Cape Breton Island/Cabot Trail

Cape Breton Island was our next stop and more specifically we came here so we could travel the Cabot Trail. We started off by visiting the Alexander Graham Bell museum as he and his wife Mabel made the town of Baddock their home. The museum is part of Parks Canada so this year entrance was free. The museum provides a detailed timeline of Bell's life, inventions and experiments. The museum houses many actual artifacts and documents which were donated by the family. It was very interesting to learn about all the other inventions and experiments that Bell was involved in besides inventing the telephone. We did have to wonder what he, if he were living today, would think of how his discovery has evolved into what it has today. 

The Cabot Trail is a 300km highway that winds around the northern part of Cape Breton Island and is not to be missed. A third of the Cabot Trail runs through Cape Breton Highlands National Park, also free with our Parks Canada pass, along the coast and over the highlands. Besides the thrill of driving this two-lane highway around all the twists, turns and switchbacks, the views of the coastline is spectacular and breathtaking. There are plenty of viewpoints along the way to stop and take photos of the magestic views. There are quaint villages along the way as well were you can visit local artisan shops or stop for a bit to eat. The park is filled with plenty of hikes of varying difficulty ratings. The first one we chose was the Middle Head hike, located a short distance from the campsite we stayed at for a night. The Middle Head hike is a 3.8km loop that offers amazing views of North Bay Ingonish on the Atlantic Ocean. We got to see plenty of birds, mostly seagulls, an eagle and possibly a puffin, but we're not entirely sure, and we had our first whale sighting, although very brief. We met a couple from Germany and ended up seeing them a couple more times the next day along the Cabot Trail. The hike was not overly difficult though it was extremely hot as a heat wave had moved into the area. We also did a few other shorter hikes that always led to something spectacular to see. The Lone Shieling had us hiking Ina forest filled with 350 year old sugar maple trees. At the end of one path on to hike was a replication of a Scottish crofter's hut. We did part of the Coastal hike which brought us to some fascinating rock formations on the cliff side. Some of the rocks were pink in colour and we found what looked like granite embedded in a section of rock that was split open. Most of the hikes we did were along the coastline and so in the mornings you could look out at the ocean and see fishermen checking their lobster traps to see what they caught. Looking out into the ocean you can see the lobster trap floatation markers everywhere. 

We did not see the elusive moose while on the Cabot Trail. We were all set and ready to do the entire loop before moving on to our next destination. After a tasty breakfast with amazingly great tasting local coffee at the Bean Barn Cafe we started our drive. Describing the scenery in words is virtually impossible; it is so incredibly beautiful, breathtaking, specatular, magnificent, stunning to say the least. The overall drive is only a couple hours without any stops and so we budgeted the day which would give us enough time to do what we wanted and to drive around. We even decided we had time to take the Coastal Loop just after Neil's Harbour as you exit the park area so we could continue on with the scenic coastline drive instead of cutting inland. Just before we hit Pleasant Bay I heard about an accident which had shut the road down, but didn't think much of it. As we approached Pleasant Bay with the hopes to see more whales we saw a medivac helicopter and an ambulance in the field. We wondered what had happened and thought that whomever was injured was being looked after there in the field. We didn't see any whales; the surf was extremely chopping due to high winds so we carried on only to come to a complete stop a few kilometres down the way. At first we thought it was due to construction which was happening all throughout the park, but soon we learned that it was due to the accident I had heard about earlier. We learned there was a single motorcycle accident somewhere along the Mackenzie Mointain area of the Cabot Trail and they had shut the entire highway in both directions down from Pleasant Bay to Chéticamp which is where we wanted to end up. No one knew when the highway would reopen. The one highways staff provided us with details on the accident and basically indicated that if the injured was going to survive the injuries then he expected the highway to reopen soon, but if the injured succumbed to the injuries then they expected the highway to remain closed until the next day so they could investigate the crash. Well that sure threw a wrinkle in our plans....everything thus far had been going to plan. Both of us were a bit hungry at this point and thankfully Rusty Anchor restaurant was right where we were stopped. We decided we'd go have lunch and then figure out what to do. Fingers and toes were crossed that by the time we finished lunch the highway would be reopened. Well, the Cabot Trail is a world renowned Trail and thus is well travelled. When it closes a large number of people get stuck and so the restaurant probably had one of their best revenue days that day. The were so packed that we had to share a table with two strangers. Doing this didn't seem out of the ordinary for the Maritimes. We had a great lunch here. Unfortunately when we were done, there was still no official word on when the highway would reopen but someone did say the motorcyclist did not survive and so we made the decision to turn back and drive back the way we came. There was no other way out and waiting for an undetermined amount of time wouldn't work because we had ferry to catch that evening. This was a big bummer...we were so excited about driving the entire loop and also getting in one more hike called the Skyline hike which is supposed to be incredibly amazing with lots of widelife spotting opportunities. While the accident and outcome was horrible, what we could not understand is why the investigation for a single vehicle accident needed to shut down both directions of the only highway that goes through this area for the rest of the day.

We stayed one night at the Ingonish Beach campsite. As an adult I haven't spent much time camping and the only time I did go camping it was freezing cold and I only lasted one night. With that in mind, Z knew that convincing me to camp would be a challenge. Thankfully Parks Canada has installed something called oTENTiks at some of their campsites. Also known as glamping, the oTENTik worked great for me as it provided a blend of comfort and the outdoors. It's very convenient because everything is set up and ready to go, you just need to provide your own bedding. The oTENTik had a BBQ, fire pit, picnic table and lounge chairs on the deck. Inside it could sleep up to six people and had a table with chairs and a bench to sit. It could even be heated if necessary but it was warm enough that day so we didn't use that feature. The oTENTik is solar powered. It's the perfect combination of tent and rustic cabin and was just the right experience for me! Just a short walk through the bug infested forest you arrive at the beach and just a few more steps from there you can access a fresh water lake. We went first thing in the morning and the water was so calm and peaceful.