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Drive down to the Lookout to load and unload, but park your vehicle up by the road in case the drive gets muddy. A rainbow may greet you! (guest photo) The small house / lookout / cabin is still unfinished inside and intentionally rustic and off the grid, but very functional and cosy all year round. It comfortably accomodates a self-reliant (woodstove and propane savvy) person or couple, but can be stretched to sleep extra kids or an additional couple. More than 4 persons and you'll need to expand outdoors using tents. The rustic non-electric lifestyle here is not for everyone. It takes more time and thought but is an essential, even joyful, part of an outdoor experience on the edge of the wilderness. If an outhouse, outdoor hot shower, no TV or internet or cell phone coverage for 25 miles isn't your cup of tea then this won't be the place for you. But if you're looking to let go of the stress of modern life for a week or more, and recharge your core in a magical wilderness setting, then you've come to the right place! Indoor lighting, a kitchen stove/oven, and a small cooler for perishable foods all run on propane, as does the outdoor hot shower and portable grill. Running water is gravity fed to the kitchen sink from May-Oct. In the winter months, water is hauled in 5 gallon pails from the brook just 100' feet away.
The last 2 miles of road on the west side of Cape Breton is called the Lower End. The Lower End neighborhood of Red River is quiet and remote at the end of a gravel road where the trailhead begins for the Pollets Cove-Aspy Fault Wilderness Area. It's a hiker and nature lover's paradise, and when you've exhausted the neighborhood trails there's plenty more to explore in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park just up the road. Within walking distance is Gampo Abbey, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery which you can visit in the summer months during their afternoon tour hours. The nearest convenience store and supplies are at Timmons General Store at the Pleasant Bay crossroads, about 5 miles back on the Cabot Trail which you'll pass on your way in. Pleasant Bay is an English-speaking fishing village surrounded by the spectacular Cape Breton Highlands National Park. In the mornings you can buy lobster, snow crab and other fish right off the harbour docks depending on the season. The nearest supermarket, laundromat, liquor store, hospital, gas, bakery, and bank can all be found in the Acadian French-speaking town of Cheticamp, about 25 miles to the south.
NW or oceanside campfire, lobster boats ply the waters beneath the cliffs (guest photo). The house is wood heated in the offseason and has 1 or 2 propane wall lamps in each of the 4 rooms. I use the upstairs tower room as the living or common space for reading, meditation, rainy day hangout, as well as for bird, whale, weather, and aurora-watching from indoors. This room has a couple of comfortable chairs as well as a folded up futon (full-size) that can be used to turn it into a second bedroom. Some may prefer to sleep up here for the views and light rather than the darker bedroom below. However when used as a bedroom, it tends not to be available common space. The always-changing weather, seas, and ice seen from the 360º lookout views beat anything on cable. Even in a fierce winter blizzard, the lookout is always comfy with heat from the woodstove rising up the stairwell.
NE view from the Lookout looking "down" the wilderness coast The kitchen has a working propane stove and oven, woodstove, working sink, dishware and utensils for cooking, but no cuisinarts or microwaves. Some amazing meals have been produced in this kitchen. You can bake bread or steam crablegs using the small propane stove and oven, or keep the tea kettle or a pot of stew simmering on the woodstove in the chilllier seasons. Refrigeration is by a small propane cooler, which you will need to supply small 1# camp bottles for (3/wk). There are additional coolers if you want to keep a supply of ice on hand. Additional bottled liquids can also be kept cool in the brook year round. The dining area at the other end of the room has a table and 4 chairs in the corner windows overlooking the gulf. Cell phones don't work here, but a landline phone was installed in the summer of 2011.
Kitchen area The downstairs bedroom has a queen-size bed. There are blankets, pillows, puffs and a quilt. Clean sheets and pillowcases are provided when you arrive (please bring your own towels). The gas wall lamps give plenty of warm light for night time reading. A small spare room off the kitchen (currently being used for storage) will be evolving into an indoor bath over the next couple of years. For long winter retreats or guests staying more than a week there is a small hand-cranked washing machine that can handle small loads of up to 2 pairs of jeans. Clotheslines are outside or behind the woodstove indoors.
The original tiny cabin is now a storage shed, and a convenient place to change after an outdoor hot shower when the waterline is operating (May-Oct). It's rustic, but it all works great. In summertime after a hike along the beach or a warm salt water swim, you might prefer to bathe in one of the many neighborhood brook pools or waterfalls.
Outdoor hot shower by the shed In the yard are additional tentsites, hammocks, portable furniture, and a campfire overlooking the ocean and the amazing sunsets. The outhouse is enclosed in a pocket clearing surrounded by spruce trees. There are many secluded beaches nearby you can hike or take a short drive to, including some sandy ones where you might actually see other people. Winter retreat visitors should have an AWD vehicle for the local roads, and bring snowshoes and/or cross-country skis.
Each and every sunset over the water is unique (guest photo) |
