WHAT HURRICANNE! OPHELIA WHO! CONVENTION NEWS!

Coming up next, our walk on Sunday, Sept 25/05
Cape Auget Nature trail
Check for details on our calendar of events.


MORE INFORMATION CELTIC COLOURS WALKS AND DINNERS

The Lunch and Dinner on Sunday 09 October 2005 during The Celtic Colours Walks deadline has passed,(19 Sept) anyone who has changed their plans about attending the meals will be put on a waiting list and will be required to pay the $33.00 before being considered for the waiting list. (returnable if you don't get a seat for the dinners)
There is now over 90 patricipants registered for these dinner special, The caterer is trying to arrange more seating, but they also must order and prepare the food, so it is imperative that members register for this and future events early.

The Highland Heights Restaurant is open during the following hours only:

From Management Kim MacAulay: Our dining room is only open for breakfast (8-10am) and dinner (5:30-8:30pm) - We do not serve lunch this year.

Please Note: There is no preregistering for the WALK EVENTS other then the Bus Tour Group who will be in attendance throughout the weekend of walking. All interested walkers can register at the Start Points as we normally do at any walk event. ----YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER FOR THE DINNERS TO PATRICIPATE IN THESE WALKS---


MIDDLE HEAD WALK

On Sunday, 17 Sept, 5 determined volkssporters met at the trail head behind Keltic Lodge for the hike to Middle Head.
At the Start Point we met up with Patsy LeBlanc the coordinator for the "Highland Hiking Festival" and Jocelyne Quann who is a trails guide for the National Park and who led us along the trail showing us the many diverse vegetation in the area and a brief history of the Middle Head Trail.
Prior to the walk I was asked to give a brief descripyion of our club and organization to the 15 or more hikers who were attending the "festivial", hopefully we have stirred up some interest with some of the locals in the area and more participation by the festival organizers to hold IVV Events in the future.

With Jocelyne's help we were able to get a better understanding of the natural world around us at Middle Head and the walk was highlighted by sighting a Minkie Whale very close to the shoreline. Jocelyne is a bag of knowledge and she also carries a "bag of knowledge" to share with us the visitors to the National Park. Thank You Jocelyne for a great day of walking!

Margaret Karrel (a club member) and her two daughters, Bailey and Whitney who are now official volksmarchers joined our group for the return trip to the start point.

The weather was great, cool, not hot and not cold and a light very light internittent rain; we were not "wet" on the return trip.

Yes,a small band of volksmarchers did attend this event but we had Fun and met a few Friends along the way including two ladies from Holland who tagged along to listen to the trails guide presentation.



The Convention 2008!

Graham Fawcett the president of the Canadian Volkssport Federation and our area director Lynda Kanne have contacted me wanting to know the status of our clubs position on holding the 2008 Canadian Volkssport Federations Convention on Cape Breton in 2008.

Regretfully my answer to Graham and Lynda is that we must decline this invitation, upon my presentations to the club and informal discussions with club members there was not enough enthusiasim or support at this time in our clubs membership for such an undertaking.

I still feel that it could be done but I must concede to the wishes of the majority of the club members as this has been made quite clear to me from the dinner at Glace Bay, The Trails meeting in July and when I have brought the subject up on the Trail. We must have most if not all members in agreement and I do not want this club and its members subjected to hard feelings about the issue.

This is now a dead issue in the club and will be for a future executive to ponder.

Start Thinking and Working to keep this club going, consider who should be on the new executive, is it you? and why not!

If you want information about the 2006, EDMONTON, ALBERTA convention go to the CVF website, located to the right of this page.

Conention Dates are:

CVF/FCV CONVENTION 2006
GATEWAY TO WELLNESS
Edmonton, Alberta
12, 13 & 14 May 2006
Shaw Conference Centre

Money Point! What an experience!

