Day 17 – Baddeck, NS (Day 2)

The weather was perfect for exploring today. It was sunny with temperatures in the low 70s.

The Route
Cabot Trail runs along TCH-105 south of Baddeck for a few kilometers. It passes our campground. We drove the entire Trail and returned home 205 miles later.

Comments
The scenery was breathtaking because of the rugged coastline and spectacular ocean views.

We were surprised by the "highlands". We imagined terrain like the Scottish moors, but found rugged, densely forested mountains.

The surface condition of this "scenic roadway" was unpredictable. It ranged from wide and smooth to narrow and roughly patched.

There are many steep ascents and descents with sharp curves along the Trail. This is not a route for class-A motor homes or for camping trailers.

We took more than 130 pictures in a futile attempt to capture the experience. A few follow.

Along the Way

Here we go up the eastern coastline!

Huh?
English, French and Gaelic are common here.

A steep climb up Smokey Mountain

Cape Smokey

Ingonish Harbor

Neil's Harbor

Gulls line-up at
Neil's Harbor Point

Moose along the Aspy River

Views along western coastline

French Mountain

Near Cap Rouge
That's quite a road ahead.

Cheticamp was the largest town
on the Cabot Trail

Evening
We had a delightful visit with Neil & Nancy McCallum in the campground. They are Airstreamers from Port Stanley, Ontario. Nancy gave us a tour of their 25' Classic and Neil shared some of his trailer tips.

Tomorrow
We hope to see the Fortress of Louisbourg and the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck.