Dingwall to Englishtown Day 69

The switchbacks of Smokey were very scary. This picture was taken from the bottom and as it was zoomed in you may not be able to appreciate it quite as much as I did when I thought Little Kruz and I were threatened with becoming fossils on the mountain wall.

On top of old Smokey.

View of Lakies Head on the way up.

Green Cove.

McKinnon's Cove.

Throughout the summer our group has always been willing to lend a hand whenever necessary. This was no exception.

Our trip today would only be a 108 km day but because we were on the Cabot Trail we planned to take our time and take lots of pictures. We had had such a great time yesterday with the views and the climbs that we wanted to take this day in to the fullest.

We were not far out of camp when we came across Edith who had two flats to contend with. She was prepared to wait for the truck and ride to the next camp and we convinced her it was worth a try to get her bike on the road again. Terri had spares to offer her and just as we were getting started, other riders came along. Jim and Ray took charge of the situation and in no time the tires were changed and the three of us were on our way again. We decided to stick together in case there were further problems. Edith ended up going on ahead of us and she made it to camp without incident.

Terri and I took our time and stopped often to enjoy the views along the way. There were may look outs that gave us an opportunity for beautiful vistas. We had some fun at McKinnon's Cove by climbing over the guardrail and onto to the rocks. It was very safe, no cliffs and it was too nice to pass up. The next lookout at Green Cove provided a boardwalk out to the rocks.

We stopped in Ingonish at a very popular restaurant called Main Street Restaurant. We enjoyed great burgers and bought some squares to share with our cook crew when we got to camp.

We were concerned about Mount Smokey but after the climbs we did yesterday it proved to be not so difficult. It was the downhill that was scary, The wind was incredible and the switchbacks provided some opportunity to control the speeds and we were glad we were going down instead of up. We had the brakes on all the way down and at one point the wind was so strong I was sure it was going to pick me and the bike up and plant us on the mountain wall. We found out later that a few of the guys from the 71 day group went up and down all those switchbacks.

Close to the bottom of the mountain they were stripping the pavement for resurfacing and it was like riding over a washboard. One of the construction guys came over to us and offered us a Tim Horton's donut. We talked about wanting to see a moose and he said there was one on the side of the road not 20 minutes before we got there. At the base of the mountain at Wreck Cove general store we got a drink and I made a call to Peter, a 2008 TdC vet who lives on Saltsprings Island. He rode with us from Victoria to the Ferry way back in June and we wanted to let him know we made it through the Cabot Trail without walking up any of the climbs. It was great to talk with him and his wife Mary.

As the day was getting on and the supper hour was nearing, the meal we had before the climb up Smokey was needing replacing. We had seen a sign for the Clucking Hens Bakery so we decided to stop there. The sandwich I had hit the spot. Oh yest the chocolate macaroon tasted homemade and Terri had a square. I had been fading given the long day yesterday and not having eaten enough. Unfortunately I did not replenish soon enough and after about 15 min on the road I felt very faint and not really aware of my pedaling; I felt like I was going in slow motion and felt dangerously close to fainting. We stopped for a few minutes until I regained my composure and headed towards camp. We had a 2 minute ferry ride and then a short trip to camp. Camp was up a very steep loose gravel road. Terri made it up but it proved too slippery for me. I walked it and when we arrived the supper had already been served. Fortunately with our late afternoon break at the bakery we were not famished. We arrived to find the 71 and 72 day group camping together for the night and we received instructions on sorting our things and getting ready for the final two days.

We set up our tent and realized it would be the last night we would sleep outside. As there was so much to do we didn't have much time to get sad about it being the end. It was enough just to get our heads around how the ride to the ferry, the night on the ferry and the ride to St. John's would play out.