For a 250 mile ride, we spent a lot of time hemming and hawing. Originally, we thought that it might take a couple of days, so we brought along our tent camping gear and the full sets of bike cases and bags--and we spent an afternoon at camp sorting and packing. Last evening, we thought about it once more and finally decided that if it did take us more than a day, there were a large number of motels and B&Bs on the trail and a night indoors might be a treat. So, all we did was pack a change of clothes and toiletries and we were ready to go.
The other consideration that we spent a lot of time discussing was which way to travel the trail. Since it is a circular route, do we go clockwise or counterclockwise? Our first thought was to do it clockwise. Most of the guides describe the trail in that direction and when you go clockwise, you are mostly on the inside lane. Nearly everyone we met offered an opinion and they were all different.
Finally, we were talking with one of the park staff at Whycocomagh Provincial Park. He had spend nearly 30 years working for the Dept. of Conservation, traveling on the trail nearly daily. His recommendation was counter-clockwise as the views were better from the outside. So, we went for counter-clockwise.
The day started cloudy, but the forecast was good. We moved Speedy and the trailer into a lower parking lot where we could leave overnight without charge, if necessary, and headed north on Trans-Canada 105. It was back to the Englishtown ferry and onto the Cabot Trail.
View Cabot Trail in a larger map
The ride lived up to its reputation. The road was good as it ran along the St. Ann's Bay from the ferry. It was open and fairly flat as we rode up past Wreck Cove until it turned uphill at Cape Smokey. There the road twisted up and down right along the coast. As we were heading downhill to a switchback bridge at the bottom, we could see a truck towing a large, 30ft+ travel trailer down the steep hill on the other side. Smoke was billowing from the trailer and we choked on the burned brake odor as we when past it just beyond the bridge.
The road turned inland between Smokey Mountain and Cape Smokey, climbing to about 920 ft before dropping along the coast to Ingonish Harbour. We stopped for coffee and a scone in Ingonish.
The road followed the coast line most the way to Neil's Harbour, with great views and riding all the way. We stopped at the Chowder House for lunch--chowder, of course, Clam Chowder for Ellen, Seafood Chowder for me. It was delicious.
When we came out, there was another BMW 1150, parked next to our bikes. It belonged to a rider who had come up from New Jersey with a group, mostly Harleys, to ride the trail. Since he was to only BMW, he had to park in the BMW section.
From Neil's Harbour, it was a off on a diversion to White Point, a picturesque little harbor at the northeast corner of Cape Breton Island. From there we wound along the coast on a rather bumpy back road to the Cabot Trail where it was only a couple of km to the 18 mile road to Bay St. Lawrence and Meat Cove. "One has to go to Meat Cove". It is the end of the road at the top of Cape Breton.
The road goes up and down short hills and twisted along the coast until it turned inland to cross the Cape North peninsula to Bay St. Lawerence. From there it turned west and got bumpier until it turned to dirt--steep dirt. There was about 8km of dirt road to Meat Cove, with some really steep hills along the way, a new challenge for Ellen and she handled it well. They were the steepest unpaved roads that I've been on outside of New Zealand, where it doesn't snow.
We finally made it to Meat Cove and the Meat Cove campground and chowder house on a bluff overlooking the cove. There were already two BMWs there ahead of us, an R1200GS and a new F650GS. They were ridden by a couple from Quebec, who were having lunch. As we had just had chowder, I settled for an iced tea and Ellen had a bag of ice to cool her sore thumbs.
The view was worth the ride out, but one of the more amazing things out there was the large Class A motorhome, perched on the edge of the bluff in the campground. We were amazed that they come out on that road and sure glad we didn't meet it going the other way.
It was then back to the main Cabot Trail, riding the steep twisty dirt and bumpy road the other way. As always, it seemed quicker on the way out as we knew what to expect, but the diversion to Meat Cove probably took about a quarter of the time we spent on the entire ride.
The Cabot Trail headed inland towards the west coast of cape Breton. As it entered the National Park, it became wide and smooth and turned into the ride that gets raved about. The interior of the Cape Breton Highlands has these huge furrows in it, sort of like dry fiords, so the road twists and turns climbing to nearly 1400 ft before swooping down to the coast to nearly sea level at Pleasant Bay--where we stopped for a sorely needed coffee (and a piece of cheescake) at a seaside cafe. It was just a taste for the next section of road.
It climbs 1000 ft in 2 miles through about a half dozen switchbacks, with the most stunning views. From there it continued to climb inland to about 1500 ft before taking a less radical twisty road for a two mile drop back down to the coast. It was a bit easier to look at the equally stunning views coming down.
The road at this point runs along the coast at about 300 ft above the water with steep hills on the inside. We were still inside the National Park and passed the spectacularly located campground at Corney Brook. If we ever get back to camp, this looks like the place to stay, right out on the edge of the water.
The trail leaves the park at Chéticamp and we were back in civilization. It is the major town in this part of Cape Breton and we were glad to see it, as the yellow low fuel light was on and we still had about 75 miles to go. The not so good part was that we were back on provincial roads. The Trail continued along the coast through farm land rather than forest to Margaree Harbour where it turned inland and followed the Margaree River to Margaree Forks. The Cabot Trail heads east here, but we continued south as we were going back to Whycocomagh.
This was a really pleasant ride along good road, even though we were getting rather weary-- at least until we turned off onto route 395, the road to Whycocomagh. The last 25 miles were rutted and lumpy and slow, and the batteries on the bike to bike intercoms ran down, so we couldn't communicate. Finally, at just about 7 pm, we reached Whycocomagh and stopped at just about the only restaurant in town for dinner--worst fried clams ever. Can you believe that they would serve clam strips in Nova Scotia, known for its seafood?
It was a great ride, worth the trip. It took us 10 hours 20 minutes; we rode 240 miles, ascended (and descended) 16,500 ft, rode 16 km of steep twisty dirt and had a great time.
And we have photos!
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