The MacKenzies River Valley
from the uppermost MacKenzies Mountain Look-Off

MacKenzies Mountain is the northwestern edge of the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau that borders the Gulf of St Lawrence on the west and Pleasant Bay (the water) on the north, forming a small cape ending in Wreck Cove Point. In one of its most memorable sections, the Cabot Trail descends from the Plateau using a series of several sharp switchbacks, carved into the mountainside and visible from a long distance away, to the village of Pleasant Bay and the eastern bight of the water of the same name, into which the Grande-Anse (French for Big Cove) River empties, forming a fine fishing harbour that is now also known for its whale-watching tours and the Whale Interpretive Centre, a museum whose exhibits are well worth a visit. Four look-offs at the side of the Cabot Trail, each with fine and informative interpretive panels and vantage points, offer a great place to savour the spectacular views of this stunningly beautiful area; no two of the look-offs yield the same view, but each offers an expansive look at features the terrain hides at the others. At the bottom of the mountain, the Cabot Trail crosses the upper end of the MacKenzies River; just across the bridge is an informal parking area at which you can leave your car and walk back to the bridge for excellent views of the MacKenzies River and its valley in both directions. The views on this page were all taken from the uppermost look-off.

Photo #1 looks southeast into the MacKenzies River Valley, carved into the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau by the MacKenzies River, a small portion of which is seen just left of centre (the terrain hides the rest). Fairly well protected by the higher mountainsides from the winds and salt spray off the Gulf of St Lawrence, much of the forest seen here is deciduous, though some stands of evergreens populate the upper or more exposed elevations. The light and the angle of the shot do not do the colours justice here, as they were at or close to their peak in the valley; those on the upper reaches of the plateau, on the other hand, such as those at the upper middle right, were completely bare.

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In photo #2, Big Bertha does a fine job of bringing the MacKenzies River into sharp enough focus that you can see the boulders in the river and even some of the rapids where the water flows over them. In this photo, the sun lit up some of the trees, showing that the leaves are close to or at their peak of colour; most are of the orange persuasion, but there are a few reds and some brilliant yellows, along with some which are still only half changed.

Photo #3 looks a little further south beyond the view in photo #2, again showing the fine state of the colours in the valley. The rubble seen in the upper right of the photo is at the base of the rocky ridge descending into the valley at the centre of photo #1.

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You can see the lovely red tree just right of centre in photo #4 in the lower left corner of photo #1; here, it is lit by the sun and blazes forth proudly along with its lovely lemon-hued companion to the left, across which is a blush of pink, as if embarrassed by its beauty. Alas, the evergreen in the centre of this photo, on the near side of the valley below the look-off, seemed compelled to become the centre of attention and I was unable to preclude it from getting in this photo of the trees I was interested in recording; at least, for once, the camera focussed on what I wanted to capture rather than on the show-off in the centre!

Photo #5 looks more towards the east, to the left of the view in photo #1, across the MacKenzies River Valley to the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau on the far side. At the horizon, the ridge of South Mountain on the far side of the Aspy Valley can be seen running to the northeast. The land in the foreground is on the near side of the MacKenzies River Valley and, given its more exposed location, is populated entirely by evergreens. The colours across the valley are hard to make out in the capricious sun, but appear to be not so far advanced as those further south in the valley, though again with bare trees at the upper elevations.