When visiting SyCo the town of Antigonish is always my first stop. Here there are plenty of choices for lodging and, as the primary retail and service center for the eastern end of mainland Nova Scotia, it is a good place to stock up on supplies. A trip to Canadian Tire is a good place to pick up any last minute camping necessities. Also, the large supermarkets of Antigonish are best for filling a cooler for any extended camping trips to Guysborough County or even if going to one of the closer campgrounds along the north shore of Antigonish County.
The name Antigonish is of Mi’kmaq origin. The exact meaning of the word has been lost as the Mi’kmaq language has changed over the years but there are two popular candidates for the original definition. The most widely accepted is “where branches are torn off" or, more specifically – “where bears broke down branches to get the beech nuts”. The other interpretation is “the place where three waters meet”. The earliest known use of the name which persists today as Antigonish is in Nicholas Denys’ the Description and Natural History of the Coasts of North America which was published in 1672. In that book it appears as Articougnesche. On Jumeau's map of 1685 it is seen as Antigonieche.
The original European settlement in what eventually became the county of Antigonish was established in 1784. Loyalist Colonel Timothy Hierlihy and 88 men that served under him received a land grant from the Government of Nova Scotia for their service during the Revolutionary War. The grant was for 21,600 acres surrounding Antigonish Harbor. The original settlement was located on a peninsular on the west side of the harbor not far from the harbor’s entrance. It was initially referred to as Town Point. In 1786 it was named Dorchester to honor Sir Guy Carleton who was Governor General of Canada and 1 st Baron of Dorchester. This is yet another way in which Antigonish and Guysborough counties are connected as this Guy is the same guy (or should it be ‘this guy is the same Guy’) for which the shire town and county of Guysborough was named after.
The Town Point site was selected from the wide expanse of the land grant acreage, which included land on both sides of Antigonish Harbor, in large part because of its proximity to the harbor’s entrance. But this location faced serious obstacles to success from both the personnel involved and its geography. Over a relatively short period of time many of the soldiers realized they were not suited to farm life. Carving a homestead out of the wilderness is a hard life without much opportunity for carousing or the promise of the occasional adrenalin rush that comes with a soldier’s life (although I am certain that there were plenty of un-promised adrenalin rushes to be had). Some of the grantees sold out for just enough in exchange to get some rum and a little travel money. Eventually, those that stayed began to recognize the shortcomings of the Town Point site and began to move to the present day location of Antigonish where the solution to the issues of geography where found. The Town Point advantage of being just a short distance from the harbor’s entrance was negated because the harbor’s entrance was too narrow and the harbor itself was too shallow for shipping. The option of dredging was considered too expensive. Water power, or lack of it, was another major issue. There are no sizable rivers, streams or creeks emptying into the harbor at Town Point that are capable of providing enough energy to power any sort of mill. Without the benefit of water power farmers had to carry bushels of grain overland to the nearest grist mill located in the town of Guysborough on a road that was not much more than a slightly improved animal path. But the primary reason for the move to Antigonish’s present day location was the pursuit of better farm land. Here, at the interval between the West River to the south and Wrights River that runs along the north edge of town, there was fluvial enriched soil plus water power. Soon grain yields were greatly increased and grist mills, saw mills, carding mills and tanneries were soon operating along the West, South, James and Wrights rivers. The fertile soil and water power fueled growth - something the original settlement site could not provide.
In 1796 a local settler by the name of Zephaniah Williams employed a native by the name of Joe Snake to guide him by the shortest route from William's Point to the base of Brown’s Mountain. William’s Point, part of the original land grant, is a promontory that juts out into the southern end of Antigonish Harbor about 4 km south of Town Point. They blazed trees along the route, and it soon became a guide for travelers. This trail eventually evolved into the winding road now known as Main Street. 1 Today, Main Street in Antigonish makes for a great town to walk. Main Street offers a wide variety of shops and eateries. I find spending several hours on Main Street an easy task. A routine I have enjoyed several times starts with breakfast at the Main Street Café. Next stop is next door - the Lyghtesome Gallery.
