From the Cape St Lawrence Trail Look-Off

The largest of the unnamed ponds is always a welcome sight, as it is close to the halfway point and to the look-off, which sits in the col between Bear Hill and Grey Mountain to the southwest. In 2014, a new trail, whose trail head is directly across from the look-off, was constructed from the col to the southwestern summit of Grey Mountain, from which a grand panorama of the entire French Brook area is available (see here for a description); it was, of course, not there when these photos were taken. On my past hikes, this look-off had offered only a narrow view of the area around the automated light at Cape St Lawrence. I was therefore delighted to see that the look-off, at the upper end of the Bear Hill escarpment, had been cleared of brush and many interfering tree branches, considerably expanding the view of the Cape below. The views on this page were all taken at that look-off.

Photo #1 looks as far to the right at the look-off as the terrain and trees allow. From Google Earth, I take the rocky outcropping at the right of the photo to be above “the funnel” along the northern shore of Cape St Lawrence (see this photo for that feature seen from the water). The forest can be readily seen here as a very mixed one, with evergreens and deciduous trees intermixed, though with what appear to be “rows” of evergreens separating bands of deciduous trees.

Photo #2 looks at the left of photo #1 with which there is very little overlap; in the centre of the photo is the automated light, which stands above Cape St Lawrence. Some of the coastal plain is also visible here, but much is concealed by the forested hillsides that rise above it. This is the northernmost point of Cape Breton Island.

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Photo #3 looks again to the left of photo #2, with which there is no overlap; the bare spot left of centre at the coast is at the mouth of French Brook. Two lobster boats were servicing their traps whose floats, even at this distance, can be made out in the water. Much of the coastal plain is again concealed by the nearer hillsides.

Photo #4 is as far to the southwest as one can see from the look-off, reaching towards the Fox Den north of Tittle Point. In the middle distance at the right, noticeable signs of dead spruce can be seen, one of the few areas at the Cape where such damage is evident.

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From the look-off in the col, the southwestern end of Bear Hill seems to loom directly above, as seen in photo #5, though it is actually 200 m (⅛ mi) from the col to the summit seen here. The cover is gravel and small rocks, seemingly inhospitable terrain, yet some evergreens have been able to colonize portions of the slopes and the summit.

Photo #6 is a telephoto view of the stony sides of the southwestern end of Bear Hill. This photo shows that other vegetation besides the evergreens has been able to make a go of it as well in this very exposed location. Truly amazing!

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Photo #7 shows another detail of the scene in photo #5, this time the rocky crest at the summit of the southwestern end of Bear Hill. The trees in the left foreground clearly have an advantageous spot, protected by the summit above from the worst of the north winds blowing over the hill and able to take full advantage of the western sunlight.