Day 4, Sept 15, 2008 – Hike the Highlands Festival

Despite an overcast day and high winds – 50-70 kms, day four of Hike the Highlands Festival,  Sept. 15th, turned out to be amazing hiking day with lots of sun.  Day four hikes included Sugarloaf Mountain, NHN Trail and White Point. The day ended with a bonfire and weiner roast at Black Brook Beach, ranked one of Canada’s top 25 beaches by Canadian Geographic Magazine. 

Many thanks to guides & sweeps today – Mike Fitzgerald, Rob MacDonald and Lisa Dixon for Sugarloaf Mountain hike,  Sandra Curtis & her sweeps for NHN Trail hike and Lisa Dixon, Sandra Curtis and Becky Jackson, Leona Stockley and Bill and Esther Danielson for White Point hike.   

Long-time volunteer of the festival, Lisa Dixon, deserves a number of accolades today. She was a sweep at Sugarloaf Mountain hike, guided White Point Hike and organized the bonfire at Black Brook Beach. Thanks Lisa for your usual great job. The board certain appreciates her incredible volunteer effort with this year’s festival.

Please find below some pics of the Sugarloaf Mountain hike today –

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Money Point and Broad Cove Hikes – Great Views

Some nice weather and great views provided 3rd day of Hike the Highlands Festival with memorable hikes at Money Point and Broad Cove. Sixty hikers were on the trails today. Special thanks to Guide Jocelyne Quann and Sweeps Lyndia Stepanovic and Brendan Tweig for a great job on Broad Cove and to Guides Dave Ramussen, Bill Danielson, Mike Fitzgerald and sweeps Tamara Rasmussen, Esther Danielson and Marie Stradeski for the Money Point hike.

Guide and retired meterologist, Bill Danielson provided some good news for the festival – rain forecast for Saturday no longer in the picture. So it looks like the festival will be ok for the remaining of the week.  

Fritz McEvoy, Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas Regional Co-ordinator for Cape Breton Highlands did an excellent evening presentation on “How to Identify Birds?” His pictures and knowledge of birds is amazing.
The day ended with a chat from fellow hiker, Tom Wheeler, sharing his experiences with me on West Highland Way Hike in Scotland.  

Here are a few pics of Money Point Hike –

Day four schedule includes three hikes- Sugar Loaf Mountain, NHN trail, and White Point. The day ends with bonfire at Black Brook Beach, Cape Breton Highlands National Park on a full moon night.

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Hike the Highlands Festival Registration Hours

Hike the Highlands Festival - Sept. 12-21, 2008

Please find below the hours of the Registration Desk during the Hike the Highlands Festival,  Sept. 12-21, at the Heather Room, Glenghorm Beach Resort, Ingonish, Nova Scotia.

Date	Hours of Operation for Registration Room
Friday, September 12th	3:00 pm. – 9:00 pm.
Saturday, September 13th	8:00 am. – 8:00 pm.
Sunday, September 14th	8:00 am. – 11:00 am.    5:30 pm. – 8:00 pm.
Monday, September 15th	8:00 am. – 10:00 am.    6:00 pm. – 8:00 pm.
Tuesday, September 16th	8:00 am. – 10:00 am.    6:00 pm. – 8:00 pm
Wednesday, September 17th	8:00 am. – 10:00 am.    6:00 pm. – 8:00 pm
Thursday, September 18th	8:00 am. – 10:00 am.
Friday, September 19th	8:00 am. – 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 20th	8:00 am. – 12:00 pm.   5:00 pm. – 8:00 pm.
Sunday, September 21	Closed/ Cleanup in afternoon

Please note you can also register before the start of the hikes at the Trail Head sign of Guided Hikes in the Hike the Highlands Festival.

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Clyburn Valley Hike is back in 2008

One of my favorite all time hikes has always been the Clyburn Valley Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  It is a trail for all seasons as the trail is groomed for cross country skiing in the winter. One winter,  I was very lucky and saw a rare snowy owl on this trail just before the Gold Mine cabin.  This trail is a guided hike in the Hike the Highlands Festival this year on Sunday, September 21 at 10:00 am. 

There are so many nice features about this trail – you walk along the Clyburn River,  you past by one of the world’s top golf courses Highlands Links,  fish the Clyburn river for trout, you can explore the Gold Mine Buildings, see wildlife -usually moose, and birds,  plus hugh rocks that came down Franey Mountain. The trail is 9kms return and is relatively flat terrain most of the way.

Here are a few pics below I took the other day while hiking the Clyburn Valley trail.

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2008 Hiking Schedule for the Festival Announced

This year’s hiking schedule for the 2008 Hike the Highlands Festival has been announced. The list of guided hikes has increased from 18 last year  to 24 in 2008. Some new trails have been added – Money Point,  Bog & Benjies Lake, Plaster Provincial Park Trail, NHN trail in Cape North, and LeButterau. As well some great trails from the past are back again – Cape Smokey, Branch Pond, Clyburn, Warren Lake and Freshwater Lake.

In the near future, the festival will be adding a table on the hiking schedule page to help you plan your vacation schedule for this year’s festival. The table will include the following on each trail – length, degree of difficulty, time to hike it etc. As well the the description of each trail and where the trailhead is located to start the hike will be added shortly.

Time to start dusting off your hiking boots and heading to the trails soon. Just 3.5 months away before the start of the 5th Annual Hike the Highlands Festival.

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