Colindale Road, Part 2

Past essays contain many photos of the fantastic views from the guardrails in Colindale, another 570 m (⅜ mi) beyond where I stopped for the photos on the previous page, but I cannot forbear adding a few more. This was not my first stop there this trip; I was there two days earlier on my first full day on Cape Breton Island, but the cloudy weather that day produced photos much less striking than those on this beautiful day. I know I am besotted with this spot, which I visit as frequently as I can; I hope you will indulge these few of the forty I took here on this lovely day.

Photo #1 was taken from the southwestern end of the guardrails and is, I believe, the first photo in one of these essays of the guardrails themselves that also includes the grand views. The cliffs are close by beyond the guardrails; indeed, the northeastern end at the top of the hill, from which the views are even better, had to be relocated inland in the past year because erosion along the cliffs had rendered that end useless for its intended purpose.

Photo #2 shows the southwestern edge of the glorious Cape Mabou Highlands, with its four points: Finlay Point, Coal Mine Point, Beaton Point, and Green Point, from left to right. Beinn Alasdair Bhain (Fair Alistair’s Mountain) rises in the far distance behind and inland of Finlay Point; its meadow with the glorious look-off can be made out to the left of the “notch” at the summit above the treeless area. I never tire of this gorgeous view, which can vary greatly with the skies and the wind, but is never more beautiful than it was this fine day.

[continued below]

Photo #3 looks at West Mabou Beach, a provincial park of great beauty. The mouth of the Mabou River is at the far left, outside the scope of this photo; it runs behind the sand dunes where you can see a boat heading inland about two-fifths of the way in from the left and even a bit of the river itself in the centre of the photo. The park has fine hiking trails, both above the beach and inland and some very gorgeous ones along the Mabou River; these latter are accessed from the parking area at the top of the hill and are well worth a visit. On a day as beautiful as this one, it is very unusual to see no one on this fine sand beach, though it is early June. The Cape Mabou Highlands on the far side of the river add their incomparable beauty to this lovely scene. It is no wonder I am totally addicted to it!

Photo #4, taken quite a bit further down the road, shows more of the inland Cape Mabou Highlands. Indeed, the road at the right is no longer the Colindale Road, which ends where the West Mabou Road begins at the right of this photo and a bit outside its scope, the boundary being roughly at the edge of the field in the foreground. The road across the middle of the photo is the access road to West Mabou Beach. The grazing cattle, including some very young calves, seem to be enjoying the sun and the day as much as I was. One of the most beautiful places on earth!