(Looking south along the Cabot Trail)

(River near Capstick, flowing out to the North Atlantic)

This past October, as a birthday trip for my wife, she and I visited Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, a place where there remains many strong connections to this province’s Acadian and Scottish heritage.  It turned out to be a perfect time of the year to take in the stunning golds, crimsons and oranges of the fall foliage.  The coastal scenery from the winding Cabot Trail roadway, which skirts much of the perimeter of Cape Breton, is rugged,  dramatic and gorgeously beautiful.  The jewel in the middle of the route is Cape Breton-Highlands National Park, a massive park which was the first designated Canadian National Park in the Atlantic Provinces.  Several strenuous to easy hiking trails accommodate different levels of hiker.  We spent several hours along the Skyline Trail, a moderate hike, from one end of which you can gaze across endless vistas of the surrounding ocean while also watching whales continually breach the water far below as eagles soar overhead and, if you’re lucky (we were!), get a glimpse of one or more moose in the surrounding bog.  For an amateur photographer such as myself there are opportunities for wonderful images in just about every direction and along every mile.  Posted below (and above) are some of my favorites from that trip.

Capstick, a tiny community on the northwestern tip of Cape Breton, just north of the Cabot Trail.  After meandering late in the afternoon to see what was around “just one more bend in the road” we came across this amazing vista:

Another view of Capstick:

Around Neils Harbor, a charming fishing village.  It was raining this day and I had to snap quickly, so shot is not as sharp as I’d like:

Bras d’Or Lake, near Baddeck — a larger town set against picture-perfect lake scenery: