PEI, Cabot Trail and New Brunswick Road Trip | Summer 2024| Part 3
Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, as taken from the iconic Skyline Trail.
New Brunswick
Alrighty! Let’s keep going. This post is where all the fun photos are.
I landed in Moncton on a long weekend Sunday when no car rental places were open. I decided to take the opportunity to get some SEO work done, since I am learning that I need to dedicate every 2nd-3rd day completely to work when I’m traveling. One does not simply happen to have time for things, you really have to create it.
I had made an offer on a property in Saint John, NB that I wanted to go see, but I am boycotting Air Canada since they unapologetically stranded me in Montreal for 19 hours on a previous trip. So I landed in Moncton and found the cutest place to stay in a great location! I loved it. I made friends with a coffee shop owner who miraculously loaned me his truck to go see something, since he felt sorry for me being trapped without a vehicle for a day.
Cape Enrage Lighthouse, New Brunswick
He recommended a couple of spots and I chose the one he mentioned first. It was a lighthouse, and the day was beautiful. Except for AT the lighthouse. So this is what happens in the maritimes lol. You can be inland and have gorgeous weather, and on the coast it’s foggy and you can’t see anything.
The lines on the left of the image are a zipline. And there were people there zipping! Zipping along into the fog. I can’t say I was overly impressed with this location, but the memory of this man just giving me his truck along with $40 to put in the tank, after knowing me for an hour, will never leave me.
The next day I went to PEI!
I couldn’t quite recall if I’d ever been to PEI. The only time would have been when I was quite young, and on a trip with my parents. I know we went to New Brunswick to see the Bay of Fundy, but I don’t recall if we went to PEI. At that time there was no bridge. My parents told me later that we didn’t take the ferry, so this summer was my official first trip to PEI. I was very excited to drive across the Confederation Bridge!
Did you know it’s free to go to PEI but costs $45 to leave?
Before you cross the bridge, there’s a lighthouse and park you can go to and walk around for a nature break and views of the bridge. Because I had left it a little late in the day already, I didn’t loiter. I high tailed it across the bridge to enjoy the island province.
Prince Edward Island
The Confederation Bridge from Prince Edward Island (PEI)
I was immediately struck by the… pleasantness of PEI. Rolling hills, green and yellow pastures, gentle forests. I had looked for hikes but with a maximum elevation of 200m I wasn’t going scratch that itch here. Would you believe I brought my hammock tent and camping equipment with me to the Maritimes, on the chance that I would do some camping? I was also planning to do some shoots for Hipcamp, the Airbnb of glamping. Anyway, PEI is not a hiking destination 😆
It is, however, a lobster and farming destination!
There were parts that reminded me of Alberta. Mainly the inland parts. You can drive for awhile without seeing the coast, which I somehow didn’t expect. My sense of scale was a bit off with this province. I guess it does have provincial status, so it has to be big enough for you to drive for awhile. Which it is. It’s a very manicured place, as in, no wilderness whatsoever. To that effect it’s a bit European. I arrived in Charlottetown at dinner time and visited an outdoor waterfront food court with buskers and music. The streets were alive with people and activity.
I didn’t stay long, because I wanted to go see some balanced rocks at a beach, and see the north coast Atlantic Ocean and red sand. You won’t see any pictures of these balanced rocks, however, because after driving for an hour to get to Thunder Cove Beach on the other side of the island, it turns out that Hurricane Fiona removed them. My good friend Google didn’t mention that before I went all the way there. Thanks Google. I reviewed the beach to hopefully warn future visitors about this, since the teacup rocks are still the main Google image of the beach.
The following are several photos from the countryside and capital city Charlottetown.
From Thunder Cover Beach I headed back to Moncton. I had a vision to take photos of the Confed Bridge at sunset with the drone. I was hoping the tide was low so I could take a sunset reflection photo in a tidal pool. I had it all planned out. I drove across the bridge, found the pool, got the drone out, got bitten by 40 mosquitos, and do you think the drone would take off? NO! It refused. So there I am at sunset, in position, the sky is getting more and more gorgeous, and the mavic mini is refusing to fly.
