kadaten
Haven't been "HOME" in awhile...
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2003
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Today we're visiting
Cape Breton National Park
On the east side of Canada theres a drive that rivals any North American waterside drive: the drive along the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia. The highlands are part of Cape Breton Island, a 4,000-square-mile territory that is the northeasternmost part of the province. The drive, called the Cabot Trail in honor of the European explorer who first sighted it in 1497, winds it way up steep bluffs at the northwestern end of the island, climbing between open ocean and forested slopes. In some spots, the Cabot Trail looks like the drive along Big Sur, with the coastal forests of Oregon thrown in. On the more gentle east side of the island, the land rises much more gently from the beaches and is heavily indented with coves.
This northern part of the island is so rugged and beautiful that the Canadians established a 365-square-mile preserve, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, there in 1936. The wild nature of the heavily watered park, with its streams, bogs, boreal forest, taiga and New England-type deciduous forests, has made it favorite with hikers, horse riders and kayakers. Animal life includes moose, mink, beaver, lynx, bald eagles, pilot whales, bobcats and coyotes.
<IMG width="200" SRC="http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/images/geninfo/moose.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.huntington.edu/thornhill/images/wildlifephotos/mammals/mink.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.digitalfrog.com/resources/archives/beaver.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/rogerbb/lynx.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.naturegraphics.net/bh628w%20northern%20bald%20eagle.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.dolphin-space-program.de/images/pilot_whale_pilotwal.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.westwildcon.org/photo/gallery/bobcat.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.ci.barrington.ri.us/town/coyote.jpg">
Cape Breton Highlands National Park, the first national park in the Maritimes, preserves 950 square kilometres of wilderness. Almost half of the Cabot Trail, completed just four years before the opening of the park, encompasses it on three sides. On the western edge, the rugged coastline is exposed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while the eastern shores that slope more gently to the Atlantic Ocean curve to form more hospitable little coves and bays. The 17 watersheds that drain the park are fed by waterfalls that plunge in torrents from the highlands during spring melt rushing down river valleys to the sea.
But all this raw nature doesnt mean the park is isolated from more upscale accommodations or cultural activities. The Cabot Trail, 185 miles long and doable in one day, passes through several communities along the way where you can find superb food and shelter.
While the national park provides spectacular scenery, the rest of Cape Breton Island attracts with its rich history. Native peoples here first saw the French lay claim to the island, and then later, the British. Acadians lived here, and still do, and there remains a heavy Scottish influence on the island. It folkways remained relatively untouched until 1955, the year that a causeway connecting the island to mainland Nova Scotia was completed.
Summer is the best season here. Despite its mostly raw and wild beauty, Cape Breton Island can be a foreboding place in the seasons of lesser light.
Cape Breton National Park
On the east side of Canada theres a drive that rivals any North American waterside drive: the drive along the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia. The highlands are part of Cape Breton Island, a 4,000-square-mile territory that is the northeasternmost part of the province. The drive, called the Cabot Trail in honor of the European explorer who first sighted it in 1497, winds it way up steep bluffs at the northwestern end of the island, climbing between open ocean and forested slopes. In some spots, the Cabot Trail looks like the drive along Big Sur, with the coastal forests of Oregon thrown in. On the more gentle east side of the island, the land rises much more gently from the beaches and is heavily indented with coves.
This northern part of the island is so rugged and beautiful that the Canadians established a 365-square-mile preserve, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, there in 1936. The wild nature of the heavily watered park, with its streams, bogs, boreal forest, taiga and New England-type deciduous forests, has made it favorite with hikers, horse riders and kayakers. Animal life includes moose, mink, beaver, lynx, bald eagles, pilot whales, bobcats and coyotes.
<IMG width="200" SRC="http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/images/geninfo/moose.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.huntington.edu/thornhill/images/wildlifephotos/mammals/mink.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.digitalfrog.com/resources/archives/beaver.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/rogerbb/lynx.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.naturegraphics.net/bh628w%20northern%20bald%20eagle.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.dolphin-space-program.de/images/pilot_whale_pilotwal.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.westwildcon.org/photo/gallery/bobcat.jpg"> <img width="200" src="http://www.ci.barrington.ri.us/town/coyote.jpg">
Cape Breton Highlands National Park, the first national park in the Maritimes, preserves 950 square kilometres of wilderness. Almost half of the Cabot Trail, completed just four years before the opening of the park, encompasses it on three sides. On the western edge, the rugged coastline is exposed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while the eastern shores that slope more gently to the Atlantic Ocean curve to form more hospitable little coves and bays. The 17 watersheds that drain the park are fed by waterfalls that plunge in torrents from the highlands during spring melt rushing down river valleys to the sea.
But all this raw nature doesnt mean the park is isolated from more upscale accommodations or cultural activities. The Cabot Trail, 185 miles long and doable in one day, passes through several communities along the way where you can find superb food and shelter.
While the national park provides spectacular scenery, the rest of Cape Breton Island attracts with its rich history. Native peoples here first saw the French lay claim to the island, and then later, the British. Acadians lived here, and still do, and there remains a heavy Scottish influence on the island. It folkways remained relatively untouched until 1955, the year that a causeway connecting the island to mainland Nova Scotia was completed.
Summer is the best season here. Despite its mostly raw and wild beauty, Cape Breton Island can be a foreboding place in the seasons of lesser light.
Those campers among us can arrange to have a full package delivered to their camp site, and we'll be sure to pick you up tomorrow before heading off on our next big adventure 
Thought maybe one of you shopping experts could find it for me! 
BUT I found it this morning and popped it in. 121 songs on there! 
But Justin had THE BEST hit of the game, honestly!!! He hit it almost over the fence, and most of the others hadn't hit it NEAR that hard!!! We were sooooooooooooo excited!!!
So that made up for us losing!!! Once again, Heather and I stayed up, but only until 12:00 this time!!!
I was so sleepy, so I didn't care. Then he sneaks back in, and does it again, but stays to see what I do. I threw it at him. Justin came in there then and hit Josh on the shoulder, and Josh chased him through the house!! {Aunt Deb and Uncle Heath were gone, they leave for work EARLY, but Heather and Alan were still asleep}I got up and went in the living room with them. We sat in there...well, I sat in there, they fought, lol. Then Heather woke up, ill {because of all of the noise Justin and Josh were making, and probably me screaming whenever they'd throw socks, wristbands, pillows, blankets, basically whatever they could find at me}, and got Justin in trouble...she called Aunt Deb!!!!!!! By then Alan was awake, so I went in his room with him and Josh. Then they went outside to skate, so I went in the living room to watch tv, and Heather cleaned. {she hates for people to help her clean, she's rather do it herself, so I left her alone} Then Josh, Alan, and Justin go in Alan's room to play PS2. I followed, because I was bored, and Heather awas cleaning and talking to her Ma-Maw. Justin persuaded Josh to go outside, but I sat with Alan and watched him play. Alan was talking about how much Josh was flirting with me, and that he thought that Josh still likes me. I said sure, whatever. He said that he was serious!!
I felt, i don't know, guilty} anyway, i said something to the effect of, "i don't know..." and the justin told me to name some other guys I've gone out with. my first one was nathan. then he commented on nathan, and said name another, so i said chantz. josh knows chantz. that made him roll his eyes
