6.30.18. Saturday. Cheticamp, Nova Scotia to Georgetown, Prince Edward Island via the Cabot Trail.
We had a very hearty breakfast in town while watching the mist lift from the harbor and the fishing boats being readied to set out for the day.
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| Jeff does some last minute route adjustments |
Off to the Cabot Trail! We got a pretty early start and headed northeast to take the trail along the eastern cost of Nova Scotia. Very early in the day we stopped to walk one of the trails that took us through a lovely wilderness area. We walked through towering pines and saw a perfect spider web sparkling with dew. The path took us through fences and into areas that were off-limits to moose in an effort to see if the tree mix would change if moose were unable to eat the young sprouts. We found a geocache and climbed a lookout tower. Then we continued on to a set of steps that took us up and then down a spur of land that seemed to be suspended in the mist. Supposedly the view from here is remarkable. We can only aver that the cloud cover was extremely thick – we were inside of the cloud and could barely see a few feet away. But the shifting mists made for an interesting experience anyway.
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| The lookout tower |
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| Returning from the point |
On the way back, the stair treads set forth, line by line, step by step, the text of a treaty. We also stopped to watch two large hares spring across the path. As we moved further inland, we emerged from the cloud and the sun proved to be quite hot, so the walk back was not nearly as pleasant as the one out. When we emerged into the parking lot we found it had changed from the nearly empty lot we left to one that was full to its outer reaches.
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| The treaty on the edges of the steps |
The scenery and geology of the Cabot trail is stunning. We climbed up to dazzling overlooks and soared down into valleys with stunning views of the coast. There were odd cloud formations along the coast cutting the view in two, top and bottom. The descent into Meat Cove was spectacular. The road was rough and gravelly in places, but the conditions weren’t bad. When we finally arrived, the view was as advertised – gorgeous. This is on the most northern tip of Nova Scotia, so Meat Cove advertises itself as the northern most community. Where we arrived, there was not much there except the Meat Cove Chowder Hut and a lot of land marked “private” for a campground. So, after the requisite oohh-ing and aah-ing, plus lots of pictures, we headed back up and out.
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| Cabot Trail |
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| The road to Meat Cove |
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| Meat Cove |
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| Meat Cove |
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| Meat Cove |
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| Meat Cove |
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| Meat Cove |
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| A good day to be a dog - motorcycles in front and behind! |
Our trail adventure included another craft store, which was rather disappointing. Lots of pottery, but that’s not really my thing. It did have some interesting hats and other knitted stuff, and a bag I considered buying before decided it was not worth the cost of postage, so I left empty-handed.
After completing the Cabot Trail, we looped back across the Causo Causeway. We stopped for at an odd spot that had a lighthouse, a historic cemetery, a transmission wire tower, and a geocache, just off the causeway, but otherwise rode hard to assure we’d make the last ferry to PEI. We made it to the next-to-last ferry, I think, and had a relaxing crossing plus a chance to get some dinner.
PEI is a dramatic change from Nova Scotia. Flat and, initially, not terribly picturesque, as we rode from the ferry to Georgetown. Georgetown seemed smaller in person than it looked on the map. But it had a nice small (very small) town vibe. We arrived at our pretty and historic inn in Georgetown fairly late, but the proprietor re-opened the bar to get us a beer and glass of wine to bring to our third-floor, walk-up room. The room was comfortable but – as we learned the next morning – notable for the tendency for steam from the shower to set off the fire alarm.
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