More Cape Breton

The Cape Breton Highlands National Park is one of the most spectacular places on earth. You can do the Cabot Trail through the park in an afternoon or you can take your time camping, hiking, and swimming. There are also B and Bs along the trail, hotels, and a couple of higher end resorts. And this time of year sees such an influx of tourists for the fall colours, I sometimes wonder why the island doesn't sink under the added weight.



By the way, R2D2 is the guy on the far left of the picture.

A few miles past the Western entrance to the park is the Skyline Trail. It's about 9 1/2 k long. It's not a difficult hike and the last portion is on a boardwalk. It starts at the top of a mountain in woods and ends on the ridge of the mountain with a view to die for. The Wookie and his brother, R2D2, did the hike on Sunday afternoon. A bunch of us were supposed to meet at another hiking spot later that afternoon so I didn't stop at the trail (and I was driving my own car, too) so I missed out on that one. to be honest, I might not have had the stomach to do the boardwalk portion of the trail as I do have a slight touch of vertigo at heights. I fear I might have had to crawl on all fours to get back. And I was annoyed to no end when I discovered they came across a mama moose and her baby. The pair were eating quietly just off the trail and despite the crowd of people hanging around watching them, they didn't move away. Click on the first picture to find the pair of them.




You have to know this is not normal behaviour for a moose. The mama obviously felt comfortable enough in the presence of humans and no one was threatening her baby, but they are not a friendly or cooperative animal by nature. Anyway, the Wookie is paying penance for going on a spectacular hike without me. He got pictures at least. Not great ones, mind you, but as I mentioned, moose aren't a cooperative animal.

I could spend days telling you about the land, the sights, and the people who make this island their home. The best thing to do, though, is come visit for yourself.





This is the land of my ancestors who arrived in the early 1800s from Scotland. No wonder they stayed.

S.