Saturday 5 Oct -Cabot Trail
Today we have done a small part of the Cabot Trail. Rising from the sea and clinging to mountains, the 298-kilometre-long Cabot Trail is a winding mix of roadway, paths, stairs and stunning beauty that takes us from unreal ocean vistas to quaint fishing villages. We decided to do one walk today called the Skyline (number 7 on the map below). This is a 6.5 Km walk through beautiful nature and even included a large enclosure to keep the moose away from a regeneration area where they are trying to preserve the natural habitat and regrow local flora. And yes, Jen did this as well!
The trail ends at a 335 metres cliff where below you see a small cove and grassy clearing at the base of MacKenzie Mountain which was once a fishing village. Here, the Scottish settlers fished in the Gulf waters and traded with the French for supplies. Fishing Cove is now the site of the only designated wilderness campsite in the park.
We saw a bear and by the looks of it he (or she – it was too far away to be sure) was looking for a nice place to settle for the night or even looking for a good spot to hibernate.
Nature here is just astonishing and the autumn colours makes it all the more spectacular. We drove the Cabot Trail for another hour before settling down in our chalet in Ingonish.
For the evening we had booked a Lantern walk through time. This was a special experience where a local guide (in a suitable costume from the days of the first Irish and Scottish settlers) told us tails from the past while we walked through a forest. We started just before dusk and all got a traditional lantern when it got nice and dark. We even met a ghost on our trail. It was fun and we might have a look under the bed before we go to sleep tonight.