Here I can peruse some local art work and prints along with their bin of antiques maps. There are several other gift shops that I enjoy looking through. Most of them have items of local interest with things ranging from sweaters to books. My favorite store is the Antigonish 5c to $1 store. I have bought hats, books, snacks, and a gift toy for my nephew from this store. Their shelf with books of local interest almost always has a title I have not seen before. Although I am happy for the people of the region to have the cost benefits of big box outlets, there are concerns about their impact to Main Street, and in particular the 5c to $1 store. But, it has now been about 15 years since Walmart and Staples opened just a bit west of town and, from what I can tell, there has been no major negative impact on the Main Street retailers. After browsing the shops for a while I often head over to the Antigonish Town and County Library located towards the west end of Main Street. Here I can scan their books on local history and from a quiet cubicle get caught up on email and such. Then off for lunch at Gabrieau’s Bistro, one of many fine restaurants in town. It has become a habit for me to dine at Gabrieau’s at least once each trip. I have been going to there for about 15 years now and it has never left me disappointed. The quality of the food and service continues to excel. I have also spent some time at the library of St Francis Xavier University which is located just off of the west end of Main Street. The University provides the community with a wide range of educational, cultural and entertainment offerings including sporting events, concerts and a truly enjoyable summer theatre program. For golfers there is the Antigonish Golf and Country Club. It started out in the 1920’s as a six hole course that was quickly expanded to nine holes. It was expanded to 18 holes in 1990. With the relatively recent closure of Osprey Shores, the 9 hole course in Guysborough (it’s a vineyard now), the AG&CC is the only golf course in SyCo. The golf course, which is open to the public, is located less than 2 km north of Main Street. The back end of the course (holes 5, 6, & 7) stand over 100’ above Main Street and provide a fine view of the town and surrounding areas.
The Nova Scotia Doers and Dreamers Travel Guide details tourism features in seven designated tourism regions. SyCo contains major portions of two of the tourism regions – the Eastern Shore and the Northumberland Shore. The province has also designated eleven tourism roadway trails. The Marine Drive traverses through the Eastern Shore region from Dartmouth to the Canso Straight while the Sunrise Trail traverses along Nova Scotia’s Northumberland Shore from New Brunswick to the Canso Strait. In Antigonish County the Sunrise Trail starts in the west on Route 245 at the Pictou County border near the small village of Knoydart. It hugs the shoreline of the Northumberland Strait passing through Arisaig, Malignant Cove and then along Route 337 up to Cape George. From there is continues southward on Rte 337 along the west side of St Georges Bay and then Antigonish Harbor until it connects with the old Rte 4. It then heads east along Rte 4, on the southern shoreline of St Georges Bay, passing through the Acadian villages of Pomquet, Tracadie and Harve Boucher until it gets to Aulds Cove on the Canso Strait where it meets the eastern terminus of the Marine Drive. The portion of the Sunrise Trail that forms a loop around Cape George is often referred to as the ‘Mini Trail’. Mini refers to it being a small version of the world famous Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Mini trail makes it sound like the comparison of miniature golf to real golf. There is nothing tacky about the Cape George Trail. It does not make you drive your car through a clown mouth. I think this comparison does the area a grave injustice. The Cape George Trail seems a more fitting tag for tourism. And although is not as magnificent as the Cabot Trail, after all few places are, it is a beautiful drive with various bodies of water in site most of the time. In her book ‘Scenic Driving – Atlantic Canada’ Chloë Ernst includes ‘Cape George – The Little Cabot Trail’ among the best scenic drives in the four provinces of Atlantic Canada. Along the trail there are several beaches, coves, heritage sites and fishing wharfs to stop at. There is also the Cape George lighthouse. Most all of these sites offer a good spot for a picnic – complete with tables and magnificent views. The views, which are often enhanced by elevation, include beautiful landscapes and vast vistas of water and sky. The views include nearby shorelines, distant shorelines, flora and fauna. Looking off shore the views of water can be still - flat and quiet enough to hear any fish that jumps - or water that is windswept and choppy where the dark sea is deeply contrasted with the wind driven white caps. The sky can be clear blue, grey or a combination of both where sunbeams occasionally burst through the clouds to present a kind of celestial lighting that instills awe to all site seers and photographers. Or the view could be of a sky that is blotted out by fog which gives nearby objects a filtered cloak of mystery and submits distance objects to reveal themselves by sound alone. Sunsets, often quite spectacular, can be viewed over the Northumberland Strait without obstructions. At night, the paucity of lights associated with human activity creates an ideal environment for star gazing. The light pollution that hinders star gazers from seeing the Milky Way for 80% of North Americans is not an issue in most parts of Sydney County.
