I arose a bit before 8h30 to a rainy, windy morning, but a bit warmer at +16 (61). I had breakfast at the motel (it was included in the room price) and got gas in Chéticamp for today’s drive; by the time I got there, the rain had quit. I stopped at the bridge over the Chéticamp River, where the fall colours were outstanding, even in the poor light of the grey skies, though, as at most places this year, one had to look closely to find any reds. This would be my last time here this year, so I took the opportunity to get a number of photos.
from the bridge over the Chéticamp River on the Cabot Trail
seen from the bridge over the Chéticamp River on the Cabot Trail
[this looked fairly good on the iPhone, but it is blurred on the big screen—apologies for my shaky hands]
downstream of the bridge over the Chéticamp River on the Cabot Trail
seen from the bridge over the Chéticamp River on the Cabot Trail
At Corney Brook (Rivière-à-Lazare) I had a long wait for the follow-me truck that was completely unnecessary as no one was working beside or even very near the road and the route was clear. I got stopped again at the traffic light on French Mountain, but once the the green light appeared, there was no fog on the way up. French Lake, however, was partly hidden by fog and there was more fog ahead. I stopped again for a follow-me truck at construction on MacKenzies Mountain past La Tourbière (The Bog); it was again totally unnecessary as pylons clearly marked the route to follow. But these are minor complaints: once the construction is completed, the improvements will have been way more than worth the inconvenience. The winds kept the fog off the road, but from the summit of MacKenzies Mountain, only the barest outlines of the coast north of Pleasant Bay were visible through the clouds/fog. The colours were ablaze in the valley of the MacKenzies River and I stopped for photos both at the overlook of the valley and at the bridge over the MacKenzies River at the foot of MacKenzies Mountain.
From Pleasant Bay, I drove on over North Mountain to Cape North Village; on the east side of the island, patches of blue sky were visible through the clouds and the sun shone a spotlight on selected spots wherever it could breach the cloud cover. I stopped at the Sunrise pull-off to admire the views, which were better than yesterday’s but didn’t include St Paul Island. I continued on south on the Cabot Trail and part way up onto South Mountain, where I turned onto the Paquette Lake Road. The best reds I found there were in a ground-cover plant beside the road: they were blazing. I continued on to the end of the road at Paquette Lake and hiked the short distance from the car to the side trail to the lake, but the colours I’d hoped to see were dominated by the evergreens which blocked many of them out.
North Mountain along the Aspy Fault reaching out to the Cape North Massif
with North Harbour at the right, but, today, haze conceals St Paul Island in the Cabot Strait in the far distance
The day was becoming progressively better as I left Paquette Lake and I decided to back track to South Harbour. For some reason, I had never before driven the Shore Road there (I only became aware of its existence this year), so I headed down it. I found a few excellent red trees along it, so will make a point of revisiting it another year when the reds are more prevalent. The Shore Road crosses an isthmus between Middle Harbour to the north and South Harbour to the south. About a kilometre (0.6 mi) in from the Cabot Trail, one reaches the northwestern arm of South Harbour, with views to the other side. A bit after 2 km (1⅓ mi), the road turns to gravel and continues on to a parking area with an ominous sign warning about the rough road down to the beach; I parked there and walked about 400m (¼ mi) downhill to the beach, very glad I hadn’t attempted to drive it indeed (there is a steep drop from the end of the road to the beach and no room to turn a vehicle around, while the condition of the road itself is more suitable to a jeep than to a car). It had turned into a much nicer afternoon with the temperature now at +18 (64), enhancing the gorgeous views of Aspy Bay both to the north of the Cape North Massif and to the south and east of the shore out to White Point. I enjoyed the views and took a number of photos; I definitely hope to return to this beautiful spot. On the way back, I encountered a bird in the middle of the road; it startled me more than I it and took enough time crossing the road that I was able to get a shot of it, which a friend later identified as a spruce grouse. As many years as I have been coming to Cape Breton, there’s always something new to discover!
The day continued to improve as I drove back to the Cabot Trail from South Harbour. My destination for the day was Baddeck and it was getting on in the afternoon, but I couldn’t resist a drive out to White Point, as gorgeous a drive as any section of the Cabot Trail. I stopped for photos of South Harbour along the White Point Road, where grand views of North Mountain and the Cape North Massif rising in the distance over South Harbour are on offer, and for photos of the dramatic southern coast of Aspy Bay past Smelt Brook, which looks out on White Point from above. The views one used to have descending the hill into White Point are gone—the roadside brush is now too high to offer any but screened views, a shame as this vantage point is closer to White Point than that in Smelt Brook. Although I knew it would make me a bit later than I had intended, I couldn’t resist hiking ten minutes out to the hill beyond the Two Tittles bread and breakfast, which overlooks both the island at the tip of White Point and the coast to the south running out to Burnt Head. The sun was even kind enough to cast a spotlight on the point while I was there.
From White Point, I continued on into South Haven and Neils Harbour, where I picked up the Cabot Trail once more. The new bridge over Black Brook was still not yet in use, though it looked as if it soon would be. The sun was now a late afternoon one and there was no time for stops, so I hastened through the Ingonishes in spite of the beautiful colours with even some reds showing. At Ingonish Ferry, I couldn’t resist the sun beaming down on the autumn leaves, which I captured from the side of the Cabot Trail just before the sun disappeared behind a cloud, leaving the area in the dark, though still shining on Middle Head. What a beautiful spot on a gorgeous afternoon!
the Keltic Lodge is on Middle Head in the distance
The Cape Smokey Provincial Park was, of course, closed, it being beyond Celtic Colours, so I didn’t stop there and perhaps the sun wouldn’t have been right anyway at that hour of the day. The newly rebuilt Cabot Trail is now a joy to drive from Cape Smokey south, though the final unreconstructed piece through Indian Brook was undergoing construction and they were working late: I got stopped twice again for follow-me trucks that were mostly useless. I took the Cabot Trail south to St Anns rather than the ferry to Englishtown and got behind some slow-moving vehicles, so I just decided to enjoy the marvellous views as the sun sank slowly out of sight, bathing the landscape in a golden glow as long as it was above the highlands. I arrived at the Baddeck Inn after dark, got my room, and then drove back into Baddeck, where the Telegraph House dining room was already closed for the season, so I went to the Lynwood, which was still open (though it was to close on the 22nd), where I had escargots with Parmesan cheese and garlic butter in mushroom caps (excellent); spinach salad with apple, boiled egg, and maple sauce (superb); Atlantic scallops, very like the coquilles St-Jacques at le Gabriel, but with a non-stringy cheese and tons of mushrooms (very good); and tea. It was a lovely dinner to end what had turned into a lovely day. I returned to the motel and read and relaxed a bit, turning in at 22h.