Family Time on the Banks of the Bras d'Or Lakes

I love Iona and the areas around the Bras d'Or Lakes, but I don't spend a whole lot of time there.  Perhaps that will change since my sister moved home and her little family has a summer place there.

I was looking forward to finally seeing her place the day I hopped in the car and made the long drive there.  Actually, the drive is usually not that long but I took a little detour because I had to stop at my friend's trailer in Jersey Cove to pick up something I forgot there a few days earlier. 

Instead of taking the 125 and exiting towards Boisdale or St. Peter's, I exited onto the Trans Canada Highway.  After my stop at Jersey Cove, I turned right onto the TCH and took the exit to Little Narrows.  After a little ferry ride, it was a short drive to Iona.

I was given directions on how to get there and they didn't sound too complicated.  I found the road I had to turn down or at least I thought it did.  I found out later that there were two roads with similar names.  I took the wrong one, of course.  I got lost, made some wrong turns, ended up back on the main road and had to call someone to meet me and lead me to where everyone was waiting for my arrival.  

 My little nephew was the first to come greet me. A little game of run around the tree and peek-a-boo and it was off to the nearby beach where we spent the rest of the day.

It was a warm evening and I had my swimsuit so I went for a dip.  No one else wanted to come in with me because there were so many jellyfish but I didn't really care.  I just brushed them away and kept an eye on them to make sure they weren't getting too close. 

That day was the first time I used my underwater action camera.  And yes, it worked perfectly!  I got some pretty neat pictures of those jellyfish from underwater.  

When the sun started to dip towards the horizon and the air started to cool, I retreated back to the beach to dry off .  I sure tired out quickly running after my little nephew.  He just never stops.  He's back and forth to and from the water's edge, back and forth to the edge of the forest, rolling around in the sand with his dinkies and just being a little ball of energy.  I got a little break from the action when I took a relaxing stroll down to the end of the beach with Dad.  

When it was almost dark, we piled back into the cars to go back to home base.  Everyone had an SUV except me.  Everyone pulled out of the sandpit just fine except me.  First, I got stuck and had to be pushed out.  That was fine until I was driving down the gravel road and started hearing a scraping sound that sounded like something was being dragged beneath my car. One look under the front end and I could see that I had torn off the engine shield.  A "perfect" end to what was a perfect day up to that point!

Long story short, we temporarily tied the flimsy metal up as best as we could and I drove home with no issues except for when the low-hanging piece hit a high part on the road.  I took it to my backyard mechanic and he had it fixed in no time.  Nothing like car repairs when you least expect them!

 

 

A Fall Hike in Ben Eoin

It's fall and that means I've traded my swimsuit and flip flops for long sleeves and hiking boots. It's the time of year when it's still warm enough to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air. It's the time of year when I head to the trails and enjoy time in the forests, mountains and rugged coastlines of Cape Breton Island.

My first real hike of the season was a fairly short one.  I didn't plan to hike that day.  I was out for a drive on a nice Saturday afternoon when I spotted a picnic park in Ben Eoin.  I pulled in to have my lunch and noticed a sign for a hiking trail.  It looked quite steep.  I was tired.  I pondered the idea of hiking up a mountain.  On one hand I didn't really feel like tackling such an exhaustive-looking feat.  On the other hand, it was nice out, the views were amazing, the fall colors were out and I had never hiked this trail before.  There were way more reasons to push myself than to just drive away having turned down an opportunity to spend some time in the forest.  So I went for it. 

It was warm enough to wear just a t-shirt and although it looked like it might rain, I didn't care.  It was warm enough that I risked it so I didn't have to carry a heavy rain jacket up the mountain and back. 

The trail was well-maintained and fairly easy except that there were lots of old roots that created tripping hazards and some parts were quite steep. I kept a steady pace to gain momentum going up the hills but hiked slowly enough to take in everything around me.  A woodpecker pecking at some bugs on a tree.  Two squirrels fighting over an acorn.  The trees rustling in the gentle breeze.  The sun casting it's rays through the canopy.  The smell of rotting leaves.  

It took about a half hour to reach the top of the mountain where there was a clearing overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes.  The walk down the hill was a little difficult at the steep parts but I made it down in good time before the rain started.  

I continued on with my afternoon drive and kept going up Route 4 to St. Peter's and onto Isle Madame.  I took a wrong turn on the island and ended up in another part of Cape Breton that I had never been to before and made a mental note to return to explore it more thoroughly.  I took a drive through the Lennox Passage Provincial Park and thought it would be a nice place to stop and enjoy lunch on my future return visit to the area. 

