View of Wentworth Valley, from Look-Off
Nova Scotia was ablaze with autumn’s glorious hues this past Thanksgiving Weekend. To earn – and the next day, to wear off! – our Thanksgiving roast chicken dinner, Vilis and I hiked in the hills bordering Wentworth Valley in the northern part of the province . On Sunday afternoon, we drove to the Wentworth International Youth Hostel and set out with friends and our son Janis on one of the many trails that explore the rolling terrain near the hostel.
Janis at Look-Off, Wentworth
As we do every October, we chose the trail to Look-Off, a vantage point overlooking Wentworth Valley. The trail led us through open sugar maple stands intermixed with evergreens. It was a lightly demanding excursion, and the view from Look-Off was well worth the few steep and rocky sections of trail. Long, orange-tinted ranges of hills – a section of the Cobequid Mountains – strung out far into the distance on either side of Highway 4 and the railway line that links Nova Scotia with New Brunswick and Central Canada.
Here I am with Vilis Atop High Head’s Summit
Yesterday morning, Vilis, Janis, and I again headed to Wentworth for more hiking. This time, we tackled the trail to High Head, on the opposite side of Wentworth Valley from Look-Off. A gentle trail start soon morphed into a steep, rugged climb that eventually eased into gentler grades through stunted maples to the summit, a promontory overlooking Nova Scotia’s North Shore. The view from High Head was spectacular – all the way to Northumberland Strait separating Nova Scotia from Prince Edward Island, and east and west in a broad sweep, brightly tinted with the reds, oranges, and yelllows of autumn leaves. The musky, sharp scent of high-bush cranberries wafted to us on the breeze, and we shared the summit with other groups of hikers celebrating the glorious weather and scenery. Then we followed cross-country ski trails east to Ski Wentworth and hiked down a black diamond ski hill that was harder on our knees than the hike to High Head had been! The fresh autumn air smelled so good – like promise and wonder and victory all tied into one crisp, clean caress. Needless to say, I’ll be hiking again soon.
