Storyline: Atlantic Canada, Take 2
When I booked Chéticamp Campground and planned our trip around Cape Breton and its famous Cape Breton Highlands National Park I had no idea what I was getting into. For those of you who don’t know me, I get motion sick after 2 regular turns in a row. So, in general I prefer to drive the windy roads, and control the speed and the motion.
Driving Doranya, a five-tonne campervan, on 13% grade downhill roads with sharp 180 turns zigzagging in sequence and bordered by a deep abyss facing the waters down the hill is not like driving a small maneuverable car, even when the speed limit of the hairpin turn is 25km/h.
We drove to Chéticamp from New Glasgow. The latter was initially to be a boondocking stop at Walmart, however at the last moment we decided to check into the Travelodge Suites by Wyndham across from Walmart and do some housekeeping work. They had really good seniors’ discounts for a king suite (a bedroom and a living room with kitchenette). Using their fridge, we could easily defrost Doranya’s. They also had nice laundry facilities, so washing all the sheets and stuffing the duvets back in the suite was great. We also did some shopping – the Travelodge was across from a big shopping mall. (Big is a relative term…it’s smaller than our suburban mall). Before driving to the hotel area, we walked through the very small city centre. As with many North American small towns, the old quaint centre with restaurants and shops is really a short stroll on the main street. 150m in this case. Not many places were open. We had simple lunch in one of the few open restaurants.
Later on, we’d have sangria and a delicious quinoa salad for dinner at a Boston Pizza in the nearby mall. While I was doing the laundry and defrosting the fridge, Alex dusted and vacuumed the van. The hotel also had a sumptuous breakfast buffet, and one could take as much as they want in big paper bags the lodge provided. We took some muffins for Alex and fruits and yogurts and even hard-boiled eggs for both of us, which we still had a day or two after. (Fruits, coffee, tea and hot chocolate all day long)
On the way to Chéticamp we stopped in Antigonish for grocery shopping and mailing some of my winter clothes back home. Drove by The Cove Motel & Restaurant facing the Canso Causeway with the idea to have lunch there.
Unfortunately, this day they had a maintenance work. Perhaps on our way back. We then drove on the Celtic Road 19 and then on the coastal 219 to eventually join hwy 30, also called Cabot Trail and Margaree Harbour. We drove through what we thought was a village, Chéticamp. According to Wikipedia it is: ” is an unincorporated place on the Cabot Trail on the west coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a local service centre. A majority of the population are Acadians. Together with its smaller neighbour, Saint-Joseph-du-Moine, Chéticamp makes up the largest Francophone enclave on Cape Breton Island. The 2006 population was 3,039 people.”
It is 10 min away from the campground and has a big grocery store and a liquor store we’d use.
Arrived at the park fairly early that day. I should mention here that we have not had a true rainy day since Mongmagny. The rains we had elsewhere were heavy at night and drizzles, sometimes steady, during day time. This trend continued in the park.
The campground had an interesting water supply for each site. The faucet is usually attached to the same pole as the electrical receptacle is, or on a pole next to it. We didn’t find it. Then we noticed a board-covered hole in the ground.
This was the water supply. A funny story related to this one. In both National Parks (the PEI and this one) we observed people with tents occupying RV serviced sites. I always thought that one can only do this if they have RV. When one books, they ask for the type and size if you RV. Do people lie? They run a cable through the trunk of their cars, or tents. Perhaps they use a small heater in the tent, or a light. In the afternoon after the hike to the Chéticamp River’s salmon pools, we watched a bunch of people running around in front of our sites looking for something.
At first, we thought they had lost some important belongings. Then suddenly they all ran with pots and buckets in their hands. Down the road, by the garbage, there was a single water tap. They filled their buckets and ran back to their tents. At that point it dawned on me that they had serviced sites, but the water supply wasn’t above ground and they could not use it. So, they filled their pots from this lonely tap.
Of course, in the tenting area there are lots of water taps and dishwashing sinks, etc. But these people were not tenting in their designated areas.
The hike to the salmon pools was easy but somewhat boring. There were some little annoying flies to break the boredom.
We decided we’d done it all at that campground and departed the following day. The front desk attendant was kind to refund us the day we wouldn’t use. I frequently check the local forecast and knew the day would be nice for doing one of the most popular hikes in the area – The Skyline Trail.
And to go through the first set of hairpin turns after that to a seafood restaurant – aimed for late lunch, and check a nice place one can boondock for the night – Pleasant Bay beach.
And off we went the next morning after breakfast and the usual dump of the sewer tanks. Starting early in the morning gives one the advantage of empty roads. Eh, and being early in the season helps too. In this case it was important. We were among the first arriving at the parking lot for the Skyline Trailhead.
We’ve seen videos where it is so overcrowded that one could not see much of anything, let alone take some photos. Based on what we’ve seen and read before I was almost inclined to skip it. But travelling for about a month taught us that we chose the best time. As a lady here at the Bras D’or Lake Campground, where I jot my notes, said – it all will be full come June 24: the school year finishes at the end of June in most parts of Canada.
