“There it is!”, I heard a fellow hiker proclaim. What is it you ask? The trailhead of the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia. Months of planning, 14 hours of travel with one husband, three children, two inlaws in a rented minivan that will accommodate us all. And let’s not forget, 3.5 ferry hours on turbulent seas eliciting cries for motion sickness medicine. We are here, we made it, the excitement is palpable!
Within minutes water bottles and snacks are grabbed from the car and we are off. The brochure promised picturesque trails with cliff overlooks and dramatic views. But wait, why so many trees? Be patient I tell myself, surely we are just about to be stopped in our tracks by the majesty of it all.
One mile down, still trees, hopefully, my traveling companions are not starting to doubt my choice of hikes. Two miles, trees with tiny peeks of skyline, what have I done?
Still, we trudged on, all at once the trees began to recede as if they had almost never been there at all. A thousand steps stood before us as we reached the end of the land. Steep cliffs jutted out of the water, barely allowing us to tell where the sky stopped and water began. People were everywhere but it was somehow quiet. We stood and stared, took pictures and watched as the miniature cars and campers traversed the Cabot Trail.
After about a half hour we meandered back into the trees, grateful this time. Five miles complete. We were back where we started, on tired feet, having seemingly traveled to the end of the earth profoundly changed through some trees.
No comments:
Post a Comment