We took a hike Wednesday that turned out to be one of our favorite hikes.  It wasn’t very long, only 2.4 miles round trip.  The hike was to Middle Head at Igonish, Nova Scotia.  There were fantastic water views and wildlife.  We saw lots of Northern Gannets fishing.  We see them in Florida in the winter and I’m pretty sure I recognized one of the Gannets from Florida.  Seriously, when watching the Gannets in Florida they are way out over the water and even with binoculars they can be hard to see.  Here, we saw them fishing right along the coast line.  There was lots of splashing as they torpedoed into the water to fish.  We stayed a long time to watch them.

When we got to the end of the headland, we saw a seal in the water and a colony of nesting birds.  They were primarily Great Black-backed Gulls with a few Guillemots mixed in.  At first, we didn’t notice all the young because they blend in with the rocks so well.  We soon realized what we were seeing and stayed for a long time watching the activity.  Dart rested in shady areas while we soaked in the scenery and the wildlife activity.

We enjoyed the hike so much that we returned the next day but went later in the day.  There was not as much Gannet activity and we didn’t any seals.  But, we saw a whale and my best guess is that it was a Minke whale.  We spent a lot of time watching the gulls and Guillemots.

The hike starts close to the Keltic Lodge in Cape Breton National Park.  This Lodge has the most incredible views.  There is a restaurant and a golf course.  There are lots of Canada red Adirondack chairs to sit in and enjoy the view.  And, there is this incredible hike to enjoy close to your lodgings.  If I wasn’t traveling in an RV, I would fly into Halifax, rent a car, and come here to the Keltic Lodge and just chill for however long I could.

Canada has this thing going on where they have red Adirondack chairs sprinkled throughout the country.  They are located in incredible places and you are welcome to sit down in these chairs and enjoy the view.  I think it is a pretty cool idea.  We’ve seen quite a few of these chairs on our trip but the ones located at the Keltic Lodge are the most inviting we have seen.  I could spend a whole day sitting in one of those chairs.