If you are unfortunate enough to have only one opportunity to visit the Cape George Trail then I would recommended that you start on the east end of Antigonish to take the loop around in a counter clockwise direction. This will provide a forward looking view at the escarpments and bluffs near Ballantyne’s Cove – much better than seeing glimpses of this stunning scenery via your rear view mirror. Going counterclockwise, the Antigonish Heritage Museum makes for a good first stop. Travelling east on Main Street it is located just past Tim Horton’s (another good first stop) right before you get to the train tracks. Make a right onto East Main Street and you’ll see the repurposed former Canadian National train depot.
Rail service to Antigonish started in 1879. The first station was located just to the east of the present building. The railroads were a healthy industry in the area up until the 1950’s when rail service all over the US and Canada began a decline brought on by the growth of car, truck and airplane options. Passenger rail service in Antigonish was discontinued in 1989. In 2015 the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway decided to not reapply for a $3 million yearly federal subsidy thereby ending 135 years of freight service through Antigonish to the city of Sydney.
At the museum you will find two main display rooms with exhibits of artifacts which have been collected by the Heritage Association of Antigonish. These artifacts are pertinent to the history of local industries and to everyday life by way of common household items. The museum also houses a resource room with reference materials available to researchers and genealogists. Head curator Jocelyn Gillis and her staff are very knowledgeable with regard to the local history and can inform you on, and direct you to, the more obscure points of interest of the county - such as the original settlement site of Dorchester and the geologic study area and beach of Crystal Cliffs.
On one trip to Antigonish I used the directions obtained from Ms Gyllis and headed north up Route 337 in search of the Dorchester site and the Crystal Cliffs. But first, a stop at Timmy’s to get some coffee and food for the road. The Sunrise Trail around Cape George offers few services and the few places there are to grab some food have capricious seasonal hours so packing some nourishment for the trip is always a good idea. Route 337 hugs the west side of Antigonish Harbor for about 13 km. The relatively calm waters and coast line of the harbor offers ideal conditions for kayaking, swimming, bird watching, fishing and hiking.
Just on the outskirts of town there is an attractive multi colored wood carved sign saying:
Welcome to
Artisan Way
Northumberland Shore
Life by Hand and Sea
www.artisianway.ca
The website tells us that the Artisan Way was conceived by artisans that live on the Northumberland Shore. The Northumberland Shore Craft Themed Trail Project was created to provide crafters and artisans in the Northumberland Shore region an opportunity to grow their businesses through the cooperative development and marketing of a themed experience along a designated travel route. The project promotes the artisans that have galleries within 10 km of the 200 km coastal drive stretching from Amherst to Auld’s Cove plus the associated shops on Main Street in Antigonish. Antigonish County is predominantly English speaking but there are pockets of French Acadians and those communities are served by bilingual English and French language signage. Gaelic is the language of heritage for many and Antigonish is the first town in Nova Scotia to put in place bilingual English and Gaelic street signs. Traveling on Route 337, and throughout Antigonish County, you will see bilingual road signs that identify each community you are entering. Lanark is a small community just outside of the Antigonish town limits where travelers are greeted by a green bilingual town sign.
