Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Yesterday was a busy day. In the morning we hiked the 7.4 km (4.6 mile) Franey Trail, and in the afternoon we drove 158 kms (98 miles) to Louisbourg.

Franey Trail

This is a 7.4 km hike that takes you above the village of Ingonish and overlooks the Clyburn Valley. It's a pretty steep hike to get up there, and then a gradual decline around the other side. We rate this trail a 7.0 out of 10.

Ingonish (day 3)

We relaxed most of the day yesterday. We have one more hike we want to complete, but it has a few viewpoints and it was foggy and drizzly all day yesterday so we are going to do it this morning.

We finally saw a moose!

We hiked a 14 km (8.8 mile) trail yesterday and right when we had to turn around at the end of the trail we spotted a moose. We almost missed her, even though she was less than 50 feet away.

Branch Pond Look-off Trail

This a fairly long hike, at 7.0 kms one way. So it's 14.0 kms (8.8 miles) return. It follows an old fire access road that used to go all the way to Lake of Islands, which was 12.5 kms one way, but that section is no longer maintained and we found it mostly overgrown. We give this trail a 6.5 out of 10.

Ingonish, Cape Breton Island

We did four separate trails yesterday, for a total of 11.5 kms (7.1 miles). We have now done 57.7 kms (35.8 miles) of our 75 km (46.5 mile) hiking goal!

Broad Cove Mountain Trail

This 2.3 km (1.4 mile) trail goes through the forest up the side of the mountain, with a nice lookoff at the top. Fairly steep in sections, but some stairs are built into the trail. A nice view at the top, we give this trail a 6.5 out of 10.

Warren Lake Trail

This is a 4.7 km (2.9 mile) loop around Warren Lake. It's a pretty trail, and we really enjoyed this hike. We give this trail a 7.5 out of 10.

Jack Pine Trail

This 2.3 km (1.4 mile) trail loops through one of the few jack pine forests in the park. There are some interpretive signs along the trail. Again, not a bad trail, but nothing special. A couple of view points make it interesting. However, we give this trail a 5.0 out of 10.

Jigging Cove Trail

This trail goes around a small lake, with another section that goes to the coast and back. We did the other section during the coastal trail earlier on, so this just details the 2.2 km (1.4 mile) hike around the lake. Not  a bad walk, but nothing special. we give this trail a 5.5 out of 10.

Neil's Harbour, Cape Breton Island

Yesterday morning, we left Bay St. Lawrence and had breakfast at Cabot Landing day use park. After that, we headed just past the village of Neil's Harbour to hike the Coastal Trail.

Coastal Trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Yesterday we did the Coastal Trail. It's an 11.3 km (7 mile) hike that follows the coast south of Neil's Harbour. It's a decent hike, and we rate it a 7.0 out of 10.

Bay St. Lawrence, Cape Breton Island

There are several hiking trails leading out of the Meat Cove area, and we wanted to do one of them before we left. The girl running the campground suggested the Mountain Trail, and she said we were welcome to leave Sherman where he was while we did the hike. We left Whiskey behind to guard Sherman!

Meat Cove, Cape Breton Island

We had a great day yesterday. The sun was shining pretty much all day, and although the temperature never got much above 12C (55F), the nice bright sun made up for it.

Lone Shieling Trail

Another short walk, not really a hike at all. And with a full service washroom facility in the middle of the short trail, this one is almost not worth stopping at. We give this trail a 2.5 out of 10.