The trail has two branches, forming a loop: the map indicated about 2:30 to 3:30 hours return for the shorter one. It took us just over 2 hours. Perhaps because there were very few people when we started. The trail goes through a wooded area for some time. It was really well-maintained with boardwalks in the wetland.
We crossed moose-fenced areas with gates. After that the trail began its scenic show. With blue sky and perfect visibility, it was fantastic. There were a few people still. Many interpretive signs along the way and warnings about wildlife – coyote, bears, moose all can be spotted there.
There have been incidents with coyotes before. Once we reached the open area, the two trail branches merged and there began the staired boardwalk.
It goes way down and the views that noon hour, with the serpentine Cabot Trail on the hill across, and rugged shoreline stretching both ways, were absolutely breathtaking. We had just come from this first serpentine. There was another more difficult section still before we go to the restaurant.
On our way back, the crowds were noticeable and when back to the parking area, all 3 or 4 parking lots were rather full. Glad we did it when we did. It was also getting a bit on the warmer side and we prefer hiking in the cool.
Next goal – The Rusty Anchor. Not many places for a restaurant or any other facilities on the Cabot trail that barely can fit the road. This was the first after the dreaded serpentines (a descent of around 1,200ft/366m over 2.5 mi/4 km – Alex’s calculations) ended and there was a bit of an opening flat enough for a little place like that.
As everywhere lobster, mussels, oysters and seafood chowder were on the menu, together with fish and chips and other more pubby items.
Oysters it was! And as far as I remember Alex had a pan seared fish and chips. He can’t help it. Fish and chips are his “burger” item and it ordered at almost every place, regardless the rest. Eh PEI (see previous post) was almost an exception.
We enjoyed the sun and the late lunch. We didn’t have much distance to cover from here.
My goal was the wild camping (boondocking) with the sound of the waters at Pleasant Bay Beach which we could see from the restaurant. A few minutes down the road.
What a great spot it was! The beach is across the road from The Whale Adventures offices that were still closed for the season, and the Pleasant Bay Harbour. So aside from the fishermen’s cars in the adjacent harbour parking area there was no one when we arrived.
We selected a flat spot at the edge of a small cliff. Spent the next 2 hours walking, photographing and admiring the place before it was after work hour and a few local people stopped by for a swim and some suntanning (much needed vitamin D farming – A).
Meanwhile another motorhome parked next to us. They were from Germany. Alex chatted with them while I was setting the dinner table.
After sunset it was just them and us. Slept with open windows (no mosquitoes in the winds by the ocean). In the morning I simply did not want to get up. Felt so peaceful.
Yet rain was coming our way and we wanted to settle in the next booked campground, called “Hideaway Campground and Oyster Market”.
It was opening on that day, June 17 and it was the reason I booked 3 days in PEI to fill the gap waiting. Well, I can say now that I’d return to PEI for a month, but we cut our stay at the Hideaway from 3 days to 1, after having fantastic, fresh oysters!
The campground is family owned and operated by Susan and Alex Dunphy. We met both of them. The Aspy Bay Oysters are produced by Alex and his sons. There is a nice write up by the Dunphy’s on how the oysters are hatched which is worth referring here. HIDEAWAY CAMPGROUND & OYSTER MARKET – Fresh Aspy Bay Oysters farmed in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (campingcapebreton.com)
We arrived just before noon and the rain. After checking in I ordered a dozen oysters. Susan shucked them while chatting and I took them to our home on wheels. Delicious! Full bodied, succulent and fresh! They went fast, aided by the Gris wine from Vignoble d’Orpailleur in Quebec where we had bought the wine and saved it specifically to accompany fresh oysters. Glad we did. Alex went for another dozen. They seemed to recycle everything to the dot so he asked where to dispose the shells. Oh, bring it here was the answer. Apparently, they return then back to the sea. A great idea!
So why did we cut short our stay there? Two reasons. Mosquitoes. Before having the oysters, we walked around the campground and on a small trail to the river. There was no escape from them.
Right before even the oyster lunch we already told Susan we wanted to leave early. She refunded us the last night.
After having two dozen oysters and killing many dozens of mosquitoes (it began to rain) I checked the forecast. If we wanted to avoid driving the hairpin zigzags in the wet, the next day was the only option.
So instead of 3 days we spent a night and left. Glad we did because it took a long time to descend the many 13% and 14% grade serpentines.
We arrived at The Bras D’Or Lakes Campground just in time. Hooked up, and it began pouring down. And it hammered Doranya all night and most of today. As I am writing this in the evening of June 19, the rain just stopped. There are few mosquitoes or other bugs here in the open by the lake and tomorrow we’ll do the touristy stuff, visiting Baddeck, the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, listen to Celtic music and find some good seafood place to conclude our Cabot Trail adventure.
Such beautiful images.
Thank you Rupali!