The Province of Nova Scotia has enacted a sign policy for Gaelic similar to what is in place for French speaking Acadians in the province. If a request is made for Gaelic ‘boundary’ signs for a particular community by the local municipality, the province will erect a bilingual sign for free. 2 Gaelic, which up until recently was almost extinct in North America, is now enjoying a bit of a renaissance in Nova Scotia, particularly along the Northumberland shore and on Cape Breton Island. The Strait Regional School Board 3 now offers a core Gaelic language course. It was started about a decade ago with 15 students now has over 300. Upon graduation most of these students will have gone through 6 years of Gaelic study. 4 In Antigonish, where the Highland Games have been played each summer since 1863, there is a great deal of pride in their Scottish heritage - a that pride can be both seen and heard.
A little bit up the road from Lanark a right turn on Seabright Road will take you toward Antigonish Harbor and the original Dorchester settlement of what eventually – after a change in name and location – became the town of Antigonish. The Dorchester site was located where the Antigonish Yacht Club currently stands. A stone monument commemorates those members of the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers who, led by Colonel Timothy Hierlihy in 1784, were the first European settlers in this area. Initially, Guysborough and Dorchester served as the judicial centers for the upper and lower districts of Sydney County. Over time Antigonish grew as the area’s trading center and Dorchester declined in importance which lead to the judicial concerns being moved to Antigonish. In 1855 a Greek revival style courthouse was built at 172 Main Street. The building still stands there today and although the main courthouse is now at 11 James Street, the old courthouse is still used as a venue for some of the area’s Supreme Court cases.
Continuing north on Rte 337 a short drive will get you to Mahoney’s Beach Road. A right turn will quickly get you to the beach. Mahoney’s Beach is a sand bar that extends part way across the mouth of Antigonish Harbor. A 90 meter opening between Mahoney’s Beach and Monk Head on the west side provides an opening to the harbor for small vessels.
Back on Route 337 and now just past the mouth of Antigonish Harbor the view to the right opens up to a wide vista of St George’s Bay with Cape Breton Island off to the east. A short distance from here a right turn at Crystal Cliffs Farm Road will take you to the geologic study site of Crystal Cliffs. As I followed the directions I got from Jocelyn Gillis I drove into a small grass and gravel parking area in what appeared to be someone’s backyard. There were 2 cars parked there. From the parking lot I walked pass a barn and farm house (Crystal Farm) thinking a good close look at a shotgun barrel would be imminent. Then I met someone who was just returning from the cliffs and they assured me that I was in the right place and then pointed me in the right direction. Called Crystal Cliffs because of the prominent shore-line cliff of gypsum the large house and barn of Crystal Farm had, for years, provided facilities for student work areas and specimen storage. Crystal Farm was selected as the site for M.I.T.’s Summer School of Geology because the regional geology of both the Nova Scotia mainland and Cape Breton Island was ideally suited to student field training. It was used by M.I.T from 1948 – 1961. Crystal Farm is now owned and maintained by Saint Francis Xavier University. It serves as a beachside retreat, the site of archery classes and the annual Lobster Dinner for Faculty and Invited Guests.
