Cross Canada Adventure, Day 2: Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder
Bay.
It's the second day of driving, and Brad is about
to trek through some of the prettiest parts of Ontario.
Man I slept
hard
last night. I was completely pooped, probably due to a lack of sleep before
leaving Bolton yesterday. But today feels different. I allowed myself to sleep
until 1000, cleaned myself up, and checked out. Breakfast was a granola bar in
the car, and off I am on Day 2 of my
adventure.
My first stop was at a police seat belt check program. I'd feel naked riding in the car without wearing my seat belt, so after a quick greeting and check I was back on my way.
My first real stop was at a lookout somewhere south of Lake Superior Provincial Park. Here's a photo:
While here, I met a lovely young woman who was driving from New Brunswick to Calgary, Alberta. A kindred spirit! Regrettably, after chatting for a bit and taking her picture (with her camera, not mine), I forgot to ask her name, and she was off. Oh well. It's a long trek to Calgary from here, so maybe our paths will cross again.
My next stop was inside Lake Superior Provincial Park, at Agawa Rock. Agawa Rock is a place where I had stopped on my previous trip to Thunder Bay 8 years ago or so, and is known for the Native Canadian Petroglyphs painted onto a sheer cliff face right on the shore of the lake. Here are some excellent pictures for you:
Much of the rock here is volcanic in nature. Getting to the petroglyphs is a bit of a hazardous trek, but if you're ever in the area, stop and see them. It is currently estimated that these petroglyphs, which at this point are a few hundred years old will be gone in the next 50 years due to weathering, so see them while you still can.
I also did some hiking here, out to a rock lookout over the lake. Beautiful. I'm somewhat sorry to be leaving this Province behind.
The trail is well marked up until the point where you climb up the rock face (which didn't have any stairs -- this trail was rated "difficult") and get up onto the lookout. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the way back down, and after a while of scrabbling around the rocks trying to find the official way back down, I made my own way back down. Going down was more difficult than going up, but with my trusty walking stick I made it without tumbling down onto my head. Whew.
Lake Superior Provincial Park is a pretty big place, and it can take well over a hour to cross it. So I also made a stop toward the north end of the park at Old Woman Bay, which had a lovely beach. If I hadn't been a bit pressed for time, I would have gone for a swim -- the people who were swimming there were having a lot of fun as the waves crashed into them, and the idea of cooling off in the water was enticing. But I'd wasted too much time at Agawa Rock, and had to get back on the road.
Stop number three was in the town of Wawa. Wawa is known for the giant statue of a Canadian Goose (remember my commentary after discussing the "Big Nickel" yesterday?), visible from the Trans-Canada Highway. So I stopped and took a photo:
I also trekked into town to stop at the Canadian Tire store for a few supplies.
Whew! Too many stops today, and still a long way to go!
Stop number four is in White River, where I have stopped for a burger at the A&W. White River is famous for something too -- it is the birthplace of the bear which inspired A.A Milne to write the "Winnie the Pooh" stories. White River is obviously proud of this fact -- they have a "shrine" to Pooh Bear right off the highway:
(Note that sometime this weekend I'll be passing through the city that gave Winnie the Pooh the first part of his name -- Winnipeg, Manitoba).
It's still a fairly long trek from White River to Thunder Bay. There are some lovely vistas to be seen along this route, but it's extremely difficult to get those really good shots while driving at 100 km/h along the highway.
At one point, however, I entered a very odd region, where there were the usual stands of conifers on one side, and lots of tall sticks on the other side. It would appear that a forest fire had ravaged the area some years before, and that the highway was either a suitable firebreak, and/or this is where the fire brigade made one of its stands. It was odd getting to the top of a hill to see a vista of waste, with distant hills covered in fire-charred husks of what used to be trees.
Now I'm guessing it must have been several years ago, because there did appear to be some regrowth. But the whole area was sufficiently odd looking that I made a movie by setting my digital camera on my dashboard as I drove by:
I drove through the town of Marathon as well, which appears to primarily be a mining town. Here is a picture of a Marathon pit mine I drove past:
Shortly after passing through Marathon, the drive started to get ugly as the sky opened up and the rain poured down over the landscape. As it was getting late in the day, visibility was significantly reduced. I experienced some hydroplaning in a few places (primarily when climbing hills that had turned into shallow rivers of rainwater), but was able to stick to the highway. Through the mist and fog I could see what appears to be some lovely landscapes, or at least they would be in the bright sunlight.
The last 100km of the Trans Canada Highway into Thunder Bay is designated as the Terry Fox Courage Highway. If you don't know who Terry Fox is, you're obviously not a Canadian, so you should get yourself over to Wikipedia to read up on Terry Fox's entry. However, in brief: back in the early 1980's, Terry Fox, who had lost a leg due to cancer, decided to raise money and awareness by running across Canada. In the early days, going through the Maritime Provinces he was virtually unknown, but by the time he made it to Ontario he was a huge celebrity. Remember this man was an amputee -- he ran with a prosthetic leg.
Terry's never realized his dream of dipping his foot into the Pacific at the end of a cross-country run -- he had to quite due to health problems just outside Thunder Bay. He passed away shortly afterwards. At the spot on the highway where he was forced to quit there is a statue and memorial in his honour. To this day, Canadians participate in Terry Fox runs across the country.