I just can't get enough of Cape Breton and I'll never stop exploring it!  More fall adventures to come!

Today I got to See an Ice Wall that was Created by an Ice Tsunami

I'm not usually one to follow the crowds but every once and a while, something will make the news and intrigue me enough to go check it out.  So when my dad called and asked if I would like to go for a drive to Irish Vale to see the Ice Wall, I jumped at the opportunity.

Now you are probably wondering "what is the Ice Wall".  If you live anywhere in Atlantic Canada, you probably heard about this phenomena on the evening news.  If you live anywhere else, you might have no idea what I'm talking about.

The Ice wall is basically....an ice wall.  It's a wall along the shore made up of ice that piled up.  At one point, the bay was frozen but a fluctuation in temperatures caused it to melt and break up and this, combined with some high winds and surf, pushed that ice to the shore where it piled up.  Actually it piled up to an impressive height as you can see in the pictures.

We arrived mid-afternoon expecting to see a few people there as it was a sunny, mild Sunday.  I was quite surprised to see that there was quite a lot of people.  Possibly close to a hundred or more.  Cars were lined up all along the highway.  We parked further down and found a path leading down onto the shoreline.  The well-beaten path in the snow was an indication of just how many people had gone through there in the week or so since the ice appeared.

Many of these people tere were parents with small children who were excitedly climbing the giant ice wall.  At one point dad asked me to climb to the top so he could get a picture.  I had good hiking boots on so I figured "why not, the kids are climbing up there just fine, so I can do it".  Not a chance.  While the ice looks like giant chunks of hard snow, it is in fact chunks of pure, slipper ice.  One step up was enough before I nearly fell.  I have no idea how those kids were running and jumping around without falling. 

We walked the entire length of the wall, which was more impressive in person than in the pictures I had been seeing on Facebook and Twitter all week.  Was it worth the drive?  It definitely was in my opinion.  Not only do I love a Sunday drive in the country, I love to see and experience new things I can take pictures of and write about.  If you don't get the chance to visit to ice wall this time around, apparently, it has happened before in that area.  About 20 years ago, an ice tsunami, which is what the media calls this phenomena, pushed ice on shore to form a wall just like the one that is in Irish Vale now.  

Finding the Fabled Marble Mountain of Cape Breton Island

The summer of 2016 is going down in history as the summer of seeing new places around my beautiful island home of Cape Breton. And one of the places I discovered was a previously-unknown-to-me swimming hole in a little village called Marble Mountain. All along, I thought the only other Marble Mountain was in Western Newfoundland but after hearing that there was such a place in Cape Breton, you know I had to go check it out. I did a little research and saw the pictures of the clear, blue water and a beautiful beach surrounded by cliffs and mountainous terrain. I had no idea where such a place could exist in Cape Breton but I wasn't all that surprised to learn it was on the Bras d'Or Lakes and in an area that I've been meaning to explore for years and never really had the chance. That chance came in Mid-August when I made an impromptu decision to head out on a mini road trip in search of the elusive Cape Breton Marble Mountain.

With the help of Google Maps, I soon had a good idea where this Marble Mountain was located but copied down some directions from just in case. I drove for almost 2 hours all the way to Whycocomagh where I found the turn off to Orangedale where Marble Mountain was said to be located. As most of you probably know, google maps doesn't let users know when a detour is in place and you will be sent off onto a rugged, old gravel, pot-holed ridden road into the unknown. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to me...but not right away. I made the turn off and there was the blazing orange sign telling me that a detour was in place. Nowhere on this sign did it say where the detour would take me, how long I would be rerouted for, what the condition of the road was and whether it would lead me back on the right track. And to make matters worse, I had no cell coverage and there was no one around to ask. I wanted to go swimming so badly that day so I decided to go the other way towards Port Hood instead and try to get some beach time in there. Usually Port Hood is good for swimming and I figured if it wasn't, there was always West Mabou and Inverness beaches which were also nearby.

I arrived at Port Hood around noon and took a little drive around the village. I went down a road I've never gone down before and found another section of beach I never knew existed so I checked it out. It was too crowded for my liking but perhaps a nice spot to check out again in the future. The main section of beach where I usually go wasn't to my liking that day either; too rough, too much seaweed and too rocky.

