The Freshwater Lake and Freshwater Lake Look-Off Trails are in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Ingonish Beach. I stopped off there on my way north to Meat Cove on 2012 June 28 for a break from the driving and decided to check out these trails on a beautiful day; they had both long been on my “to-do” list.

The trail head is next to the canteen and changing rooms at the Ingonish Beach parking area (GPS 46°39.020'N 60°23.443'W). The trail first follows Beach Road along the beach but quickly turns to the west and follows along the lake shore, with numerous boardwalks and belvédères from which one can sit and watch for loons while enjoying the beautiful lake, blue under nearly clear skies this day, and the Cape Breton Highlands which rise above it. The trail comes out on a portion of the Old Cabot Trail, now named Park Headquarters Lane; a belvédère overlooking a marshy scene is across the lane from the junction. At that point, one can turn right and loop back along the lane to the parking area; this is the official course of the trail and is both wheelchair and stroller friendly along its entire route.

I chose, however, to go left briefly along the lane and then descended a flight of stairs to a shore trail that continues the hike along the lake, bringing one out on the lane in the Park Headquarters area; this trail is not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers, but is a generally level and easy walk. If one follows the lane to the Cabot Trail and crosses there, you will be at the start of the Freshwater Lake Look-Off Trail (GPS 46°38.753'N 60°24.147'W). This trail ascends very sharply (30 m/yds over a distance of 200 m/yards), much of it along staircases counting 175 steps, up what appears to be a ravine carved by a brook (bone dry the day I was there). This was my first real climb since reaching Cape Breton this year and I was breathless when I reached the look-off! But the views from there (at GPS 46°38.787'N 60°24.190'W) were well worth the ten minutes it took me to climb there, with magnificent views of the entire area from Ingonish Beach and Freshwater Lake below to Cape Smokey and the Cape Breton Highlands to the southeast and south. The wide-angled photo below gives some idea of the panorama there, though it is too wide to catch in a single shot.

Both of the trails were in impeccable condition and I hope to hike them again when I next pass through Ingonish.

In years past, I have often hiked the Beinn Alasdair Bhain (Fair Alistair) Trail from the Mabou Post Road trail head to MacKinnons Brook and knew the old trail very well. Since the opening of the MacPhee and Beaton Trails, however, I have usually taken them after leaving the Fair Alistair look-off, since the look-offs from these two trails are very fine and particularly after much of the section from the look-off to MacKinnons Brook was extensively destroyed by the spruce bark beetle, making it heartbreaking to traverse. The landowners, fearing fire damage, had the stands of dead wood removed, opening up vistas that were previously blocked by trees, one of the very few good things to come out of this destruction. The relocated trail descends along what is now an open ridge, presenting the marvellous open panorama of the area captured in the photo below that, in the past, could only been seen in disjoint pieces from various vantage points. Last year, I reported that the Beinn Alasdair Bhain (Fair Alistair) Trail from its junction with the MacPhee Trail down to MacKinnons Brook had been relocated from its old route to a new one further east, but I did not venture down it, thereby missing out on the new views. During my first trip to Cape Breton this year, I twice hiked this trail, once alone and once with a friend. Together with the equally stunning views of the coast and of Cape Mabou to the south from the well-known look-off, this new panorama to the north makes the Beinn Alasdair Bhain Trail an absolute must hike, one of the finest anywhere in Cape Breton Island.

When I hiked this trail on 2012 June 28 for the first time, the grass was knee-high in many places along the trail, making it very hard to see where the trail went as it descended the ridge (at centre left in the photo above). When I hiked it again 2012 July 9, the trail had been properly trimmed, making its path easy to see and one’s footing very secure; I presume, especially given the extremely dry weather, the trail will remain in this fine condition the rest of the year; this will be an especially gorgeous place when the fall colours are out and I am hoping to return here then (and likely sooner too). The views from all along the ridge will likely become obscured by the regenerating forest in the next few years so if you haven’t hiked the relocated trail, you certainly should at your first opportunity. If you’ve never hiked the Beinn Alasdair Bhain Trail at all, you owe it to yourself to see the glories of Cape Mabou, both south and now north!

On Sunday, 17 June, I was on my way to the afternoon cèilidh in Judique, sitting in my car in Upper Southwest Mabou writing notes on the photos of the Southwest Mabou River I had just finished taking from Long Johns Bridge, when a four-wheeler stopped beside the car. Mark and Charlene MacIsaac were taking to a house just up the road a young girl who had spent the night with them. Mark recognized me from the Glencoe dances of previous years and we started chatting about the Southwest Mabou River. I explained that I was adding more photos of the Southwest Mabou to my collection—I cannot resist stopping at the bridge for its always interesting views of the river. I mentioned that Long Johns Bridge is the farthest upstream I'd been, though I knew the river’s source was quite some distance further away in the Bornish Hills, and that I’d long been curious about a private road just up the road from the bridge, since the maps showed that it bordered the course of the Southwest Mabou for some distance. Mark said it was on a farm in his family and that I had his permission to hike out there to take photos. Even better, he offered on the spot to take me further upriver on the four wheeler to a site off MacLeod Settlement Road if I could wait while they delivered the young girl to her parents. I was way early for the cèilidh, so I had plenty of time; they were back shortly and we drove out MacLeod Settlement Road, turning off on a private road leading to a beautiful spot on the river about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) further upriver than I had previously been; it was still a relatively wide river at that point, certainly no mere brook, with boulders and rocks aplenty strewn on the banks as well as in the middle of the river, quite shallow in some spots, but also the site of a fondly remembered swimming hole. I took lots of photos there. Talk about going the extra mile! Serendipity! A couple of minutes earlier or later and our encounter wouldn't have happened! Nor could I believe his kindness, first in giving me permission to hike on the farm and in then taking me to see the river: Cape Breton hospitality at its finest!

On Friday, 27 June, I got back to Upper Southwest Mabou and drove in the aforementioned road, which leads after 0.8 km (0.5 mi) to the buildings of the MacIsaac Farm, sitting on the hillside above the river. From there, the road is no longer car-driveable, but continues on for quite some distance, though it is badly overgrown in places; the first portion remains relatively close to the river, but then turns to the southwest and dead-ends a good while later on the side of a hill. The views of the river from the first part of the road are mostly tree-shrouded and from well above the river itself, which flows between goodly cliffs, but I did find one spot where I was able to get down closer to the river for some fairly decent shots. The best views of the river, however, are from the banks of the river below the farm buildings, where one can get to the side of the river, which was engorged from showers the night before. It was a fine outing and I enjoyed exploring the area a lot. This is, of course, private land, so don’t go there without first acquiring permission.