It is only fitting that I end today's entry with a photo of Mr. Terry Fox, a true Canadian Hero.
That's it for today. Tomorrow's trek: Thunder Bay to Kenora (and perhaps beyond).
My first stop was at a police seat belt check program. I'd feel naked riding in the car without wearing my seat belt, so after a quick greeting and check I was back on my way.
My first real stop was at a lookout somewhere south of Lake Superior Provincial Park. Here's a photo:
While here, I met a lovely young woman who was driving from New Brunswick to Calgary, Alberta. A kindred spirit! Regrettably, after chatting for a bit and taking her picture (with her camera, not mine), I forgot to ask her name, and she was off. Oh well. It's a long trek to Calgary from here, so maybe our paths will cross again.
My next stop was inside Lake Superior Provincial Park, at Agawa Rock. Agawa Rock is a place where I had stopped on my previous trip to Thunder Bay 8 years ago or so, and is known for the Native Canadian Petroglyphs painted onto a sheer cliff face right on the shore of the lake. Here are some excellent pictures for you:
Much of the rock here is volcanic in nature. Getting to the petroglyphs is a bit of a hazardous trek, but if you're ever in the area, stop and see them. It is currently estimated that these petroglyphs, which at this point are a few hundred years old will be gone in the next 50 years due to weathering, so see them while you still can.
I also did some hiking here, out to a rock lookout over the lake. Beautiful. I'm somewhat sorry to be leaving this Province behind.
The trail is well marked up until the point where you climb up the rock face (which didn't have any stairs -- this trail was rated "difficult") and get up onto the lookout. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the way back down, and after a while of scrabbling around the rocks trying to find the official way back down, I made my own way back down. Going down was more difficult than going up, but with my trusty walking stick I made it without tumbling down onto my head. Whew.
Lake Superior Provincial Park is a pretty big place, and it can take well over a hour to cross it. So I also made a stop toward the north end of the park at Old Woman Bay, which had a lovely beach. If I hadn't been a bit pressed for time, I would have gone for a swim -- the people who were swimming there were having a lot of fun as the waves crashed into them, and the idea of cooling off in the water was enticing. But I'd wasted too much time at Agawa Rock, and had to get back on the road.
Stop number three was in the town of Wawa. Wawa is known for the giant statue of a Canadian Goose (remember my commentary after discussing the "Big Nickel" yesterday?), visible from the Trans-Canada Highway. So I stopped and took a photo:
I also trekked into town to stop at the Canadian Tire store for a few supplies.
Whew! Too many stops today, and still a long way to go!
Stop number four is in White River, where I have stopped for a burger at the A&W. White River is famous for something too -- it is the birthplace of the bear which inspired A.A Milne to write the "Winnie the Pooh" stories. White River is obviously proud of this fact -- they have a "shrine" to Pooh Bear right off the highway:
(Note that sometime this weekend I'll be passing through the city that gave Winnie the Pooh the first part of his name -- Winnipeg, Manitoba).
It's still a fairly long trek from White River to Thunder Bay. There are some lovely vistas to be seen along this route, but it's extremely difficult to get those really good shots while driving at 100 km/h along the highway.
At one point, however, I entered a very odd region, where there were the usual stands of conifers on one side, and lots of tall sticks on the other side. It would appear that a forest fire had ravaged the area some years before, and that the highway was either a suitable firebreak, and/or this is where the fire brigade made one of its stands. It was odd getting to the top of a hill to see a vista of waste, with distant hills covered in fire-charred husks of what used to be trees.
Now I'm guessing it must have been several years ago, because there did appear to be some regrowth. But the whole area was sufficiently odd looking that I made a movie by setting my digital camera on my dashboard as I drove by:
I drove through the town of Marathon as well, which appears to primarily be a mining town. Here is a picture of a Marathon pit mine I drove past:
Shortly after passing through Marathon, the drive started to get ugly as the sky opened up and the rain poured down over the landscape. As it was getting late in the day, visibility was significantly reduced. I experienced some hydroplaning in a few places (primarily when climbing hills that had turned into shallow rivers of rainwater), but was able to stick to the highway. Through the mist and fog I could see what appears to be some lovely landscapes, or at least they would be in the bright sunlight.
The last 100km of the Trans Canada Highway into Thunder Bay is designated as the Terry Fox Courage Highway. If you don't know who Terry Fox is, you're obviously not a Canadian, so you should get yourself over to Wikipedia to read up on Terry Fox's entry. However, in brief: back in the early 1980's, Terry Fox, who had lost a leg due to cancer, decided to raise money and awareness by running across Canada. In the early days, going through the Maritime Provinces he was virtually unknown, but by the time he made it to Ontario he was a huge celebrity. Remember this man was an amputee -- he ran with a prosthetic leg.
Terry's never realized his dream of dipping his foot into the Pacific at the end of a cross-country run -- he had to quite due to health problems just outside Thunder Bay. He passed away shortly afterwards. At the spot on the highway where he was forced to quit there is a statue and memorial in his honour. To this day, Canadians participate in Terry Fox runs across the country.
It is only fitting that I end today's entry with a photo of Mr. Terry Fox, a true Canadian Hero.
That's it for today. Tomorrow's trek: Thunder Bay to Kenora (and perhaps beyond).
Posted: Friday - August 26, 2005 at 02:19 PM
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Published On: Aug 30, 2007 08:14 PM
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