The Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highlands

Today we drove the Cabot Trail that circles the north part of Cape Breton and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The Cabot trail is named for John Cabot who arrived at Cape Breton in 1497, thinking he had landed on the east coast of Asia. The park is breathtaking in it's beauty and wildness (and it's hair raising curves). Cliffs plunge to the water on the northwest part of the park where beaches are full of rocks made round and smooth by the waves. The sandy beaches are on the Atlantic side. We made several stops along the way; a slope fen was the first stop. This was very like the fens I know in Missouri; calopogon orchids were in full bloom. Unlike Missouri fens, this one had pitcher plants, and sundew, though I didn't find any of the latter. A little further around the park we stopped to hike to a lovely small waterfall. And we spent a little time on the beach near Ingonish. The day had dawned clear and beautiful until we reached the beach, when it started to rain.

Lobster and snow crab are in season and you can see lobster boats, and the buoys marking lobster pots, all along the coast. I have felt duty-bound to sample the local fare.

We leave Cheticamp and Cape Breton tomorrow; we will spend the next several days on the Salmon River at Truro in the Bay of Fundy. We have heard from several of you that have tried unsuccessfully to add comments. I think I fixed that; try again and let me know if it doesn't work. I'm still new to blogging and still learning.