The Cabot Trail

I’ve wanted to see the Cabot Trail since my parents went in 1988 without me…  Last week I went, and Greg was able to join me!

The north part of the Cabot Trail, which winds through Cape Breton Highlands National Park is absolutely fabulous!  Especially if one is fortunate enough to have sunshine, as we did.  The road winds along, between the ocean and the mountains.  What more could one want?

We hiked the Middle Head Trail, which is close to Ingonish.  It is a headland that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, giving us amazing views of the water and the shore.  It was a calm day, but still the waves hitting the rocks were mesmerizing…

The next day, we hiked the Skyline Trail, one of the park’s most popular trails, which is located on the east side of Cape Breton Island.  The trail leads out to a bare headland, with gorgeous views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and dozens of whales in the water down below. 

The is the end of the Skyline Trail. It has an extensive boardwalk and stair set-up, with lots of benches so one can sit and take in the wonderful view.

As we were heading back along this trail, I heard some rustling in the grass, so I looked to my left to see if I could spot the bird or squirrel that was making the noise.  I looked, and standing there, about 15 feet from me, was a moose!  She was so close I could see the individual hairs in her coat!  I’ve never been that close to a moose other than in a car, so my heart pounded for about 30 seconds.  After I calmed down, I noticed that she didn’t seem to mind us, so I decided to take a picture.  I wasn’t able to take the photo because she started walking toward me!  I gathtered my wits enough to start walking up the boardwalk away from her, but still keeping an eye on her.  She got to the boardwalk, looked left toward Greg and I, looked right and then thankfully decided to go right.  I don’t know what I would have done if I had a moose walking down a boardwalk toward me, but I don’t think it would have been good.  Eventually, my brain started working again, and I remembered that I had a camera…

Here is the backside of the moose as she walked away from us...

and here is one of the tracks she left on the boardwalk...

As the moose made her way down the boardwalk, I was worried that some hikers behind us might come around a corner and end up nose to nose with her…  So we waited to hear any screams…  There were none.  The moose moved a little into the forest before the next people reached her. 

Here is her face…  She really is beautiful.

At this point, she is again about 15 feet from the trail...

I grew up in moose country, so seeing moose is always one of those love-hate things.  They are fabulous animals and fun to see, but one doesn’t want to be too close, as they are very large and can be dangerous.  One especially does not want to see a moose on the road in front of one’s car.  They are hard to spot in the dark as their dark coats don’t reflect any light, and if you hit one, you might not survive to tell the tale.  So it was very exciting to see the moose, but also a little scary to unexpectedly be so close to her!

We also saw several bald eagles while we were there, both juveniles and adults.

The scenery along the Cabot Trail is pretty spectacular, and the roads are pretty interesting too.

Road up French Mountain

Pleasant Bay

If ocean and mountains aren’t enough for you, how about waterfalls?  We reached these ones after driving down a small, windy, very bumpy dirt road…

Beulach Falls

 

We totally enjoyed our trip and could easily have spent a few more days, there was so much to see and do…