At the New Kewstoke Brook Bridge

From the Dunakin Mountain Road, the Whycocomagh Port Hood winds and twists for 2.7 km (1.7 mi), down from the plateau, following the terrain and the Kewstoke Brook as it descends, a stretch I call “falling off the mountain”, though the ‘mountain’ in question is just the (unnamed) edge of the plateau. Still, it is a curvy stretch that requires one’s full attention as one does meet traffic there every once in a while, which can be a surprise when one is not expecting it. Upon reaching the bottom, a sharp curve to the left is just beyond the bridge, after which the road both levels out and straightens out, for its beautiful run through Kewstoke, following the Kewstoke Brook at the base of Skye Mountain until it empties into the Indian River at the base of Campbells Mountain.

The real purpose of my trip this day was to satisfy my curiosity about what was going on at the Kewstoke Brook bridge, work on which had resulted in closing the road there. Since I am used to travelling this road several times each week, both for its views, which are splendid, and for its convenience, as it is the shortest route between Whycocomagh and Judique, its closure had been a real pain. When I arrived there, I was overjoyed to see that the work was complete and that the road was once again open.

Photo #1 shows the new bridge as I found it when I reached it. I’m not sure why it was necessary to replace the old bridge, which looked very much like the new one, though it was weather-beaten and much darker in colour, as this one will doubtless eventually become. The new plank flooring is a significant improvement over the old. It is nice to see the old off-the-beaten path roads being properly maintained. I remember when I first started driving this road that travelling most of it was an adventure in avoiding ruts and potholes, requiring great patience; it has been significantly improved over the years since then to the point that one can now actually make pretty good time on it.

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Photo #2 shows a splish-splash waterfall in Kewstoke Brook near the bridge. Given all the fine weather Cape Breton had experienced since the beginning of October, there was very little water running at all, a state of affairs that must have facilitated the work on the replacement bridge.

Photo #3, from a slightly different vantage point, shows Kewstoke Brook just before it flows under the bridge. The large facing stones at the far right of photo #1 indicate that the minimal flow seen in photos #2 and #3 is not always the case; it can be very fast moving water after a good rain and it must be a raging torrent during the spring runoff.

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Photo #4 shows the Whycocomagh Port Hood Road just beyond the curve at the Kewstoke Brook Bridge. The deciduous trees at this point are often very colourful in the fall, as this photo from last fall illustrates, but have only barely begun to turn this year (though admittedly, it is six days earlier in this photo than in last year’s).

PHoto #5 is a close-up of the leaves on one of the trees in photo #4; as can be seen from its leaves, it’s indeed very early days yet here in this relatively sheltered nook at the base of Skye Mountain.