It was a driving day, a walking day, and a fighting the wind day. I started by repeating a few kilometers of road backwards, looping from Sydney past North Sydney, then heading towards the Cabot Trail. I skipped a bit of driving by taking the Englishtown cable ferry to cross St. Ann's Harbour.
I joined the Cabot Trail, entered Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and started climbing mountains. The first big one was Smokey. I looked ahead to see the road hanging on the side of the mountain, high above, a tiny ribbon. It was a rather slow climb since I was one of several cars following three large trucks up that winding and steep hill. My speed? It ranged from 10 to 20 miles an hour. The view from the top was fabulous.
Ah, time to walk. I headed out Middle Head, a wonderful walk out a very narrow point of land. It was on that walk when I discovered that the prediction of 50 kph winds was real. The further I walked, the stronger the wind became, It was pretty much an out-and-back walk, with a very small loop at the very end. As I started around that loop I started to feel like I was going to get blown over. Instead of completing that small circle I reversed direction.
I'm traveling with both a monopod and a tripod, and it is the monopod that has been accompanying me on my hikes. Yup, that's what I had with me on Middle Head. It helped, but the tripod would have been a better choice. Yes, I did switch to the more stable 3-legged support a little later in the day. By that time the wind was so strong that while I used the tripod I felt like I had to keep a firm hand on the camera and tripod so they wouldn't blow away.
After Middle Head I drove and stopped, drove and stopped. The wind seemed to get stronger and stronger. I couldn't let it stop me from playing with my camera though.Hey, it's Rover. I really wanted to bounce down the Middle Head trail with Denise, but I rode in the camera pack all day. I figured out to sneak the zipper open enough so I could see all of the beauty around us. I really think I would have been blown into the ocean if I tried to walk. Denise was having trouble staying standing at some points during the day, and she weighs more than I do!
My last stop before finding my home for the night was Dingwall. And then, I climbed over one more mountain before rolling into the Highland Breeze B&B.
Interesting.
Anna - my B&B hostess - provides food twice. There's the normal breakfast, and there is also dessert and conversation in the evening. She made a very tasty cake, served topped with ice cream, a nice treat.
It was an evening of interesting exchanges between Anna, the other guests here, and three more people staying at a B&B down the road because Hghland Breeze was already full when they called for reservations. Anna invited them to stop by, and they did.
