The Island II

"I have seen the Canadian and American Rockies, the Andes, the Alps and the Highlands of Scotland, but for simple beauty, Cape Breton outrivals them all."  Alexander Graham Bell.

We made a brief stop at his visitor center in Baddeck.  The following pictures are from this 
town. 

This pretty Catholic Church looked inviting with its open door, so we walked in for a look.  There were many rosaries for the taking and you were promised to 
be blessed by taking one.  We did.

We enjoyed this little town, and if we ever go back, we will spend more time there.

This is the courthouse of the town of Baddeck.

This is a map of the island.  The upper loop is the Cabot Trail. The shaded area is the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

We paid our entry fee of $25.00 to enter the park at the Ingonish Visitor Center.

One of the first scenic pull offs was at Lakies Head on the east side of the island with vast views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Then came Green Cove where we stopped for some time.  As you can see, it is beautiful here.

A short walk out to the point on this nice wooden boardwalk.

We were entertained with lots of these gannets feeding in the waters pretty close to shore.

And for all the geologists, the rocks were interesting.

The rock island behind me was filled with cormorants.  From my birds eye view, I enjoyed the time we spent there.  Did not see any whales though.

When we reached Pleasant Bay, it was time for lunch at the Rusty Anchor located on the west side now looking onto the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  We enjoyed our meal of flounder and haddock prepared just right. Good restaurant with a nice view.

In this scenic picture, the red building at the bottom is the restaurant I just mentioned and the village of Pleasant Bay.

Couldn't pass this up, a nice walk through a bog where we saw orchids, pitcher plants, sundews and many more things.

We camped our second night at the Cheticamp entrance of the park.  Our plan was to get up early, backtrack to hike the Skyline Trail, Nova Scotia's premier hiking trail.  We did not have breakfast first, and Wallace did not even whimper!  tee hee.  

The view was absolutely stunning. The road is coming down French Mountain toward Pleasant Bay.

The hike was only 4 miles, we took the shorter distance.  We did get a Boreal Chickadee and a Mourning Warbler among other birds.


After our hike, we broke camp and drove into Cheticamp for breakfast.  It is a beautiful Acadian Village where they greet you with Bonjour.

Another one of those beautiful churches in Cheticamp.  The west side of the island is French, with the east side being English and Scotch.

A couple of parting shots...there are many more...but...

Going into Canada, we were asked several questions...entering the states, we were welcomed home.  A mighty fine trip indeed.

Until next time...