A wonderful Experience, see more photos at Trail Photos:

Lots of WALKING and a WHALE TOUR

TIME IS RUNNING OUT: PLEASE REGISTER BY 19 SEPT. FOR OUR CELTIC LUNCH AND DINNER ON SUNDAY 9 OCT 2005, details are on the Celtic Colours website.

LET's Continue WALKING:

When: Saturday, Sept. 17th, 2pm
Start Point: Keltic Lodge parking lot
Trail: Middle Head Trail and Ingonish Beach
Dist: 10K 2C IVV Sanctioned
Walk Leader(s): Rollie and a rep. from the "festival" Dupie Milne-Ashton.

From Hike The Highlands

Hello, Rollie:

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday. We are staffing a Hospitality Room throughout the Festival and we can distribute the information. Also, for anyone coming up on Saturday they may want to stay for the Barbeque/Bonfire/Singalong at the Glenghorm Resort from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. The cost is $15.95 (great food) and to reserve a spot, people have to phone the resort at 285-2049.

Also, are we all meeting in the parking lot next to the stairs to the hike?

Please let me know. ANS. YES

Patsy LeBlanc
Coordinator
Hike the Highlands Festival
285-2289

BEFORE THE WALK EVENT!

Elsie Buck would like to have The Island Hoppers join her and Joe on a Whale Watching Tour in the morning before the Walk Event at Middle Head.

Call Elsie at 562-3117 and leave a message if she is not home at that time.

Please make the arrangements with Elsie, as I will be working that morning.

The whale tour begins at 10:00am, you should arrive 15-30min before departure.

The tour is: SEAQUARIUM WHALE WATCHING TOUR, Phone for additional details: 285-2103.

The cost is $25.00 + tax/person

If needed rain gear is provided, though the tour does not go if there is rough seas!

The minimum number of passengers is six and there is seating fo 40 on this 44 ft Cape Islander.

There is a 95% chance of seeing whales on a cruise which takes about 2 1/2 hours, so there is plenty of time to get to our walk at 2pm at the Keltic Lodge which is about 15 minutes from the dock, the whale tour is about 1hr 45 min from Sydney.


MORE SEPTEMBER WALKING

SUNDAY, Sept 25

Registration 1:30pm

START TIME: 2:00pm

Rollie, 849-0747

Cape Auget Trail, Village of Arichat---

Follow the "Lower Road" to Cape Auget Road to our trail head at the "Clearwater Lobster Holding Facility"

DO NOT GO TO BEAUDERVILLE where we have gone on previous walks, this event is in the opposite direction to make for a more interesting adventure if you have been on this trail in the past.

SEPTEMBER, PIPERS RESTAURANT GREAT FOOD, GREAT WALKING WEATHER

September is proving to be a great month for walking, the weather has been cooler and there is a walk every weekend for our members to pick from.
So far we have been to Inverness on Sunday Sept. 4th and then 11 of us accomplished a 16K walk or should I say HIKE into The Lighthouse at Cape North and Money Point.
From my previous post most of you now know that we Started at Bay Road Valley located between Sugarloaf and Bay St Lawerence.
The Start Point was located at a magnificient viewing point, overlooking Meat Cove and Bay St Lawerence villages.
The trek along the road/trail was spotted with some great views of the highlands and the beaches below near Cabot's Landing.
Along the trail we came across a number of Microwave towers and a coast guard communication installation; during the prewalk on the previous Thursday the crew here showed us photos of the facilities during the winter. The buildup of ice from one of the towers destroyed the roof of one building and the scenes of high snow banks was something that you would imagine only in the north of Canada, (well I guess you could say we were in the NORTH albeit Cape North, Cape Breton)

During the walk to the coastline and the approx 750m incline to the coastline we came across bear droppings and the signs of moose in the area. Fortunately we did not have to implement plan "A" if we had come across bear on the trail-we arrived back with all who came on this adventure!!

Slowly we made our way down into the coastal plain along a narrrow and rocky trail, there were many cries of OOPS!and more *@*@%!OOPS along the route as we upturned the loose gravel and rocks.