Just past the buildings there is a path that takes you to the beach. Before the beach there is a small wooden bridge to get you over a narrow neck of water at the northern end of Ogdens Pond. Just a couple of steps beyond the bridge is the western shoreline of St Georges Bay. At first you need to be careful as you walk across a strip of football sized beach rocks. Then, up to the water, it is predominantly sand. The day I was there as I approached the beach I couldn’t help but notice a teepee shaped cabana. It was built by the groundskeeper for Crystal Farm, who was employed by ST FX, for his young children in order to provide some shelter from the sun and wind. On the beach there were a couple of sun bathers, a couple of swimmers and a woman painting landscapes. I took a left and headed northward where I encountered a 2 meter tall inukshuk. Inukshuks are somewhat mysterious stone figures that can be found throughout northern latitudes of North America. Inukshuk is an Inuit word meaning ‘in the likeness of a human’. They are monuments made of unworked stones that are used by the Inuit for communication and survival. The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is ‘Someone was here’ or ‘You are on the right path.’ 5 So, I took it from the rock person that I was heading the right way. Big rocks were involved in the making of the inukshuk I encountered that day and I couldn’t help but think that large intoxicated humans might have been involved in its construction. As I continued walking north, with the water of St Georges Bay to my right and a low terrace to my left, the beach continued to get narrower and the terrace continued to gain height. By time I got close to the gypsum outcrop that is Crystal Cliff the terraced ledge, which was not more than a nub when I started was now a 20’ cliff, with its feet in the water. With the tide in there was no beach to walk on. To proceed further, I had to either wade through the water or climb over some rocks to get to the gypsum cliffs. I decided to climb over the rocks and in a short time I reached my destination. After some time hiking and rock hounding along the shoreline I took a break and once again constructed a small fire to brew some coffee. I sipped my coffee and soaked in the scenery. Coffee taste better with good scenery. I was favored with comfortable temperatures, plenty of sun and expansive views of St Georges Bay. After about 30 minutes I gathered my stuff, buried the fire and headed back to the car. I was just about back to the parking lot when I encountered some lost looking people. They said they were looking for the Crystal Cliff and asked if they were in the right place. I reassured them that they were and pointed them in the right direction telling them that if they had any further doubts that the large inukshuk would confirm that they are on the right path.
Back on Rte 337 there is a small museum about 15 km north of Crystal Cliffs. The Cape George Heritage School Museum operated as a one room school house in the 1920’s. It now houses artifacts relating to the area’s farm and fishing industries dating back to the early 1900’s. It also serves as a venue for local artist to sell their work. It is opened to the public from June – September and serves the community as a meeting place throughout the year. A hiking trail is accessible from the parking lot.
From the school house Route 337 climbs steadily in elevation as you head towards Cape George. Along the way there are outstanding views of the escarpments surrounding Ballantyne’s Cove. Ballantyne’s Cove is a working fishing harbor where charter boats for bluefin tuna work from. It is a principal trading point for Japanese merchants looking for sushi-grade Atlantic bluefin tuna. It is also the home of the Tuna Interpretive Center which offers interpretive panels of the life cycle of tuna and the history of tuna fishing in the area. There is a small take out seafood restaurant here but, if you plan to eat there, be sure to call ahead to make sure it is open.
Past Ballantyne’s Cove there is a switchback on Rte 337 that takes you from a little above sea level to about 120 m (~400’) in a bit less than 2 km. Near the summit you will see a sign and road on the right that leads you to the Cape George lighthouse which sits high on top of the Pictou-Antigonish Highlands – a geologic unit underlain by a block of old crustal rocks which are bounded and transected by numerous faults. The two most important faults of this area are the Hollow Fault in the northwest and the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault on the south. The lighthouse stands on a high cliff above the strait, the cliff being an escarpment formed by the Hollow Fault line that runs from Malignant Cove to Cape George. The promontory that is Cape George sits at the tip of peninsula shaped like an equilateral triangle – approximately 20 km on each side. The east side of the cape forms the western edge of St Georges Bay. The other water side of the Cape George triangle is part of the Northumberland Strait’s southern coast. It is one of the easier places on earth to put your finger on when looking at a map. From Google Earth, Cape George is discernible from an ‘eye altitude’ of ~4000 miles. Cape George is an obvious site for a lighthouse. The current lighthouse is the third one for this location. The first light, erected in 1861, was a square white wooden tower that was destroyed by a fire in 1907. In 1908, it was replaced by an octagonal wood tower, painted white, with a circular red metal lantern. The current light was built in 1968. It stands 14 m (45 ‘) tall and has a white octagonal concrete base with a red lantern room. It is identified to sailors by its third order dioptric triple flashing light having a 7.5 second sequence in the following pattern: quarter-second flash, one-second eclipse, quarter-second flash, one-second eclipse, quarter-second flash, four and three-quarters second eclipse. The illuminant is petroleum vapor burned under an incandescent mantle. 6 Between 1861 and 1968 there were but 6 different Cape George lighthouse keepers. With an average tenure of 18 years these guys lasted almost as long as Supreme Court Justices and Popes. During those 107 years there were three lighthouses at Cape George. Albert Charles Falkenham (light keeper from 1919 – 1951) lasted about as long as the average lighthouse did. Before lighthouse automation came along being a keeper of the beacon was a steady gig.
