There's a sound that I hear as I wake up this morning...it's the sound of raindrops hitting the tent...it's yet another rainy day. I will say that my tent has done a magnificent job in the elements. I have an REI "Base Camp 4", and it has been absolutely dry inside despite numerous downpours (like this morning).
Despite the rain, I'm able to brew up a pot of coffee...something to enjoy while packing up for today's drive to Cape Breton.
It's only 144 miles or so, but the "Cabot Trail" is known for it's mountain climbs, sheer drops and "roller coaster-like" drops. Yes...my vertigo is a factor, but I'm more worried about load. We're way over twice the load capacity of the Escape, and I'm concerned about getting over those steep hills.
Around 10:00AM, we set out...first, a stop at a local meat market (disappointing with everything frozen). Then on to Wal Mart, where Ed picks up one of those plastic pads that you use while gardening...those picnic benches are mighty hard. One last stop at the Provincial Liquor Store for beer, and we're on our way.
The fist half hour or so from Antigonish to the Cape Breton Causeway is pretty uneventful. We do stop right before the causeway to pick up a lobster...lobster season closed a week ago in Antigonish, so the pickings have been scarce indeed. So...I'm happy to grab a 3.5 lb. "behemoth" for tonight's dinner.
Once in Cape Breton, the Garmin guides us inland...not as scenic as the coastal drive, but you can't see anything through the fog and rain anyway. About twenty-five miles or so from Cheticamp, we're back on the coastal road for some magnificent views as the rain slows and the fog lifts.
At the Cheticamp campground, we manage to find a good spot, and I'm actually able to back the camper in nicely. A the entrance to the Park, we again run into Ed's poet friend, Dan...what a coincidence!
We're fortunate in that the rain holds off while we set up camp...then enjoy a beer or two as our reward. Dan stops by for a beer and stays for dinner...leftover stir-fry for them and the "behemoth" for me. This lobster is so big that my "cracker" is useless against the huge claws. I actually have to use a wood log-splitter to get them cracked...but it's worth it...an excellent lobster!
Dan heads off after dinner, and Ed and I work on trying to get the All-Star game...but all we can find are updates, rather than the actual game.
By 10:00M, I'm packing it in...Ed's doing some reading and journal entries.
Another successful day.
Ed's Sidebar, Day 28:
Misc...
The Minas Basin (a bay off the Bay of Fundy) is a sort of 'ground zero' for the collision of three continental components that form Nova Scotia. Near Five Islands can be found 240 million years of the history of these on-going collisions. Beginning with sand-dune stone associated with Morocco, as I recall, there is a sequence of abrupt changes to rock formations in the cliffs, which have been tilted sideway, bent and twisted. From this we could easily see that the dunes were succeeded by sea floor, then volcanoes, then sea floor again, and finally, glaciation and modern deposits. In a two mile hike, two hundred forty million is revealed in one continuous set of layers, turned sideways due to the continental collisions. That is, unless you think the world is 6,000 years old, and people never landed on the moon.
Bill wants to know how many islands are at Five Islands. And why are rocks hard?
No comments:
Post a Comment