Hike the Highlands Festival https://www.hikethehighlands.com

On the labour day weekend, I was able to hike Cape Smokey, a 11 km trail located in the Cape Smokey provincial park along the Cabot Trail, in Victoria County, Cape Breton, with my wife, Heather and friend Gerald Costello. The trail was going to be wet due to the rain the day before but we were...Read more

One of my favorite all time hikes has always been the Clyburn Valley Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  It is a trail for all seasons as the trail is groomed for cross country skiing in the winter. One winter,  I was very lucky and saw a rare snowy owl on this trail just before the...Read more

Recently, I had a chat with Debra Ryan, President of Hike Nova Scotia about long distance hikes , socks and hiking boots.  She indicated how Smart Wool Socks worked well with her 4 day hike at Kejimkujik National Park and I talked about doing the West Highland Way next year in Scotland – 95...Read more

  With just 3 weeks away before the Hike the Highlands Festival starts on Friday, Sept. 12, it is now time to review your checklist. Your checklist should look something like this :     1) Did I register and pay yet ? Last day to register and pay online is Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008. Please read...Read more

After what seems to be a week of rain, I was finally able to hike yesterday on one of Cape Breton Highlands National Park most interesting trails – Jack Pine.  This short 2.3 km trail is about an hour long or more depending if you connect with coastal trail back to the parking lot at Black...Read more

Recently, my wife and I along with our nephew and his girlfriend hiked to Middle Head. Middle Head is one of Cape Breton Highlands National Park’s favorite hiking trails and is located just behind the Keltic Lodge on the Middle Head pensiula at Ingonish Beach, on the Cabot Trail.  Despite an...Read more

It is rather fitting I write this article/post on one of the hottest days of the year – 28 degrees with high humidity (muggy) and a little wind. Here are a few tips for hot weather hiking – 1) Water – take two bottles of water and put them in the freezer the night before. Allow...Read more

The festival is now open for registration both online and offline. New in 2008 – Hikers will be able to : 1) purchase the combine pass –  Hike the Highlands Festival pass and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park entry pass from the Hike the Highlands Festival  2) hikers can...Read more

Brand new for 2008,  Hike the Highlands Festival now has a digitize brochure. Developed by NXTBook and sold by Dawson Communications, this digitize brochure allows you to turn the pages of our  brochure as well zoom in and to print one page at a time.  Instructions on how to use this technology...Read more

Today, I enjoyed one of the classics, the Franey Hiking Trail located in the Cape Breton Highlands Park, along the Cabot Trail. It was my first hike on Franey this year and it did not disappoint. The temperature forecast today was around 28 degrees Celius. So I left early around 8:30 am to beat...Read more