K & L's Travel Blog

21 September 2025

It’s Mary & Star’s last day and we’ve planned on walking one of the most popular and scenic trails in Nova Scotia, Skyline. We start with a big breakfast of eggs and bacon with homemade cheese biscuits. Most excellent! Mary drives and we head straight to Skyline, getting there about 9:30. There were already a lot of people there, but the parking lots were far from full. 

This was another hike we had taken years before, and though our memory of the walk itself was much the same, the parking had expanded and the trees were making a comeback along what was a bald. Yellow and gold ferns lined the trail. When we get to the fork in the trail, Mary and Star head off on the longer side and we opt for the shorter given our slower pace. 

The trail is flat and very well-tended. So much so it’s easy to not watch where you put your feet. Kitty trips over a rock and goes down in a patch of brackens that soften her fall. A couple is just behind us and they are super kind, offering empathy and comfort, sharing their fall stories. 

Luckily no harm done and we walk on, enjoying the incredible fauna that surrounds us. There’s a group of Sikhs with a boom box. They are in high spirits. Kitty challenges me to get a photo of them. We imagine the fellow in the red turban is the dancer from Yukon, Gurdeep Pandher, who helped to keep our spirits up during COVID. We waited for him to set up on a platform, but no such luck. The view, of course, is stunning and provides plenty of joy.

We reconnect with Mary & Star and walk back to the car. From there we go to the bog, which is less dramatic than in June, but still holding on to some pitcher plants even as fall approaches. An information panel describes how moose bathe there in the water and sleep nearby. No luck spying one today, though!

The Rusty Anchor is packed full of people, so we skip lunch and head back towards Ingonish, stopping at the Oyster Bar/Campground for sustenance. Star, Kitty & I share 12 oysters and Mary opts for coffee. The oysters are incredible! The owner (who was there in 2011) says they are super salty and tasty because of the drought—less fresh water in the beds. It’s so charming there I return to notion of staying in their rental farmhouse someday. 

Back home Mary & Star head out to Jack Pine trail. It ends up being a highlight for them. We have charcuterie of cheese, cracker and crab dip and Mary naps while the three of us continue with the champagne and charcuterie. An hour later, Mary awakes up to find three rowdies, but maintains her good humor and drives us out to a spot off the Cabot Trail where we can see the stars.

I’d seen the night sky just from our bedroom window, and despite the light in the yard, it was dazzling. The night sky was even more so when we got out over the ocean away from all the lights. I have had this experience of seeing the dark sky just a few times in the past and I add this night to my short list. We headed back home once we had our fill, and headed to bed shortly thereafter.