Posted by Seth on July 17, 2011 under Trip Reports | 
There was brief mention of some excellent hiking trails near Mabou, Nova Scotia in our guide book. Given the other benefits of staying there – namely a couple hotel options and some awesome live music options – the hiking was something of an afterthought. But the guidebook said it was there and not really a problem so we took a chance on that.
When I started searching online for more details and was coming up rather empty I should’ve taken that as a bit of a warning that maybe the hiking wasn’t really all the guide book had led me to believe, but I’m foolish like that and I pressed on. After all, with a recommendation like this, one of the few references I could find, why wouldn’t you try?
The community has constructed an excellent trail system throughout the Mabou Highlands (there is a map of the trail network at the trailhead). Several of the trails follow the coastline and up along the highlands, affording spectacular views.
Maybe the directions to the trail head should’ve tipped me off. They involve heading 4-5km down a road until you come across a dirt road on the right and then taking that for several more kilometers until you get to the small parking area that represents the trail head. Really it was the part that they weren’t particularly specific that I found disconcerting, but a good hiking trail should be out of the way, I figured, so these instructions weren’t all that bad, right?
And it turns out that the hiking was mostly all that. The views were phenomenal once the fog lifted, which was pretty much as we were finishing the hike and well after we had made it back down from the look-outs. But what we didn’t realize until we finished our day of hiking is that the trails are all closed.
Whoopsie.
The trail head closest to town where we parked had the maps and the markers on display but not the notice that the trails were closed. Only when we made it to the other end of the trail was there any indication that we probably shouldn’t have been there.
Okay, maybe there was one other indication. The "excellent trail system" was barely maintained, showing no signs of any recent management activity. There were points where it came quite close to petering out and even where the trail was rather obviously marked it was also rather overgrown with underbrush. It was most certainly not easy hiking, though it also wasn’t too strenuous. Just a bit hard to stay on track at times.
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| Yes, that’s the trail in the middle. A machete might’ve been useful. |
The views are, to be certain, spectacular. Even with the limited visibility we got to see some stunning vistas. And, except for the part where I slipped off part of the trail and bruised and scraped myself up pretty good, the paths were passable, though not immaculately groomed. Of course, that makes a bit of sense given that the trails are closed.
We weren’t the only folks who made the mistake of hiking the closed trails. In log books scattered along the paths we noticed a few other folks who had been out there recently, enjoying the Mabou Highlands trail network. A few of them had comments similar to ours, "We didn’t know the trails were closed."
The views definitely made the hike worthwhile. That the trail system is apparently closed makes it a bit hard to recommend it as a destination. Hopefully it’ll be open (officially) again soon.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
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Posted by Seth on July 16, 2011 under Hotel, Review, Trip Reports |
Booking a hotel in a town of only 1,300 residents can be a challenge. Even in Mabou, Nova Scotia, Canada, where the economy is heavily dependent on tourism dollars, the choices are quite limited. There are basically three hotels, two restaurants, a grocery and a gas station, as well as some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever see. Still, with limited choices or competition chances of finding a stand-out hotel are pretty low. It turns out we got lucky with our stay at the Mabou River Inn. It was top notch.
The hotel doubles as the local pizza shop (so I guess three restaurants in town, not two) and check-in was handled at the pizza counter. OK, a bit interesting, but I’ve had worse. Like most of the other small properties we stayed at on this trip check-in was a matter of giving my name and being handed a key. No paperwork, credit card imprint or other formalities. I like that relaxed vibe. Certainly helps me stay in vacation mode.
The rooms are newly renovated for 2011 and they’re pretty darn impressive. Ours came with a desk and seating area, along with the king bed. As you can see from the photo below there was quite a bit of space available.
Similarly the bathroom was spacious and reasonably well appointed. No 300 thread count Egyptian cotton towels, to be sure, but good water pressure and sufficient space in there to hang out our stinky hiking clothes to air out. Not bad at all.
A continental breakfast in the morning is included in the room price (we paid ~$135/night), with cereals and fruits along with fresh homemade biscuits and muffins. Additional breakfast choices – eggs, pancakes, etc. – were also available at quite reasonable prices.
Free WiFi is included in the room rate as well. Even better is that the coverage reaches out onto the spacious deck and lawn they have. I love being able to relax outside with a cold beer and still get my blog posts written or research the next location on the travel itinerary. Very nicely done.
The other advantage that the Mabou River Inn has is the location. The "downtown" area of Mabou is not large by any stretch so only being a 10 minute walk to the other end of town might not seem like that amazing a feat. But at least one of the hotel options is much farther afield. After a night of drinking and music at the Red Shoe Inn I was not in much of a condition to be driving on narrow, winding roads with forest or sea on the sides. Definitely much better to be able to easily stumble back to the hotel room for a restful night’s sleep.
