The Cabot and Ceilidh Trails

We woke up in a beautiful place but it was still raining. The visibility was better than yesterday and the fog was gone so we continued along the trail stopping at as many of the lookout points as we could. There were so many times where the view was breathtaking (even in the rain) but there was just nowhere to stop. As we drove higher and higher we were into the clouds and could only see the shapes of the steep cliffs above and below the road. It's too bad that we didn't have a better day but at the same time this had a beauty of its own and it reminded me of hiking in the clouds. Again it reminded us of how tiny we are compared to the world we live in. As the day progressed the rain stopped and we took the dogs for a walk at MacIntosh Brook where the original land owner had donated his land to the park provided that the park build and maintain bothran (a small thatched roof building that was traditionally used by shepherds in Scotland Highlands in the summers). Now it's called The Lone Shieling and there is a plaque with information about the place. It was a neat spot to check out and the trails made me wish we had more time to explore. We will definitely come back to this place again although we both admit that we can't imagine driving the windy, steep, narrow road with any traffic behind us and I bet this is a hot spot in the summer. I'm glad we are here now while there are few other vehicles to share the road with. We were about to leave the coast when we decided to take the Ceilidh Trail that continues along the coast. One of the first things we noticed was the amazing hiking trails here, we are definitely coming back here one day! We turned into Glenora Distillery but arrived just as they were about to close so we continued on. We weren't paying attention to the maps and were completely caught off guard when we arrived back at the roundabout that we had been on when we first entered Cape Breton. It was sad to leave this beautiful place and there is so much left for us to explore here. We had originally intended to head to Sydney next and from there take a ferry to Newfoundland. Unfortunately we need to be back in Ontario on a certain date and have to cut this portion of the trip short. Technically there is still time but that would mean rushing everything for the next ten days. We will come back! Back on the mainland we stayed on the TransCanada highway for a little bit and actually made it back to New Glasgow where we are calling it quits for the day. It has been a long day and Michael has done all of the driving in the past few days. I think tomorrow I need to take a turn. Good night world!