The Cape George Day Park offers picnic tables and a hiking trail that winds down the steep terrain to the rugged shoreline below offering rest areas and great views along the way. And of course there is the view from the lighthouse which includes St Georges Bay, the Northumberland Strait, P.E.I. and Cape Breton Island. Today the grounds are kept up by a dedicated group of volunteers.
As you leave Cape George and head west, St Georges Bay is now behind you and the Northumberland Strait is on your right. The next stop is at Livingstone Cove, a working wharf located about 32 km from Antigonish. Here there are picnic tables and interpretive panels which provide a glimpse into the history of the area. Livingstone Cove was settled in 1800. At this site there once stood a couple of food processing plants, a post office, school house and a store. Canned lobsters where shipped by boat and train from here to major North American markets to the west and south. Locally grown beans were shipped worldwide. Farming, fishing and lumbering were the main industries but during prohibition, rum running provided a major boost to the local economy. Today the Livingstone Cove wharf is an active fishing wharf used in season by the local lobster fleet but all the aforementioned commercial and civil operations are long gone. Once the lobster season is over in late June the boats are usually moved to the more protected waters of Ballentyne’s Cove. The Northside Development Association has transformed the area above and around the wharf into an inviting park area with easy access to the sea. The Livingstone Cove Wharf Park is an ideal location to watch the sun set as it dips below the unobstructed horizon of the Northumberland Strait and Gulf of St Lawrence.
During one visit to the area I was fortunate to stay at a very nice B&B located nearby. One evening I went to catch a sunset at the wharf and happened to come across the proprietors of the B&B. We chatted and stared in a northerly direction at the Strait for a while and then my attention was drawn to some houses behind us. The houses were located on the south side of Rte 337 about 1/3 km from the shoreline and 150’ above it. I mentioned that it must be nice to live up there with such great views and Antigonish being close by. It turns out that when they were having their B&B built they rented a one of those houses for 2 years. Yes, the views are great and for a good part of the year it is a wonderful place to live. Yet, they were very happy to move off of the exposed ridge because of the difficulties of living there in the winter. Winter brings slickness to the steep roads – never a good thing - but worst of all was the north wind that blows unobstructed over the ice covered Northumberland Strait. The proprietor told me of how she was, on more than one occasion, almost swept away by the wind to parts unknown. This would happen when getting out to her car in the morning to go to work in Antigonish. The combination of an icy driveway and high winds almost proved fatal. On one occasion she almost made it to the flag in a stiff breeze position and if not for the tight grip she had on her car’s door handle she might have been a sad story on the local evening news. They also mentioned the difficulty of keeping the house warm with the cold winter wind cutting through the walls that faced the Strait. Their B&B is a beautiful building made, in part, from barn timbers that were salvaged from the family barn in Ontario and transported to Nova Scotia. The site for their B&B is less scenic than up on the ridge but still quite nice and a lot more benign sitting in a little hollow on the south side of Rte 337.
