Took advantage of the great weather this weekend to hike out to Cape Sharp lighthouse. Cape Sharp is located near the village of Black Rock, overlooking the Minas Channel (near where the proposed tidal energy project may be) near Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. The hike to the lighthouse is about 20 minutes via the old access road. The lighthouse was automated in 1989 so that road is only traversable by foot now. Doesn't bother me - it's well worth it for both the view and the solitude. The lighthouse itself is a salt shaker style, dating from 1886. It stands about 35 feet in height and its light reaches out 11 miles in the upper Bay of Fundy. That's just about perfect because that's pretty much the distance over to Cape Blomidon on the opposite side of the Bay! Luckily the tide was out today enabling me to take this photo looking up to the lighthouse from the beach - at high tide here I'd be way under water. All safe up on the lighthouse though where I stopped to explore the panoramic view.
Hi Terri:
ReplyDeleteYou would not remember this, but my uncle, Reg Winters (now deceased) was lightkeeper at Cape Sharp for many years. I loved visiting Cape Sharp, staying in one of the two houses (are they still there?) and listening to the fog horn. It was always fun to hike the road up the steep hill, enjoy the marvelous views, watch the tides flow in an out and see an occasional lumber freighter when they used to dock in Parrsboro. My Aunt Blanche also picked raspberries and blackberries there and preserved them. Spending time there was always fun and a lasting part of my childhood memories. Ask your Mom - she'll remember my Uncle Reg and Aunt Blanche!
Hi Michael: Great to hear from you! I hadn't realized that Reg was the lightkeeper at Cape Sharp. The two houses are no longer there but I can assure you that the raspberries and blackberries still flourish - we ate some raspberries yesterday! Hope you have a chance to get back to Cape Sharp when you are next back in town.
ReplyDeleteTerri
I love Cape Sharp a bit of unsung paradise and when I went there this summer with my family we were the only ones for miles. One thing about this coast is the chance for pristine ocean connections well out of reach of the crowds. So part of me wants to keep it a secret but then what good is a beautiful sunset over Cape Split if no one is there to skipping beach stones and dropping their jaw in awe of the incredible majesty we are blessed with on this Bay. We very much appreciate your blog. Thanks for your passion for this precious, pulsating puddle.
ReplyDeleteTerri I lived on cape Sharpe lighthouse when I was a child. I walked over that cape 2 times a day going to catch the bus to go to school. Some days i basicly left home in the dark and returned in the dark! Mike I read your comment, Reg and Blanche were very good friends of my parents. Blanche made me my first rootbeer float! Yum. Victor Elliot was the other lightkeeper at this time too. This is a time in my life I truly cherish, not many people got to live at a lighthouse. I still go there every summer to my parents house, with my family and they love the trip to the light.
ReplyDeleteDebbie (Krumrei) McAvoy