West Mabou Beach was next...and unfortunately for me, not to my liking that day either. I set up on the beach and at least tried to go in the water but it was just too rough and too murky with seaweed and debris. I love swimming in the ocean as long as I can at least semi see the bottom. I like knowing what is around me by seeing it, not by feeling it brushing up against me!

I didn't bother to go to Inverness that day as it was getting late. I decided to chance the road to Marble Mountain as a last ditch attempt to get some swimming in before dark. The detour I had avoided earlier took me onto a gravel road that wasn't in the best of shape. I drove and drove forever, only waking from my semi-consciousness brought on by boredom when I hit a pothole that was so bad I thought I would have to call a tow truck. I figured a flat would be inevitable but thankfully that didn't happen. It seemed like I was driving for hours by the time I reached the main road again. And than it felt like I was driving on that road for hours too. It felt like I was driving for so long that I began to think I took a wrong turn somewhere and soon, I realized that I didn't know where I was.

I drove for so long and it was getting so late that I succumbed to the realization that I wasn't going to find Marble Mountain that day. I was headed in the direction of Eskasoni or St. Peter's so I figured I would eventually come out near one of those places and there would be signs telling me which way to take home. I was hooking up my iPod to the car stereo and settling in for a long drive home when I saw it; a green sign with the words "Marble Mountain" on it! I pulled into a look-off on the side of the road and got out to stretch my legs and have a look below. I could see the beach from this look-off. I knew it was the right beach because it looked exactly like it did in the pictures online. After driving up and down that strip of road looking for an entrance and stopping a woman in front of her house to ask for directions, I finally found the road that lead to the beach area. I paid the three dollars (a small price to pay to finally get to cool off in the clear waters of the Bras d'Or Lakes) parked the car, got changed in one of the changing rooms and walked down to the water. There was a family enjoying an evening dip so I didn't have to swim alone. The water was absolutely beautiful. Warm and crystal clear with no seaweed or jelly fish. It was a little rocky but not too bad. I just floated on my back as they last rays of the sun started to disappear behind the hills. The air might have been cooling off, but that water seemed to be getting warmer and I had some trouble forcing myself to head back to shore. When I did, it was almost dark.

The steep hill I had to come down to get to the beach area was much harder to get up than it was to get down. I got so far and my car started to struggle and than started to slide backwards! In an instant my foot instinctively hit the gas pedal and with some effort, I finally made it to the top. Instead of backtracking the way I came and going through that dreadful detour again, I turned left and kept heading to what I was pretty sure was the St. Peters area. When I reached the sign for Dundee, I knew I was on the right track. I never really gave Dundee a second thought when passing through in the past. It's always just been that place I drive through to get to St. Peter's when I go that way. But on this drive through Dundee, I really noticed the sheer beauty of the area. Stunning. I have no idea how I didn't even notice how beautiful that area is until that night. As I got to the edge of the village area, I noticed something on the side of the road that started to move and it took me a second to realize it was two deer. A doe and a young fawn still with spots on her coat. They slowly passed in front of my car and went into the woods. A few minutes later, I spotted another deer on the side of the road.

In St. Peter's, I got a coffee for the road and headed towards Sydney via Route 4. I only got as far as the turn off to Loch Lomond where a blockade was in place with a sign pointing me in the direction of Loch Lomond, another long, gravel road in the middle of nowhere. It seemed like I was driving forever on that back road. It must have been an hour before I reached the highway again but a significant amount of traveling had been cut off my trip as I came out near Big Pond. They say things happen in three's and that night, I witnessed a 3rd deer-crossing but this time, the deer was erratically running all over the place and I nearly hit it...right in front of my father's house on the South Bar Highway!

The Majestic Bald Eagles of Cape Breton Island

Bald Eagles are quite rare in most places and, although quite rare in Nova Scotia with only 200 mating pairs, I still manage to see them quite often! I assume this is because most of the Bald Eagles in Nova Scotia are found in the area of the Bras D'or Lakes on Cape Breton Island which is close to where I live.

I frequently see these beautiful and majestic eagles but usually I only see one at any one time. Yesterday I had the privilege of seeing two together and, as luck would have it, I happened to have my camera with me! I first noticed one in a tree above me and while photographing him, he got a bit spooked and flew to another nearby tree where another one was perched, waiting. And that is when I was able to get rare photographs of two bald eagles at once! I won't say where I saw them to protect there whereabouts from curious viewers who may disturb their nest and hunting grounds but I will share the beautiful photos I captured....

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/bald-eagle/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nsbirds/bns0086.htm