Sleeping in a Tent is one of my Summer Highlights

Nothing really ever changes at Broad Cove campground except one thing...how much harder it's getting to book the site I want!  I always book between my two favorite sites and for over 20 years, I've no issue booking one of the other. But, the last two years I either had to book months in advance or I had to book at another site. This year, I wasn't able to book well in advance so I had to make do with a site I wasn't familiar with.  I was disappointed but in the end, it worked out perfectly and now I have a third site that I can add to my favorites!

Another big change to my camping trip this year was I didn't have to worry about drafts and leaks.  My old tent had both but this year, I had a brand new tent to test out and it works perfectly.  In fact, I love it!  For one, it's huge.  Secondly, it has a "porch" separate from the main part.  It's big enough for my beach chair so I could sit in there away from rain and flies and read a book or go through pictures I took earlier in the day.  To make it even more cozy, I just hooked up a few little lights and it was like having a living room in my tent!

That camping trip couldn't have been more perfect.  I love the new tent, I loved the new site and the weather was amazing.  The site, by the way, was grassy, level and close to amenities such as washrooms.  The weather was hot and sunny the entire time and the flies weren't too bad.  I spent my days at the beaches, evenings eating takeout while watching the sun go down and nights walking around the campground and admiring the beautiful night sky filled with stars. 

There was no dew inside my tent the next morning which was something I wasn't used to.  Tear down was easy and I was packed up and ready to go in no time.  Not that I wanted to but I knew in a few weeks, I would be back.  Other adventures were awaiting me at home.  The only thing I don't like about busy summers is how quickly they fly by!

 

 

 

A Late Autumn Hike to Uisge Ban Falls

There's something about late fall hikes.  The cool air, the light snow flurries, the intermittent sun peaking behind those heavy, fluffy fall clouds and the lack of flies and other annoying insects.  I mean, yes, you have to bundle up and trek through some mud and slippery fallen leaves, but the air is crisp and light with temperatures that aren't so hot that you walk at a snail's pace and not so cold that you're too stiff to move. 

The day my friend and I took a hike to Uisge Ban Falls near Baddeck, we experienced such a day.  A perfect day we'll call it.  There was hardly anyone else hiking that day so that was an added bonus.  I like being in the woods without crowds of people to disrupt the peace and quiet so I can hear the trees rustling, the birds chirping and the raging waters of the river and waterfall. 

The trail isn't all that long but we stretched it out for two hours, stopping to take photos and admire the views along the way.  We reached those beautiful falls and just hung around there for a while taking in the sights and sounds of nature before heading back to civilization. 

Our hike was followed by a walk around of the nature campground that I never noticed was in this park before and a delicious lunch at a cafe along the highway.  Winter is approaching fast and I'm hoping to get as many days in like this as possible before we are snowed in!

A Night in Jersey Cove, Cape Breton

Jersey Cove is a beautiful community on Cape Breton Island.  It's close to everything, it has mountains, hills, ocean, forest, hiking trails and scenic look-offs.  However, I never really spent much time there until recently.  Sure, as a child, I visited the Giant MacAskill Museum on the Englishtown side of the ferry and beachcombed along the beach near the ferry docks but on most of my visits to this pretty little community, I was just passing through to get somewhere else.  Most of my visits consisted of waiting for the car ferry to pick me up and take me across the little channel to the highway on the other side that would take me to Ingonish or around the Cabot Trail. 

I had the chance to spend a little bit of time in Englishtown this summer.  Well, it was Jersey Cove on the other side of the channel to be exact. I got on the ferry and instead of driving through  to go somewhere else, I stopped at the Joyful Journeys campground and spent an evening with a friend who recently parked her camper trailer there for the summer. 

I'd been to that campground a few times in the past to visit friends of friends on the way home from Ingonish. I admit, it didn't do much for me but to be fair, whenever I stopped there, it was dark and the visit only lasted 20 minutes at most. I didn't seem like my kind of place.  It looked small, there was no sandy beach and the trailers looked they were too close together for my liking.  I'm used to camping at Broad Cove in Ingonish where there are lots of trees, a long sandy beach and plenty of space for privacy between lots. 

The visit I enjoyed this past July was different from the past ones.  It was daytime and I had more time to explore and actually enjoy it. 

A trip to a nearby beach that I never new existed was one of the highlights of the trip!  I love finding new beaches and this was a nice one, too! A walk along the shore, a drive around the area (there's a hiking trail I never knew about  so, of course, I made a mental note to check it out next time!), watching some adorable humming birds in the bird feeders, watching eagles soar above the water, stargazing on a picnic table by the shore and relaxing around a campfire before turning in for the night were some of the other highlights.  

 Now that I know there's more to Jersey Cove than I thought, I'll stop there more often and enjoy its natural wonders!

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!

 

Beautiful Lake O'Law on Cape Breton Island

There are so many beautiful places in Cape Breton, it's hard to list them all!  Lake O'Law is one of my favourites and it's one I make a point to stop at every time I make my way through Middle River and Margaree on my way to the western part of the island.  Sometimes I even spend the night at The Lakes Campground.  There is a stillness along the shores of this lake that is like none other I've ever experienced.  It's quiet, eerily so.  At night, you can see the silhouette of those hills against the sparkling, calm waters of the lake.  I wish I was there right now!  If you ever make your way to the island, you'll pass through this beautiful area on your way around the world-famous Cabot Trail.

There are many lakes in Cape Breton but this one is likely one of the most beautiful lakes on the island and it's easily accessible right along the Cabot Trail.  The provincial park is a great place to stop and stretch your legs while enjoying some of the spectacular scenery.