Friday, September 22, 2017

Skyline Trail

We awakened to a cool but clear morning!  Yay!  This was just what I wished for our time on the Cabot Trail.  The plan today was to hike the Skyline Trail - the most popular trail in Cape Breton  Highlands National Park.  We hit a bakery on the way to the park to get some decent coffee and for me a big glazed cinnamon roll and for Bill an apple turnover.  Great way to start the day!  We stopped at the entrance to the park and got some scoop from the friendly ranger.  Then off we went, but not before a bit of silliness on my part.


We made a stop or two before reaching the trail, taking in all the beauty around us.





The long loop was just over 5 miles and we did it!  The first part was quite easy, gravel and boardwalk.  Then you hit the stairs.  A lot of them!  Down to various viewing platforms of the gorgeous scenery.   Remember the guy who was the model for the simple kilt demo at the Gaelic College?  We saw him on the trail and said hi!  We also saw whales from afar in the water, and ... gasp.. a small snake.  I hate snakes!  No moose darnit - I even called them - here moosie moosie moosie... to no avail.





The Cabot trail from the Skyline trail.



There were stairs - LOTS of stairs - to various viewing platforms overlooking the beautiful water.






We forgot to get our selfie at the top of the trail, so we pointed the camera at us mid trail on the way back and it came out pretty well!


This is the closest I guess I'll get to a moose.... But they are enough of a problem here that they have blocked off areas in the park to see how the forest would regenerate without moose, and we saw a protest sign against culling moose.  


The trail took us just over 3 hours but we took our time to stop and enjoy the view along the way.  Next we headed on up the Cabot Trail to take an alternate coastal route thru one part that the park ranger had told us about.   A stop along the side of the road to take a few pics.  We are beginning to see a tiny bit of color in the trees.



Loved this butterfly that had a body that looked like a bee!



 It took us to White Harbor and it was a sweet little harbor with lots of pink granite around.  I couldn't help thinking of kitchen counter tops!



We were pretty darned hungry so we headed to dinner early when we got back to Cheticamp at the Dorryman Pub.  It was just what we wanted, a comfy place filled with locals.  We were, I believe, the only English speakers in the joint.  This is a very French area.  I finally got poutine with my burger - my first poutine in Canada.  What's not to like about fries with gravy and cheese?


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