Cape Breton Highlands – Road Trip Photography – Trans-Canada '25 (XI)

June 27^th, 2025: Day Twenty-Three

Distance Travelled: 450-ish KM
Distance to Home: 5159 KM
Days in Hotels VS Campgrounds VS Guest: 9/10/3

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island –
North Sydney, Nova Scotia

I woke up to my alarm but procrastinated a little.

Forced myself out of bed, which was soft with old springs, and got my shit together.

Today I was headed for Nova Scotia, but not before picking up Starbucks. I asked for my usual but with an extra shot. They gave it to me hot instead of cold, but I got to keep both.

It was a pretty by-the-books drive. I got a headache from too much coffee, resisted the urge to buy gas station junk food, recovered from poor dinner choices the night before and got my provincial sticker at the information center as soon as I crossed the border into Nova Scotia.

No bad encounters with drivers, no braking for wildlife, and just a small incident with some rough terrain when I pulled onto the shoulder at one point to pee.

Partway through I realized I should probably find a campground before the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

I asked Google to find me a KOA, and wouldn’t you know it, there was one near North Sydney: my destination town before turning around to head home.

I arrived around supper time, got signed in, converted to bed mode, did some laundry, had a snack, chatted with a couple about my journey and that’s about it.

Today is a huge milestone though. I am officially heading home. From here on out each kilometer will be one step closer to my wife, my cat and my life in Calgary.

This pilgrimage has been more spiritual than I expected. Sarah made a joke about naming my stick but I decided to give it a serious name. At first, I thought Something Indigenous, but landed on something French: “Corbeau” the word for crow. I wrapped a grip onto Corbeau for tomorrow’s hike. It’s Gorilla Tape and temporary.

I have plans for Corbeau. A strap, a proper grip, engravings, staining, further sanding…

I keep wondering how I will feel when I get back.

June 28^th, 2025: Day Twenty-Four

Distance Travelled 465km
Distance From Home: 4756 KM
Days in Hotels VS Campgrounds VS Guest: 9/11/3

North Sydney, Nova Scotia –
Hilden, Nova Scotia

Woke up just before my alarm a 6:30am Atlantic Time and had a decent shower.

Today I was heading to Cape Breton Highlands National Park and excited for it.

I used some less-than-ideal highways to get there and played the opposite of whack-a-mole with my car: dodge-the-pot hole.

A van behind me was keeping a good distance and mimicking my driving, using me as a guide. We would end up having a chat at the visitor center after I got my car sticker, and a buff.

I chose a reasonable hike that would challenge me, an out-and-back six-kilometer, 150-meter accent to a waterfall. Corney Brooks.

It was a challenge with my gear but that was the point.

People were friendly and I have reached a point where I get raised eyebrows when I say how far I have driven, and how long I have been on the road. It feels good though. The average person is now impressed with how far I am from home and that in itself is an accomplishment.

For the record my trip counter rolled over 7000km today.

When I made it to the waterfall a couple of older women weren’t far behind. One says to me “it’s spectacular” and I said flat and sarcastically “yeah, it almost makes the walk worth it” To this I got a hearty laugh that I would chuckle over for the rest of the day. They were American, from Maine, like my Atlanta posse who followed me through the pot-hole-mile.

The Maine women took my photo with my camera to return the favour for taking theirs. I hope it turns out.

I also passed a German couple, who I got a laugh from when I looked at their large dog and remarked “that’s a tiny horse!” My go to line when seeing a large skinny dog.

When I stopped at a beach view on my way out a woman asked where in Alberta I was from and said she used to live in Grande Prairie. She was with, I presume, her husband and son and they gave a lot of recommendations but the one that stuck was that I absolutely had to see Lunenburg.

As I was leaving, I saw they had walked into the water.

Too embarrassed to get out of the car again I moved on, but found another stop, and after turning around to go back, and getting my photos, I put the camera in the car, grabbed a towel and walked to the water. With my shoes and socks off and pants rolled up, the freezing waves hit my skin as the pebbles dug into my sore feet from the days hike. I lasted for about a minute before making a retreat.

I sat on the beach for a while, dug my feet in, played with the rocks in my hands and listened to the waves.

I’ll keep the rest brief because I’m exhausted, but I wanted to put some kilometers in so I wouldn’t have to in the morning and at most didn’t get to a campground in time. I was getting really tired from a packaged sub I had earlier and sucked back a large sugar free Red Bull to keep going. After multiple towns with crazy busy camp sites or expensive hotels I found a large but reasonable place with a spot away from everyone.