A peaceful day on Lake Superior...and the start of a long, exhausting hike with some serious vertical climbing. This is a beach on Lake Superior that is about 4 km into a 22km there-and-back again hike to the Top of the Sleeping Giant.
My friends Steve and Richard and I had arrived at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park two nights earlier from southern Ontario to meet our pal George at the Park. I have yet to experience the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, but I have bicycled across the Rocky Mountains, and I would posit that the drive around Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie to the Giant is as great a drive as anywhere in Canada, and I am confident that it would stand up well to any great route on the planet.
Anyways, at this point in our 5 day adventure, including 2 travel days, all 4 of us were still energetic and game to tackle the Park's centrepiece trail. The beach shown here provided an opportunity to cool down slightly. Several hours later on the return, however, when we reached this same beach, some of us (me) wondered if the hike would ever end.
"Are we there yet?"
The excursion was definitely worth the effort, though. The views from the summit of the Giant are truly amazing. It was like walking through "The Lost World" of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We would hike through the dense brush and thick trails, and then, just when I thought that I had seen the best views possible, we would pass a thicket, turn a corner, et voila, the city of Thunder Bay appears on the opposite shoreline, roughly 25km across Thunder Bay, with the azure blues of the lake 800 or 900 feet below, and the azure blues of the sky above, complimented by lush green forest on the slopes of the coasts.
My friends Steve and Richard and I had arrived at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park two nights earlier from southern Ontario to meet our pal George at the Park. I have yet to experience the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, but I have bicycled across the Rocky Mountains, and I would posit that the drive around Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie to the Giant is as great a drive as anywhere in Canada, and I am confident that it would stand up well to any great route on the planet.
Anyways, at this point in our 5 day adventure, including 2 travel days, all 4 of us were still energetic and game to tackle the Park's centrepiece trail. The beach shown here provided an opportunity to cool down slightly. Several hours later on the return, however, when we reached this same beach, some of us (me) wondered if the hike would ever end.
"Are we there yet?"
The excursion was definitely worth the effort, though. The views from the summit of the Giant are truly amazing. It was like walking through "The Lost World" of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We would hike through the dense brush and thick trails, and then, just when I thought that I had seen the best views possible, we would pass a thicket, turn a corner, et voila, the city of Thunder Bay appears on the opposite shoreline, roughly 25km across Thunder Bay, with the azure blues of the lake 800 or 900 feet below, and the azure blues of the sky above, complimented by lush green forest on the slopes of the coasts.
| Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is popular with mid-western Americans and Canadians since it is only a few hours drive from Minneapolis and Winnipeg. | The Sleeping Giant Trail is the southern sliver of the Park on the western coast, with the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory at the extreme southern point. |
At this point we are about 8.5 or 9 km into our hike, and not far above Lake Superior. By the time we have reached the 10km point, we are a full one thousand feet above the Lake!
There is a sign at the top of the trail that declares our height at that point to be about 970' above the lake. From here, not far from that sign, we still had a little climbing to do while on the table top of the Giant.
How do large, mature trees end up at the top of a thousand foot cliff? I guess the escarpment rises gradually from the northern part of the Sibley Peninsula, but still, it is pretty cool to see that much green after practically scrambling straight up for so long. Just goes to show that absolutely nothing humans can create comes close to the creativity of the original Master Artist!
How do large, mature trees end up at the top of a thousand foot cliff? I guess the escarpment rises gradually from the northern part of the Sibley Peninsula, but still, it is pretty cool to see that much green after practically scrambling straight up for so long. Just goes to show that absolutely nothing humans can create comes close to the creativity of the original Master Artist!
Tee Harbour is at centre left where the azure waters meet the luscious greens.
Tee Harbour.
The cliffs above Lehtinen Bay, Lake Superior.
The green valley at bottom right is where we ascended from, about 900' below us!
The Chimney is one of the most unique rock formations that I have ever seen. The gap is roughly 150' across, and at the deepest spot it is probably over 700' deep.
I am standing only a few feet away from the edge of a cliff that is a minimum 700' deep!
The Chimney of the Giant. The topography on the mesa table top of the Sleeping Giant rises and falls, which is why my numbers might seem a little uneven. This area, on the western cliffs of the Sleeping Giant, overlooking the historic city of Thunder Bay, is very unique because of the Chimney, a very deep, very narrow canyon carved out of the mesa.
The Giant is very important to First Nations history. A good link to begin to learn more about this aspect is:
www.thunderbay.ca/Visiting/Beyond_The_City_Lights/About_Thunder_Bay_and_Region/local_legends/sleeping_giant.htm
Some other good links about the area include these:
www.thefriendsofsleepinggiant.ca
www.ontariohighpoints.com/sleeping-giant/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giant_Provincial_Park
www.ontarioparks.com/park/sleepinggiant
The Giant is very important to First Nations history. A good link to begin to learn more about this aspect is:
www.thunderbay.ca/Visiting/Beyond_The_City_Lights/About_Thunder_Bay_and_Region/local_legends/sleeping_giant.htm
Some other good links about the area include these:
www.thefriendsofsleepinggiant.ca
www.ontariohighpoints.com/sleeping-giant/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giant_Provincial_Park
www.ontarioparks.com/park/sleepinggiant
George, myself, Richard and Steve at the Chimney on the Sleeping Giant.
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