Return to the Hill

For the past decade or so, it seems winter on Cape Breton Island is hit or miss.  Sometimes it snows, other times it snows a lot and sometimes it doesn't snow at all.  The winter before last, we had a massive week-long snowstorm and I was able to do plenty of snowshoeing.  Last winter, I didn't use them once.  This winter, I had the chance to use them a few times as we had a pretty good winter as far as snow goes...and I got to snowshoe in some places I've never used my snowshoes before.  

This time I ventured to a familiar place that I haven't been to in a long, long time.  Back in the day when my bones were stronger and I didn't have a care in the world, I zoomed down the slopes of Ski Ben Eoin on skis.  This time, I explored some of their backcountry snowshoe trails on snowshoes and I got to do it at night under a full moon! 

Driving into the parking lot at my old stomping grounds was like stepping back in the past.  It seemed to be very close to how I remember it way back when and I love places like that.  Places I can be away from for many years and they're still the same when I return years later. 

I headed up the chairlift to the top of the mountain where I headed off into the forest.  The trail was clear and well-maintained but there was enough snow for the snowshoeing to be enjoyable.  Sometimes, groomed trails are just too groomed to really enjoy them and it's more like walking than snowshoeing.  I was surprised by how many trails there were and how far back I was able to venture away from civilization.  There were no lights except for the light of that giant moon shining down.  There's something about the forest on a crisp winter's night especially under a full moon. I spent over an hour wandering the trails and returned to the main chalet via the ski hill itself.  Why take the chairlift down when you can snowshoe down the hill while admiring that amazing view over the Bras d'Or Lakes!  

The only changes I really noticed around the hill were that the names of some of the ski trails have changed and the T-bar lift is gone as far I can tell.  It was nice to be back there reminiscing about the days and nights I spent going up and down the mountain without a care in the world.  I think it was that period in my life that made me a winter-loving person even though I don't downhill ski anymore.  I'd like to try it though.  I keep saying "next year".  Maybe next year will be the year... 

 

A Winter Getaway in the Cape Breton Highlands and Beyond

Since mid-December, I've been working overtime - 14-hour days - and desperately needed a break when the text came through.  It was my sister and she proposed something I couldn't say no to.

A few days before receiving the text, my other sister arrived from Alberta for a visit and to celebrate our father's 80th birthday and to celebrate her and her twin sister's birthday the following week.  I had planned to take them out to dinner that weekend but they had other plans: A last-minute getaway to the Cape Breton Highlands to do some skiing, snowshoeing, skating and relaxing in a country cabin away from the craziness of home.  Of course, I said yes.  I didn't even have to think about it.  This was the break I had been dreaming about for months. 

The cabin was an Airbnb in Dingwall, about 30 minutes from Ingonish and the ski hill.  We arrived late in the evening after picking up a pizza and settled in right away.  The place was all wood, cozy and perfect for a winter weekend away from home.  My little nephew loved it from the start, too.  That first evening was spent playing hide and go seek and after he went to bed, it was drinks and chats for the adults. 

The first light of morning was the true reveal.  A huge deck overlooking the water with the rolling mountains of the Cape North area in the background.  It was so beautiful it almost looked like a painting!  

We got ready and left before 9, stopped for breakfast at the only cafe we could find open and reached Ski Cape Smokey before 10.  After getting our passes, we headed up the gondola to the top of the mountain where everyone else did some downhill skiing and I ventured off into the forest on snowshoes.  

The trail I embarked on was 4 kilometers and I honestly didn't think I would complete the entire thing. There was a lake at the end and I really wanted to make it that far.  Two other people came off the trail as I was arriving and I saw no one else after that.  I had the entire forest to myself and it was magical.  The temperature was warm, the skies were clear, the sun was bright and there was lots of fresh snow and scenic vistas all around.  

It was hard going for the first little while and some of it was uphill.  Every time I thought I was too tired and should turn around but I kept going.  Finally, I did make it to that lake.  I relaxed and took in the views for a while and headed back down the trail towards the gondola.  

I was hoping to see some wildlife but all I saw were some bunny tracks.  But I was fine with that as long as I got to enjoy some time in the forest surrounded by nature and peace and quiet. 

Back at the lodge, we grabbed some snacks and headed back to our cabin where we made some supper and just hung out together in our cozy little hideaway.   

I hated to leave the next morning.  We drove to Ingonish and planned to stop at the outdoor skating rink before driving home.  Unfortunately, it was closed but by that time, it was starting to snow and we wanted to get ahead of the storm that was headed our way.  

The snow got heavier and heavier and by the time we got to Sydney, the roads were covered and we had passed a few fender benders on the highway.  We stopped to grab a pizza before that magical weekend came to an end and I have to say, I felt quite relaxed heading into work Monday for another marathon 14-hour day.  I think this is something I should do more often! 