<sigh>
So here’s a picture of the drone with the bridge in the background 👀 You can see that it was going to be a good photo right?
Artful shot of a grounded DJI Mavic Mini 3 drone with potential shot in the background.
Yeah, so we’ll have to just imagine what the photo would have looked like. The sun was setting to the left, so it was going to be a sunset, with sun, pink sky, reflection shot of the Confederation Bridge.
Saint John, New Brunswick
The next day it was time to go to Saint John and explore it in the summer! I went to look at a property and realized immediately that it wasn’t a good fit for my vision. It’s good that I went otherwise I might have ended up buying it. I explored the city, I had been in the spring of this year for the eclipse, so now it was time to see how vibrant it was in August.
I checked out their “Area 506” container village, sans sony, which was fun. The next day, however, the tail end of Tropical Storm Debby blew in and we had epic typhoon level rain coming down. It was warm! But very wet. I had signed up to photograph some Hipcamps but it definitely not camping weather so I canceled them. And all I have are rain photos. You’re welcome.
Now for the fun part!
Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia
After Saint John, I thought I would high tail it to the Cabot Trail. I had a few days left before the end of my trip. I had been planning to do the Hipcamp shoots but due to the weather, I aborted, and had more time to go to Nova Scotia. Once I end up living in New Brunswick I will have more time to explore the province, so a higher priority was seeing Cape Breton in the summer. I was interested in seeing the “best view of the Cabot Trail” , as marketed by Cape Smokey, where they have a gondola up the mountain. I got there around 5pm, and they closed at 6:30pm. The cost to get up? $60 🤯🤯🤯🤯
It’s not like I didn’t have $60, but the activities at the top haven’t yet been developed. It’s well marketed, but they’re new to being a summer destination (they’re a ski hill in the winter) so they don’t have anything to do at the top except hike for 30 minutes and rent a canoe on a lake. But then you’d have to hike 30 minutes back and take the gondola down, which I didn’t have enough time for. When I compared it to Grouse Mountain, which costs less, I might add, it was a no brainer. I will return once they have more amenities at the peak. Perhaps a coffee shop and bike rentals (coming soon apparently). I would also come earlier in the day and potentially just hike up the mountain.
I hadn’t arranged a place to stay because I wasn’t sure how far I’d make it on the trail.
And guess what day it was again. You got it, Saturday night, peak season on a high traffic tourist route. My parents and the Cape Breton info centre had advised me that it was easy enough to find places to stay though, so I wasn’t totally just winging it. As I made my way towards Ingonish, I saw the cutest little cabins in the world, next to the water, and as I passed them there was a vacancy sign.
I forgot to mention that it was the peak Perseids meteor shower night, so I was deliberately looking for a dark sky location. And I found it! I got the furthest cabin from the road, closest to the water. It was a short hike to get in, and let’s just say it was rustic. No toilet, no electricity, no problem! After I got settled I set about finding a hike nearby and I think I found one of the most scenic places on the Cabot Trail.
Check out a gallery of images from my hike around the Middle Head Hiking Trail and Keltic Lodge.
From there the sky was getting super pink and I wanted to check out a nearby beach! I considered flying the drone but since I was now inside the park, drones weren’t allowed. The sky was pinkest just after sunset, when I got to Ingonish Beach. All I can say is “wow”. Pinky McPinkerson.
And it didn’t end there! The endless pink sky continued until I got back to my cabin by the water. There were reflections so I tried to take some photos of the cabins with the pink sky reflected in the tidal water. There was nowhere to pull over so I had to park a ways away and hike over to a place where there was literally no shoulder on a curvy road with traffic zipping along here and there. Not ideal. Here’s the result. It’s not exactly what I wanted, but you get the idea.
