The Cabot Trail August 28

If you’ve been following along, you might already have sensed that we aren’t that great at planning ahead.  We had been hearing that a visit to Nova Scotia was not complete without going to Cape Breton National Park so when it was the closest area to the ferry landing, we headed this way. 

And it was now happening.  With a pretty day promised, we were on the road by 10 with the Cabot Trail map in hand and several keys stopped noted along the way.  Within minutes on the road, we already could see what everyone was talking about.  The area is simply magical!  With soaring cliffs and rich vegetation, sparkling oceans and tranquil lakes, there wasn’t anywhere not captivating to view.

We were hiking a trail in a boreal forest along the waterfront within 30 minutes of departure.  The park does one of the best jobs we’ve seen to date of adding pertinent sign boards along the trail and we were educated along with being mesmerized at every turn. 

The roads in the park are decidedly better than the bulk of the island – thankfully!  With the twists and turns and ascents and descents, trusting the road was a nice addition to the day.  

We made our way around without hurry but missed our turn for the second planned hike of the day in a 350 year-old stand of sugar maple forest.   Trying to see all we could, we grabbed the next exit for a hike through an old growth hardwood forest to a lovely waterfall – a more than worthy replacement for the original plan!

Next up was a bog walk.  Have you ever been to a bog?  Also called a fen in this area, this unique and sensitive landscape is not found in lower latitudes.  Growing up in Wisconsin, I can remember going on bog walks on school field trips.  It was so fun to walk (or jump, back in those days!) on the spongy mosses and see the carnivorous plants and beautiful flowers.I hadn’t experienced a bog in near 50 years!  Of course, highly protected, we weren’t walking in the bog but on a boardwalk.  Seeing the Nova Scotia version of my childhood bog memories was a special treat.

 The final destination on our trip around the Cabot Trail was the Skyline Trail.  With reviews that said “yes, more, please!” and the like, I was particularly excited to try it.  The parking lot for us was near a half mile from the trailhead and already uphill.  The hike had an out and back or longer loop option.  Rob is not a fan of backtracking so we hit the loop on the well-maintained trail.

We hiked a surprisingly uneventful path for quite some distance.  The weather had promised to clear by day’s end and was showing signs of the clouds parting … and then it didn’t!  The clouds came back and started to drop into the valleys around us.  We hiked.  And hiked.  And finally saw the promised viewpoint, the AH spot! 

The clouds had filled in pretty well but it only shrouded the distant shores and left plenty to see and enjoy.  Climbing the 350 steps to the further outlook, we noticed a group with binoculars and wide smiles on their faces.  Joining in at the railing and looking down the steep cliff to the water, we saw the tiny shape of a whale watch boat on chase…and a pod of whales in their wake!  Without binoculars we were limited to thrilling to the distant specks of their ominous shapes and the commotion of the water as they frolicked and sprayed.

Being fortunate to have had amazing vistas to enjoy in our many adventures, we added this one to our growing list.  We headed out to finish the loop back to the parking lot knowing we weren’t even sure where our destination would be for the night.  We were nearing the end of the over six miles of this hike putting our total at over 11 for the day.  With tired feet, we anticipated the end of the hike and even the end of the day’s travels when we noticed some folks ahead with cameras peeled to the side of the trail.

MOOSE!  Two female moose were happily munching anything in their path enjoying the cool of the cloudy late afternoon.  We were only the second couple to come upon them and they were pretty oblivious to our presence.  Bit by bit, walkers from the path stopped to join in the spectacle and for a moment it appeared we may need to exercise MOOSE caution!  But the crowd, however growing, maintained quiet decorum and we enjoyed watching the impressive hulks of nature without incident.

Feeling that we had had the full Cabot Trail experience, we happily finished the park loop and found our way back to the safe and quiet parking lot of our stay two nights before!  We recounted our exceptional day over a beer and dinner this time without musical accompaniment.  Cape Breton had definitely been a highlight!