Ingonish, Nova Scotia

This was our first real day-long adventure on Cape Breton Island.  Oh how I needed the nature therapy!  We drove about an hour north from our lodging on the famous Cabot Trail, which is simply the main road that circles a large portion of the island, including the Highlands National Park.  Unfortunately we did not have time to drive the entire loop as most people recommend.  Besides already spending enough hours in the car and money on gas, there was hiking to do!

En route to our hikes, the Cabot Trail was an interesting experience in itself.  Not only was there plenty of beautiful scenery, but the road into Ingonish was pretty crazy.  Shortly after one of the viewpoints we stopped at, the road twists and climbs steeply up a mountain.  Hawk found it reminiscent of driving in the White Mts.  Except this had cliffs dropping down to ocean.  At least there were guard rails.  Thankfully, since the road was narrow, and so twisty I don't think "switchbacks" even describes it.  The craziest part though was the number of bicyclists we met on that road!  We were amazed and impressed by their physical ability to do that, never mind their bravery for biking such a busy tourist road.  Obviously triathlon level athletes.  Come to find out, there is actually an annual road race that runs along this route for many miles.  More power to them!

I can't be sure how long our real travel time was that morning, as we hit construction that delayed us.  This was not normal construction by home standards; this was the only available route knocked down to single lane one way traffic, and it went on for miles!  How or why or what the heck they were even doing, we couldn't figure out.  But we sat there for what felt like an eternity (or a trip back through US customs, which is never as efficient as Canadian border crossings), and we didn't even see a line of traffic coming from the opposite way to make our wait feel warranted.  A few vehicles eventually came through before the long line of cars going our direction were finally allowed to proceed.  As we drove further and further along this half closed road, getting closer and closer to the side road that led to our first trailhead, we grew concerned about whether we'd even be able to access it with this construction.  Thankfully, the work zone ended literally a few hundred feet before our turn.  

Franey Trail is touted as one of the must do hikes in NS, so we followed that advice and set it as one of our goals.  We were surprised to find plenty of available parking when we arrived, considering the trail's popularity, and our late start time.  Even when we descended, the lot had not filled.  If this was Mt. Major back home, it would have been overflowing an hour before we got there!  Glad it wasn't.

The description and reviews of Franey on AllTrails were fairly accurate, although much regarding difficulty is obviously subjective.  We found it to be a moderate hike overall, with the steepest and more technical areas almost always having steps built in to help hikers safely navigate the trail.  Conditions and surroundings were pleasant, and the views at the top of the mountain were gorgeous.  We relaxed up there for a long time, with Hawk eating lunch, and me mostly taking pics and soaking in nature.

A white Ladyslipper!

Our first partial view, just 20 minutes in.

Fantastically shallow stairs that didn't kill my hips.

Boardwalks to keep our shoes dry, and presumably off fragile plant life.

Creeping Dogwood carpets much of this area. Here it begins overtaking the steps, but it's pretty, eh?

An hour to the top.  I can tell it's going to be good...

Oh yes.

Middle Head peninsula

An artistic shot that Hawk captured!  (Adirondack chairs are apparently a big thing in Cape Breton.)

View from a fun spur off the summit.

Continuing our clockwise loop down, we encountered a lot of moose scat, but no sightings of the animals.  We also finally discovered the washed out parts of trail I'd read about.  They were not bad, however, and the wet spots were easy enough to avoid.  

On both sides of the loop trail we were frequently hiking near streams that formed pretty mini-waterfalls in several places.  The biggest I found was no more than a few feet high, but if the similar Mt. Shaw trail in the Ossipees can be called a waterfall trail with it's cascading river, then I'm counting this as a legit waterfall hike.  You be the judge...

Somewhere around the halfway point in either direction, there is a cross trail that passes a pond.  (Although we never saw a side trail on our way up, so I don't know if it actually is fully passable.)  On this side of the loop, the pond looked close on the map, and I found the trail entrance, so we took the spur out to it.  We were here to sightsee, after all!  It was pretty, and not far out of the way, so definitely worthwhile. 

After Franey, we drove just a bit down the Cabot Trail to the Ingonish Beach area, where we made our way past golf resorts on the peninsula, to a very full, definitely undersized parking lot for Middle Head trail.  We were lucky to find a spot to park, and after making Hawk wait for me yet again (this is his life) so I could get a picture of the lupines with an ocean background, we started hiking for the second time.

On the road to the trailhead, we saw a pair of Bald Eagles take off from an adjacent wetland. They were so majestic!  We hoped to get a photo opp of eagles on Middle Head (rumored to be common there), but alas one never presented itself.

AllTrails describes Middle Head as a "mostly level" interpretive loop, which typically means flat and very easy.  It was neither; at least on the second half.  Certainly the trail wasn't difficult at all, much easier than Franey was, but it was definitely not flat.  (Of course, unless they upgraded it in the past week or so, AllTrails does have it rated as moderate, which I apparently overlooked.)  My expectations factored into my challenge rating at the time, along with the fact that I'd just hiked up & down a mountain, but there was no denying this was a rocky, gently rolling trail, that actually had a couple very small scrambles on the way back.  Perfectly manageable even as a second hike, but it did get me close to my physical limit for one day.

Not to be misunderstood, the trail itself was very nice, on the easy side of moderate (not zero effort), and there were many cool things to see besides the many viewpoints.  It was obvious why this is a popular trail, and I would not be against repeating it if I happened to find myself in the area again.  If the weather was more cooperative…

Apparently NS has a fog problem.  Considering our previous experience with daily periods of fog, we shouldn't have been surprised, but it was nevertheless a little disappointing to hit Middle Head on what seemed like a bluebird day, hoping for an expansive, up close view of the coast, and suddenly everything is fogged in.  At least it parted here and there so we could get a partial view.  And I have to admit, the fog made for some cool photo effects at times.

Remnants of entrance gates to the old Middle Head estate.

Mountain ridge peeks over the fog bank, with cool cloud formations.

Another boardwalk to protect the vegetation.

Just a pile of rocks I found attractive.

Big open point at the end of the trail; great stop for a picnic. Or just enjoying the view.  I'm sure it's impressive when not concealed by fog.

But one benefit of fog with the sea mist was the creation of this neat rainbow!

Some pretty flowers clinging to the side of the cliff.

Swirly ocean waves below.

Beach Rose

Hiking out, the trail solidly earned its "moderate" rating.

But well worth the effort with so many viewpoints. Grateful the fog parted at least some.

What that spot from earlier looks like sans fog!

More of the terrain, not uncommon on a large portion of the trail.

Nature art.

I would have liked to see Ingonish Beach and the Freshwater Lake trail after Middle Head, which were right there on the road out, but Hawk wanted to end the day where we were, not wanting to overdo our activity and burn out.  Unfortunately, there's just never any way to see everything on a vacation.


Hike 29. 6/29 Franey Trail, 5.1 mi, 2:21/2:54 hrs, 1181 ft.  
        & Middle Head Trail, 2.9 mi, 1:19/1:31 hrs, 610 ft.