I woke up early today without the help of an alarm clock... for some reason I was raring to go.... I got in the shower and did business...... hopped in the car and was off.... I inched forward out of the driveway but couldn't go anywhere.... something I"m not really used to happened.... traffic.... it being monday morning around 8am (I'm normally assleep) people are on their way to school or work or somewhere.... I just want to drive... I finally get an opening and almost hit the car in front of me .... the traffic had slowed down because of a schoolbus ... it's way to early for this....

I continue down the road and take a side street I'm sick of going 30kmph... finally I get to the highway... 100kmph here I come... yeah right.... mr slow ahead again.... joy a passing lane... the fuker speeds up.... what is about people when they are driving along like sunday drivers and a passing lane opens up they speed up like they are in the indy 500.... and then slow back down to drivin miss daisy after the lane closes.... no matter I"m a proffesional... leaving mr. fake indy in the dust I continue to my first site.... a gas station.... after I fill up I noice a nice scene accross the street and a bird in the middle of the ice patch... strange (the pic isn't really that good)

my second site was the seal island bridge... now I have some fantastic shots of this bridge from all angles except one.... today this got rectified.... after the bridge I turned onto the gravel road by the campground and puttered a ways down till I found a decent opening to take a picture from..... well it was the best I could find without falling down the dliff..... sadly the best shots I've taken are from about 2 years ago... the dirt road brings back memories of family road trips... many years ago we were going to badeck but it was decided to take the scenic route... well let me tell you this dirt road is not very safe looking further down... there are times that when looking out the window all you can see is a 60 foot plus drop to nothingness

anyway up the mountain I go..... I stop at the lookoff point and of course like any decent tourist take some pics.... then I drive down to the Englishtown ferry and waste 20 minutes of my day because I didn't think to bring any money with me... the ferry is cash only and there are no stores anywhere close.... well this isn't a problem since I'm out for a drive I will take the long way around.... this is where my story becomes scary.... the roads are cape breton roads which means they are twisty turny and full of the cape breton pothole.... for those that are not from around here these are either mounds of pavement that shift depending on the time of year ... sometimes flat.. sometimes sunk down and even sprouting out like volcanos (without the eruption of course) craters and all.... my poor car hates me for driving down that road today and let me know by almost killing me... I was driving a bit fast and the turn was very sharp... combine this with the salt and dirt on the road... and of course the cape breton pothole.... needless to say I nearly ended up driving through the wooden guard rail of a tiny bridge because the car launched off the cape breton pothole and slid through the salt gravel but figured the scratched fender might hurt so it turned in time.... I mentioned I am a proffesional and I prove it here

along the twisty roads there are many frozen over lakes and every once in a while you can see some fool sitting in the middle of it ice fishing.... man do they ever look cold... there was one spot that had a hut constructed and outside of it to make it appear homely was a carefully constructed snowman.... the picture doesn't do it justice lol.... I almost drove around to the other side just to get a closer picture.... but my original reason for the trip was more important so I kept driving....

the next site was cape smokey.... now for those people that cringe while driving up kelly's mountain should steer clear of this one... the twisty road all the way up the 700 foot climb are enough to make most any driver freak out at least once... not to mention the steep drop down... I'm more frightened of the idiot drivers that take the turns to fast and end up in the opposing lane... yes some moron nearly took me out because he couldn't control the car... lucky for me he got it under control before I got creamed.....

there really isn't much else of importance to describe except the real reason for my trip in the first place.... now the last time I went to ingonish was probably about 9 or so years ago... it was a camping trip and the highlight (other than the whiskey drunk) was a place called Mary Anne Falls... the falls are set up in the mountain and fall into a pool at the bottom that ranges from 6 to 9 feet deep depending on how much water is flowing at the time of year.... the reason it is so nice is because of the sorta cliff you can climb and jump off of at different heights.... it was a lot of fun.... but I haven't seen it in the winter..... so now you know why I went.... I remember that there was a road that went to the top but it was closed because of dangers of forest fire so we had to hike up the mountain to get to it.... being full of whiskey it was no easy task.... let me tell you ... it's not any better in snow.... the road is blocked off this time of year and turned into a cross contry ski trail.... which is thankful to me because it was packed down and not too difficult to walk on..... (it would have been better if it was plowed off and my car was allowed to go up) well I took a look and decided I came all this way I'm going.... forgetting to take a look at the signs at the bottom that tell me how far it is I begin my journey

5 minutes into the hike I am exhausted.... but I am deturmined and keep going after a small rest... after a while I come to a lookoff point... the view was fantastic.... after another break I keep going.... I come across a couple of nut ski people.... the guy was far ahead waiting for the woman.... a few minutes behind him... she's coming down the hill but she's using the poles to slow herself down.... I felt like knocking her off the skis and taking them so I could go up the hill easier... (or at least coast down the hill) I got in a rythum and motored on... my body finally over the shock of physical activity and is responding to the fresh air.... I stopped occasionally to listen to the breeze flow through the trees... it was very peacefull .... every once in a while I pass some animal tracks... I saw lots of rabbit tracks.. even some moose tracks ... and of course droppings... yuk..... an hour and a half later of trudging and resting I finally arrive at my destination..... I want to die... but I must complete my mission....

I walk closer to the bridge and of course the place is full of snow and not cleared out... nobody ventures close to it so I have to climb through the snow to get my pictures... I notice there is a lone set of tracks leading to where I must go... I piggy back the tracks so I dont sink out of sight... what I dont realize is the tracks are from an animal probably a moose.... I know this because I nearly fell in the fukers dropings.... well I climbed down the snow filled stairs and tried to get close enough to take some pictures.... I snap away and then I get the dredded low battery sign... great just fukn great.... I take out my spare pair and put them in the camera.... they are even more dead.... of course... but at least I got a picture of the moose droppings I nearly fell in.... geez

so with my mission complete it is time for the long ass walk back to the car... I found out from the signs that the walk was just about 7 km... it took me an hour and half to get back to the car... I dont really know how long it took to get to the falls because I wasn't paying attention.. but I timed it on the way back.... given that it was a long walk and I was tired on the way back it's possible that it took less time to get to the top... but I'll never know.... on the way back I did come accross a pheasant but by the time I got the camera ready it had fled into the woods... they are very quick ... after getting back to the car and driving away I did come accross a moose... it was in someone's backyard but by the time I turned around and got back it was gone..... such a shame lol... but nothing else of any importance happened... but perhaps I shall mention that I stopped at a store to get out some money for the ferry.... being tired I was not in the mood to drive anymore so I opted for the quick way.... but it was a decent day just the same