Sometimes, the work of the Master Artist is so brilliant that no words or expressions are able to describe what one sees. Such is the case on my recent trip around Lake Superior to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, about an hour east of Thunder Bay. I went up there with the same gang, George, Steve, and Richard, that I paddled into Killarney Provincial Park with a few years ago, chronicled in Nellie Lake Parts 1 & 2, in the archives of this blog. Enjoy!
These next few photographs were shot along the Trans-Canada Highway between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, the first quarter or so of the Lake Superior Coastline.
The photographs above are views from the TransCanada Highway between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa. I was not driving during that time, so I was able to get some pretty good photographs. The entire stretch around the Lake, except for one large area between Pukaskwa National Park and Marathon, is just like these photos: up, down, blue water, blue sky, green hillsides. Except these hillsides are more like mountains.
The Sea Lion, in front of the Sleeping Giant.
Lake Superior at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on a calm August morning.
Loons on Lake Superior.
During the three full days that I was up there we covered a lot of ground. After arriving on Wednesday night, we did a short trail that included about a 300' high vertical climb. Some of the photos in the following slide show are from that hike.
Wednesday afternoon was pretty rainy, so we went into Thunder Bay, an hour to the west. On the way back to the campground we stopped at the Terry Fox Monument on the Trans-Canada Highway a few minutes east of town. Terry Fox was hit by cancer as a teenager, and decided to do something about it, so he jogged on one leg and one artificial leg from St. John's, Newfoundland on the Atlantic Ocean to Thunder Bay to raise awareness of the disease and money for research before cancer shut him down. The annual Terry Fox Run has raised CN$500 million over 32 years. The Monument is beautiful, and well worth the stop, even on a rainy day. Wikipedia has an excellent synopsis of Terry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_fox
The Terry Fox Monument just east of Thunder Bay.
These common mergansers had a wild ride on Lake Superior on this particular afternoon!
My pal George, relaxing in front of Lake Superior! After a 22 km round trip hike onto the summit of the Giant mesa (a table-top mountain) itself, with well over one thousand feet of elevation gain on Friday, we intended to take it easy on Saturday. Well, that did not happen, not when there are four intrepid adventurers who didn't travel 1500 km-each way!-from their southern Ontario homes to stay around a campground for an entire day! We set out about noon to get gas, which was a half hour drive away. George showed us a cool little spot right on Lake Superior with great views of Cariboo Island and the Giant, when the fog and clouds are not present. Then we got back onto the Sibley Peninsula to go to the Thunder Bay Lookout. That was very cool. It starts with a 9km road into the lookout off of the main road. While it is accessible by car much of the time, I would not take a nice or new vehicle along this road! Once we got there, though, it is well worth the effort. The lookout itself is a metal platform that stretches out from a 300 foot cliff above the trail that hugs the shoreline of the Park. The previous day I was within 4 feet of a sheer drop of several hundred feet several times, yet here it still took me a few minutes to psych myself up to walk out onto the platform, into thin air! What a spot, though! Thunder Bay, the bay, below us, Thunder Bay the city visible many kilometres across the bay. The vast escarpment of the Sibley Peninsula stretching out beyond eyesight to the north and the south, and Lake Superior a glorious shade of blue.
One of the guys suggested we go down to the lake. Apparently we forgot about the long hike the day before, because down to the lake we went. The trail here is actually rougher than the trail up onto the Giant-I slid down a few spots on my seat-but that could be due to the treadless running shoes that I wore that day-remember, we thought that we were just out to get gasoline! I have no photos of this little adventure because I somehow forgot to bring my fresh battery along. C'est la vie, eh!
One of the guys suggested we go down to the lake. Apparently we forgot about the long hike the day before, because down to the lake we went. The trail here is actually rougher than the trail up onto the Giant-I slid down a few spots on my seat-but that could be due to the treadless running shoes that I wore that day-remember, we thought that we were just out to get gasoline! I have no photos of this little adventure because I somehow forgot to bring my fresh battery along. C'est la vie, eh!
This bald eagle is a resident of Mary Louise Lake, where the campground of the provincial park is located. It is perched on a white pine tree on an island about 700 or 800 metres from the shore.
I saw about 10 bald eagles on my 5 day adventure up to the Giant and back, including one that flew across the highway right in Sault Ste. Marie, the pair on Marie Louise Lake at the Park campground, and a pair that flew over us in the town of Marathon on the way home. I also saw a timberwolf, guesstimating over 3' high at it's back and 120lbs. I started out the first day from Sudbury and returned to Kitchener on Labour day, covering 2600km in 2 travel days with 3 up at the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. I would do it all over in a heartbeat!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this excursion, covering the hike up onto the Sleeping Giant itself...
Get out there, eh, but dress for the weather, and remember to be prepared for snowy roads-winter is here!
Uncle Travelling Dan
I saw about 10 bald eagles on my 5 day adventure up to the Giant and back, including one that flew across the highway right in Sault Ste. Marie, the pair on Marie Louise Lake at the Park campground, and a pair that flew over us in the town of Marathon on the way home. I also saw a timberwolf, guesstimating over 3' high at it's back and 120lbs. I started out the first day from Sudbury and returned to Kitchener on Labour day, covering 2600km in 2 travel days with 3 up at the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. I would do it all over in a heartbeat!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this excursion, covering the hike up onto the Sleeping Giant itself...
Get out there, eh, but dress for the weather, and remember to be prepared for snowy roads-winter is here!
Uncle Travelling Dan
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