Sunday 6/19/2022 - Day 8 of 31 on our 2022 Canadian Maritime #2 Caravan with Yankee RV Tour

Our big event for Sunday June 19, 2022 was a bus tour of Cabot Trail. We had a chartered bus from the local college and our local guide was Cheryl. She learned from the best, Paul Hanna! Charlie and I stayed back to tend to the dogs of the caravanners, because it was a full day away from their four legged family members! 

We did use this time to see two dear friends from our old community in Zephyrhills, Majestic Oaks. Keats & Brenda Biron drove over to Bras d'Or from North Sydney to visit with us for a few hours. It was so great to see them! The last time we saw them was when we were here in 2017!

  

You will have to enjoy this trip from the eyes and cameras of the caravanners! Thanks to Sheryl Lalonde and Barbara & Mark Santasiero for your pictures on the Cabot Trail! As they started toward the Cabot Trail, Cheryl gave them some history on Cape Breton. Cape Breton Island is about 190 square miles.

The island was known to Basque fishermen as early as the 15th century and was sighted and identified by John Cabot in 1497 and Jacques Cartier in 1534. Claimed by the French as part of Acadia, it remained largely undeveloped and unsettled, but played a minor role as a fur-trading and fishing outpost. When the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, ceded most of Acadia to the British, the French retained Cape Breton, which they renamed Ile Royale. Shortly thereafter, they began construction of the fortress of Louisbourg at a small harbor along the southeast coast.

The Treaty of Paris, 1763, ceded the island and France's remaining possessions in the area to the British. Cape Breton became part of the colony of Nova Scotia in 1763, but it remained largely undeveloped until 1784, when it became a separate colony, as one of several separate jurisdictions created for the Loyalist refugees. The Loyalists, who made Sydney the capital of their new colony, were soon overwhelmed by successive waves of Scottish immigrants. They occupied most of the available land along the seacoasts and around Bras d'Or Lake, and with a few hundred returning Acadians made up the bulk of the island's largely rural population. In 1820 the island was reunited to the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia following almost 40 years of turbulent separate status.

The 1920s were some of the most violent times in Cape Breton. They were marked by several severe labor disputes. The famous murder of William Davis by strike breakers, and the seizing of the New Waterford power plant by striking miners led to a major union sentiment that persists to this day in some circles. William Davis Miners' Memorial Day is celebrated in coal mining towns to commemorate the deaths of miners at the hands of the coal companies. Jobs have always been a contributing factor to population spikes and declines on the island. During the 1800’s and 2000’s there were 12 operating coal mines and 1 steel mill. Today, there is only 1 working coal mine, which just recently re-opened. This explains why many of the younger generations are leaving Cape Breton and heading to different cities and provinces.

Taking the bus on the 185 mile Cabot Trail tour allowed everyone to relax and enjoy the spectacular coastal views. While we were here, there are no music festivals on for us to tap our toes to some Cape Breton Celtic. The busy season of festivals is during the summer, beginning in May with the Cabot Trail Relay Run, and ending in October with the Cabot Trail Writers Festival, the Celtic Colors International Festival, and the harvest-season Huckle Buckle Festival.

The Margaree River meanders through the Margaree Valley, leading visitors through splendid landscapes to Margaree Harbor along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Designated as a Canadian Heritage River for its natural, cultural and historical value, the Margaree is popular for its salmon and some trout fishing. Only fly fishing is allowed. The largest salmon caught was 54 pounds, can you imagine snagging that fish while fly fishing! Fishing takes a back seat to the "Anything That Floats Race." Which is held during the summer festival, and has become a summertime favorite on the river. The Margaree Valley is home to the Maritimes second oldest fish hatchery. The favorite museum on Cape Breton is the Salmon Museum, located here. Margaree also boasts some of the most talented quilters shop and is home to Cape Breton Clay, the resident potter loves to talk!

Here they were met by the unmistakable ‘joie de vivre’ of the Acadian people. They share their vibrant culture through food, music and song in the beautiful French Acadian Region of Chéticamp.

St Peter’s Church, Is an Acadian parish founded in 1785, entrusted to the Eudist Fathers in 1953 and to the Sons of Mary from 1999 to 2005. Three churches have been successively built: one in 1790, then 1810 and in 1861, about one mile south east of the present location. The current church was built in 1893 with stone, hauled by parishioners, from across the harbor on Cheticamp Island. The current church construction cost about $42,000. Father Fiset, the papal leader at this time is entombed under the present day alter. The church’s steeple rises 167 feet.

In 1957, the church was repainted and decorated, frescoes and stained glass windows were added. The organ, one of the first, Casavant, was acquired in 1904 and is still in excellent condition. We are lucky enough to have Janet Davis, a concert pianist, in our group and she played amazing grace for us. St Peter’s Church is perched on high ground near the harbor and can be seen from all parts of the parish and from many, many miles away.

Their next stop was Les Trois Pignons, which houses the Museum of the Hooked Rug and Home Life, an Acadian, cultural, genealogical and visitor center. The museum joins the story of the area's settlement with that of the evolution of hooked rugs. They enjoyed a hooked rug demo by the tour guide from the museum.

