IN THE BEGINNING: NORTHEAST TO THE MARITIMES JUNE 4-9, 2011

GENESIS

In a Jack London sort of way, the call of the wild north has been ringing loudly in my city boy ears ever since my first Sgt. Preston of the Yukon episode.  Visions of uninterrupted forests, fish-filled streams and lakes and abundant wildlife often had me day-dreaming in classes, building log cabins in my head instead of absorbing the niceties of scholarly study.  I scoured maps of the northeastern United States and Canada, searching for paths that would take me to the promised land.  First there were fishing trips, driving into the Adirondacks in far upstate New York, then northern Ontario, followed by bush-pilot float plane trips 100 miles further into roadless wilderness.  I got hooked on birding, leading to railroad trips to Hudson Bay at Churchill, Manitoba, multiple driving runs up the 450 mile dirt road in the Yukon and Northwest Territories euphemistically known as the Dempster Highway, going far north of the Arctic Circle, replete with fly-out trips to Herschel Island in the Beaufort Sea.  Four or five trips to Alaska, including Attu Island in the Aleutians, boating around Prince William Sound, camping in Denali National Park just whetted my appetite for more of the north.  Last year, I learned that in the Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador, new gravel roads were being opened in Labrador (see map) that would permit a nearly full driving circuit of about 700 miles around the perimeter of this huge and almost completely wilderness area.  I wanted to see what birds and mammals lived there, if there was great fishing from near the road and to see if my SUV could survive the drive.  I had to go.

When I discussed the trip with the tourism division of Newfoundland & Labrador, they were excited about the adventure, and encouraged an itinerary that would encompass the island of Newfoundland as well as Labrador.  The more I learned, the more I wanted to see and do everything!  Getting to Newfoundland by vehicle from Connecticut requires traveling through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, so their Tourism Departments made suggestions, based on my affinities for golf and birding as well as northern travel.

Part 1: June 4-9

Hopewell Rocks

Gale and I drove from Farmington, Connecticut to Moncton, New Brunswick, a distance of about 600 miles, but all easy highway driving.  Moncton has transformed itself over the past 10-15 years, becoming a tourist destination capitalizing on its perfect location for visiting both the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy and the warmest waters north of Virginia in the Northumberland Strait.  A large concert venue, new zoo, and casino gambling has given the town a bright new future.  Downtown has been revitalized, with a multitude of excellent restaurants and lodging choices.  We spent two nights at the quietly elegant boutique Hotel St. James (www.hotelstjames.ca).  Housed in an unassuming old brick building, the hotel’s dozen rooms will blow your socks off!  It also has its own fine restaurant.  Just down the street was Catch 22, a new eatery offering lobster cooked 22 ways, not to mention an outstanding offering of other local seafood.  About 20 miles south, on the Bay of Fundy, we visited Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park.  Due to the narrowing of the bay and the huge volume of water rushing toward it twice a day from the Gulf of Maine, the 40-foot tides here are among the highest in the world.  The swirling waters have carved out a set of spectacular sea stacks from the sedimentary rock that resemble cupcakes on pedestals.  At low tide (check tide tables before visiting), you can walk on the ocean floor among the stacks towering 100’ overhead.  There are a couple of new public golf courses in the Moncton area, and I would recommend Fox Creek Golf Club.  Royal Oaks Golf Club, which we played, was not terribly interesting despite being designed by well-respected architect Rees Jones.  The most amazing sight on and around the course were the short-sleeved and shorts-wearing Canadians themselves, apparently laboring under the blood-thickened delusion that when the temperature hits 50 degrees, summer is here.

Cape Breton Mountains

Cape Breton on a moody day

Lobster Boat

Unloading the catch

Lobster Fleet

If you’re going north, how can you pass up a chance to visit Cape Breton Island of Nova Scotia?  Rated by Conde’ Nast Magazine as the world’s most desirable island destination, Cape Breton is spectacular on every count.  The Cabot Trail circles the northern portion of the island and there is no more beautiful driving route in North America.  Mountains rise from the sea, spilling clear streams and rivers into the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the east and the Atlantic Ocean on the west.  Abundant lakes, an excellent system of hiking and walking trails, charming accommodations and campgrounds make this an incredible tour in itself.  The road winds like a ribbon up and down and around, revealing one magnificent vista after another, with small working fishing villages in almost every cove, where you can stop and watch a lobster boat unload its catch.  Cape Breton, already a golf destination, with its venerable Highlands Links course in the National Park at Ingonish and several other very good courses, has added two more gems. 

The Lakes Golf Club (www.thelakesgolfclub.ca), in Ben Eion (ben yahn), just east of Sydney along the shores of Bras D’Or (Bruh-door’) Lake, opened about a year ago.  Ingeniously sculpted from the mountainside forest, each hole rolls effortlessly up and down through the woods.  If you’re a golfer, don’t miss it!  Next door is The Birches Inn (www.thebirchescountryinn.ca), which is worth the trip even if you don’t play golf.  An upscale B&B, the Inn’s restaurant offers gourmet creative dishes that rival any dining establishment anywhere. 

Opening 10 holes on July 23, 2011, the newest addition to Cape Breton golf is Cabot Links in Inverness.  The course will be the first true seaside links course in Canada and promises to be an astonishing experience.  Built by Mike Keiser, who also created internationally acclaimed Bandon Dunes in Oregon, our tour of the property was inspiring.  Built more-or-less in the middle of nowhere, golfers will come from all over the world to experience this masterpiece, designed by Canadian Rod Whitman.  At present, there is a dearth of lodging in the area, but just down the road is the Glenora Distillery and Inn (www.glenoradistillery.com).  Featuring the only Scotch distillery in North America, the Inn offers superb lodging and dining, often with local Scottish live music as well as a complimentary tour and tasting at the distillery.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

En route to the Englishtown ferry on the eastern side of Cape Breton, be sure to drive slowly along the water’s edge at Barachois Pond.  In the brackish lagoon that parallels  the road, there were many breeding pairs of ducks, shorebirds, a small common tern colony and a soaking wet bald eagle perched on a knee-high snag.  In the surrounding forest, several species of warblers sang while a boreal chickadee wheezed out its plaintive call.  A rare lesser black-backed gull stood solemnly in the company of its larger herring and great-black-backed gull cousins.

HMS Atlantic Vision

Passenger lounge

The ferries to Newfoundland depart from North Sydney.  The shorter of the two is a six-hour ride to Port-aux-Basque and the longer a 15-hour journey to Argentia on  Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula.  Both ferries are huge transports that carry tractor-trailers of supplies for the island province, plus private vehicles of all shapes and sizes.  Cabins and berths are available and the common sitting rooms are spacious and comfortable.  The ferry to Port-aux-Basque in southwest Newfoundland runs all year, but the lengthier trip to Argentia is only available in the summer months. For schedules, check www.marine-atlantic.ca.

Fog is always a major weather factor for these waters and especially for our June voyage, when the air warms but the water remains cold.  We had our fingers crossed for a clear trip as we settled into our comfy indoor seats in front of a picture window at the ship’s bow.  During the first half of the crossing, the visibility was good and we saw a variety of birds - common loon, northern gannet, greater shearwater, Leach’s storm-petrel, common murre, black guillemot, black-legged kittiwake, and many gulls.  Then the fog closed in and with it, our eyelids. 

To be continued.....

Questions?  Write me at sam.fried@live.com