Late Summer Fishing Trip

It seems summer just left Cape Breton without any notice.  One day it was hot and sunny and every day since it has been chilly and damp.  I'm hoping for another hot summery spell later in September but for now, I've traded my ocean swimming days for fishing, biking and hiking days and the weather is just right for these activities. On Friday, the forecast called for warm temperatures and mostly sun so Dad and I headed to Framboise to do some fishing and hiking.  

We took our time getting there, stopping for coffee and breakfast along the way and stopping at all the brooks between Forchu and Grand River to try our luck at catching some trout.  It took most of the day, but we got five good-size ones and a few smaller ones that we released.  

When we reached the road to Ferguson Beach, we took our chances on the gravel road that, fortunately, wasn't washed out after the big rain storm we had last weekend. The beach was covered in tonnes of seaweed but we managed to get a walk in by walking on the grass above the beach until we reached an area that wasn't covered in seaweed.  We walked all the way to the brook but it was too full of water to cross so we turned back and headed back to the main road where we fished some more brooks. 

Eventually, we reached grand river and kept driving until we reached route 4 and headed to St. Peters. We stopped at Battery Park to have lunch by the canal and drove up the main street of the little village to see if anything was going on for Pirate Days. There wasn't much going on at that time so we grabbed some coffees to go and headed back to Grand River. This time we took the long way through L'Ardoise and onto Point Michaud Beach, where we stopped and took a little walk.  It was a long drive along the old gravel road back to Grand River but we finally made it back with plenty of daylight to spare.

We fished the brooks some more until we reached our limit and went for a drive through Sterling looking for deer and other wildlife that come out at that time of day.  We didn't see anything but it was a nice drive through the country before heading home.  

Annual Father-Daughter Camping Trip

And yet another weekend I look forward to every summer is the camping trip I do with my Dad. Our first father-daughter camping trip was over a decade ago when I moved back home after being away for many years and we've gone every year since except during Covid lockdowns.  

We used to go to a secluded spot at the end of a very long gravel road leading to a beautiful beach.  Unfortunately, we have since learned that this spot is on private property and the owner has asked us not to camp there anymore. The past few summer's, we've been camping at Battery Provincial Park in St. Peters.  It's not secluded and certainly not wild like our old spot but the sites at this campground are so large and set back from the road that it feels sort of remote. 

We took the long way to St. Peter's through Marion Bridge, Gabarus, Forchu and Framboise stopping along the way at various points of interest.  We stopped at the beach in Gabarus and walked along the shore searching for treasure with dad's new metal detector.  We stopped in Forchu to take some pictures of the boats going out.  We stopped at our old camping spot and had a picnic.  By the time we made it to St. Peter's, we could check-in and set up camp for the night before the forecasted rain moved in.  There was some thunder in the distance and scattered rain showers throughout the day but nothing compared to the downpour that happened only minutes after I retreated to my tent for the night!

After we set up camp, we visited a couple of the museums around town and grabbed some supper at a restaurant in nearby Louisdale. When it got dark enough, we lit a fire and watched the night sky.  

In the morning, we left everything up to dry and headed to St. Peter's for breakfast.  By the time we returned, everything was ready to pack up.  Dad headed home to same way we came and I headed to Point Michaud Beach to check out the Surf Competition that is held there every year. It's a beautiful beach with clear waters and large rolling waves but I was only able to tolerate the water for about five minutes before I got pins and needles from the cold.  It was not nearly as warm as the water at many of the other beaches around Cape Breton!