The gallery features traditional antiques and contemporary hooked rugs created by local craftspeople as well as masterpieces by world renowned wool artist Elizabeth LeFort.

The Cabot Trail continues along the Gulf of St Lawrence, offering breathtaking views!

You enter Cape Breton Highlands National Park is home to over 500 square miles of magnificent highlands and coastal wilderness. The Park is dominated by an elevated, flat-topped plateau deeply cut by river canyons.

The world-famous Skyline Trail starts at the summit of French Mountain and follows the ridge, which lies to the north of French Mountain high above the ravine carved by Jumping Brook. It is a mostly level trail, with boardwalks over wet spots, teems with wildlife (moose and eagles are almost always seen and whales regularly feed in the waters below) and ends in a series of stairs and viewing platforms that are so cunningly constructed that they cannot be seen from the Cabot Trail below. The Cabot Trail winds up French Mountain around a series of sharp curves, hugging the side of the mountain as it ascends. We climbed French Mountain, 1,600 feet in elevation.

At the MacKenzie Mountain Look-off is a story board of whales, species of fish, their food sources, various sea birds and life on the ocean floor. Want to go whale watching? You can actually do it from here! Keep your eyes on the ocean—look for plumes of vapor as they surface in the Gulf. It is difficult to discuss the land around us without paying attention also to the water that reaches its shores. The Gulf of St Lawrence plays a vital role in transportation and in the migration of marine mammals. The waters are warmer and less salty than the Atlantic Ocean. The floor in the Gulf is cut by "troughs" (valleys) and has "shelves" (plateaus). The ebb and flow of the Gulf currents are of great interest. Creating a nursery for a variety of fish species, the currents also have an effect on all five provinces that they border. One quarter of the total Canadian fish catch comes from these waters.

They exited the park, to enjoy lunch at Mountain View restaurant in Pleasant Bay. Pleasant Bay is recognized as one of the premier whale watching areas on the Cabot Trail. The pilot, humpback, minke and finback are the whales most frequently sited off the coastline of the village and its neighboring communities. Pleasant Bay also offers visitors a unique introduction to the world of whales at The Whale Interpretive Center. A stroll around the harbor will reveal why this village was named Pleasant Bay. Soaring eagles, fishermen at work and the scent of clean salt air are snapshots of nature at its unspoiled best.

North Mountain rises dramatically from the valley floor and tapers somewhat more gradually to the north and west where it meets the coast, although many parts of this coast have vertical cliffs rising high, most notably at Cape Split. A break occurs at Digby Gut where a gap in the mountain ridge is filled by a deep tidal channel separating the eastern end of the mountain from Digby Neck.

Neil's Harbor is a small fishing village just south of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The area may have been originally settled by the French. Neil's Harbor is named after a man by the name of Neil McLennan. The first school in Neil’s Harbor was constructed in 1878. The lighthouse, in recent years, has been used as an ice cream parlor in the summer months.

Victoria Co-Op Fisheries Ltd is Neil's Harbor's largest employer which is located in neighboring New Haven. There are a few cottages and summer homes in Neil's Harbor, but mostly there are local residents who work in the lobster, crab and fishing industry. The population is approximately 300 permanent residents.

The Ingonish area is full of breathtaking coastal and mountain scenery whether bathed in sunshine or covered in snow. In the summer, Ingonish Beach that offers both saltwater and freshwater swimming.

The area is known as a golfer’s paradise, as golfers from around the world flock to the famed Highlands Links, which is considered by many to be Canada’s finest course. Highlands Links was recently rated #1 in Canada and #51 in the world by the Top 100 Golf Course in the world, an independent website and team. Others are lured by the abundant hiking trails that range from walks along coastal headlands to highland ascents in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Hikers from North America gather for the Hike the Highlands Festival in mid- September.

Aspy fault is a 25 mile fault crack that runs from the Atlantic Ocean into Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The Aspy Fault is a strike-slip fault and is often thought to be a part of the Cabot Fault or Great Glen Fault system of Avalonia. This fault runs southward from Cape North through the Margaree Valley. The Aspy River and the upper section of the Margaree River follows the trace of the fault. Evidence shows movement in this fault dating back to the Ordovician period when it was probably created when two continental plates collided and pushed the seafloor upwards, also creating the Appalachian Mountains. Erosion and the presence of this fault have created much of the scenery known today as the Cape Breton Highlands.

The community of St Ann’s and her Bay wrap themselves around the natural curve of this inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Their Gaelic heritage lives on in hints of their old language, in music, customs, and food. They delight in learning from newcomers and visitors. More about St Ann’s when we spend the day touring in the area.

We enjoyed a pizza dinner from Janet’s Restaurant & Pizza. It has been a while, since I have had pizza and it was very, very good! We ended the evening with a happy hour and fellowship with the other caravaneers.

Nothing beats an awesome day, than an extraordinary sunset! See you tomorrow!