A Hike to the Top

There are two ways to do things in life – the hard way and the easy way.  The easy way is typically the path well trodden…it’s paved, wide, and well….easy.  The hard way is exactly that, the hard way.  It is filled with twists, hard climbs, shaky footing and not much of a crowd.

Why am I bringing that up, you may ask….well, it all has to do with a recent adventure we went on in Whycogomagh with my bestie, Janice.  We haven’t seen each other in far too long and you know I get antsy to see her if too much time has passed since our last visit.  So, we planned to meet up for an afternoon of hiking and picnicking on the edge of the Bras d’Or Lakes in Whycogomagh.

We set out a trail we had hiked before, our previous hike was just for a short way that trip, just enough to give Penny-dog a break from the car on our way to Barbara’s cabin one other trip to Cape Breton.  So, I had no real idea where the trail lead or what kind of trail it would be.  I’m not sure Janice knew either, so off we went.  Hiked up, and up, and up some more.

We hiked up a bit more…

We took a few breaks along the way up so there wasn’t mutiny….how cute is this girl?  We’ve known each other for 20 years now, I can’t imagine life without her.

While on a break, I handed my camera to Lena because I’m never in the adventure pictures. And this is what I get….barely in the frame and a tree sprouting from my head…..but proof I was there I guess!!

Anyway, we hiked onwards or maybe I should say upwards…this sign lied…it was still upwards….

And finally we reached the top!!  Hannah decided she was done climbing this mountain by this point and was waiting for us down the trail a bit, thus not summit pictures of her.  I wish she had’ve pushed on a little bit more for this vista!!  But sometimes, as a momma, you need to pick your battles 😉

This view was amazing – well worth the hike up!  A panoramic view of the Bras d’Or Lakes!!

This is the face of a kid who even ran up parts of the trail….oy!!

And here are Janice and I doing a good job of social distancing…and note – most of my body made it in this picture!

Then we set out to descend the mountain.  Ummm, I think I’d rather climb up.  My quads were screaming by the time we reached a fork in the path.  So, we decided to go down a different way than we came up.  This path lead us to this section, with steps formed out of the local rock! Neat, eh?

This is where things got waaaaay easier.  The path was wide and not very steep.  We met more people on the trail and then…suddenly, we are out in the campground part of the park.  I absolutely love the expression I managed to capture when we surprisingly came out into the opening after a very short hike down…

Hannah didn’t take it well….at all!!  She was pretty ticked off about the fact that we hiked up the very hard way when there was a super easy, much shorter way up….she did a good job of expressing her dismay to me…

Here she is in mid rant 🙂  Still mad, but still adorable and very much like here momma, talks with her hands!!

So, just as a reference, we hiked up the yellow trail and out to the peak on the rest of the blue trail { the bottom right set of binoculars } and came down the blue trail that ends on the white loop which is the campground.  And yes, we walked right past this sign on our way up, without a second glance….

Highlights not shown here – picnic lunch from The Dancing Goat, our friend the squirrel, singing the Sound of Music while frolicking through the field, swinging from tree branches, a fish tail snack and ice cream at the Farmer’s Daughter – all worthy of a mention though!!!

All in all, we had a great day together, outside, exploring nature and catching up.  But between you and I, I’d hike that yellow trail again any day if it means getting to spend time with my bestie.

Warmly,

Lori