Camping in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park After a Two-year Absence...Some Peace at Last!

Covid-19 certainly did a number on everyone's life, including mine. The summer of 2020 was a hard one for me.  Covid hit my finances and mental health pretty hard and I was looking forward to an escape from it all.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen the way I would have liked.   

My ultimate escape when I want to get away from it all is to pack up the car with my camping gear and head to Broad Cove in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  I've been going there since I was a kid and I always set up my tent at the exact same spot every year, lot 87.  

When Covid hit here in March, there were lockdowns for months. Even the provincial park beach where I take my daily walk was closed down to the public so I had to find another place to walk.  When it reopened in the late spring, things looked like they might be improving so I started to make plans for my annual camping trip.  However, later in the summer when closures were still in effect and many restrictions were still in place, I decided to cancel those plans on the advice of authorities to stick around my community unless it was necessary to leave. It was the first summer in 30 years that I didn't make it to Broad Cove. 

The arrival of summer 2021 was looking much better since many restrictions were lifted and most things were opened up again.  When I heard that campgrounds were expected to be booked solid all summer because everyone was wanting to get away for the first time in almost two years, I started monitoring the booking site for an opening.  Because I was working Monday to Friday in the evening, I had to book for a Saturday morning to get the most out of a camping trip. I found an opening on a weekend mid-summer.  Unfortunately, my usual site, which is almost like a second home to me, was not available so I had to settle for another one.  Luckily, it was a nice one not too far away from my original site.

The campground was just as I had left it two years before and I felt all the weight of the world fall from my shoulders as I drove along the gravel road to my familiar home-away-from-home.  A day and night in the woods surrounded by nature was exactly what I needed to unwind and get my head on straight again before heading back to the real world that's still dealing with this dreadful pandemic.

I set up camp, I dined outdoors on a picnic table with a friendly squirrel, I sat in my beach chair under a clear, starry night. I read in my tent by candlelight and I fell asleep to the sound of waves rolling ashore and leaves rustling in a gentle breeze. I awoke early in the morning and ate breakfast surrounded by 5 AM morning dew, ordered a fresh coffee from my favourite coffee shop, The Bean Barn Cafe, and savoured it on the banks of Freshwater Lake near Ingonish Beach. 

After I took down my tent and checked out, I spent the day swimming, hiking and visiting my favourite spots around Ingonish.  Maryanne Falls, Warren Lake, Black Brook, North Bay Beach, The Point.  It was dark when I headed back over Cape Smokey and made the long drive home along the North Shore.  About a dozen cars whizzed past me (some passing on double lines going well over the speed limit) in the race to get to the Englishtown Ferry.  Some things never change!