 

It's a Year Into this S**t Show...How's Everyone Doing?

Since the start of this pandemic, I've been cursing it and everything negative it caused.  The isolation, the not being able to see friends and family due to the travel ban and Canadian Travel restrictions, the loss of work, the loss of money, the not being able to travel due to travel restrictions and the constant bombardment of Covid-19 this and Covid-19 that.

Yes, it's been rough in so many ways, but I'm starting to see the good that has come out of it.  It's been almost a year since the lockdowns, isolation and mass covid travel restrictions became a part of everyday life.  The first few weeks was a constant string of bad news.  First my beloved cat Captain Jack passed away followed by the news that the project I was working on was stopping along with my income.  Than the worse shooting in Canadian history right here in my quiet, peaceful home province of Nova Scotia.  All this combined with the bad news coming from all corners of the world made me anxious and even depressed.  

As the months passed, there were ups and downs, goods and bads and all sorts of emotions and hurdles and new developments.  But it's only recently that I've started to realize that, despite all the bad, some really good things came out of all this. I should have seen it earlier.  I should have embraced those doors that were opening up to me.  I should have appreciated the things that were transpiring.  But my eyes were closed and my brain was focused on the changes, the losses, this new normal that wasn't at all normal...at least not the normal I was used to.  But who defines normal anyway 

I feel like I've been more fortunate than a lot of people on one front.  While many people I know were upset because they couldn't visit restaurants, bars and movie theatres anymore, nothing changed for me.  I don't go to any of those places often anyway.  I am an outdoors person. I will pick a picnic in the woods or a hike along the shore over a restaurant meal or movie theater outing any day! 

I don't know when it hit. I don't it hit all at once. It was a gradual thing.  I started to lighten up a bit, think a little more positively and that's when things started happening.  Or maybe it was me just becoming so comfortable with all the negativity around me that It started feeling normal enough for me to start thinking straight again.  Sounds weird but everything is weird these days.  I still can't make any sense out of anything anymore but at least, I am moving forward in some way and I'm not in the very dark place I was a few months ago. Loss of employment and sense of purpose will do that to a person...but a new-found purpose can do wonders for a person.  

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I'm currently freelancing full-time now.  No, I'm not getting rich of it.  Not even close.  But, I'm doing something I love, I'm filling my time with purposeful work and I'm making enough to get by.  I also must say that I am quite proud of myself for remaining independent and for being resourceful.  Not many people can say that they have a talent outside of their regular work that they can use in a pinch to survive.  I feel very grateful for that.  My writing was once a hobby but now it's a lifeline!  So many new doors have opened up, many new connections have been made and I've learned so many new things!  The best thing is I'm still writing about travel despite the mass travel restrictions.  While I'm not writing about my own travel since I'm under Canadian travel restrictions, I'm writing travel content for other sites.  In my free time, I take courses and work on my social media channels and, from time-to-time, I write a blog filled with updates that will soon turn onto blogs about my own travels. Hoping  we can return to normal soon as I have many trips and adventures planned once the travel ban is lifted!

As for current adventures, we finally got enough snow here so I could get a day of snowshoeing in.  I Don't know how long the snow will last with all the rain and freezing rain we seem to get in the winters now but if I get out once, that's better than nothing since I didn't get out at all last year.  I stay pretty close to home for the most part though.  Every few days, I'll walk at Dominion Beach to see if any new and interesting debris washed up and to visit my friends the foxes, seals and eagles.  I'm itching to go further and do more but until Covid takes a hike, I'm content getting some things done around home! That's one good thing about the travel restrictions - I'm spending time completing some projects around home that I would otherwise not get to!

Not doing a Whole lot of Snowshoeing but I did Find a Shipwreck

So summer is long gone and winter is almost over here in Cape Breton.  Usually winter seems to drag on but since we didn't have a particularly bad one, it flew by quite quick.  I think I only shoveled three times.  We did, however, have a lengthy cold spell with temperatures going into the minus teens for a few weeks.  Occasionally, we got a break from that extreme cold to enjoy a few hours of above zero temperatures only for it to freeze over again and provide us with a lovely (and dangerous) coating of ice.

So what's new in my world?  Well, I will be writing a new column for my local newspaper with the first article being published this Saturday, which also happens to be my birthday!  It's a column focusing on the past, present and future of my local community.  I have lots of ideas but I'm also hoping the people of New Waterford and area will contact me with some ideas.  So if you live in the area and have a business or event you would like to promote, I'd be glad to write about it.

