so will serve.

Photo #1 is a moderately wide-angled view from off Polletts Cove Beach that shows the the plateau south of the Polletts Cove River as it proceeds inland. Most of this photo is occupied by the huge rounded mountain that is entirely in the shadows, at the base of which the Polletts Cove River runs on its course to the sea. This mountain, of course, like all those seen in this photo, is an edge of the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau through which the Polletts Cove River has carved its channel. To the right is the slope of the nearer mountain up which the Polletts Cove Trail climbs up out of Polletts Cove and just above the beach is a portion of the coastal plain.

Photo #2 is a telephoto look from considerably further north at the portion of the mountain above the Polletts Cove River which occupies the centre of photo #1, bringing out its features in better detail, even though significant patches of haze hang over the upper part of its slopes. The gull in the upper right is the same one as was seen on the previous page, though here its wings are on the downstroke and the grey of its body is more in evidence.

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Photo #3, another telephoto view and from much further north, looks to the right of photo #2 where a kind stroke of the sun lights up the intricate folds in the terrain as the plateau descends into the valley. According to the topographical map, the westernmost tributary of the Polletts Cove River flows down through these folds into the river below. Under magnification, it is possible to make out occasional open areas (i.e., treeless, apparently grassy, spaces) along the ridges that span the photo, though I suspect the plateau itself is mostly forest.

Photo #4, also a telephoto view, overlaps with photo #3 on the left and shows the mountain up which the coastal plain south of the Polletts Cove River climbs briefly. From a distance, this “ramp” is the most striking visual aspect of Polletts Cove, easily seen from Delaneys Point. The ridge atop this mountain also shows some treeless spaces, but these appear to be caused by trees killed off by the spruce bark beetle, opening up the canopy to other vegetation.