More fun in Cape Breton

Hike the highlands Festival


Festival Updates
Important Messages

1) Hikers are expected to be at the trailhead at least 30 minutes before the hike starts to check in.

2) Opening ceremonies on Friday, Sept. 11th will start when hikers come back from Middle Head between 7:30 pm. - 8:00 pm.

3) Outdoor Nature Photography workshop on Friday, Sept. 11th on the first weekend will take place at Jack Pine Trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Meet at Jack Pine parking lot at Black Brook area at 1:30 pm.

4) Outdoor Nature Photography workshop on second weekend of the festival will be on Smokey Towers trail. Meet at Cape Smokey Provincial Park parking lot at 1:30 pm.

5) Introduction to GPS workshop will take at Brook Brook area - meet at Jack Pine Parking lot - 4:15 pm.

6) On Monday, Sept. 14 at NHN Trails, Cape North - There are two events a) There will be a guided hike- 4kms for hikers at NHN trails beginning at 10:00am. b) The Nordic Walking workshop - hiking with poles, a different event, will take place at 10:00 am and hikers will do another trail hiking with their poles. Please be there 30 minutes before the hike or workshop to check in. A barbecue will follow at 11:30 am. for hikers on the hike as well the Nordic Walking workshop.

7) Hikers are encouraged to pick up their Hike the Highlands festival Pass & National Park pass at the festival headquarters at Glenghorm Beach Resort, Ingonish. If you would like to pick them up at trailhead registration please e-mail hikethehighlands@gmail.com


Festival Headquarters
Hours of Operation

Festival headquarters and registration desk is located at the conference room downstairs just past Thirsty Hiker Pub. Hours of operation during the festival :

Friday, September 11th -
12:00 pm. – 9:00 pm.
Saturday, September 12th
- 8:00 am. – 8:00 pm.
Sunday, September 13th
- 8:00 am.– 11:00 am., 5:30 pm. – 8:00 pm.
Monday, September 14th -
8:00 am. – 10:00 am. 6:00 pm. – 8:00 pm.
Tuesday, September 15th-
8:00 am. – 10:00 am. 6:00 pm. – 8:00 pm
Wednesday, September 16th - 8:00 am. – 10:00 am. Thursday, September 17th - 8:00 am. – 10:00 am.
Friday, September 18th-
8:00 am. – 10:00 pm 6:00 pm. – 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 19th-
8:00 am. – 12:00 pm. 5:00 pm. – 8:00 pm.
Sunday, September 20th - Closed/ Cleanup in afternoon

2009 Photo Contest
All Hikers are Encourage to Enter

All hikers in the 6th Annual Hike the Highlands festival are encourage to take pictures throughout the festival and entered the photo contest in the following categories 1) Flora, 2) Fauna, 3) People, 4)Scenery and 5) Humour. 1st place winners will receive a free Hike the Highlands Pass for 2010 festival and photos display on the website, and festival blog. 2nd & 3rd place winners will be displayed on the website. Contest details will be available at the festival headquarters.

Walk like a man...down Memory lane

I’ve done a lot of walking on my holidays this year. One of the most fun was the walk to see Jersey Boys,the musical of the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.These boys from Jersey were just hitting their stride as I was getting into my teens although my better half and I were more of the Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin era. That made very little difference as we heard the old favorites like Walk like a man, Big girls don’t cry and of course Sherry Baby. It helped that some of the back stage personnel were sharing our box so we knew it had to be good when they laughed at the jokes too! It didn’t seem to matter how old you were, we saw Grandmothers ( like me) with kids in their teens and everyone was singing along. By the way they make great walking tunes for your ipod! Check it out at http://www.jerseyboystoronto.com/main.htm

As we were in the city of Toronto, I was thinking, if I lived here I wouldn’t need a car. Lots of Public Transit, lots of green spaces to walk,and a picnic in Hyde Park made me a tad jealous, but traffic whizzing by, lots of people in line for subways, and the constant sound of emergency vehicles made me glad I was just a visitor.

There are just so many places to visit in this country and in this province, I'm sorry I can't see more of them. However , this weekend , I'll be walking like myself down the Trans Canada Trail in Inverness County in the CB Island Hoppers walking Marathon. Start out in Troy, register by 10 am for the 5, 10 or 15 k, earlier by 9 if you want to do the full marathon, Hope I see you there. I'll be one of the folks in the lime green Walkabout T-shirts. Stop and say hi, and I'll try not to sing old Frankie Valli tunes!

Important walks in life

Important walks indeed! I've been thinking about all those little babies who are taking that first step towards independence today in the HRM.

Granddaughter Number 3 took a long walk up the road to get her first ride in the School bus today. I am sure her father then jumped on his bike and followed the bus to the school to make sure all went well. I'll be watching my email closely for the pictures. Her big brother took the same walk not too many years ago so he was able to be the fountain of knowledge to answer her questions and to guide her along the way.

One of my colleagues was walking her daughter to school for the first time! How exciting for her little girl, how emotional for the mom. But how wonderful to WALK together instead of jumping in the car. All the way there, just think of the conversation..who will be the teacher, where is the classroom, who will she play with, when can she eat her lunch.
Maybe we should all be thinking about Walking School buses in our neighbourhoods so we can share more of those moments together.


I also attended another important first step in a long walk this summer. My niece got married. She and her Dad took that long walk down the aisle. Again think of the conversation. ( I'm sure he was saying we love your choice but if you want we can walk right out the door! and she was saying this is a great first step in a long life together) . And yes they did stop at the appointed spot and everyone was delighted to watch the ceremony.

So while all the steps we take aren't quite so momentous, there are some steps this weekend you can take with your family and friends. I found a great little walk/run in Tatamagouche that is a great way to end the summer. Take a peek at http://buttertrailfunrun.blogspot.com/2009/06/butter-trail-fun-run.html

It seems like a lot of fun. Maybe I'll see you there.