There was a strong N'or easter along the coastline as we then trekked 1.5k to the lighthouse with a view of St Pauls Island off the coastline and the Highlands to our left, this is apart of our island that very few will ever see, I and those who made this excursion could not give justice to really describing the area to others.

Lots of photos were taken and I hope to get them on the website soonest.

The return trip up the Mountain was definitely an endurance, a definite challenge, we proceeded by counting 40 paces, rest- deep breaths, 40 paces rest-DEEP BREATHS, after 7-8 stops we were all wondering if there was a top to this mountain and on a couple of occassion we sat for 5min.

WE returned to our cars exhausted but exhilirated, on a high, for accomplishing this 16k event. We started out at 10am and were back to our cars at about 5:15pm.

After the walk the entire group made its way to Pipers Trailer Court & Restaurant at Indian Brook, where the owner and our host, Charles MacInnis provided us with a great meal and a complimentary dessert with our dinner. Thanks Charles It was very much appreciated.

Check you schedule for Sept 25th and if you haven't received info about our walk at The Keltic Lodge on SATURDAY, 17 of Sept please contact me for details or continue checking the website for information.

Money Point, Correction to Start Point

CORRECTION TO START POINT/MEETING AREA and Special Notes about the Hike to Money Point. I was unable to get to the prewalk for this year until this past Thursday Sept 8th, SORRY FOLKS I have to work! The drive to our meeting point is 2 1/2 hours 175k,(from the Alexander Street Exit in Sydney) through the Highland national Park then into a winding stretch of road beginning at Cape North Village outside of the park (our club signs are now posted)

MONEY POINT/CAPE NORTH

Bay Road Valley

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th, 2005

The walk begins at 10AM

Directions to our Start Point:

Follow the Cabot Trail to Cape North Village by Morrison's Restaurant onto the un-numbered road to Bay Road Valley, DO NOT GO TO BAY ST. LAWERENCE and DO NOT FOLLOW the instructions in Michael Haynes book "Cape Breton Trails". That Start Point is deemed unsafe and much to rugged for our purposes. Our Meeting Point is the MT&T Garage at "Bay Road Valley" the Start Point is 2k along a dirt road Please watch for our signs in this area. I will wait at the MT&T garage until 10am.

This walk event is one of the most challenging we have ever attempted and Bill Boutilier our former Trails Coordinator has RATED this at 5C. At one point on the prewalk this past Thursday I was wondering if I could add a 6c! Expect to be on the trail 5-6hours plus we arrived home at 8:30pm without stopping for dinner on the return trip.

BRING LOTS OF WATER AND SOMETHING TO EAT SUCH AS an ENERGY FOOD, sandwiches, a BACKPACK WOULD BE MORE SUITABLE FOR THIS HIKE!!!

Lets have fun, take your time, lets be safe, rest as you require to do so, The map shows a height of 750m and the trail down into the valley (gorge) is extrmely steep and about 1k.

We all know our limitations, don't wait for the group to stop for a rest, do not try and keep up with the group, we are all going to the same place, this is a linear style trail; that is we turn around and follow the trail back to the SP.
On the prewalk we found that walking 40 paces, stopping for one to two minutes the better way to traverse this ascent to the top of the hill (mountain)

This should be a great experience this is the furthest North we can travel on Cape Breton

If you have bad knees, hip problems etc. and have not been walking this year please for your safety and the safety of the others in our club do not attempt this challenging event. Cellphones do not work in this area.

My sincere thank you to Bill, Shirley and Carol who prewalked this event with me; for Bill and Shirley this was their third foray into this area.

NEXT WALK PLUS THE LAST TWO EVENTS

CHECK OUT THE LATEST TRAIL PHOTOS
Click on trail photos to the right of this page>

The Cape Bretoner magazine has published an aticle featuring our club and other walking groups in the area. My thanks to Tom Ayers for taking the time and effort for this article and already I have had some calls asking for more info on our club.I will setup a link to this magazine shortly.

