We had at great hike yesterday. The trail is named ‘Franey’ for the mountain range it traverses. I must say that the going was a bit tough for a while since our bellies were still in dreamland over the piece of butterscotch pie we shared at the Main Street Café in Ingonish Beach. Along the hike, we encountered four other sets of hikers, no big groups, mostly we were by ourselves. The first returning group told us they had seen a moose. From that point on, my senses were keen to get a moose sighting. After we grabbed a couple of shots of the incredible view at the lookout, we waited for a bit to let the forest quiet down from the departure of the other hikers, hoping to increase our chances of a moose sighting. Indeed, we saw one in a boggy meadow from afar. We knew the trail was going to go right by it. I kept taking pictures as we approached, just sure that it would bolt when it heard us. Then as we got closer, we could see it was a momma and her well grown calf. She would turn her ears to hear our footsteps, we had not surprised her at all. Myron continued to talk to her anyway and we made sure we never got between her and her calf. Finally she turned to look at us. I think we both figured that was close enough. Yay! My first moose sighting ever. It was good advice to look for them in the Cape Breton Highlands.
To top it off, we saw what looked like quail to us. A couple
and their chicks. The only decent
picture I managed was of the male, a big fella. We
were told it was a partridge.
By the way, we got from the wharf to the trailhead by using the one and only cab van in Ingonish (Ingo Cab). Darryl offers the service each day starting at 2 pm, after his day job. His phone number is 902-285-4523. It was $5 per person each way. He also charges $2 for any additional stops along the way (such as a grocery store). I cannot advise walking on the Cabot Trail Highway. We found it to be a risk to our health.
Today Hold Fast moved along a bit too fast for us to
properly time the tide at Great Bras d’Or on our return to the lakes, therefore
we loitered around Bird Islands again.
We saw more puffins on this trip than the last, and many more birds that
will require some research to identify. We
saw several golden eagles and more than ten bald eagles. Pictures were tough to get of the ever moving
puffins. You will see better pictures on
the internet, but here is a puffin taking flight near Hold Fast, you may have to zoom in to see that crazy nose…
Our journey today marked the beginning of our return
trip. Ingonish Harbor was as far north
and east as we will go this year. We are
acutely aware that every mile we travel north and east in southwest winds will
extract a price on the return. Not to
concern ourselves with that now, we still have several more days to enjoy in
the lakes. Some of you have asked and
here is the answer: We traveled 2,175 nautical miles from MOW Cay, Bahamas, to
Ingonish Harbor, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Love to all,
Dena
Posted via wifi.
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