The first day Cape Breton Highlands National Park was long. We could not help admiring the stunning landscapes until it got completely dark. We should admit, nothing distracts you from unity with nature.
Since cellular service is not available, your phone can come in handy only as a photo camera.
We realized that we were outside the park when the lights of civilization appeared in the distance. We had to find a place to stay overnight. Following steep bands of the Cabot Trail, we looked at the road signs.
We stopped in The Mountain View Motel & Cottages with a large parking lot which we could not miss in the darkness.
Address: 23659 Cabot Trail Road, Pleasant Bay, NS B0E 2P0
The high season had not started yet, so there was a room left for us.
There was another reason why we wanted to see as much as possible on the first day. The weather forecast promised fog the following day.
That time, meteorologists were right. In the morning we saw a solid wall of fog around the motel.
Colibri in Nova Scotia
Sometimes traveling, quite accidentally you can break your stereotypes. For some reason, we believed that hummingbirds live in warm countries. This stereotype was destroyed at breakfast in the motel.
We were sitting near the window “enjoying” the rapidly descending fog. Suddenly, on the other side of the window, a small bird flew into the bird feeder and started its “breakfast” with its microscopic beak. We had never seen a hummingbird so close before. We did not believe it at first, but the waitress confirmed it. After checking in Google, we realized that we were half right.
Hummingbirds hibernate in the Caribbean, but in the spring they fly to North America, reaching as far as the Yukon and Alaska.
Unexpected end of the trip to Cape Breton Highlands National Park
I do not wish to anyone to be a passenger in a car on a foggy wandering serpentine road. The drivers may have another opinion though.
After breakfast, while packing our stuff in the car, we understood the visit to Cape Breton Highlands National Park was over. Because of the fog, we could not see the reverse, north-eastern side of the park. This fact saddened us a bit.
We knew we would definitely come back here.
In the meantime, we continued to cut the fog on the sharp bends. It was around 50 kilometers of driving but for me, it felt like 100. We made a couple of stops to take some pictures of foggy Cape Breton. All the pictures were like twins, similar to the photo above.
Lighthouse map of Nova Scotia, bookmobile, and school bus
From now on our goal was simply to follow Cabot Trail going around Cape Breton Island. As a plan B, we had a lighthouse map of Nova Scotia.
There are 150 operating lighthouses in Nova Scotia.
We picked the closest one on our way.
On the way we met a couple of remarkable objects, that proved how much Canada cares about education even in the most remote and sparsely populated areas.
The lighthouse we wanted to visit was no longer operating. There was a small museum in it, which was closed.
Clucking Hen Cafe on Cape Breton Island
If you ever want to visit the north-eastern part of Cape Breton Island, then we recommend to drop by at Clucking Hen Cafe.
Website: https://www.cbisland.com/things-to-do/the-clucking-hen-cafe-bakery/
Address: 45073 Cabot Trail, Englishtown, NS B0C 1H0
We stopped by there to have lunch. It is conveniently located near the highway.
Right at the entrance, you find yourself in “hen kingdom”. Toys on the shelves, paintings, souvenirs, kitchen cookware… everything here is associated with hens.
In addition to the funny interior, we will always remember the best homemade cinnamon rolls we have ever eaten with a huge cappuccino. The rolls were so good that we bought one more.
We thanked the lovely hostess for the delicious lunch and a little talked to her. We learned that nearby there is an island with puffins. There are special watching boat tours. Unfortunately, the weather forecast did not promise anything good in the nearest future.
Visiting the “bird” island had to be postponed for an indefinite period.
Lobster fishermen
The day before we ate lobster for dinner. The following day we had an opportunity to see lobster fishermen in action.
The season began, and the bay teemed with fishing activity.
The fog lifted
The fog was slowly disappearing and at the end of the day, we could see the outlines of the north-eastern coast of the island of Cape Breton.
This post is part of our first long trip to the Canadian Maritimes. You can read other articles from that trip:
New Brunswick | Prince Edward Island | Nova Scotia – Day 1 | Nova Scotia – Day 3