Another very interesting thing happened back in November.  A monster storm caused massive damage to Dominion Beach (again).  I didn't want to see the damage but I had to know just how bad it was.  It was bad.  Debris everywhere, sand dunes flattened, the boardwalk severely damaged.  I walked the entire length of the beach that day like I always do.  It was hard walking with the debris everywhere but I slowly made my way down the beach where I found something that had washed ashore in the storm.  I later found out it was a piece of a very old ship.  The brass nails are an indication that it is quite old and the shape of the wood matches that of an old ship.  I sent some pictures off the a couple of local museums and someone should be out to look at it in the spring.  It's currently covered in ice and snow but still visible. This winter, I also spotted more seals on the beach than usual and the foxes and eagles are still around, seemingly unbothered by the changes to their beach.

So besides a sick cat and an idea for a new blog project, not much else is new.  I've doing a lot of writing and working on creative projects instead of spending time outdoors as it's too icy to be walking most of the time.  The lack of snow certainly makes it hard to do any snowshoeing! 





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It's Been a While.....

Yes I know it's been a while...months in fact.  I was called back to work back in September and have been flat-out busy since.  I know, I know.....enough with the excuses.  All that matters is that I'm still around and still posting.  I just took an extended break.  I also didn't really have much to post lately as I have not been going many places or doing much due to having to work full time.  One thing I do look forward to in the winter is getting outdoors on those rare, nice days especially if an outing includes some snowshoeing! 

I was a bit late getting out this year for my first snowshoe hike.  The first weekend in January was the first full weekend I had off work since November as I've been diving into the optional overtime again.  Might as well take the hours and the money when you can, right?  Anyway, we received a little more than a light dusting of snow that weekend and Saturday morning the temperatures were just above zero and the sun was shining. I didn't want to travel too far on my first run of the year so I opted to try out a trail near my house that I had never hiked in winter before. 

I grew up in Lingan and played near this trail as a child and hiked it in the warmer months many times since.  The area has changed over the years.  The old house that was there is long gone and the one that replaced it has since been torn down and the land sold to Nova Scotia Power who have a power generating station nearby.  A windfarm with several windmills has gone up in the last dozen years.  Other than these few changes, the trail is still intact and it's still a beautiful area to spend some time outdoors.   

That particular weekend was much anticipated and I planned in advance that I would spend the majority of it outdoors no matter what the weather was like.  Fortunately, it turned out to be quite nice both days.  On Saturday morning, I called my dad, who also loves the outdoors and has recently taken up snowshoeing, and headed to Lingan.  It's only five minutes away so it wasn't a big adventure like I usually write about; the adventure would be seeing the area under a blanket of freshly fallen snow for the first time.

There were no cars in the parking area.  A good sign.  I like the trails to myself and when it comes to snowshoeing, I like to be the first one to break in the fresh snow.  And I was the first one that day because the only tracks on that trail were those of some bunny rabbits who must have been hopping around looking for food the night before.  Perfect!  We slipped on our snowshoes and bundled up and set out towards the narrow path that led to the windmills and the ocean.  The snow was perfect in every way.  Untouched by the dirt of the nearby road and untouched by anyone or anything except those bunnies and some squirrels who must have been munching on the bushes as their crumbs were scattered in little piles in various places.  We came to spot that I instantly fell in love with; a perfectly sheltered place inside the low branches of a spruce tree.  Protected from the wind and almost warm enough to lay down and take a nap. 

I had no idea how long it would take to reach the clearing by the ocean since it had been a while since I took that trail and I was usually walking, not snowshoeing.  We continued along, stopping from time to time to relax while enjoy the pristine, white surroundings and the sounds of birds and wind gently rustling the trees.  I didn't need to bundle up as much as I did because I quickly became overheated and had to remove some layers.  It took about 40 minutes to reach the clearing where the wind turbines were.  As we exited the thick forested, the terrain and sounds changed.  All of a sudden, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and my layers went back on.  The calm rustling of trees was replaced by the raging Atlantic ocean smashing into the cliffs.  The blades of the windmills made a loud whooshing sound as they turned in the breeze.  The scenery was now that of  a large clearing ending where the Atlantic Ocean started.  The old barracks stood on the edge of the cliff, long abandoned by its original tenants but still used by partying teenagers judging by the broken beer bottles and graffiti spray painted all over the inside and outside.  As I stared out over the ocean, watching a large cargo ship go by, I spotted something odd in my peripheral vision; one of the windmills looked to be swaying dangerously in the wind.  None of the other ones looked to be swaying like this so I don't think it was my eyes playing tricks on me.  All I could think about was the fact that three of these massive things have fallen over in the last couple of years.  Perhaps that is why there are warning signs up in the area.  

We headed back the same way we came but reached the car sooner than anticipated.  We didn't stop for as many breaks and photo ops as we did going in so it only took half as long going back.  The whole hike took about two hours total.  I enjoyed it so much, I went back and did it again the next morning!