Now for the next exciting item on our bucket list for our entire Canadian Maritimes Trip... Making it to Cape Breton and traveling on the Cabot Trail. So many people recommended that we do this scenic route. Including our dentist! Heck, even a sales clerk had overheard us discussing our destination and mentioned to not miss the Cabot Trail!
This is also the furthestmost point to the East and the North that we will be traveling on this entire trip. After we loop around the end of Cape Breton, it will actually be our "Turnaround Day", meaning we will be starting our journey back home.
We packed up at our campsite at Caribou Munroe's Island provincial park, and topped off our freshwater tank. Most RVers don't like to travel with a full tank of water because of the added weight. But we never know where we're going to boondock next, or if there's fresh water available. So we fill up when we can.
It was only about an hour and a half drive over to Port Hastings, where we would cross the causeway and get onto the actual Cape Breton Island. There wasn't a lot to see beforehand, but once we crossed onto the cape, things got rocky and hilly and very, very scenic! Time for another adventure...
It was suggested that we go around in a counterclockwise fashion. That way the prettiest views out over the ocean would be from the passenger side. Now I could be filming or snapping photos and not having to try to take pictures between Steve's chest and the steering wheel out if the driver's side window.
We decided to pull off and fuel up in the small village of Whycocomagh. We were now only getting 12.3 miles per gallon, fighting the winds and the hills.
They had a nice grocery store that we were able to stock up on a few fresh things. From there, we wound our way down along the shoreline of the bay to make our late breakfast/early lunch. This parking lot of the church faces out over the water and welcomes people to stop by for daytime visits, just not overnights for RVing.
It was so pretty, that we got out and walked around a little bit before cooking. The winds were starting to kick up a bit, and we were wondering what it was going to be like as we went further North.
The sun glistening off the water had an almost magical effect, with silvery glints of light flickering back and forth inside of the motorhome. It was one of those scenes that will stay in my memory. Watching the glistening sparkles as we relaxed for a little while before getting back on the road again.
Sometimes we have to stop and take in the moment, rather than rush rush rush to get somewhere. We are learning this lesson now in our 60s. Hopefully when we reach our seventies and eighties, we are still traveling and taking our time and enjoying what we see.
We started climbing our way up through some land that was still agricultural. We enjoyed seeing the pretty little farms dotting here and there along the countryside. Soon we would be pulling into the more Northern regions of Cape Breton, which most of the land belongs to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
We rode along the St Anne's Bay, and worked our way towards Englishtown. Beautiful scenery abounded on both sides of the road. Soon we would be seeing the Atlantic Ocean off the passenger side of our rig... or so we thought???
In Englishtown, there is a free ferry that helps vehicles get across the bay to get up closer on the ocean shore. We have noticed while driving along, the very low water levels of the Bay, and a lot of sandbars exposed.
We wandered way down into the cute little village of Englishtown. So picturesque and quaint and pretty. Nothing touristy or overdone. Just cute little homes and neatly kept yards. We pulled up into line to wait for the ferry to come across. Here it comes!
While we were waiting, we read the sign with the instructions. This ferry operates 24 hours around the clock on demand. You drive down on the ramp and wait and the ferry will come to you if it's on the other side. Very interesting. And of course, it is part of the Nova Scotia ferry lines transportation department and is completely free.
This would now be our third ferry ride of our trip. Or so we hoped?
We watched everyone get unloaded, including a great big huge semi truck.
We did notice a big hump as each one was getting off, due to the ramp being so slanted between the ferry boat and the shoreline. Amazingly, even the semi truck made it. But he has a lot of clearance underneath him...
And we don't.
The ferry operator staff came up to talk to us while we were waiting in line. They said that anything beyond 5 ft past the rear axles is going to drag because of the low water levels. They feared damaging our RV or our cargo trailer trying to get on or off the ferry. So they suggested that we drive the paved route around instead. There is a small road sneaking up the other side of St Anne's Bay.
The staff helped us turn around and they held back the other cars so we could get out of the lineup queue for the ferry.
Well, that was a disappointment!
We would now be driving an additional 41 km which is only 25 miles. But they were 25 miles of the most twisty-turney rough and bumpy road there was on the entire trip. Google maps suggested it would only be a 35 minute route, actually it was closer to almost an hour.
We drove on into the lumpy bumpy lot. It looked rather rugged and the area did not look very welcoming. We decided that this was not going to work out either. We would keep pushing it and get back onto the highway where we should be. If we had been on the ferry, this would just be only a few miles down the road.
But on up the detoured road we went, and soon reached the main highway where it was smoother and more pleasant to drive along. The skies had opened up a little bit more and we had clear blue sections shining through.
Oh my goodness, this was the part of the Cabot Trail that everybody is talking about that is so beautiful. I kept snapping photo after photo and kept the video camera rolling at the same time. The hardwood trees were just starting to turn so there were flashes of color here and there.
So hard to describe, and even photos don't do it justice. We just kept driving along, with our mouths wide open, oohing and ahhing as we went along.
Winding along, every corner we turned, was a new flash of color and beautiful rolling scenery.
The sceneries playing out in front of us looked like landscape stitched onto tapestries. It didn't look real. With the softened background of the misty fog, but the sun shining down in the foreground, it made for some absolutely beautiful photographic scenes. Untouched, no filter.
