September 18--Cabot Trail

Well, we woke to clouds, but not rain, so we decided to head on up the Cabot Trail. We left our camp about 8 a.m. and headed north. We stopped at several places along the way, looking for quilts for the cabin, but not finding anything we liked. We stopped in Cheticamp, and looked at the hooked rugs they made. I even gave it a try at ‘hooking’, but was an abysmal failure at that.

We entered the park, and it very quickly got darker and darker. By the time we had passed French Mountain, we were in the clouds and the rain. After about 30 kilometers, we stopped for lunch (lobster roll, scallops, mussels, shrimp) in the pouring rain. We tried to sit it out until it quit, but after lunch with dessert, it was still coming down. So we got out our rain gear and electric heated clothing and geared up and headed out. Much better with electrics on. After a few kilometers we were passed by a Ducati who we later saw at the end of the park. It turns out he was doing a coast to coast Canada ride for an online motorcycle blog. He had picked up the bike in Toronto, and was riding it to St. John, Newfoundland, to begin his coast to coast trip. He was planning on being in Vancouver by October 7, but said 300 kilometers a day was about all his body could stand on the bike (too bad he didn’t have a Goldwing!). He also said the rain had followed him wherever he went, so we should definitely go a different way. I think he was right, because we set up camp close to Ingonish and had sunshine about an hour after we left him! Despite what the travel books say about the West Coast of Cape Breton as being stunning, we have been more taken by the East Coast! Perhaps it was just the rain and fog that skewed our views!

We are camped tonight at Broad Cove Campground just inside the Cape Breton National Park, and will head to Banneck tomorrow, to visit the Alexander Graham Bell National Museum. Then we think we may head over to Sydney and the Louisville French Fortress if the weather is good, and straight to the causeway to get off the island of NS if the weather is gray and rainy. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. Bay of Fundy or Louisville???