August 11
End: Baddeck
Miles: 40.1
Total: 5022.9
It was time to hit the trail in the morning. I got my things together and left town, grabbing water from a spigot on my way out. I was soon on the Trans-Canada Highway, but not for long.
I had a better attitude than before, though the trail went off and began wandering through small towns with nothing to offer besides a view of the ocean, which I had already seen.
Occasionally the trail would make its way back to the highway before leaving again on an expedition out into the country for another forgotten town on the shore. I made great time and thought at one point that I might be able to get fifty miles in that day, though that would prove unrealistic.
As I got further along I got more excited to arrive on Cape Breton Island, which I had heard was beautiful. As I made my way onto the Trans-Canada Highway, a couple offered me a ride. I accepted out of sheer surprise after having been ignored so effectively for days. I just wanted a ride to Cape Breton Island, but I ended up going much farther than that.
Before I knew it we were on the island, and I expected to be dropped off. Instead, the couple said I could ride with them as long as I wanted, and I just couldn’t resist. The ultra-boredom induced into me by the Nova Scotia roadwalk was to blame.
My ride was going to a town called Baddeck, which is where I ended up going. They dropped me off at the highway, where I walked a little ways before realizing that I wasn’t going to get far with only a couple hours of daylight left.
I was not on the trail and didn’t know exactly what to do. Opting to stay in town that night, I was able to access the Internet at the library, and eventually found a spot to set up my tarp behind the local Catholic church. I planned to get up the next morning before the church service since it would be a Sunday.
Though I missed a mile or two of the Aucilla I was happy to be on the easily navigable road. The Florida Trail had been miserable for the fifty miles prior to the Aucilla, and I was not in the mood to trifle with it anymore.
Walking on into the night, I finally reached US 98, and then J.R.’s store. I hunkered down in the garage and stayed warm all night, out of the cold and the wind.
