Franey, one of the 3 Peaks

A new hiking event is coming to Cape Breton….on July 17th,  Hike the Highlands Festival with assistance from Cape Breton Highlands National Park will host the Cape Breton Highlands 3 Peaks Challenge.  Pattern a bit from the UK 3 Peaks Challenge,  hikers in teams of  four will hike 3 Peaks in 12 hours… starting at 7:00 am. and finishing around 7:00  pm.

The 3 peaks are Franey, Sugarloaf and Acadien mountains averaging 400 m (1400-1500 feet high) approximately 20 km. The challenge involves approximately 113 kms of driving, and 20 km of hiking. Don’t under estimate the hiking distance, these are 3 of the toughest mountains in Cape Breton Highlands.   It also includes ascending and descending each of the mountains over difficult terrain. Most people will spend approximately 2.5 hrs driving between the peaks, and 9 hours or so walking in the mountains.

Only 15 teams will be accepted in this challenge. Teams comprised of 4 hikers, one must be designated as team captain. The team captain will be responsible for the a) safety and welfare of the team making sure each member is safely down each peak, b) preparing team members for this event . Because of limited parking in two out of three peaks…organizers ask that each team travel in one car.

The registration fee for each team is $100.00 and includes a souvenir t-shirt for each team member and a Parks Canada 125^th anniversary souvenir. The team captain will register his/her team online including team name and members names along with their t-shirt sizes as well pay online. Deadline for registration is Friday, July 2^nd.  Anything after this date, organizers cannot guarantee t-shirts with correct sizes.  Note: July 17th is Parks Day across Canada and there is no fee to use National Parks facilities on July 17th.