The Acadian side of things......

I won't refer to the map today but it is helpful in getting an idea about the history of this beautiful place.    Nova Scotia , New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island were originally French (Acadian) along with Maine in the 1600-1700.    They left France to find peace from all the wars with Britain and settled throughout this region.    The British also came, mostly Scottish (gaelic).    The western part of Cape Breton Island is predominately French, with Acadian culture dominating and dependence on the sea for their livelihood.     In the southern part, Margaree Valley (near us) is a beautiful place of rolling hills, lakes and forests....this is the Scottish/British section and agriculture is dominant.   The Eastern and Northern section is the Scottish Highlands......people who have been to Scotland say this area is just like it.    The music, the food and the crafts reflect this heritage.   

We wandered on some back roads on Monday and happened upon this farm which advertised a yarn shop.    We drove up the long farm road to find a small farmhouse, some sheep and this building for housing farm equipment

and the delightful yarn shop.    The owner, in her 30's came down from the loft, knitting as she walked down the stairs.   She said the farm had been in the family for over 200 years.    The yarns were lovely as were the knitted/felted items.    Of course, I had to walk away with something so picked up one of the colorful hanks of yarn to the left of the window for some wool sox. 

 Crafts are a big industry on the island and rug hooking among the Acadian French is proudly displayed  and sold.   I picked up two small pieces to use as coasters in the motorhome in the seaside community of Cheticamp.   

On Wednesday, we headed out for a recommended hike on the Western side (the Acadian side) of the island.   The coastline is rounder and less rugged ..... the body of water is the St Lawrence Sea and is a popular whale watching area.  

We chose Skyline as it is considered "the premier hiking trail in Nova Scotia".   The parking lot was busy, the sky was clear blue and the temperature was in the 70's when we left home.   We should have checked it  before we started out.......(it was 84 when we got back to the car).

It was HOT......and aside from this stretch, there was NO shade.....and no breeze.  

This was a more typical view of our walk, high, with a view of the sea and...did I mention NO shade.   Luckily, the trail was fairly mild but mostly uphill on the way back.

Pretty ground berries along the way..........we saw 1 robin, 1 little brown bird, 2 seagulls, 2 small orange butterflies, no whales, no dolphins, no eagles and no relief from the sun.    We did bring hats but it was too hot to wear them with my thick hair.

We only followed one route instead of the loop as it was reported to be very rugged.

At the end of the trail is a boardwalk leading down to look-out areas.....where we'd hope to spot Pilot whales......but they were deep in the water, trying to avoid the sun also.   

We ate our PB&J lunch and headed back uphill.    It would have been a nice walk on a cooler, breezy day but we won't repeat it anytime soon.     We ended our jaunt at the local Tim Hortons for ice cold smoothies.........