Plus, along the walk to and from the other side of town you get great views like this one:
Overall it is quite easy to see why spending a few nights in the Mabou area is a good idea if you’re touring Cape Breton. And if you’re in the area the Mabou River Inn is the best of the hotel properties available, especially with the recent renovations.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
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Posted by Seth on July 8, 2011 under Trip Reports |
Given my penchant for picking different routes to get between cities it should not come as much of a surprise that I took full advantage of the opportunities presented to us during our Canadian Maritimes adventures. Driving the Confederation Bridge on the way in to Prince Edward Island was a blast. Taking the ferry to get off the island gave us both a different ride and also left us closer to our ultimate destination in Cape Breton. It was a no brainer. So cruise the Northumberland Straits we did, on the mv Confederation, one of the Northumberland Ferries ships sailing between Wood Islands, PEI and Caribou, Nova Scotia.
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We arrived at the terminal to a bit of a surprise: our reservation was apparently canceled. Only a minor bit of panic set in as I was fiddling with my email to find the confirmation details when the agent found a second reservation that was intact. Phew. It was now time to drive down into the belly of the beast.
Like most of the mornings we spent in the region, this one was fogged in pretty badly. Every 3-4 minutes the ships horn let off a long, loud blast warning any other boats in the area. It also startled everyone who was on the deck hoping the fog would clear for some decent views during the crossing.
The crossing was only about a hour long and the fog did clear about 45 minutes into the trip, leaving us with some phenomenal views for the arrival into Nova Scotia.
And then it was back down into the hold. Back into our car and back on the road again. We had another few hundred kilometers to cover, an awesome friend to meet and we needed to get to Mabou in time for dinner and some music. Just the first part of a very full day but a great ride, even with the fog. The views coming into Nova Scotia certainly set us up for what was to be five amazing days of scenery.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
Posted by Seth on July 6, 2011 under Trip Reports |
Historically Cape Breton, Nova Scotia has been known for a number of different things. Some of these industries – namely coal and fishing – are dying, taking away much needed money from the community and the population reflects this change as many youth who can are fleeing the region. But there is another industry that survives and thrives to some extent in the area: music.
Born out of a mix of Celtic, Scottish and Acadian influences, the Cape Breton musical style is slightly difficult to pin down as anything but its own. But the traditions surrounding the music are easy to find just about anywhere on the island as the locals and tourists alike celebrate their cultural heritage. Generally it starts with a fiddle and a piano. Add in some drums or a guitar if you wish. And then kick back, relax and enjoy the show. Or, if you’re feeling particularly bold, join in the celebration. That’s what we did!
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| Taking in the show at The Red Shoe in Mabou, Nova Scotia. |
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| Driving the Ceildh Trail on Cape Breton |
The performances, locally known as Ceilidhs (kay’-leeds), range from a couple friends gathering in song and dance to larger performances put on in pubs or halls around the island. The western side of the island south of the much more famous Cape Breton trail is known as the Ceilidh Trail, with every town along the way hosting music at least one night a week and some towns much more often (especially when the tourists show up).
Each of our four nights in the region included some sort of music. On our first night in Mabou we ended up at The Red Shoe along with what appeared to be pretty much everyone else in town. The crowd was split about 50/50 between locals and tourists, most of whom were also staying at the same hotel we were. We were all there for the same reason and soon enough everyone, local or visitor, was clapping or dancing along like old friends.
At one point during the set I moved to a different seat to get a better angle for some photos. No sooner than I was seated did I find myself engaged in conversation with Frank, one of the local residents. Over the course of our brief conversation we discussed a number of topics but the most important was the weekly town square dance that was happening the following night. After the great music at this show and the warm hospitality shown to us it was pretty much a certainty that we’d be there.
The square dance was much, much,much different than the last one I attended. For one thing, I was there voluntarily rather than because it was the evening entertainment at summer camp. For another thing, it was not a called dance. It seemed that everyone else more or less knew what they were doing and we most definitely did not. Of course, that didn’t really stop us and after watching for about 20 minutes (and getting over the fact that we were dead in the middle of a roughly 40 year age gap amongst the other attendees) Linnea and I rose to the challenge and joined the fray.
I’d like to think that I showed a bit of rhythm and some ability to pick up the dance steps. During our second go of it one of the women I ended up paired with even complimented me on picking it up so quickly. I’m pretty sure she was just being polite. Still, we managed to make it out of there without causing an international incident or embarrassing ourselves too much. And we had a lot of fun, too.
Each "set" is actually three dances in one. The first is relatively simple except that instead of dancing with your partner you get to meet someone new. I love this aspect of the dance except that it meant the very first thing I did was start a dance with absolutely no knowledge of what I was doing and with a partner who clearly did. Fortunately she was friendly and I was picking it up in no time. The second dance adds a few more moves to the routine and the third dance adds even more, building up to a bit of a frenzy at the finale.
Best of all, we saw Frank again, as he promised. We got to thank him for being such a welcoming host and making sure that we saw a part of the island life that perseveres, even in the face of a shrinking economy and population base.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