This is why the water is so low further down on the St Anne's Bay. There isn't much water further up in the tributaries feeding into it either.
The colors were amazing and just touching on the ends of the branches where the frost must have settled over the last few nights. We were in for a treat of color, and enjoying it as a flashed on past our windows.
It was getting much hillier, and we saw a lot of rocky stone surfaces erupting out of the hillsides. It really added a drastic feature to the rolling countryside to suddenly see these expanses of stone.
The road was a constant ribbon, dipping and swaying and winding its way through the hillside. We had to crawl along sometimes at 15 to 20 mph. There were inclines and declines of 15% to 18% and some even more than that which were not even marked! This was definitely not a route to go fast or to ignore safety precautions on. Every now and then we had cars coming from the other way that were too fast, inching over the center line towards us. Gasp!
It was a lot of White Knuckle Driving, and the winds were not helping it either. I had my own imaginary brake on my own side, and my feet were constantly pushing the pedal.
We worked our way along through the hills until we reached the shoreline again. Now we are back on track and...
WE were FINALLY going to be seeing the Atlantic Ocean in all of it's Glory! Just up over this hill....
THERE IT IS!
Rugged rocky and raw shoreline, with nothing between you and Europe ---- nothing other than the Atlantic Ocean in view. The winds were whipping up the sides of the cliff and it was buffeting us as we parked in this overlook lot. It was exhilarating and exciting as well as a little bit scary.
We have seen the Atlantic Ocean before, when we were briefly out in Maine three years ago, and again years before that when we were out driving along the shore from Virginia all the way down to Florida. But that section of the Atlantic Ocean was not rugged and wild and exhilarating like this section is. It was a wonderful sight to behold.
While I was snapping some photos, I looked up over my shoulder and saw this young eagle. Perhaps he's a golden eagle? Or maybe just an immature bald eagle. He was soaring on the wind, which was blowing so strongly that he was just gliding there in one spot! Seriously, it's like he was enjoying the pressure of the wind against his wings and seeing how long he could hold himself in one position. I filmed him with the camera and it is on the YouTube link at the bottom of this blog post. He hovered there for a long time before deciding to fly away and let the drafts take him down further onto the cliff.
It was a really special moment that he shared with me. Ahhhhhhh. The song comes to mind "The Wind Beneath My Wings".
We stopped a few times to take breaks along the shoreline. This is all rugged wild terrain and I can't imagine trying to maneuver a boat around such a shoreline. How did early sailors and pioneers find their way ashore? They would have had to scoot up and down for many miles until they found an area low enough to even set foot on land.
Clouds started rolling in, and we were losing the picturesque colors of our roadside travels. The only colorful thing we saw here was the graffiti on the guardrail??
It was getting later in the day and I was getting tired. I hadn't mentioned it, but I wasn't feeling the absolute greatest. And I was thinking it was just about enough lumping and bumping around for the day.
We decided on Plan C.
There was a Provincial Park coming up on the other end of Ingonish. We looked ahead on their reservation site and they did have empty sites available. But they were all in rows, crammed in like sardines like back at Linkletter on Prince Edward Island. We really didn't need a campsite for the night, but we didn't see anywhere else that would be comfortable enough to pull off to boondock.
As we were winding our way down towards the shoreline, Steve saw a small parking lot by a tiny harbor called Hawley's Cove. We were now protected from the blasts of wind in this tiny harbor with high hills all around.
We pulled on in just as a fisherman was tying up his boat. We asked if we could perhaps park there for the night down at the end of the parking lot? He said sure, folks do it all the time. He waved us on and wished us well and he headed on out. Isn't that wonderful? We didn't even need to go to Plan C and spend any money, we had a Plan B 1/2 to stop for the night.
We looped around the end of the parking lot to face the other direction. That way if there was any wind at all it would be to the front of the motorhome and not on our back slide topper. The fabric roll out slide toppers flap in the wind and make noise during the night.
We were finding ourselves already relaxing after the tense driving day. This would work out very well for us.
It was quiet, and we were comfortable. I think this was much better than staying in a crowded campground.
I can see why this made a great spot for a little harbor. The boats were sitting on calm water, securely tied up for the night. We're just further out, into the open ocean things were rocking and rolling with huge breakers and surf.
We got out and stretched our legs, walking up and down the length of the little harbor. There were only two fishing boats tied up. I'm not sure if others would be coming or going during the night or early morning hours. I think we were parked far enough out of the way that if somebody needed to come with a truck, they could still turn around and load or unload as need be. The last thing we want to do is be in somebody's way. Especially if they are working hard to earn a living, the last thing they need is some danged tourists blocking their access.
After dinner, we fired up the water heater and I washed up the dishes. Since the water was already hot, I decided to take a nice long shower. It was a great way to get rid of the jitters of the day.
There's something to be said for the luxury of being able to take a hot shower in the middle of a parking lot of a tiny harbor of an oceanside town. We really do appreciate the flexibility of traveling in our motorhome. Yes, we truly do have all the comforts of home.
And a snuggle from a sassy little puppy was just a perfect way to end a long long day...
Here is the YouTube video that goes along with today's blog:
207 miles traveled today
2,496 miles traveled so far
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