June 20 – Peggy’s Cove

Today we headed out to check out Peggy’s Cove (again for us, first for Mark and Heather).

First we had a bit of worry when we got to the car this morning. One of the tires was almost flat. It looked like a slow leak so I pumped it up and off we went. By the time we got to Peggy’s Cove it had lost about 4 PSI so it was definitely leaking. Fortunately on the way there I noticed a tire dealer so on the way back we stopped in. Initially they said it would be a 45 minute until they could look at it. Then suddenly the car they were working on was done. In about 20 minutes we were back on the road with a repaired tire. Whew!

Another bit of excitement for Heather and Mark. When they got back to their hotel, they noticed that ceiling in the lobby was leaking. When they got to their room the hallway was flooded. They called the staff who opened the room from which the flood was coming. Someone, we think with mental problems, had smashed the toilet, cut themselves badly and was just laying on the bed while the water gushed everywhere. Heather called 911 for the staff and Mark shut off the water at the toilet. Now everyone is down in the lobby waiting for the EMTs to come and maintenance to clean things up. Initially she had texted that the Ents were coming and I wondered how the tree people from the Lord of The Rings would fit in the lobby.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

Once we got near Peggy’s Cove we first did the hike to Polly Cove.

There are two very small parking lots. This first was full with 4 cars so we parked at the alternate.

Now the website that I had used to plan this hike said you could do a 4 km loop, as marked in red. The blue line is what we actually did. The only developed part of the trail is from the main parking to the shore, which is a wide gravel path. The rest is narrow, overgrown, beaten down trail through the undergrowth.  The trail was barely there and hard to follow.

We tried to do the loop counter clockwise starting from our parking spot. We soon got to a large, very wet bog with no obvious way through. Mark and I got very wet feet trying to find a way forward. So back we went, along the driving road to the the main trail.

Partway out the main trail there was a bit of a hill with a view of the area.

We could see Peggy’s Cove off in the distance, in the center above.

And the photosphere.

Once we got to the bottom of the main trail we tried to continue the loop clockwise.  All we could see was a very narrow overgrown “path” that at least went in the right direction. It tuned into a very steep, root covered and frankly somewhat dangerous trail that was very hard to follow. I didn’t take many pictures because we were concentrating on staying upright but this gives you an idea.

But we were committed so we continued until we got back to open ground. and nice views.

She is sill smiling.

This is me taking this photosphere from a hilltop with Peggy’s Cove again in the background.

Looking back the way we had come.

We got as far as looking down on the pretty green water of Polly Cove.

And another photosphere.

The initial plan had been to get down to the cove but the terrain looked too steep and difficult so we turned back. We found a much easier path back to the main trail over the rocks and through the low bushes.

We then did a short bit of a much longer loop trail that went out east from the main trail. We found a nice high rock that let us hide from the rather cold wind and had lunch, while watching the tour boat approach.

Heather kept waving at them but no one responded.

And the photosphere.

Back to the car we headed .

During the hike we saw lots of Pitcher Plants.

A few Lady Slippers.

And this very fluffy grass called Common Cottongrass. The fluff was very soft. We have never seen it before.

Over at Peggy’s Cove we parked at the Visitor’s Center. Again the website I used to plan this day led us astray. It said that you could do a clockwise loop from the end of the parking lot, out to the rocky shore, up to the lighthouse and then back down the main road to the car.

There was a narrow trail from the parking lot but it quickly became very hard to follow.

Once we got here, we couldn’t figure out how to continue.

From where I was standing the only way was through a very wet bog.

Mark tried the direct route over the rocks but was stopped by a wide gap over a tiny bay. You can barly see him near the center, below.

We finally had to climb along the huge wall of rocks in front of Heather and Jennie, below, to get to the parking lot near the lighthouse. I am pretty sure we were not supposed to be out there..

We finally made it to the nice new observation deck.

A higher view.

And a photosphere.

Then out to the lighthouse,

And out on the rocks.

A piper started playing out on the rocks.

On the way to the car down the road we got to Tom’s Lobster Shack. It is supposed to have the best lobster rolls in the province. We were still pretty full from lunch and rather hot so we just ordered some ice cream but then we saw what everyone else ordered so …

It lived up to the hype. The best we have had yet. Huge chunks of lobster.

Someone had chiselled these figure into a rock face.

Everyone has to get the classic Peggy’s Cove shot.

Then back home, after getting the tire fixed, first for a short nap and then out for pizza. Then Mark and Heather had their interesting evening at the hotel.