From Livingston Cove as one continues west you will see a bilingual – English and Gaelic - sign for ‘Georgeville/ Baile Sheòrais’. There is really nothing here at all to indicate a town or community of any sort but it is here that I was fortunate enough to purchase a small piece of land - 2.47 acres of undeveloped promise. The village of Georgeville was quite a different place back when AF Church compiled his map of the area. In 1878 it had a 2 blacksmith shops, a post office, 2 stores, a school house and several more houses. Today there are no visible remains of any of the commercial buildings. Other than the trees not being of old growth size there is no indication of any commerce ever being here. The vegetation and Nova Scotia’s maritime weather have erased it all. While visiting in 2006 I made an effort to find the remains of Georgeville as it was in 1878. Trudging through the woods is tough here because of the thick underbrush. The difficulty of getting around was lessened somewhat by the remains of a somewhat recent blown down. Many young trees, with maybe 2-4 inch diameter trunks, were laid down by, I suspect, either Hurricane Juan in 2003 or the winter nor’easter – White Juan – in 2004. The fallen trees made almost a floor on the ground that helped getting around. But, it also made it easier to twist an ankle and I could have walked right over a building foundation and not have known. So, I had no success in finding Georgeville. I was discouraged and ready to call it quits when I came across an animal trail. So I walked along it for a while since it made for easy travel. But the trail was moving me away from Rte 337 and any chance of stumbling on any Georgeville ruins was not likely. I was about to turn around when I saw a small opening in the woods where sun shine was able to reach the ground. I headed for it and just as the forest canopy had opened up I noticed a white 5 gallon plastic bucket lying close to the trail - obliviously not a Georgeville relic. And then just about 3 meters from the bucket in the middle of the opening I saw a solitary marijuana plant. It was only about 3 feet tall and had not yet started to form any buds. I looked around carefully as I had no idea with what I was dealing with here. It could be part of a large scale operation with booby traps. Or it could be just some person trying to grow a private stash without any intent to maim any interlopers such as myself. After convincing myself that the spot was safe I marked the spot using my handheld GPS, clipped the top off of the plant and headed back to the car. At the campground that night I dried the leaves out and gave it a try but it lacked any potency. The plant was all leaves – no gacky, trichome oozing buds. Four years later, using my GPS, I went back to that very same spot and, to my surprise, there was another plant. This was a little later in the year than the trip in 2006 and the plant was a little further ahead in that buds were just beginning to form. But again, no trichomes and the sample was not very effective. I’ve not been back to that spot since. In 2015 the Government of Canada committed to the legalization of Marijuana ending its 90 year prohibition. I think SyCo is well suited to take advantage of kush tourism. I am of the opinion that natural settings, campfires and stargazing all pair well with cannabis.
From Georgeville, continuing west on Route 337 about 7 km brings you to Malignant Cove. Malignant Cove did not get its name by being rich in airborne carcinogens so there is no need to drive past here real fast. Actually, you’ll want to drive slowly or even stop as the cove is very picturesque. The name comes from the British warship HMS Malignant which was headed to Quebec during the American Revolution when, in an attempt to get out of storm waters, it got grounded in the cove. About 100 years ago an attempt was made to change the name from Malignant Cove to Milburn. But the locals continued to call it Malignant Cove and, fortunately, Milburn never caught on. Just east of the cove there is a dirt road that leads to an unsupervised beach which offers a nice place to take a swim in the Northumberland Strait. Route 337 terminates at Malignant Cove and here you can either make a left onto Rte 245 East to head inland towards Antigonish or you can stick on the Sunrise Trail (Rte 245 West) and follow the shoreline of the Northumberland Strait. Heading west for about 7 km you will come to the village Arisaig.
