Day 6: Friday September 13th ~ Dingwall to Ingonish

Today was a shortish ride of 35 miles around the northwest tip of Cape Breton. We elected to take the "Old Cabot Trail" along the edge of Aspy Bay, past White Point, then on to aptly named Smelt Harbour and finally to a rendevous with Vanna in Neils Harbour, where there is a large fish cannery. The early going was steep, but after the experience of Kings Mountain, anything shy of Everest would seem manageable.

We cranked out the miles pretty heartily, for Tim and Peter had a tee time in the afternoon at the world ranked Highland Links in Ingonish. No time for lollygagging and sight-seeing.

We found Neil's Harbor to be a working, yet quaint fishing village. Stopping for a snack and a drink, we got ready to climb our final mountain.

The day continued gray and the cloud cover low, but the rain held off. Having rounded the end of the island and now heading west instead of east, we battled a strong headwind. We had one more mountain to climb - Cape Smokey. Humming the old camp favorite "On top of old Smokey......." we powered up and crept gently down. The fact that the bottom of Smokey is called Wreck Cove was a reminder of what can happen on a downhill.

The lobster cannery at Neils Harbour

Tim pauses at the top of old Smokey

Curt is all smiles having descended Cape Smokey. Wreck Cove in background.

We reached  The Keltic Lodge, our destination in Ingonish, about lunch time. Curt and Richard had proceeded us in Vanna and had a picnic lunch laid out for us under an apple tree. We had time for a leisurley lunch and began to soak in the ambience of the marvelous spot called Keltic Lodge. The Keltic Lodge has a Cleveland area connection, as the original lodge was the summer home of Akron Rubber Baron Henry Corson. He fell in love with Ingonish and the dramatic peninsula on its western shore while yachting with friend Alexander Graham Bell. So he and his wife  bought the Middlehead  peninsula and built a summer home there, accesible only by boat.  In 1936, the land was expropriated by the Nova Scotia government from the Corsons. The Middlehead Peninsula was highly desired after the federal government created theCape Breton Highlands National Park. The Keltic Lodge was in operation for two seasons, but because of wartime shortages and overseas fighting, the government closed the hotel in 1942. In 1946, after the end of the war, the hotel reopened.

Part of the Keltic Lodge's storied history is that of its golf course, Highland Links. It is rated in the top 100 in the world and in playing it, we saw why. Opened in 1941 by famed Candian golf architect Stanley Thompsom, it appears as if no earth at all was moved to create the course. The result is a narrow, forest lined roller coaster of a track, with numerous blind shots and few even lies. But it runs through dramatic landscapes and charms even while it bedevils you.

 From the brochure:

Many have referred to Highlands Links as Thompson's homage to golf's Scottish roots and St. Andrews in particular. Holes have names like “Heich O' Fash” (which means “Heap of Trouble”) and many of the fairways are remarkably similar to Scottish topography. The seventh hole, Killiecrankie, resembles the long narrow pass of Killiecrankie in the Highlands of Scotland – a wooded gorge that played a significant role in Scotland's history in 1689.

Some of the same tests that have challenged golfers since the 15th century can also be found at Highlands Links. The fifth hole, “Canny Slap,” is similar to the most famous one-shot hole in golf, St. Andrew's eleventh hole, “Eden.” 

Other typical Scottish trademarks include heroic tees with their long forced carries, blind tee and green strokes, rolling fairways, dune-like mounds, pot bunkers, small undulating greens, seascape panoramas and ever-present heather. We had a great time playing it,

We gathered for dinner in the elegant bar of the Lodge, to find that RIchard and Kirt had enjoyed the afternoon by smoking cigars and drinking Canadian whiskey. The latter, of course. purely for "medicinal reasons".  We spent a nice evening with a casual seafood meal while listening to a local singer who sounded much like Gordon Lightfoot.