Views of South Mountain
and the North Aspy River Valley

I decided to return as I had come, in part because of the construction on the Cabot Trail along St Anns Bay and in part because I do not get to spend as much time as I’d like in Chéticamp, so I seized the chance to overnight there and partake of some of Chéticamp’s justly renowned bonne chère.

The photos on this page were taken from the third look-off ascending North Mountain (which happens to be the third look-off descending it as well—there are five in all). The third look-off is further northeast than the second one from the top, from which photos were earlier presented in this essay here, so the views are a bit different from this look-off, with a better reach to the northeast, but from a lower elevation. Comparing the photos on these two pages, it should be pretty clear that the colours have advanced a fair amount in the space of two days, though they remained this day far from their peak.

Photo #1 looks down the North Aspy River Valley as far as it is possible to see from this look-off. South Mountain now sports more changed colours than greens; what were mottled slopes now carry a mantle of red-orange. And the reds in the valley itself are more plentiful and much brighter, even without the bright sun in which they were seen two days ago.

There are actually two rivers in the valley below, the closer one officially known as the North Aspy River North Branch and the one further away as the North Aspy River South Branch. The south branch comes down from South Mountain, whereas the north branch continues to the southwest along the Aspy Fault for a considerable distance.

Photo #2, which overlaps partially with photo #1 on the left, shows South Mountain and the valley further to the southwest. For whatever reason, the slopes of South Mountain at the right are distinctly less colourful than those at the left, though colour is present everywhere on them. Beautiful reds continue to make themselves seen throughout the valley, including one just below the look-off at the lower right and another in the centre foreground, though that one’s branches on the near side have only begun to change (magnification reveals both colorations to be part of the same tree).

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Photo #3 continues the panorama in photos #1 and #2, reaching the valley of the Little Southwest Brook descending from South Mountain. Compare the slopes on each side of the brook: the right has the same colouration as photo #1 and the left part of photo #2, while the left side is not so far along. The greens still have it in the valley, but not for long!

Photo #4 looks down into the valley at the colours there; the tree in the centre of the photograph appears to be the reddest of reds, while many of the other turned trees vary from yellows to red-oranges. What a glorious scene this will be at peak in a few days time!

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Photo #5 is a telephoto shot of one of the patches of colour in the valley below the look-off. Some very vivid colours are seen here, mostly red-oranges, but some amazing reds as well! Yet again, most of the trees are still green—it’s only some that have changed and many of those have only just begun. Fall caught in the act!

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Photo #6 is the best shot I have of the bright red tree on the right side and directly below the look-off, perched on the steep slope that drops down to the river valley; its lower part was hidden by the guardrails and the look-off itself. The darker red leaves towards the top of the photo are on another tree further down the slope, as is the tree sporting orange/green leaves between them. Given the sharpness of the slope, it is amazing that anything has taken hold here.

Photo #7 is a telephoto view of one of the bright red-orange trees adjacent to the look-off on its left side. There are some fine red leaves on this beautiful tree, but the great majority have, at least so far, stopped at red-orange.