Arisaig was founded in 1795 by Scottish immigrants who left their ancestral home due to the forced displacement known as the Highland Clearances. Many settled along the Northeastern coast of Nova Scotia, particularly in Pictou County and on Cape Breton Island. In the town of Pictou (another nice day trip from Antigonish) there is a replica of the Hector – the ship that brought the first wave of Scots to the region in 1773. Prior to the Hector, Nova Scotia – or New Scotland, was populated primarily by the native Mi’kmaq along with French, English, New England Planters and German settlers. There were some Scots but they were small in numbers and widely scattered. The name of Nova Scotia came years before the Hector Scots appeared. It was in 1621 when King James I appointed Sir William Alexander of Scotland as the Lieutenant-General of what is today know as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and part of Quebec and Maine. Sir William, son of King James VI of Scotland (aka King James I of England) chose to name this new world acquisition New Scotland. The original land grant was written in Latin and from that document Nova Scotia (New Scotland in Latin) became the accepted moniker. The provincial coat of arms and flag, the ones still in use today, also come from this early attempt to form a Scottish settlement in the new world.
The wave of immigrants from the Scottish Highlands that began in 1773 with Hector changed the nature of Nova Scotia’s population and provided additional legitimacy to the name of Nova Scotia. From Pictou these original settlers moved east and south to establish farms throughout the region. These early Scot settlers named the community of Arisaig after their home on the west coast of Scotland.
For the tourist there are two stops in Arisaig; the Arisaig Wharf and just a bit further west is the Arisaig Provincial Park. The first wharf at Arisaig was built in 1812, the first lighthouse in 1898. The lighthouse standing there now is a replica built in the 1970’s from the original lighthouse plans. There are interpretive panels near the lighthouse and a Lobster Interpretive Center on the other side of the parking lot. From the lighthouse if you look east along the shore line you will see a large rectangular rock known as Frenchman’s Barn. During Joseph Howe’s 1820 ramble his first recorded stop in Sydney County was at Arisaig. According to Howe, Frenchman’s Barn was named so “from the circumstances of a French sloop of war having fired upon it, during some of the wars of olden time, under the supposition that it was a building erected and inhabited by the English.” During the summer season a gift shop operates out of the base of the lighthouse. Also, the Lobster Interpretive Center has a snack bar. Today the wharf remains active and is home base for local lobster boats and a fish processing plant that was established in 1976.
Back on Route 245 the Provincial Park is about 2 km west of the wharf. The Provincial Park offers interpretive panels which provide details on the Silurian age fossils that can be found in area. This spot also offers a great view of the Northumberland Strait and the Arisaig Wharf and on a clear day you can see Prince Edward Island. A trail and stairway leads you through a steep forested slope, down the coastal escarpment, toward the beach. Once on the beach a short walk heading west brings you to a small ravine cut into the soft sedimentary rock by Arisaig Brook. The ravine has a small waterfall at its head. Here among the sedimentary rocks you can find Silurian age fossils such as brachiopods, crinoids, and nautilods – and if you are lucky maybe a fossilized starfish or trilobite. This is a nice place to spend some time looking through the layered sedimentary rocks that have broken off of the rock cliff - plus there is the waterfall and the Northumberland Strait to enjoy. I have gone fossil hunting at Arisaig several times - the last time was in late September, 2014 when I had a very comfortable day with temperatures in the 18 – 20 0 C range. There was plenty of sunshine early on that gave way to a mostly cloudy sky for about 30 minutes then back to more sunshine. It was a windy along the beach but the ravine provided calm shelter. During the cloudy interlude sunlight would occasionally sift through the clouds which yielded some nice lighting. The white caps that were being whipped up by the wind seemed to become illuminated and popped out in stark contrast against the dark waters of the Northumberland Strait. I found some small Silurian fossils then made a small fire and boiled some water to build some drip coffee. I saw a bald eagle soaring above the cliff. All in all - not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. With a 400 million year old souvenir in my backpack I headed back via the steep stairway climb back up the escarpment. From the parking lot I headed east on Rte 245 and then turned right at Malignant Cove. Now heading inland the road travels through rolling hills of pasture land and woodlands. In recent years some wind turbines have appeared on the west side of the road. In less than 30 minutes I was back on Main Street, Antigonish.