CORRECTION TO START POINT/MEETING AREA and Special Notes about the Hike to Money Point.

MONEY POINT/CAPE NORTH

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th, 2005

The walk begins at 10AM

Directions to our Start Point:

Follow the Cabot Trail to Cape North Village by Morrison's Restaurant onto the un-numbered road to Bay Road Valley, DO NOT GO TO BAY ST. LAWERENCE and DO NOT FOLLOW the instructions in Michael Haynes book "Cape Breton Trails". That Start Point is deemed unsafe and much to rugged for our purposes.Our Meeting Point is the MT&T Garage at "Bay Road Valley" the Start Point is 2k along a dirt road Please watch for our signs in this area.

This walk event is one of the most challenging we have ever attempted and Bill Boutilier our former Trails Coordinator has RATED this at 5C.

BRING LOTS OF WATER AND SOMETHING TO EAT SUCH AS an ENERGY FOOD, sandwiches, a BACKPACK WOULD BE MORE SUITABLE FOR THIS HIKE!!!

Lets have fun, take your time, rest as you require to do so, The map shows a height of 750m and the trail down into the valley is extrmely steep about 1k.
We all know our limitations, don't wait for the group to stop for a rest, do not try and keep up with the group, we are all going to the same place, this is a linear style trail; that is we turn around and follow the trail back to the SP.
On the prewalk we found that walking 40 paces, stopping for one to two minutes the better way to traverse this ascent to the top of the hill (mountain)

This should be a great experience this is the furthest North we can travel on Cape Breton and the view is supposed to be...... well lets find out for ourselves!!

What A great surprise!

Our walk at Gabarus on Sunday 28 of August was fabulous, a beautiful summer day,the first 1k is still the wettest portion but our walk leader Shirley Boutilier with Bill and Carol were on the trail earlier in the morning cutting brush to cover as much of the wet spots as possible and as a result we travelled across these areas with little trouble and not a damp foot amongst us.
Its dedication like this that has resulted in Bill and Shirley to recieve the Ron Colpitts award. The colpitts award is presented to members of a volkssport club who have worked on club committees and have shown outstanding performance throughout a five year period within the CVF.
There were 23 participants at Gabarus, three new members joined us for this event. All appeared to have a good time and we hope to see them on future walk events.
Welcome to the club folks...Elaine Cohen, Sonny Cluett,David Erwin.

Rising Gas Prices have not dampened our club members and guest from attending walk events on the sunset side of the island as 31 walkers joined us for our event on Sunday 04 September.

This was a pleasant shock to me as I approached the parking lot at the Rail Museum.
What a busy little museum! until I realized it was our walk event that drew all the people to this area for the day, including a couple from BC, others from Port Hood and Another new member for our club Sharon Proctor from Havenside.WELCOME!

Hopefully we are beginning to attract some attention on this side of the island!

Thank You to Anne and Phil Irons for giving us a very diverse and interesting walking event.
Phil led us from the Railroad Museum in the town of Inverness out to the railroad trail and then returned to the beach and boardwalk at Inverness. What a great sandy beach to walk on as the sand was well packed and easy to walk. Phil then led us to the new Inverness Art centre where a display of marble and stone artisan was well underway as we took and unprecedented 20min break to look at the displays.
Thank You Phil and Anne for a great walk and perfect weather, we should return to Inverness in the future as there is a rail trail we should continue to explore as well.
Another surprise was the dinner that some of us attended with Rilla and Jim MacLean at the Tommy Cat Bistro in Inverness, recommended for great food YES, just overlook the odd decor and layout!?

Walking for Fun, Fitness and Friendship!

DO NOT FORGET TO REGISTER FOR OUR CELTIC DINNER ON 09 OCT, REGISTRATION MUST BE DONE BY 19 SEPT.