a walk in Breadalbane

From a plaque near this site:

Breadalbane was a bustling community on the upper Dunk River in the 1870s with several businesses. 
James Holmes had built adjacent saw and shingle mills. He was also the first postmaster for a year and the office was first named Holmes Mills PO even though the community became Breadalbane. 
In 1917 the mill site was acquired by Pomroy Murray who added a small two-storey electric light plant. 
The system produced enough power for distribution through the community but only for a few hours in the evenings. However, special provision was made for the hours of 10 am to noon on washdays.

First of all - try to pronounce it:  me and my Ontario ways had a hard time with this one:
bread - all - bun.
Beautiful downtown Breadalbane has a really nice park with a playground equipment, gazebo, even a washroom.  Other tiny towns take note!

To get there from Charlottetown, take highway 2 east, past Hunter River, Fredericton and Pleasant Valley. Turn left on Route 231 at the bottom of a hill.  There doesn't seem to be a sign for 231, so watch for an abandoned garage on the left just before the turn.

Drive 2 km to the village, turn left and park along the park.  Continue down the road, and the beginning of the trail is on the left, just after a babbling Dunk River.

This walk is probably my favourite so far.  It's a very narrow path, crossed with roots, along a steep bank with the river meandering below.

The beginning of the trail.

A Norway maple with tar spot, a fungus disease.  This maple is not native to PEI.  

The native maples do not get this disease.  

I have cut down all the Norway maples on my property just for this reason.

This is a burl - quite a common sight in PEI forests.  

It's like cancer in trees - cells in a certain spot begin to multiply out of control.
Apparently, little research has been done on the cause of this disease, but it is speculated that burls could be caused by a virus or insects.  But it's not all bad.  The wood from a burl is very beautiful and very hard.  Burls have been made into bowls and other decorative objects.
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It's a narrow, root-lined path with a steep drop-off down a bank into the Dunk River.

confluence of three streams

raspberry leaves are touched with frost.

foam in the water - I never know if foam is caused by pollution or if it is a natural occurance

This tree is slowly being eaten from the inside out by fungus.

The outline of the trail follows both sides of the Dunk River.

We had the choice of continuing the hike or crossing this bridge - only four at a time because it's a bit rickety.  We were told that the steel girders holding up the bridge were air-lifted in by helilcopter.  There really would be no other way to get them here on these narrow goat paths.

 misty pastel colours from a touch of frost.

This hiking group has been incredibly lucky with the weather.  Every Wednesday morning we have gone hiking has been gloriously sunny.