Later that evening I took a few dark sky shots with meteors and the Milky Way. Oh yes, and some purple northern lights to add some extra sparkle. It was a warm night and I spoke with the host for awhile about his life on Cape Breton and raising his family there. He encouraged me to return in the fall so I can see the magnificent colours, and you know, I think I will do just that. When? I don’t know. But I do know I will be back.
Day two of the Cabot trail started with me seeking coffee, as most mornings start. I continued around the trail, stopping occasionally to see lighthouses, gift shops and rocky shorelines. There was even a part with some Hoodoos! There was construction so I didn’t stop there, so this is my “taken while driving” photo that I always advise people not to do.
It’s worth noting, though you can clearly see, that weather was magnificent here. No signs of a tropical storm or any precipitation at all. Leaving Saint John was clearly a good decision! I marked a few short hikes to go on, and went there. It’s also worth noting that my park pass was only 24 hours. And as I had entered at 4pm the day before, at the start of my Middle Head Trail hike, I had to exit by 4pm the following day.
It was hot, like close to 30, so hiking wasn’t the most fun anyway, and also, sorry Cape Breton, the hikes weren’t all that interesting. Driving around in the Highlands wasn’t as exciting as the tourism bureau would have you believe. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by BC (you think?) but there were a lot of forested valleys with no water to speak of, and I do like me some lakes here and there.
I came across an odd place, an abandoned resort. I took some photos and feel like they belong in an exhibit somewhere. What happened to this place? Why was it abandoned? I have questions.
After that I attempted a waterfall hike, but because it was mid August, there was barely any water to speak of. I should almost just post a picture of the postcard I bought so you can see what it looks like with actual water. But anyway, I met some nice people there but otherwise, wasn’t overly impressed with the waterfall.
There was one more hike to go on that was the quintessential Cape Breton view, the Skyline Trail. That’s the picture at the top of this post. I almost didn’t go on the hike because I wasn’t sure if I had enough time! But I did go, and it was definitely worth it. If you’re going to go on one hike it should be that one. I stopped at every single viewpoint pullout and none of them were photo-worthy, so I was a bit skeptical. But I’d seen the pictures, in fact it is THE photo they use to market Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail to the world.
So I went. Let me know what you think of the views.
A multi image pano of the Cabot Trail, taken from the Skyline Trail. Worth it!!!!
And that was it! I wrapped the hike by 3:30 and was out of the park shortly after, making my 4pm exit deadline.
Leaving the Cabot Trail, heading south on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
I considered stopping along the way but had done SO MUCH DRIVING for the past two days, I decided what’s a few more hours. I booked it back to Moncton where I stayed again at my favourite boutique hotel downtown, who had space for me for two nights. I walked and worked the entire next day, with no driving.
JUST KIDDING!
Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick
I forgot I went to go see Hopewell Rocks. I meant to go there on day one, with the guy’s truck, but I had run out of time and didn’t get a chance to stop. As it turns out, going there the night before I left was the best possible decision. I went after hours, no one seemed to notice or care that I entered the park while everyone else was leaving. I hurried to the rocks with my camera and tripod. The sun had already set and it was a very dark walk through the forest to get there.
I also wanted the water level to be at a specific level. Not too high and not too low. I had checked the tide charts to see when the optimal time would be. Going after hours meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about people being in my shots.
Knowing I had to return as well, and it was only getting darker, I made sure to get the shots I needed quickly. I took several long exposure shots from different angles, before returning to the car and city.
Fun fact: there’s a retreat centre called Hope Wellness Retreat (hehe) located nearby the Hopewell Rocks. Clearly I will have to visit this place as well, once I’m stationed out east.
Another fun fact: because this photos was a long exposure taken without a filter, the aperture was small, and every speck of dust known to man, lives on my sensor, and had to be painstakingly photoshopped out of the above shot.
I think that concludes my Maritime summer tour of 2024. Stay tuned for part four, the final post in my summer adventure series.
