Atlantic Canada

Cape Breton

After a couple of rainy days in Halifax we headed north up to Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail....one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting on this trip because of its remote location (fewer tourists) and the promise of some terrific hiking.

We stayed in the village of Ingonish Beach at the southeast entrance to Cape Breton National Park. Made for easy access to some of the prettiest hiking trails, and one of the most beautiful scenic drives, we've seen on our travels.

On the way up we stopped in the town of Baddeck and visited the summer home of Alexander Graham Bell. Although we knew about the telephone, didn't realize until we toured the little museum that he was quite active in experiments in early aviation in the years after Kitty Hawk. In fact the first successful flight in the British Empire occurred right here in 1909...on the ice from a small inlet close by his residence. Glenn Curtis was one of the small cadre of enthusiasts that helped develop the first flyable machine, much to the irritation of the Wright's who were keen to patent their invention and establish a monopoly. 

It was a pretty place with lots of shoreline views all the way around the peninsula. 

The Skyline Trail is the big headliner here, although there were numerous others that worked their way thru the bush to scenic viewpoints. Rita didn't particularly like this one - too steep.


The weather continued to hold during our 4 night stay here, then it was off to another anticipated highlight of the trip - the Gaspe Peninsula. 



Gaspe 

This was another remote part of Atlantic Canada as you can see. Very French, in fact in some of the places we stayed and stopped during our 5 night drive seemed to be French only...had to dig real deep for some French language skills in order to  communicate. Also was a very laid back and very friendly place. Really enjoyed our time here.

 
 Stayed just outside the little town of Gaspe, which was sandwiched between Forillon National Park and the town of Perce. The scene above is a view from one of our hikes just above the town. Apparently the French explorer Samuel Champlain first sighted (and named) the place during one of his voyages of discovery back around 1604.

Spent most of our time in and around Forillon National Park. Came across this old settlement on one of our hikes out to the lighthouse at the end of the point...one of the remnants, apparently, of an Acadian family evicted years ago to make way for the establishment of the park. 

 The Autumn colors finally started to make an appearance. 

 Heard a strange "crying" noise as we proceeded along the forest path. Stopped to investigate and saw these two porcupines in the tree right next to the trail. Guess our presence caused the female some distress so she started making noise - would never have noticed them otherwise. 

 It was a beautiful walk on a sunny day, and what made it especially endearing was the Park Service's strategic placement of these red Adirondak chairs along the hike...every couple of miles or so. 

The combination of some spectacular scenery, terrific hikes, and warm Indian Summer weather made for an extremely pleasant week as we toured the peninsula...in the footsteps of Eleanor Roosevelt (apparently) who came this way one summer back in the 1930's...we had just seen the Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts before we left on the trip.

Still in the middle of a very French-Canadian province - starting to get pretty good at the local dialect, even if I do say so myself. 

After a few weeks enjoying the countryside it was time to head back into civilization...next stop - Quebec.

 

East Coast Trip (Part one)

     


Since it's been a while since we updated this blog I thought I'd memorialize our recent trip to Maine and Atlantic Canada for posterity.

Concord, MA

After collecting our rental car at Boston Logan we headed north for a couple of days to check out the Revolutionary war sites in Lexington and Concord. Traffic, as usual, was murder getting out of Boston but we toughed it out and drove to our little Inn without too much drama. 
 

First stop was the old bridge at Concord - only a short walk from the place we were staying. I had been here about 15 years ago and remembered what an evocative place all of Minuteman National Park was...especially this bridge where it all started on the morning of April 19, 1775. Just behind the obelisk on the left is the burial cairn for one of the British soldiers who died in the exchange of gunfire that started the American Revolution. Actually, the story goes that although he was initially wounded, he wasn't finished off until a colonial militiaman tomahawked him as the Redcoats retreated.

Spent most of the next two days wandering around the NP, and hiked along a good portion of "Battle Road" between Concord and Lexington.

Stopped by the Buckman Tavern in Lexington, where the colonial militia waited for the Brits to arrive after being warned of their approach by Paul Revere the night before. Local legend has it that during the tense face-off that ensued once the Redcoats showed up, the first shot was actually fired from the doorway you can see on the right. The British position was where the Minuteman Statue now stands. 

After thoroughly enjoying ourselves tramping around the historic sites, it was time to head up the coast towards Maine. Along the way I should mention that we stopped in Freeport - home of LL Bean. Appeared that Bean was the only employer in town (and for miles around). The company has several retail stores selling all of their outdoor clothing and equipment - open all day every day of the year, ie 24/7 x 365. We wandered around for a few hours but didn't buy anything (as far as I know).





Acadia National Park

This was one of places I always wanted to visit, and our week here didn't disappoint...with beautiful Indian Summer weather for the duration of our stay near the village of Southwest Harbor, on the "quiet side" of Mt. Desert Island and about 30 minutes from the NP.

As usual we walked our legs off exploring the trails in the park, all of which were absolutely gorgeous. The Autumn colors hadn't yet taken hold but the area was still a beautiful sight to see. Here we are about half way along the Bubble Mountain hike.


 Drove over to Bar Harbor on the other side of the island just to check it out, but got out of there as quickly as we could once we realized that it was a "boat day" - guess the town is now a cruise ship stop for the Leaf Peepers, and the day trippers were really clobbering the little town. Guess the shop owners must appreciate the business, but for us it was a real turnoff seeing the wall-to-wall wave of humanity crowding the village.

We'd much rather go off on our own and find some off the beaten path little hikes that we can enjoy in relative peace and quiet, like this one just up the street from out vacation rental. 

After exploring every nook, cranny, and trailhead within 50 miles of the NP we pointed the car north and headed into Canada...the Province of New Brunswick being our first stop. 


 

Meandered up along the coast and crossed the border at Campobello - the Roosevelt family summer retreat for many years. It's now a National Peace Park jointly administered by both the US and Canadian governments... and is extremely well done. FDR came here with his family for many years...every summer right up until he became President, and then periodically after that. It was here that he contracted the polio that would cripple him for the rest of his life.


Spent one night in the city of Saint John, then hopped the ferry across the Bay of Fundy to the town of Digby in Nova Scotia. After exploring the southern part of the peninsula we headed over to Halifax for a couple of days...which is where our luck ran out regarding the weather. Turned cold and rainy for the time we were there and so wasn't exactly the pleasant interlude I had hoped for. Still, it was only a couple of days and, just as the forecast improved, we headed north out of town towards the Cape Breton peninsula.

     ...to be continued...