Views from Simon Point–Part 1

At the end of the Simon Point Trail, one has very fine views of the coast to the west from Guyon Island beyond Cape Gabarus to Gabarus, with partial views of Gabarus Bay, and to the east to the entrance to Louisbourg Harbour. This page presents a selection of the views available to the west and directly off shore.

Photo #1 is a wide-angled view of the coast to the west of Simon Point, taken from the cliff above the end of the trail. Although not much detail can be seen in this photo, at the far left is Guyon Island and then the headlands of Cape Gabarus; the shore line leads from there past Gull Cove around the shoreline of Gabarus Bay. The extra height offered by the cliff is necessary to see the buildings in Gabarus at the far right, which are blocked from lower down. The head of Gabarus Bay is hidden behind the (unnamed) point at the right of the photo.

Photo #2 is an expanded view of the far left of photo #1, obtained by severely cropping another telephoto view of the area in order to bring out the detail that would otherwise be concealed at this distance. At the left are islets off Cape Gabarus that the topographical map labels as Green Island, Green Rock, Bobs Rock, and Shallop Rock (additional named islets are further west). In the middle is the lighthouse on Guyon Island, some 6.5 km (4 mi) beyond Cape Gabarus; Fourchu Bay lies behind Guyon Island and the mainland along that coast can be barely perceived in the distance. This web site has eight excellent ærial photos of the island and its lighthouse, though to view them requires Adobe’s Flash player, which needs and gets constant updates to close serious security holes that can compromise your machine.

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Photo #3 is a telephoto view of the left third of photo #1, from the islets off Cape Gabarus around to Gull Cove; if I have grasped the terrain correctly, Bull Hill is the prominence at the right and Gull Cove is just right of it. Gull Cove was a settlement a century ago and a trail, maintained by volunteers in Gabarus, leads out to it, as described here. The site is now in the Gabarus Wilderness Area.

Photo #4 continues the view in photo #3 to the right, from Bull Hill past Lowell Point and on to the outskirts of Gabarus.

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Photo #5 continues the view in photo #4 as far to the east as one can see over the unnamed point in the foreground. The buildings are 10.5 km (6½ mi) away; about half of Gabarus Bay is invisible from Simon Point.

Photo #6 is the obligatory shot of the waves crashing onto the shore at my feet; I can sit and watch such scenes all day. This was a relatively calm day, so the splashes were minimal, but I have often had the opportunity to see some spectacular crashes along the rocky shores of the area.

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Photo #7 shows a flock of cormorants perched on one of the islets off Simon Point drying off in the sun after a morning swim.

Photo #8 looks out at the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean from Simon Point, where a gull was scanning the waters for breakfast (or lunch?). Cormorants and gulls are not the only birds to be seen at Simon Point: I twice saw an eagle, the same one both times I believe, but was unable to get a picture of it, once because the camera refused to focus against the sky and the second time because it was in its carrying case when it flew past.